A USA Today, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and Amazon Charts bestseller.International bestselling author Patricia Cornwell delivers pulse-pounding thrills in the first book in a series featuring a brilliant and unusual new heroine, cutting-edge cybertechnology, and stakes that are astronomically high.On the eve of a top secret space mission, Captain Calli Chase detects a tripped alarm in … mission, Captain Calli Chase detects a tripped alarm in the tunnels deep below a NASA research center. A NASA pilot, quantum physicist, and cybercrime investigator, Calli knows that a looming blizzard and government shutdown could provide the perfect cover for sabotage, with deadly consequences.
As it turns out, the danger is worse than she thought. A spatter of dried blood, a missing security badge, a suspicious suicide—a series of disturbing clues point to Calli’s twin sister, Carme, who’s been MIA for days.
Desperate to halt the countdown to disaster and to clear her sister’s name, Captain Chase digs deep into her vast cyber security knowledge and her painful past, probing for answers to her twin’s erratic conduct. As time is running out, she realizes that failure means catastrophe—not just for the space program but for the safety of the whole nation.
Brilliantly crafted, gripping, and smart, Patricia Cornwell’s cliffhanger ending will keep readers wondering what’s next for Captain Calli Chase.
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Didn’t care for it. Too sci-fi
I started reading Patricia Cornwell’s books about Dr. Kay Scarpetta in 1995 when I first moved to Richmond, VA. I loved that series and read every book. This latest book about Capt. Calli Chase just wasn’t in the same class. The final chapter was obviously written to make you want to continue with the next book in the series Spin; however, it didn’t work with me. I just wanted to finish the book and have no intention of continuing with this latest series.
Wasn’t crazy about this book. Was starting to question why I bought it? It didn’t get better until the end….but it’s not really the end, is it? I like the character Callie, not so much the other characters in this very technical and slightly interesting book. I will probably buy the next but not until the price is drastically reduced. Sorry!
QUANTUM: (A Captain Chase Novel) : Patricia Cornwell
HOUSTON WE HAVE A PROBLEM!!!
(One of the biggest misquotes of all-time).
This book is everything I consider wrong in a novel. There’s no true beginning, middle or end, no escalation, no excitement, no heart pumping, sitting on the edge of your seat speed reading excitement forcing you to turn the pages just as fast as you can to find out what happens next!
The characters are boring, one dimensional, poorly written and more than a few are annoying. And I see similarities with Cali to Kay, Carme to Lucy and Dick to Benson.
Another strange thing is, we’re not even fully introduced to the 2 main characters Calli & Fran in detail until chapter 3. Actually its more about job tiles & duties rather than age, hair & eye colour, body types, martial status etc.
Are the character’s being one dimensional the fault of the author, or the narrator? Honesty, probably both! And while I didn’t find January LaVoy’s narration that great, I’ve certainly heard worst. In saying that though, I couldn’t listen to LaVoy’s narration at a normal listening speed and have never sped up narration so fast nor so many times before.
As much as I wanted the book over, I had the feeling that it ‘had to get better’ and the ‘right thing to do’ was persevere to the ending, but wish I hadn’t.
In particular Ms LaVoy’s interpretation of Fran – Wow it was indescribable bad, the narrative got under my skin like someone running their fingernails down a chalkboard on purpose & did think much of her attempt at male characters either, who all sounded the same equally unpleasant, distributing & hard to listen too. Quite a strange story & narration.
Not all narrator’s have the ability to easily distinguish each character with a different voice,
I even tried reading rather than listening at times, but only heard the voices in my head, not make the experience any better.
Would I have enjoyed the book more if I’d only read it? Possibly, if from the outset, but not by much & I’m glad I did not pay for this e-book nor the Audio, getting both for free from the Kindle Unlimited program, (I tried to cancel my subscription, but was offered an extra month free due to Covid-19). I did not expect a Patricia Cornwall book & audio in KU.
I believe in writing honest reviews of books I read.
I mainly read ARC books (Advanced Reader’s Copy) where author’s offer a certain amount of new unreleased books free to fans who will help pick up an typos or plot errors & then you write an honest reviews on the major book sites which it helps both authors & perspective readers / buyers alike so they know what others think, which helps with sales. Although this wasn’t an ARC, I still like to leave a review as author feedback is a must if they are to make improvements.
I really do not like putting down an author’s hard earned work, blood, sweat & tears, as so much time & effort goes into it, just think, research, planning of story, creating characters, multiple writes, multiple edits, artist for covers, promotions & so much more, but this story went nowhere & nothing noteworthy happened & nothing was resolved.
This is an easily forgettable story.
I do not recommend this book & would suggest
don’t bother wasting your time or money on it or it’s sequel, Book 2 ‘Spin’, I hope for Patricia it gets better, surely, it can’t get any worse, can it?
You would think a series about Space, Space Shuttles, Mission Control, NASA, The Kennedy Space Centre, EVA Space Walks would take you out of this world and into another would be filled with excitement, awe, shock & suspense.
Remember eye witnessing your first Space Shuttle lifting off (hopefully, not Challenger) or Astronauts landing on the Moon & taking One Small Step…(or the footage if not old enough) or seeing a shuttle docking with the International Space Station, or Astronauts talking to us from Space & floating in zero gravity?
Where is all this hype & excitement? Where’s the techno-babble?
The most exciting things to occur are missing work ID lanyards to some of these highly classified restricted buildings, installations & areas. Or a very suspicious death of an employee, 3 missing person’s, including a highly respected pilot and almost everyone including the main character is acting strange & bizarre with under 24 hours to go before the big mission!
Sounds good right, the making of an extraordinary book, movie or perhaps both?
Adding to the atmosphere & excitement is a group of school children from Iowa who designed, created & built a component called a LEAR (Low Earth Atmospheric Reader) a scientific instrument (the size of a washing machine) for measuring the ozone & global warming and are viewing the excitement in person as guests, while watching the most famous Woman Astronaut, Commander Peggy Whitson attach their device to the International Space Station during an EVA walk. If your expecting adrenaline pumping action, a brilliant storyline, characters with depth & realism, then read Apollo 13!
This story barely reaches the Meh level, never coming close to blast off! The best part of the book? Reading the last line, but that left me asking What The Bleep Did I Just Read? I seriously wasted 3 days on that!
Most books have a well defined start, middle and ending, jammed packed with excitement, action, highs & low’s, but this story doesn’t escalate or go anywhere, it’s flatlines the whole way through!
I thought as this book was about space, NASA, Cape Canaveral, Langley, Robotics, Law enforcement, Space Shuttles, Astronauts & Pilots, some of the most intellectually gifted people in the world, would keep me on the edge of my seat while reading, but nothing could have been further from the truth!
At chapter 25, I almost put the book down for good, I had already upped the speed of narration twice, but thought, hang in, surely it has to get better.
There’s only 2 books in my 47 years of reading, I couldn’t complete, surely Patricia Cornwell would not become the 3rd?
15 to 20 years ago, Ms Cornwall was my all time favourite female author, but I think she’s lost her way, has that X-factor died, or does she place faith in die hard fans, who’ll buy anything with her name?
Her books are repetitive, tired & the same old formula.
To get through Quantum I quickened the narration again, upping this time to 175 ×.
I usually read / listen at 115× with 125× the fastest, till now.
Before starting Quantum, I read the reviews for the last 5 Kay Scarpetta books in the series (I haven’t read them, as I went off them) and while the early books are incredibly unique and I hadn’t read anything like them, the latter books were terrible & reviews showed this. Part of the reason why I drifted away from Ms Cornwell’s books.
Many of the reviewers advised long time fans not to bother with certain books, to just skip them as your not missing much! Ouch!
This is how I feel about Quantum!
And as for the interactive graphics on the Cover and at the beginning of 5 or so chapters.
Why & What was the point? What an utter waste of time and money (for the author), they had nothing to do with the story except for the very last! After viewing the 1st, I turned them off (I couldn’t read the eBook with the green background I like with the interactive media on (switching between, when needed, & back again). I could live without it, that’s for sure.
I cannot believe I’m even reviewing a Patricia Cornwell book with such horrific words.
There are a couple of personality traits I find Captain Calli Chase has in common with Kay Scarpetta.
1). Both are highly intelligent women who are highly educated & hold jobs in positions of power, especially in law enforcement.
2). They both share overactive imaginations believing everyone has it in for them including loved one’s and work colleagues and are completely and utterly paranoid.
The most annoying traits of Captain Calli Chase is her absolutely ridiculous vocabulary. Yes she’s a professional of the highest calibre, but come on everybody swears or cusses even if it’s something as simple as the word s**t, shite or bugger.
Seriously this woman cannot even say the word Hell,
This line is from Chapter 25 :
“Where the hell-o did Mason get any of this to begin with? Not from me”…
And this from Chapter 28 :
None of this is supposed to be out in plain view, for crummy sake.
There’s nothing to indicate Calli is religious and even if have you heard anyone speak like this? Including those who refuse to swear. Its not relatable! Especially in a highly stressful job. She sounds more elderly, than my Grandparents who were born in the late 1890’s & even they wouldn’t speak like this.
I RATE QUANTUM 1.5 OUT OF 5
Its mainly all just boring dialogue or bizarre flashbacks that don’t make sense or seem to have any relevance.
Terribly disappointing. After loving the Scarpetta books I enthusiastically started this book and struggled to finish it. I never found any redeeming features. I don’t know that I’ll ever try Cornwell again.
I found it confusing & hard to keep characters straight. I normally love her bookd but this is my least favorite.
Great Audio book plenty of action and suspense that leaves you wondering in the end.
As a great fan of Patricia Cornwell I was eagerly anticipating this first book in her new series. But it is very disappointing. It is literally work to read! And if you don’t have a major degree in quantum physics, forget it. I think retirement may be on her horizon. I so miss Dr Kay Scarpetta
Didn’t care for it at all.
slow and boring
I have loved all of Patricia Cornwall’s books except this one. I found it difficult to understand what character was talking and what everyone was doing.
I was so disappointed in this book. I have loved each book that I have read of Patricia Cornwell’s and unfortunately this one should not have seen the light of day. It is boring and really hard to get into and I feel as though I am constantly lost. I would not recommend this book at all. I couldn’t even finish it and I always try my best to finish any book I begin reading because I know it takes a lot to sit down and write a book. PLEASE Ms. Cornwell chalk this up as a mistake and go back to one of your other series.
I couldn’t get very far in this book. Nothing like other books by her that I’ve read .
I may have written a review on this book before. This was just sent to me. I’ve read many Cornwell books but this one was a disaster. I tried hard just to finish it but I couldn’t. I forced my way through 70 percent of the book and finally decided it just wasn’t worth the struggle. Don’t ask me what it was about. I have no idea.
I love all her books!
I didn’t like anything about the book. I just found it boring.
Quantum
A Captain Chase Novel #1
Patricia Cornwell
Thomas & Mercer, Oct 1, 2019
353 pages
Sci-Fi Mystery Thriller series
Amazon New Releases for October
The cover is dark and mysterious looking, but not terribly exciting. The author’s name will sell the book, yes, but I really prefer to see the title of the book first. Sometimes it seems like the author’s name is more important than the title when they do it this way with the two the same size in the same font and the name first. No modesty. Or is it a book by this author so buy it no matter what it is? The picture has to compete with the text for visibility when it’s this big. That’s half a star folks.
The storyline is really good, though and leads you to look forward to the next in the series since there is no conclusion in this book, just a pause in the action and story. The characters are developed as needed through the book and even Carme who is never seen in the book is developed as she is brought into the story. The pace is fast and the tension is constant. The story takes place over a short period of time and the Captain doesn’t even have time to stop to eat, both her tension and ours is so high. I read it in one sitting. The beginning is a bit confusing with the jumps back and forth with time and people. I think I got it all straightened out, but since there was no true resolution, I really can’t be sure.
Capt. Calli Chase is the hyperalert type that notices the smallest details. That’s a good thing since she’s in security on a NASA facility as well as a scientist in its lab. But things are happening that almost can’t be happening, and there’s only one person who could be doing them. But that person isn’t supposed to be there. The evidence makes it look as if this person is doing some really bad things, including kidnapping, murder, sabotage and possibly more. But a closer look at the evidence shows that it has been tampered with, to show that it was probably fake from the beginning; and that only one person could be doing that. Everyone involved is counting on Calli to resolve this as she is the only person who the perpetrator will trust. Calli’s identical twin sister, Carme, who had been acting strange and is now MIA. As the clocks tick down on two big events for the space program and a huge weather front closes in on the area, Calli becomes more and more sure that she’s right and that someone else is to blame, but who? Carme leaves her hints but won’t or can’t speak. The higher-ups aren’t speaking either. So where does that leave Calli? With the rest of us, waiting for book two, Spin, due out August 25, 2020. I recommend you get book one read before the release of book two.
Patricia, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it! You screwed up. No nice way to say this. Maybe you got tired of your hugely popular character, Dr. Kay Scarpetta? Did you think your readers had enough of her and didn’t want to read about her investigative crime solving role as a medical examiner? No, no, and no! Send this new character, Capt. Calli Chase, back to cardboard land—send all her associates with her—and forget about any sequels, prequels, or whatever. Get back to what you do best. Yes, I know Dr. Kay was surrounded by haters, liars, saboteurs, competitors, frustrations, and disappointments. It pained me that every person in her life—beloved husband and niece included—lied to her, kept important things from her, manipulated and used her. But, hey, Patricia, you created these relationships! Then you transferred the same horrendous personal relationships to Captain Calli Chase! Your mistrust of people, women in particular, is apparent.
Back to Quantum and Capt. Calli Chase. NASA pilot, quantum physicist, cyberscience investigator, potential astronaut candidate starts off investigating the possible security breach involving a rocketship soon headed to outerspace from Langley Mission Control, Virginia. Calli and her supervisor/good friend, Fran, go to investigate the beeping alarm, but no evidence of the problem can be found by Calli. We have two miltary, gun-toting women, but Fran is afraid of dark tunnels where the alarm is beeping, has anxiety attacks, and refuses to enter the place of the possible breach, yada, yada, yada. Can you believe this? Calli is an even more superior woman because her boss is a total waste. PUHLEEZE! By the way, the reader never finds out the cause of the breach. Lots of internal musings, but no answer. It appears the author intends to answer this and other pertinent questions in her next novel. ( I won’t be reading it.)
Calli and her identical twin sister, Carme (pronunced Karma) are the only offspring of two genius career military types. ALL of them are secretive, noncommunicative, aloof, and often MIA without explanation. As children and teenagers, Calli and Carme would exchange identities for fun without being caught. Calli believes Carme may have breached the dark tunnel without leaving any trace. But, maybe not. Dick, the head honcho and Calli’s dear long-time friend, suspects Calli might really be Carme, so doesn’t trust her with any information. Since Carme is MIA and no one seems to know where she is or if she’s in danger, Calli is worried, but maybe not, since they are competitors for the one astronaut opening, and Carme has undermined and tricked Calli repeatedly in the past. Maybe Dick knows, but he’s not talking. Maybe Calli’s mom or dad know, but they’re not talking. Fran says she doesn’t know, but maybe she’s not being truthful.
In the end, the rocket is launched successfully with a glitch in the system which is corrected in the nick of time by an unseen, unknown person. Carme? Maybe, maybe not.
Instead of developing the main character, the author spent two years studying every technical piece of information about rocket launching and put everythig in the first one hundred pages of the book! An experienced author such as this should know better than to do this. Callie is not relatable or a sympathetic character. The book reads more like a text book than a novel. There is no conclusion other than the rocket launched. By the way, I was 75% through the book before I realized that the possible rocket launching sabotage was THE problem in the book. So many loose ends and so many extraneous, beside the point space fillers!
I found myself skipping paragraphs to move myself along. The book is written in the first person, so Calli’s musings made her appear neurotic—almost an incomprehensible stream of consciousness at times—back and forth between her thoughts and the almost non-existent action around her. The story takes place mostly inside Calli’s head—not a desirable place to be.
The author does not do well with laborious research resulting in a truckload of facts. She becomes bogged down by them and loses her creativity. She did the same thing with her book about Jack the Ripper. So much disturbing research, by the author’s admission, depressed her and was transferred to the tone and content of that book, as well as into her personal life. It would seem the weight of the facts overwhelmed Patricia Cornwell in this book also.
As a long time fan of Ms Cornwell, I was disappointed.
The characters are not engaging and the plot drags. The entire book is overwhelmed by the need to teach us about “Quantum” reality and the STORY takes a distant backseat.
I do not recommend.
If it didn’t have Cornwell’s name on it, I wouldn’t believe she wrote it. It is the biggest bunch of garbage. I slogged through to the end only to find out it didn’t end! I will not buy the next book, or any book in this series. It didn’t have much of a plot; it was too filled with detail that was not necessary (seemed it was used as filler); and I didn’t care for or relate to any of the characters. Too bad. I have all of Cornwell’s Scarpetta books in my library. I don’t know why she would go off track and try to write about a subject she knows very little about, as well as change her writing style so drastically. This book was a total waste of my money and my time.