Book Review: Likely to Die

Reviewed By: Carl Brookins - RAM

Likely to Die     Amazon US PB Amazon Canada PB
Linda Fairstein
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Police Procedural   Hard Boiled
Series: Alexandra Cooper # 2
1997, Pocket Books, 418 pp.

In spite of the publisher's name, this is not a book you can stuff in your pocket. This is also not a book you want to read while considering a trip to the hospital for surgery, or almost any other kind of procedure that might require an overnight stay, although it's long enough to keep you occupied, even through a lengthy recovery.

Linda Fairstein brings her considerable talent as a writer to an unusual story of high crimes and maneuvers inside the medical profession. Intensely driven Gemma Dogen, a top neurosurgeon with an international reputation, is found murdered in her blood-spattered New York hospital office. There are indications of sexual assault on the victim. That's enough to bring in an assistant district attorney for the City of New York, Alexandra Cooper. Cooper specializes in sex crimes, as does the author in real life. That's an important fact to know about Linda Fairstein.

Because of the high profile of the victim, the case quickly becomes important for the media, thus complicating the fictional D.A.'s job. Author Fairstein's background gives her the real-life foundation to create the hard-edged, nasty realities of big-city police work. Especially telling are the scenes of political and investigatory infighting between the police and the prosecutor's office. The human relationships are well-developed and the dialogue is crisp and real. The solution is well-handled, and in a further nod to reality, notes in the opening line of the acknowledgments, that every crime in the book--and there are a lot of them--is based on true life.

Carl Brookins - RAM

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Carl Brookins - RAM

Please visit Carl's website at http://www.carlbrookins.com/