Patricia Cornwall Upset by Amazon Reviews [Insert Your Anne Rice Joke Here]
Either the Bush administration has moved on to oppressing hack crime novelists, or Patricia Cornwell has lostj is continuing to lose? her marbles. You be the judge. From the news section on her website:

We have reason to suspect that someone (or a group of someones) might be mobilizing people to attack me through Amazon and Barnes and Noble, etc., to hurt my sales and reputation.

So here is what I’m asking. Would you please encourage your friends and those you have contact with that if they like Book of the Dead, to please spread the word, and if so inclined, to please post their reviews on Amazon or Barnes and Noble.

It’s easy to do. For Amazon.com, if you already have an account, you can post a review. Otherwise, open an account by buying a book. You can also check the boxes of other reviews to say you disagree or did not find their review helpful, if this is so. Barnes and Noble does not appear to require any account for posting reviews.

Over the past week there were about fifty bad reviews posted for a book that has gotten the highest reviews for any book I have ever written. If you see what I am saying. Interstingly, this all started right after a Pentagon high official tried to get me to make a pro Bush, pro war appearance on an aircraft carrier and I refused, politely, a photo opportunity to contradict what is in my novel! Not to mention my battle over Ruth Graham’s burial. Suddenly, I am getting a barage [sic] of reviews discouraging people from buying my book, though there are some good ones as of today because my supporters are chiming in.

Right now I need my supporters. I am not asking you to write anything you do not mean. But why should hateful people be the only ones heard?

You and your friends can help by reading the book, encouraging others to read it, and posting their feelings about it - honest feelings.

With appreciation, Patricia.

The call to arms has apparently been heard. The Amazon reviews for her latest book have been flooded with posts like this:

"This book is a good choice. Loved it...great forensic expertise! Life is complex and living life brings change. These negative reviews are absolute rubbish."

The original post currently doesn't show on Patricia Cornwall's site, so it may have been pulled on further reflection, but I've got screencaps: One, Two, Three.

I picked this up from the blog Dear Author, which engagingly riffs on Cornwell's post.