LIKELY TO DIE CASSETTE

Rating:
Summary: Likely to enjoy...
Review: "Likely to Die" is a standard police procedural. All of the elements are there...investigation, standard cop characters, junk food and bad coffee, and an unknown violent killer on the loose.

But it has an additional element that saves the novel from the fate of some of its more lackluster police procedure companions: it has a totally engaging and witty heroine. Alex Cooper is a smart, savvy, and classy lady...and well she should be! Her creator, Linda Fairstein, is a veteran of 20 years in the DA Sex Crimes Unit in Manhattan, the very job Alex holds. And Alex/Linda bring to the novel a no-holds-barred look at this topic. In addition, Alex characterized as a real woman with a real career, one who cares about her career, friends, and her life style.

The result is catchy, fun, and -- at times -- shocking in its subject material. Its a mystery well worth picking up, with strong background, good plot, and some characters to care about.

Rating:
Summary: Another Great Mystery in the Alexandra Cooper Series!
Review: Alexandra Cooper, head of New York County's Sex Crimes Prosecution Unit, hadn't been involved in a major case since her actress friend was murdered six months previous so she was a little surprised when Detective Mike Chapman woke her at 5:30 am about a new case. Turns out Gemma Dogan, head of neurosurgery at Mid-Manhattan Medical Center, brain surgeon and professor for the prestigious hospital was found stabbed six times in her office. It also appeared as if she had been raped and then left for dead. Alexandra was a little uncomfortable with the comparisons to her own personal life, or lack thereof, and put all of her energy into finding out who hated Gemma enough to do this to her.

Unfortunately, Alexandra soon finds herself with a long list of suspects. There is John DuPre and Coleman Harper, both neurologists who claim to have evidence regarding the murder, but details of their interviews conflict and don't quite add up. There is William Dietrich, the director of the hospital, who is desperate to clean up the hospital's public image. Then there are the many applicants for Mid-Manhattan's neurology unit that Gemma denied. Failing those, there are the hundreds of homeless people who live in the tunnels and basements of the hospital and wander about at will, including one that is know simply as 'Pops' who was found wearing scrubs covered in human blood. As Alexandra sifts through one lead after another, she uncovers a lot more dirty secrets at Mid-Manhattan, secrets that someone will do anything to keep hidden...

Likely to Die is the second book in the Alexandra Cooper series (after Final Jeopardy) and I enjoyed it just as much. I love the way Fairstein accurately portrays the ins and outs of the judiciary system and police methods. Alexandra doesn't just drop everything to take on this case, she has many other cases that she is supervising and advising and it is interesting to follow her throughout her day as she preps witnesses and aids her fellow prosecutors. I also enjoyed the banter between Alexandra and Mike, especially their bets on the Jeopardy games. I really felt like I was reading a book about what it is like to work in the Sex Crimes Prosecution Unit in New York. I loved the author's attention to detail and clear, crisp writing style. Definitely an author that I will keep reading.

Rating:
Summary: Better than the first - Alex Cooper has possibilities
Review: Although I confess to having loved Fairstein's first book, "Final Jeopardy", I thought it was really a fluke. It was extremely well-written and thought out, but I didn't think that she could do it again.

Well, I'm happy to report that Fairstein has proved me wrong, in grand style. "Likely to Die" is the second book in her series featuring Alex Cooper, the head of the sex crimes unit of the New York City District Attorney's office. This entry in the series involves the rape and murder of a prominent doctor in a city hospital. Or was there a rape? As the investigation proceeds Cooper and her associate, New York City cop Mike Chapman, begin to wonder. To say any more would spoil the plot.

As the real-life head of that same unit, Fairstein knows her stuff, and also knows the city backwards and forwards. It's the little things that make this book so good - e.g., Alex wakes up to Don Imus and mentions Jim Ryan, the host of the morning news show on the local Fox station. There are one or two misses - she apparently doesn't take the subway too often - but overall she's right on target with her description of life in the greatest city in the world.

She also makes Cooper, Chapman, and Chapman's partner Mercer Wallace seem so real you believe they actually exist - and she keeps up the "Final Jeopardy" gimmick of Cooper & Chapman betting on the answer for each night's Final Jeopardy question. I'm still hoping that Cooper & Chapman become more than just friends and partners - the signs are all there - but I won't be unhappy if they don't.

Rating:
Summary: Better than the first - Alex Cooper has possibilities
Review: Although I confess to having loved Fairstein's first book, "Final Jeopardy", I thought it was really a fluke. It was extremely well-written and thought out, but I didn't think that she could do it again.

Well, I'm happy to report that Fairstein has proved me wrong, in grand style. "Likely to Die" is the second book in her series featuring Alex Cooper, the head of the sex crimes unit of the New York City District Attorney's office. This entry in the series involves the rape and murder of a prominent doctor in a city hospital. Or was there a rape? As the investigation proceeds Cooper and her associate, New York City cop Mike Chapman, begin to wonder. To say any more would spoil the plot.

As the real-life head of that same unit, Fairstein knows her stuff, and also knows the city backwards and forwards. It's the little things that make this book so good - e.g., Alex wakes up to Don Imus and mentions Jim Ryan, the host of the morning news show on the local Fox station. There are one or two misses - she apparently doesn't take the subway too often - but overall she's right on target with her description of life in the greatest city in the world.

She also makes Cooper, Chapman, and Chapman's partner Mercer Wallace seem so real you believe they actually exist - and she keeps up the "Final Jeopardy" gimmick of Cooper & Chapman betting on the answer for each night's Final Jeopardy question. I'm still hoping that Cooper & Chapman become more than just friends and partners - the signs are all there - but I won't be unhappy if they don't.

Rating:
Summary: Likely to Keep You Up All Night!
Review: Linda Fairstein's second foray into the world of New York Assistant DA Alex Cooper is even better than the first. Before you start it, though, lock yourself into a padded room, turn off the phones, the computer, the TV et al., send the kids off to grandma, and your significant other off to Zanzibar. Because, and yes it's been said before, you will NOT be able to put this one down.

The fast-paced story begins with the bloody murder of a brilliant neurosurgeon at a prestigious New York hospital. One of the few women in her field, Gemma Dogan has been a superstar all of her professional life. Her murder, occurring as it has within hospital walls and without apparent motive, becomes front-page news faster than you can say "perpetrator."

And who IS the perp? Alex has been called into the case because the victim was found in a state suggesting sexual assault, and Alex heads the sex-crimes unit. She and her sidekick, homicide cop Mike Chapman, along with their good bud Mercer (also a homicide cop) are stumped. The more clues they gather, the more clueless they become--nothing adds up. The reader is in the same boat. Unlike the majority of crime novels, "Likely to Die" does not give the reader a single possibility of who the murderer might be. This is absolutely NOT an "aha!" type of book!

When at last, through much detective work and personal danger, our team figures it all out, one of them is already in the hands of the murderer. And about to die.

I can say no more. But I can assure you that, unlike the tabloid press in the book, which suddenly bulges with witnesses who "knew it all along," the reader is in the dark from start to finish. This is one heck of a good novel. If you are looking for an intelligent, nonstop, well-written, spine-tingling mystery, give this one a try. it is well worth the eyestrain you'll get from reading all night long!

Rating:
Summary: I was hooked and then let down at the end
Review: This book had all the hopes of a great one. Feinstein is awesome at holding interest with all of the excellent behind the scenes action of the life of an assisstant DA. That is what I loved about the book. I thought Alex's stint in London was a bit too long and really didn't have much to do with the plot. But the ending is what got me. There was no surprise and not all of the loose ends were resolved. The book went from a 5 to a 3 in about 10 pages. I spent one whole morning reading the last 100 pages, couldn't put it down and then kicked myself for wasting all that time.
Hopefully, Feinstein has improved her endings in the series, otherwise I'm going to have to give her up.

Rating:
Summary: Drags on....
Review: This is an excellent mystery book!!! It all starts with a murder of a brain surgeon and professor, and digs into the poor security of the hospital and university organizations - this one will keep you up at night, especially if you are in the hospital!!!

The twists are believable and unpredictable! Great, great mystery!!! This is the first book I read from the author, however, I will surely look into her other books. A great read!

Rating:
Summary: Enjoyed the authentic detail
Review: This is one talented author, basing her stories on the work of an Assist DA, working on sex crimes in NYC, which, coincidentally, is her real life job, as well, she would be someone that I would love to meet and talk to, her enthusiasm for her work and the way that she communicates are wonderful, and I think that she has a great future writing books with Alexandra Cooper, her character.

Linda does it all so well, this story is tight, Alexandra is likeable, and there are added bits which make her a more rounded human being, she works horrendous hours, but she may have more than one case in her life at any one time, without which there can seem to be a one-sided-ness about the characters. I really enjoyed the authentic detail, and I would imagine that those little anecdotes that creep into the stories are probably some of the more tame day to day details that Ms F has had to deal with in her working life, but even so, they add to the feelings that you get about the job that she does, and that has got to be good for the books.

Rating:
Summary: very interesting book
Review: This is the second book of Fairstein that I have read. I really enjoyed the first one, which was a more current book. I can tell her skills are sharpening as she continues to write, and I hope she doesn't end up like so many female mystery writers do, and run out out of ideas and enthusiasm for her protagonist.

Since Fairstein is writing about what she knows, it helps significantly in making the 'cases' seem very real and very significant. I am usually a little relunctant to pick up books about sex crimes, I don't like to see them on television or movies. I know they happen, but it just makes me very uncomfortable. But, Fairstein doesn't need to dwell on that part of the crime...she states what happens and moves onto the solving of the crime as the main part of the book. I like that in a writer.

One thing that bugs me a bit in both these books, and in many female authors of this genre...is why do the supposedly intelligent women in these books place themselves in conditions that could be dangerous. Now to be fair, in the last book I read, there was no warning of what was going to happen. But this time, even before Cooper goes to the apartment alone, I'm saying in my head "Don't be stupid and go some place without your backups..." I mean come on, anyone with a somewhat intelligent brain would realize that going to the person's apartment (who was killed) on your own is asking for problems, especially when there is a good indication that the person responsible for the crime is getting nervous, and I would think there would be rules in any of the agencies involved in this type of work, that no one goes anywhere without a partner. It only makes sense to me.

Now Cooper does get herself out of her own mess, which a lot of lady protagonists do, but I always wonder, don't these ladies ever learn anything from their mistakes? I'd like to see her rather charming partner get into trouble by doing something stupid for a change.

Anyway, Fairstein is an enjoyable read, and I definitely plan on continuing to get her books.

Karen Sadler