This is the 28th Kay Scarpetta book and of course the 28th for me by Patricia Cornwell. As this series has progressed, it has gone from a police/mortuary procedural to a science fiction crime fantasy genre. It has changed quite a lot and yet the style of writing is ever the same.

The whole book is so action packed that the story from go to whoa takes a little bit of time in the sense of days or weeks. Having said that, we open the story with a phone call to Dr Scarpetta informing her of the bad news of the death of her friend, she leaves to get to the scene straight away and it's at the 30% mark when she actually gets to the scene. So much back story and filling in of details.

As normal, there is nothing happy or delightful in the interactions of Kay and her family and the tragic and sordid tales of all of their history are a bit thick to wade through. The science element just leads me to believe that Lucy is a God and nothing else, because she can do everything and anything her mind can conjure up. A bit trying if you are in the mood for something lighthearted but as usual, Patricia Cornwell is the queen of the dramatic scenes. 

Thank you to Netgalley and the author and publisher for the opportunity to read this ARC