Predator (novel)

Predator is a crime fiction novel by Patricia Cornwell.

Predator
US cover
AuthorPatricia Cornwell
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
SeriesKay Scarpetta Mysteries
GenreCrime novel
PublisherG. P. Putnam's Sons
Publication date
October, 2005
Media typePrint (Hardcover, Paperback)
Pages416 (first edition, hardback)
ISBN0-399-15283-0 (first edition, hardback)
OCLC61200772
813/.54 22
LC ClassPS3553.O692 P74 2005
Preceded byTrace 
Followed byBook of the Dead 

Plot introduction

Predator is the fourteenth book of the Dr. Kay Scarpetta series by author Patricia Cornwell.

Explanation of the novel's title

"PREDATOR" is an acronym for the Prefrontal Determinants of Aggressive-Type Overt Responsivity, a secret neuropsychological project to determine whether dangerous murderers have different brain patterns or functions from "ordinary" people.

Plot summary

Dr. Kay Scarpetta, now freelancing with the National Forensic Academy in Florida, takes charge of a case that stretches from steamy Florida to snowbound Massachusetts, one as unnerving as any she has ever faced. The teasing psychological clues lead Scarpetta and her team—Pete Marino, Benton Wesley, and Lucy Farinelli—to suspect that they are hunting someone with a cunning and malevolent mind whose secrets have kept them in the shadows, until now.

Characters in "Predator"

  • Kay Scarpetta - Former Chief Medical Examiner.
  • Benton Wesley - Profiler.
  • Lucy Farinelli - Kay's niece.
  • Pete Marino - Detective.
  • Rose - Kay's secretary.

Major themes

  • The hunt for a killer

Literary significance & criticism

Cornwell was considered courageous by some reviewers [1] for setting the characters of this novel at a major crossroads. All are on edge about their personal lives, relationships, and especially their long dependence upon and affection for each other. Mutual trusts have been eroded over previous books and the group lacks the cohesion it had earlier in the series.

The narrative style seen in previous books is also seen in Predator, with more than one character narrating.[2] This change in narrative style from the first-person narration of Kay herself is one first seen in Blow Fly. This device not only allows for more characters and their perspectives to come to the fore, but also marks a significant transformation in the way that the novels represent the criminal. Whereas previously the criminal's mind was never made available to the reader—thus intensifying their "otherness"—the later novels allow space to explore their point of view and uncover their motivations.[2]

Allusions/references to actual history, geography, and current science and technology

Set in Florida and Boston, Massachusetts.

A stolen Treo compromises the Institute's security and vexes Lucy considerably.

gollark: Apparently you can be trusted to drive giant metal death machines down roads at several tens of km/h but not drink alcohol.
gollark: And drive at 17, but drink alcohol (generally speaking) at 18 too.
gollark: In the UK, you can apparently join the military at 16, but not vote until 18.
gollark: Who?
gollark: I mean, it's bad for your liver and stuff, and also brain.

References

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