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CSI: Miami #3
Cult Following
Lieutenant Horatio Caine of the Miami-Dade Crime Lab is called in to investigate a mysterious death at an organic eatery. He finds the victim, waiter Phillip Mulrooney, bent over a stainless steel toilet, his clothing shredded. There are burn marks on his face and cell phone fragments scattered around, and his shoes are blown off his feet. Incredible as it seems, the initial evidence points to death by lightning strike.
The staff at The Earthly Garden believe Mulrooney's death is an act of God -- punishment for straying from the Vitality Method, their spiritual philosophy that inner beauty can be revealed by nurturing the physical and spiritual.
The only philosophy Lieutenant Horatio Caine believes in is justice for the victim -- and he'll move heaven and earth to get it.
The staff at The Earthly Garden believe Mulrooney's death is an act of God -- punishment for straying from the Vitality Method, their spiritual philosophy that inner beauty can be revealed by nurturing the physical and spiritual.
The only philosophy Lieutenant Horatio Caine believes in is justice for the victim -- and he'll move heaven and earth to get it.
312 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published December 27, 2005
7 people are currently reading
310 people want to read
About the author
Donn Cortez
36 books18 followersPseudonyms: Don DeBrandt & DD Barant
Donn Cortez is a pseudonym for Canadian author Don DeBrandt. Born in Saskatchewan, he currently lives in Vancouver, British Columbia. In addition to North America, his books have been published in Germany, France, Italy, and Russia. His influences include Spider Robinson and John D. MacDonald, among others.
He took a darker turn for The Closer, a hard-edged story about a serial killer hunting other serial killers.
His follow-up, The Man Burns Tonight (set at Burning Man) was more of a classic mystery. This was followed in rapid succession by five CSI: Miami tie-in novels and two CSI: Vegas novels.He has also contributed numerous pop-culture essays to BenBella’s SmartPop anthologies, on subjects such as Angel, Firefly, The Golden Compass, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, King Kong, the X-Men, Star Wars, and Star Trek.
He was the guest editor (as well as a contributor) to the essay anthology Investigating CSI.
Donn Cortez is a pseudonym for Canadian author Don DeBrandt. Born in Saskatchewan, he currently lives in Vancouver, British Columbia. In addition to North America, his books have been published in Germany, France, Italy, and Russia. His influences include Spider Robinson and John D. MacDonald, among others.
He took a darker turn for The Closer, a hard-edged story about a serial killer hunting other serial killers.
His follow-up, The Man Burns Tonight (set at Burning Man) was more of a classic mystery. This was followed in rapid succession by five CSI: Miami tie-in novels and two CSI: Vegas novels.He has also contributed numerous pop-culture essays to BenBella’s SmartPop anthologies, on subjects such as Angel, Firefly, The Golden Compass, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, King Kong, the X-Men, Star Wars, and Star Trek.
He was the guest editor (as well as a contributor) to the essay anthology Investigating CSI.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
August 28, 2021
Super cheesy and thoroughly enjoyable.
March 25, 2024
I grew up watching CSI:Miami with my mom, and it’s a super nostalgic show for me. I fell in love with the characters, mysteries, and cheesy one-liners, and this book didn’t disappoint.
I expected to be more confused, since I can never seem to keep up with a story that has more than three characters, but that wasn’t much of an issue for me. I’m not sure why; I think Don Cortez might have this ability to describe and pace characters in a memorable way, so I wasn’t finding myself saying “who was that guy again?” Or “what did he do last chapter?”
It was also nice to get a little bit of history and charisma slipped into the main CSIs. Even if you don’t watch the show, you can get attached to the quirks and hobbies of these characters.
This book is a standalone, and it works really well by itself if you haven’t seen any of the show. I was worried that the suspense wouldn’t translate the same in a novel, but I was very wrong.
I expected to be more confused, since I can never seem to keep up with a story that has more than three characters, but that wasn’t much of an issue for me. I’m not sure why; I think Don Cortez might have this ability to describe and pace characters in a memorable way, so I wasn’t finding myself saying “who was that guy again?” Or “what did he do last chapter?”
It was also nice to get a little bit of history and charisma slipped into the main CSIs. Even if you don’t watch the show, you can get attached to the quirks and hobbies of these characters.
This book is a standalone, and it works really well by itself if you haven’t seen any of the show. I was worried that the suspense wouldn’t translate the same in a novel, but I was very wrong.
February 11, 2022
First book I've read by Donn Cortez and first CSI : Miami book I've read. I miss the T.V. show so much it was nice to read about the Miami-Dade Crime Lab Team again. Horatio and his team investigate a suspicious death in a Vegan eatery, and find Murder Calleigh stumbles onto a drug operation and also gets to play with arrows and compound bows (a girl and her toys Lol) Wolfe and Eric get a crash course in rocketry and Horatio becomes the serpent in a delusional "Dr's" Garden Of Eden in this book
November 7, 2019
This was an interesting read. I could see it as an episode of the show.
May 5, 2024
Het boek is vlot geschreven en hield me geïnteresseerd.
De moorden worden goed uitgezocht en het is ook fijn om te lezen hoe de forensisch rechercheurs het bewijs onderzoeken en interpeteren.
De moorden worden goed uitgezocht en het is ook fijn om te lezen hoe de forensisch rechercheurs het bewijs onderzoeken en interpeteren.
July 15, 2015
Most of the CSI novels (all serieses) are fine books. Most of the authors take the characters and portray them much as they are on the show. But as with all fiction not every book is the same, and every once in a while a really good work will be mixed with the alright ones.
This is that work. I'm not sure if it's the subject, cults, the author Donn Cortez, (pseudonym for Don DeBrandt), or some combination, but it's quite a great novel. The characters fit together just as they did on the show. They sounded and seemed to think as they do on the show as well, and as an added bonus, there is no reference to Lieutenant Horatio Caine's sunglasses. (I almost added a fifth star just for that).
I recommend this book as one of the better CSI novels and if someone wants to read one good one this is the one they should start with. Of course, it does help immensely if the reader has watched at least one episode of CSI: Miami because in this book as in the others there is little to no intro of the main characters of the TV series, which is unfortunate, because if they made these novels more accessible to those who haven't seen the TV series, the majority of the novels wouldn't be bad general forensic mysteries.
This is that work. I'm not sure if it's the subject, cults, the author Donn Cortez, (pseudonym for Don DeBrandt), or some combination, but it's quite a great novel. The characters fit together just as they did on the show. They sounded and seemed to think as they do on the show as well, and as an added bonus, there is no reference to Lieutenant Horatio Caine's sunglasses. (I almost added a fifth star just for that).
I recommend this book as one of the better CSI novels and if someone wants to read one good one this is the one they should start with. Of course, it does help immensely if the reader has watched at least one episode of CSI: Miami because in this book as in the others there is little to no intro of the main characters of the TV series, which is unfortunate, because if they made these novels more accessible to those who haven't seen the TV series, the majority of the novels wouldn't be bad general forensic mysteries.
May 17, 2022
Easily the worst CSI Miami book I've read of the lot and I have to admit I've only read Collins' 2 books, however I'm a huge fan of the series and have been binge watching it recently and I can tell you the character voices are all wrong
I particularly find Horatio Caine's characterisation awful. The one thing I've noticed on this series is the way Horatio addresses people and the way people address him.
For instance Calliegh never calls him H. Horatio never calls Eric by his surname. These are little things but isn't this what characterisation is all about?
Has this author even watched the series?
Very very disappointing and especially the arm and leg price I paid for it on Kindle
I'm guessing the price was only for the name linked to CSI Miami
I never would've bothered if this author had written anything else
I particularly find Horatio Caine's characterisation awful. The one thing I've noticed on this series is the way Horatio addresses people and the way people address him.
For instance Calliegh never calls him H. Horatio never calls Eric by his surname. These are little things but isn't this what characterisation is all about?
Has this author even watched the series?
Very very disappointing and especially the arm and leg price I paid for it on Kindle
I'm guessing the price was only for the name linked to CSI Miami
I never would've bothered if this author had written anything else
April 5, 2011
Cult Following by Donn Cortez
I'm a massive fan of CSI, even if CSI:Miami is my least favourite, so when I realised there were accompanying books I leapt at the chance. Cortez knows what the characters are like and how they speak. It's evident he's researched the show, but his books aren't as good as the ones that Max Allan Collins writes. It was great reading new stories about some of my favourite characters. Overall, they're a good, easy read that require practically no imagination because you already know the people and their history.
I'm a massive fan of CSI, even if CSI:Miami is my least favourite, so when I realised there were accompanying books I leapt at the chance. Cortez knows what the characters are like and how they speak. It's evident he's researched the show, but his books aren't as good as the ones that Max Allan Collins writes. It was great reading new stories about some of my favourite characters. Overall, they're a good, easy read that require practically no imagination because you already know the people and their history.
November 8, 2012
A great CSI: MIAMI read by author Donn Cortez! This story revolves around a new diet/spirituality cult known as the Vitality Method. When members keep dying, Horatio and his crew of CSIs set out to prove that the founder, a well-known doctor, is behind the deaths. Another great, quick CSI: MIAMI read!
December 8, 2010
Pretty good. I mean, CSI Miami comes out way better on the screen, but I was going through a Horatio obsession at the time and I have fond memories of sitting in the backyard with my sunglasses on, soaking up Florida sun.
October 9, 2013
I really enjoyed reading this book. I have for the longest time loved watching the tv shows and just discovered the books and decided to read them. Glad I did I would definitely recommend this book to other people.
November 21, 2008
This was fair. I could picture Horatio throughout the read, as he is on the show--flaming red head that he is.
May 30, 2013
Well paced, easy read
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews