At Risk (Win Garano Book 1)

by Patricia Cornwell

2006

Status

Available

Publication

Berkley (2006), 236 pages

Description

A Massachusetts district attorney running for governor wants to use some radical new DNA technology to solve a long-ago murder. The result? A new round of violence.

User reviews

LibraryThing member Kitt2527
Is it just me or is Patricia Cornwell's writing getting more scattered and less cohesive? Her last couple of Scarpetta's were a let-down and I just can't seem to get into the Judy Hammer series, then here we have a book full of unlikeable or unreachable characters. None were developed enough to
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feel anything more than ambivilence for them.

The two diverging "mysteries" weren't very mysterious. The one never is never presented with any excitement/thrill/suspicion instead a list of facts, a list of newly discovered facts, case solved. Blah, blah, blah.

The other "mystery" is pretty clearly political machinations gone wild and the who-dunnit is also pretty obvious only the details of the "why" are murky.

Basically I felt like this was the outline of a book (or perhaps two different ones rammed together) expanded just enough to meet a publisher's deadline. Still, Cornwell continues to have enough skill with language and imagery to skirt by. I've just come to expect more than that from her but maybe it's time to revisit my expectations.
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LibraryThing member perpstu
First, let me start off by saying I am a huge Patricia Cornwell fan. I normally rush out to buy her books as soon as they hit the shelves, but, I had a REALLY hard time with At Risk. Thank God it was a bargain book from Borders, I only wasted $5.95!

Set in downtown Boston, our main character, Win,
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is a detective who has been assigned to work for the district attorney, Monique LaMont. Characters don't often come as shallow and self absorbed as this woman who, although she becomes the victim of a horrible crime, I just couldn’t sympathize with. Win is called back from a special forensics course in Tennessee to work on the DA's new project, At Risk. The motto of the At Risk program is "any crime, any time” and Win's assignment is to solve a 20 year old murder of a wealthy old woman that appears to have connections to several other cases. There are about 5 other plot lines thrown in for seemingly no other reason than to fill pages.

The book was originally written as a 15 part serial for a magazine and it shows! The characters are never fully developed and the different plot lines seem to peter out before they come full circle. Chapters end with a little bit of suspense, and the next chapter would begin with detectives discussing how they solved a completely unrelated case. BOO! Please, please Patricia, get back to the Kay Scarpetta series we love so much!
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LibraryThing member jcwren
Hard to rate it any lower. I used to read Patricia Cornwell books all the time. Picked this one up from a friend, and it's one of the very few books I've ever stopped reading partway through. Terrible, terrible book. Narration style is horrible. I also was given a recent Kay Scarpetta book, which
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is a little better. But I think Cornwell has lost her touch. Doubt I'll read anything else from her.
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LibraryThing member Tzctlibr
This is my first Cornwell book and she should keep something in mind: new readers of her work may not necessarily start with her earlier best known works.

This is lightweight and stereotypical, like one of those TV crime serials that everybody saw, lasted one or 2 seasons and are now forgotten.

It
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may keep you entertained (because we people are too curious for our own good) but that's it.

If you want some quality origami paper the book is excellent :-)
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LibraryThing member seasidereader
Cornwell's early and middle Kay Scarpetta books were examples of compelling writing in the genre. I had great respect for her craftsmanship.
It seems that her work since that period has been quite forgettable if not downright unreadable. I wouldn't have guessed that At Risk was Cornwell's book.
LibraryThing member Eren0317
What a ton of information to try to pack into one book! I am so incredibly disappointed with her work lately. It is really wonderful to see her branch out and try to get out from under Scarpetta, but sometimes you need to just go back to the basics. This book was a quick read, but there was way too
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much too easily explained away. I think her editor needs to put their foot down and let her know what her fans really want.
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LibraryThing member readafew
Meh.

It claimed to be unabridged but it read like random pages had been torn out.
LibraryThing member vlawhead
My favorite mystery author: smart, gritty, and a fantastic main character in Kay Scarpetta
LibraryThing member devenish
I don't know if this is going to be a stand alone or the start of a new series (I hope the latter) but I think that this is Patricia Cornwell's best so far.A strong lead character in Winston Garano and a good story-line which keeps up a fast and furious pace right up to the last page.
Oh yes,and I
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liked Miss Dog too,I was unaware that Ms Cornwell did humour.(and no I don't count the Andy Brazil series as humour)
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LibraryThing member NWADEL
I started it but didn't finish. Its not as good as her others. I wanted it to be just as good as her first but as i kept reading it got so boring. :-( Sorry Cornwell.
LibraryThing member LibraryOMidas
I have never read a Patricia Cornwell novel before and unfortunate for me this was my first. I have heard that she is a good writer, this novel shows none of that. I was confused most of the read, wondering how she fit everything in there. I was baffled as to why she would use the present tense
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through the whole book, it definitely didn't flow well for me. If I went on first impressions I would not read another title of hers. I, however, have an unnatural need to read the whole series when I start so I guess I'll be reading at least one more. Maybe I'll get lucky and she'll stop after the sequel.
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LibraryThing member kmercer
I could not finish this book. This is not one of Patricia Cornwell's better works. It seemed shallow and did not flow smoothly at all. The dialogue was not natural. I had to put it away.
LibraryThing member EmScape
While the characters of Win Gerano, his Nana, D.A. Monique Lamont, and Detective Sykes are very well drawn and interesting, the plot/mystery of this book is not. Just when I thought we were getting to the end of the 'exposition' portion of the book, we were having the whodunit explained to us...as
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well as the political machinations behind it. Also of annoyance: the fact that almost every character has a nickname, and Win has two!
I was just confused the whole time I was reading this book, and for the kind of book one reads for escape purposes, one doesn't want to have to think so hard. Not a fan, won't be obtaining more of this series.
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LibraryThing member GoudaReads
Why do I keep picking up Patricia Cornwell books? These days, they are all so bad! These characters are boring and unsympathetic. The book has no story arc and ends abruptly without resolution and I didn't really care.
LibraryThing member andyray
Maybe I picked a bad novel of Cornwell's as my first novel of hers. Her present tense writing puts me off, and when the novel is all over, I sense rather than know what the answer is, but haven't the foggiest how the 20-year-old murder and the D.A.'s boss, Huber's, malfeasance is connected. I do
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not want anyone leaving one of my stories confused, and i do not believe the present tense should be used in stgory telling because it makes it too difficult for the reader to be drawn into the writer's world. Certainly, in fantasy or sci-fi or imaginative storiesl the predsent tense should not be used unless the intended reader is schizophrenic.
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LibraryThing member GailL
I normally enjoy reading Patricia Cornwell's books, but this series is not up to par. Neither At Risk or The Front held my interest like her other books have. I guess part of it may be that Monique Lamont is very much like most real politicians, arrogant and into herself and doesn't care for anyone
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else. Usually the main characters in Patricia books are more likable. Even the supporting characters like Marino in Scarpetta, have some redeeming traits. I read both in the series but will not rush out to get any more.
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LibraryThing member mahallett
i was sure the d.a. was paying for rough sex. so i was disappointed that she wasn't. this was ok. not great. the reader did voices and i couldn't keep them straight.
LibraryThing member Shelen
Cornwell doesn't care much for these complicated characters and this book is too short to flesh everyone out. The story was interesting, so I'll read the next in the series. However, this was like eating one packet of airline pretzels-unsatisfying.
LibraryThing member PermaSwooned
I that this book was a major disappointment. Patricia Cornwell has certainly written much better books in the past. Everything felt very unfinished. It felt like this might have been a few chapters of another book and was discarded....and now published later. Don't bother.
LibraryThing member jbemrose
This is a different look on forensic science. Pluss the way his boss trys to monipalates him is so strange. But his partner & him made it through the cold case to let the family have closer.
LibraryThing member LDVoorberg
Not terribly exciting or climatic. Like the last [author:Patricia Cornwell] book I read, the story is suddenly finished and they tell you how it all worked together, rather than show it. Lame. I looked, but I couldn't tell if this was abridged; I hope the print version has more content. Rather
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disappointing.
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LibraryThing member bjmitch
This little novel was originally a serial story for The New York Times Magazine, then published as a hardcover book in 2006. It was another of the good reads from a huge bag given to me by a good friend. We met up at a book sale yesterday, each buying more books than we can hope to read very soon,
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and both grinning from ear to ear.

In a departure from her award-winning series featuring Dr. Kay Scarpetta, this story is set in Boston and Knoxville, and the crime solver is a Massachusetts state investigator. His sexy lady boss, the district attorney, had sent him to the National Forensic Academy in Knoxville and he was perplexed as to why he was there. Suddenly he is called back to Boston urgently to meet with her and finds himself in the middle of a rape and homicide.

Winston Garano is the detective and I was just as confused as he was for quite a while. I can see where this would be successful as a serial with people anxious to buy each Sunday newspaper to read the next installment. Another character involved with the investigation although not always willingly, is another student at the forensic academy who Win has befriended there. She is an older woman, an experienced investigator, trying her best to move up in her department and thus learning something new. I get the feeling she is angry with herself for helping Win at the cost of her own prospects, but she becomes so intrigued by the case that she hangs on.

D.A. Monique Lamont, who Garano thinks of as "Money Lamount," is confusing. She lives the high life, enjoys the fact that men find her sexy, and adores anything glass. Her office and home are full of decorative glass items that reflect light to make an almost skewed vision. She is as tough as nails and constantly yells as people in her office. Is she involved in the case? Is she what she appears to be? Why does she order Garano this way and that - to keep him from making sense of anything?

At Risk is a short but excellent book. It isn't too late for a beach read and this one is perfect for that purpose, although you must pay attention to what you're reading or you won't follow the story and the end will totally surprise you.

Recommended
Source: another book love
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LibraryThing member mfdavis
Ilistened to the audio version of this, read by Kate Reading (no kidding!) It's a police procedural set in Boston & revolving around state politics and a cold case murder. In this case, the two are inextricably bound together, making for suspense on multiple levels.
LibraryThing member susiesharp
This book is just ok not near as good as her Kay Scarpetta books!
LibraryThing member Kathy89
Very fast read, a new cop located in Boston investigating a cold case for the politically minded D.A. I enjoyed the book but some of the whining over insecurities could have been left out.

Original publication date

2006

Barcode

1601078

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