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: 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: The most fantastic book I've read in years!
Review: Alex Cooper's daily routine day made me exhausted as she walked me through the Criminal Justice system, made me understand what Alex's job entailed that left no questions in my mind---- except who did it! I found that out at the very end of the book, totally surprised that all of my guesses were so far off the mark of "who dunnit". If this is Linda's second novel, I can't wait to see what her next will be. Ms. Fairstein is a must read, and Alexandra Cooper is one smart attorney that I want only on my side of the law!
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: Another Good Mystery.
Review: Although I enjoyed this book, I found that the previous work (Final Jeopardy) was a much better book. After finishing the book, I felt that something was missing from the ending. I do enjoy how the author writing places you in the story. I also agree that this is a complicated mystery and one has to enjoy reading in depth books to enjoy this book.
Rating:
Summary: this book doesn't live up to it's potential
Review: Although this book had many of the essential ingredients for an exciting thriller, including an obviously knowledgeable author and an interesting storyline, the plot was weak and the reader is bombarded with many useless and tedious facts. The going was slow at first, but the book had some interesting portions (I liked the references to other cases and the fact that the murderer's identity was a surprise until the end). The book was worth reading, but not the page-turner that I had hoped for.
Rating:
Summary: Sophmore Slump
Review: As disposable fiction goes "Likely to Die" is entertaining enough, but not as successful as Fairstein's first mystery, "Final Jeopardy." The culprit this time around is no surprise, nor is his/her reason for having commited the murder in the first place. The letdown of the ending doesn't quite justify the book's length, which is padded with too many scenes of Alexandra Cooper (the feisty prosecutor heroine) lecturing -- and I do mean lecturing -- at various posh affairs about the prevelance of sexual crime in our times. Not an unimportant message, but not one that we need to hear over and over. Still, Fairstein writes relatively well, and the book is never boring. I just wish it had had the type of surprise ending that her first book had. After all, isn't that why we read mysteries in the first place?
Rating:
Summary: In the footsteps of such greats as Nancy Taylor Rosenberg
Review: Ever since her involvement in the murder investigation of her friend, actress Isabella Lascar (see FINAL JEOPARDY), Alexandra Cooper, Director of the District Attorney's Sex Crime Unit in Manhattan, has coasted through her job. Her de facto vacation ends when the type o case she specializes in occurs. She is named head of the investigation. The case revolves around the brutal death and subsequent sexual assault of renown mid-Manhattan Medical Center Dr. Gemma Dogen, who was butchered in her office without anyone hearing anything.
...... At first the investigation focuses on an outsider, a psychic lunatic, who has access to the hospital. The psychiatric hospital, teaching college, and the hospital are all connected by underground tunnels, a place where many of the city's homeless reside. It would be every easy for one of these vagabonds to enter the hospital and many do since security is shoddy. However, even when it seems that one of the displaced people might be the perpetrator, the strict code of conduct enforced by the victim earned her many enemies, who might have enjoyed killing the intractable doctor.
...... Since the author shares the same profession as her multi-dimensional female protagonist, readers witness the drama behind a major murder investigation. It is a dark, bleak world (not a glittery media hyped environs) that law officials travel as they deal with humanoid monsters and wasted husks. LIKELY TO DIE is a fantastic police procedural that highlights the despair that clings to field workers long after they leave. The novel carries the warning: enter the world of the bleak if you can travel in the Twilight Zone AKA the American legal system. Linda Fairstein has the magic that Nancy Taylor Rosenberg imbues in her works. This novel has New York Times bestseller list written all over it.
......Harriet Klausner
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