Bad Book, Good Book

I made a very inexpensive mistake the other day...or was it really a mistake?  I went to a local bookstore (the Gainesville Book Company) that is only open every two weeks but sells used books at a large discount.  For $2.25, I picked up paperback novels by Patricia Cornwell, David Balducci, and ... Harold Robbins.  That last name intrigued me because of the reference that Star Trek characters Kirk and Spock made to him in their fourth movie The Voyage Home, Robbins described in retrospect as being one of the "masters".  Although I had never read anything of his before, I knew that he had a profane, raunchy style of writing.  Well, the book I read, Never Enough, was plenty of both.  Unfortunately, the story was also incredibly disjointed, spread out over decades and stopping here and there to cover various events along the way.  About a third of the way through, I threw up my hands in frustration and switched to another of my purchases.  Then I discovered that, although Harold Robbins was listed as Never Enough's author, no, actually the book was written by an unknown author after Robbins' death, albeit imitating his style.  So in truth, I still have yet to read anything by Harold Robbins (not that I am particularly interested in doing so anymore).

The next book I picked up (and now reading) was Patricia Cornwell's crime mystery Trace.  It features the return of crime sleuth Doctor Kay Scarpetta as a medical examiner. Cornwell's writing is a pleasure to follow, especially after the unpleasant experience with the Robbins imposter.  By the way, this is my first Patricia Cornwell book...