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Book Review By Sherry Chen
Unnatural Exposure by Patricia Cornwell

Dr. Kay Scarpetta, Virginia's Chief Medical Examiner, was investigating suspected multiple homicides by a single killer in England when a female torso was discovered at a landfill near her home similar to the style of killings in England. Investigations leading into this woman's unnatural death prompted massive media frenzy of a serial killer on the loose.

Dr. Scarpetta soon started to receive e-mails from the killer who goes by the name of Deadoc with photographs of blood-ridden crime scenes and dismembered limbs. Unexplanable death of a woman at Tangier Islands revealed a mutant-strain of killer virus on the loose as Dr. Scarpetta noticed the similarities of the blistered skin from both of the bodies of what appeared to be smallpox. Deadoc continues to haunt Dr. Scarpetta as more cryptic messages were sent to her through the Internet.

Along with her trusted colleague and long-time friend Police Captain Pete Marino and Lucy, her niece and a computer whiz-kid who works for the FBI, a plan was put to place to nail the killer by enticing 'him' to start conversations with Dr. Scarpetta in the AOL chat rooms.


Plot & Themes
Tone of story - suspenseful (sophisticated fear)
How difficult to spot villain? - Difficult, but some clues given
Time/era of story:
Medical Thriller Yes
Medical Plotlets:
What % of story relates directly to the mystery, not the subplot? - 70%
Misc. Murder Plotlets - Big focus on forensic evidence - Big focus on autopsies
Kind of investigator
Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
Any non-mystery subplot?
descript. of violence and chases - 20 %
Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 40 %
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 30 %
How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 10 %
Crime Thriller Yes
Murder Mystery (killer unknown) Yes

Main Character
Gender - Female
Profession/status:

Main Adversary
Identity: - Female
Age: - 40's-50's
Profession/status:
Eccentric: Yes
Motive of antagonist - jealousy
The antagonists are: - evil doctors
How sensitive is this character?
Sense of humor - Cynical sense of humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters

Setting
United States Yes
The US: - Northeast
Island? Yes
Island: - Atlantic Ocean Island
Small town? Yes
Small town people: - dumb rednecks, like Gomer Pyle
Misc setting - scientific labs

Writing Style
Accounts of torture and death? - very gorey descriptions deaths/dead bodies
Unusual forms of death - biohazard/virus
Unusual form of death? Yes
Amount of dialog - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
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