Rating: Summary: Cooper and Chapman dance well together. I give it an 80! Review: Alexandra Cooper and Mike Chapman. D.A. and Detective, great friends, working pals out for one common goal: to find the killer of beautiful actress. The suspense mounts as one clue leads you to another. The only question I kept asking myself was "Who did it?" Each person I believed had a motive to kill Isabella proved absolutely wrong. After a night of grueling questioning and witnesses to identify the Perp on another case, the Con-Ed rapist, upon Alex's departure of the precinct did you find out who the actual killer of Iz really was! Trust me when I tell you, you'll be totally surprised. I was as wide-eyed and panic stricken as Alex Cooper was! I can't wait to see this come out in movie form! As Grisham is for the defense, so is Fairstein for the Prosecution. You won't be able to put this down! I also suggest reading her book "Likely to Die"--another page turner! Keep up the great work, Linda!
Rating: Summary: Can I make it a true Daily Double? Review: Being a big Jeopardy fan, I loved the fact that there were some Final Jeopardy questions thrown in. :-) Wonder if Alexandra is named for Alex Trebek? Will Jeopardy be a constant theme in all her books? Alex Cooper is a nice character. Wouldn't mind meeting her. Why wouldn't she date that detective though? I'm not sure that was ever clear to me. I mean, after she broke up with her boyfriend, that is. The plot twist at the end was great. Did not see that one coming at all. But I guess I still don't like the boyfriend for what he did. The scumbag! Cooper deserved better. Yes, this is nitpicky, but she claims to be an English major from Wellesley, and yet calls the Alumnae Association the Alumni Association??? Yikes! It's Alumnae because Wellesley is all women! Well, other than that, I mostly enjoyed the book.
Rating: Summary: Can I make it a true Daily Double? Review: Being a big Jeopardy fan, I loved the fact that there were some Final Jeopardy questions thrown in. :-) Wonder if Alexandra is named for Alex Trebek? Will Jeopardy be a constant theme in all her books? Alex Cooper is a nice character. Wouldn't mind meeting her. Why wouldn't she date that detective though? I'm not sure that was ever clear to me. I mean, after she broke up with her boyfriend, that is. The plot twist at the end was great. Did not see that one coming at all. But I guess I still don't like the boyfriend for what he did. The scumbag! Cooper deserved better. Yes, this is nitpicky, but she claims to be an English major from Wellesley, and yet calls the Alumnae Association the Alumni Association??? Yikes! It's Alumnae because Wellesley is all women! Well, other than that, I mostly enjoyed the book.
Rating: Summary: Decided to go back and read the first one... Review: Even though most mystery writers give a little past history in the first few pages of their new books, the information I kept getting in the next three books of Fairstein's novels about an ADA who works in sex crimes division on behalf of the victims...well it wasn't enough, and I felt I needed more knowledge obviously given in the first book in order to tie the series into a whole. For Fairstein's first book she did an admirable job. This area of criminology tends to scare me off...and there are some writers of mysteries who write about children and abuse, and I just out refuse to read them. Fairstein handles this area with great delicacy...she doesn't make the readers go through every traumatic incident. If she did, I would never have made it this far in the series. I especially like the characterization of Fairstein. The plot is important but way too often do writers forget to fill out their characters and make them three-dimensional. This is not a problem here. As a real ADA Fairstein has dealt with the good, the bad, and the ugly, and she is able to give the readers a real 'feel' for the person she is talking about. The ridiculous betting done between Cooper and her cop friend Mike over the final question in Jeopardy is a hoot, and a realistic trait that I sure someone does somewhere. The title can be seen to have more then one meaning because of this/ Other reviewers have given a bit about the plot line so I won't do it. One thing, if this is Fairstein's first book, she definitely gets better as she goes along. Very enjoyable series. Karen Sadler
Rating: Summary: If you like Kathy Reichs, you'll Love this book Review: Great insights into the legal and crime world... Obvious from the author's background... I won't give the plot away but it was a BIT too predictable. All in all, a great page turner for a rainy week-end. The reviewer, JR Geoffrion (JR@Geoffrion.com), earned his MBA from York University and completed the Wharton School Multi-National Marketing and Management Program. He also holds a Engineering degree from the University of Toronto.
Rating: Summary: OK first effort Review: I bought and read this book under the premise that an expert in the field of legal crime was taking a step to bring her accumen to the world of fiction. I was somewhat disappointed. The main plot itself is mundane and cliched. The sidetrips into other cases are interesting to a point but not eye-opening like a Patricia Cornwell. The supporting cast needs fleshing out. Beyond Chapman, the cop sidekick, you never really get a feel for the other folks; to the point that you need to review occasionally to differentiate between a friend and a secretary. I'm interested enough to take a look at her two other novels, but I can't heartily endorse her work based on this first effort.
Rating: Summary: Highly Enjoyable Mysteries Review: I enjoyed this book enormously. It is well written, although tends to get weighed down in detail at some points and I have to admit to skimming some paragraphs. Overall, I really enjoyed this story and wasted no time at all in picking up the next one (Likely to Die). If you like well written mysteries, which keep you guessing, then give this one a try. Linda Fairstein is obviously a very talented woman, in and out of the courtroom and I applaud her and the work that she does. I also admire that fact that she is now writing novels using her extensive knowledge of the system. It is good to see what really goes into procecuting sex crime cases. Final Jeapordy, Likely To Die & Cold Hit are all very entertaining and well written novels. I thoroughly enjoyed each of them and am eagerly awaiting another one from Linda Fairstein.
Rating: Summary: A perfect read for those who find themselves "Post-Cornwall" Review: I finished up Patricia Cornwall's series and then moved on to Linda Fairstein. It was a perfect transition! The witty dialog between Cooper and Chapman is top-notch, and anyone who is a fan of the well-known TV show can immediately dive right on in. It is my only hope that Linda Fairstein will continue to write more!
Rating: Summary: This is a must see for anyone who loves mysteries. Review: I like the dialogue in this thriller, the phrase are censor but it would be said by anyone that will encounter with its situation. That makes it more realistic. It puts the reader in action and don't know what to expect next.
Rating: Summary: Just a plain ol' good legal thriller Review: I listened to this as a book on tape - more on that aspect at the end.
Fairstein has written a solid legal thriller. The characters are solid and interesting but not over-developed. The plot is quick, but not barebones. Some of the characters are quirky, but not too quirky. The bad guy is bad but not an over-the-top monster. Fairstein has done a good job of creating her character's world so that it can be explored at greater depth in subsequent books.
The reader of the book on tape, Diane Venora, did an excellent job of creating different pacings and tones and accents for each of the characters. However, in the production room something must have been off because there was so much bass that I had to completely turn it off on my car stereo - it made things so deep that it hurt to listen to it.
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