For a crime novel, this novel was remarkably uninteresting. I read a lot of crime and mystery novels, and I was extremely disappointed with The Front. While the main character, Win, is a good character, I found the other characters to be rather predictable and dull. Stump was a great character, and her relationship with Win is a good one. Lamont, however, is rather one-dimensional, because everyone's opinions of her are told to you while very little is shown. Lamont assigns Win to investigate a cold case, and even the cold case was predictable and easy to solve. The current case that has everyone all mixed up is even more straightforward. I was not in the slightest bit surprised at the "surprise twist", or when Win made any realizations about the case. Sometimes an easy read is a good thing, and I appreciate a simple book from time to time. What made this book particularly frustrating for me was Cornwell's habit of using incomplete sentences constantly. She shows almost nothing from her characters' point of view, instead relying on brief, jarring sentences of description that could belong to any bystander and seem of little relevance to the characters or the story aside from providing an extremely brief description of the surrounding area. It was even more frustrating to read these sentences when they *were* meant to be relevant to a character. I won't quote the book word for word, but sentences generally looked like this: "Took some Aspirin, had one of the headaches from a lack of sleep or not eating enough." I cannot tell if that was supposed to be an attempt at removing filter words, or if it is just bad writing. I have not read any of Cornwell's other novels, and I don't think I will in the future. Between her lack of character development, extremely predictable plot, and her incomplete sentences, I cannot say that her writing is something I enjoy.
Just after finishing reading this book, I experienced an overwhelming disappointment. I almost gave it 1-star, but because it is Patricia Cornwell, and I am not certain if my mood influenced me, I gave it the benefit of the doubt.This is not a very long book (just 180 pages,) but I could not work up much liking for the characters. At best, I "sorta" liked Win, and to a lesser extent, Stump, but I did not feel any liking at all for the other characters.**EDIT: I did like the grandmother, but I forgot about her until I read some of the other reviews.***This puzzles me, as I know Cornwell is a good writer, and I usually like her books. I wasn't all that fond of the Hornet series, but it was well written, and I could feel some empathy for the characters. I remember reading the first book in this series, and although I like the Scarpetta series best, I liked it better than the Hornet series. I don't know what happened with this novel. I confess that the last part of the book confused me. (Whether that was due to it being 2am is debatable.) I felt like she was wrapping things up by not playing fair with the reader. I felt cheated. I don't have the opportunity to re-read the last part to see if I missed something that would make me feel less manipulated as the book is overdue at the library.I didn't read anyone else's review before I posted this, so I don't know if anyone else felt the same as I did. If someone else can point out to me where I missed something, I would be willing to re-read this book and possibly edit my review. But as it stands now, color me incredibly disappointed!
What do You think about The Front (2008)?
I did not like this book. I actually stand a bit beside myself as I say that because I love Patricia's previous style of writing. This book seemed too fragmented. I had difficulty finishing such a short title. I think this writing format was too thought out. I read this book with way too many short bouts of "sputtered" reading that usually ended with... "what?", some back pedaling and an occasional "did I miss something?"Leaving Patricia's Scarpetta novels to come to this "The Front", to me, was like going to McDonald's for their desserts after having eaten steak and shrimp at Salt Grass Steakhouse.3/10/12 - started3/12/12 - finished
—CGregory
I picked up this book without reading about it and thought it was a Kay Scarpetta book. It's not, so make sure you don't make the same mistake. I was disappointed in that but more disappointed as I read it. This book had promise. It has a good plot idea but just wasn't developed. I found a hardback at a bargain price, but it was still too much money for as short as the book is. It's less than 200 pages and the font is larger than normal. I felt this book was written in a rush and wasn't completely developed. The character are interesting with little to no depth. I was intrigued by Win Garrano, but felt like his character went nowhere. There's a lot of politics and political plays that don't really come together. Like some other reviewers have stated the Scotland Yard kinda just gets thrown into the mix without a serious reason why. I really was upset that this book has actual parts that could have made a promising book but were left to dangle and get wrapped up in less than 20 pages. Sad. I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone other than someone interested in the series that wants to follow it on. Even then don't buy it just check it out from the library.
—Samantha
Started reading Cornwell for the forensic science before CSI made it cool. The early Kay Scarpetta novels are downright frightening, the closest I get to reading horror. (No Stephen King books or slasher movies for me!) Now Cornwell has started a new series with a cool detective in Boston, which has extra appeal to me. (From USA Today: In The Front, Win Garano is investigating a 45-year-old cold case that could be linked to the infamous Boston Strangler. Or is the investigation merely a ruse to call attention to his boss's latest career-enhancing exploits?) Yes, Win is a stupid name for a detective. And, warning, the Garano books carry on Cornwell's penchant for delving into psychosexual crime. But these two books in the series so far are brisk page-turners at fewer than 200 pages. And I'm a sucker for a taut psychological thriller every so often. I read this one fast, less than two days.
—Tad
