I have enjoyed all Alex Cooper books.
I felt like I was in a never-ending Law and Order show. this book did not get suspenseful until about 250 pages into it. Too much description. To me it was a laboring process to get through it, just glad it is over.
It's August in New York, and the only thing that's hotter than the pavement is Manhattan D.A. Alex Cooper's professional and personal life. Just as she's claiming an especially gratifying victory in a rape case, she gets the call: the body of a young woman has been found in an abandoned building. The brutality of the murder is disturbing enough, but when a second body, beaten and disposed of in exactly same manner, is found off the Belt Parkway, the city's top brass want the killer found fast, before the tabloids can start churning out ghoulish serial killer headlines.
Between dodging the bullets of the gang members who are infuriated by Alex's most recent courtroom victory and keeping a rendezvous with a charming restaurateur, a serial killer on the loose is the last thing she needs on her plate right now. Then a third victim is found, and it becomes clear to Alex and her team that time is not on their side.
Through Alex's peerless interrogation skillsâ"and one big breakâ"the search becomes focused on someone who has a twisted obsession with the military, and things grow increasingly dangerous when the chase leads to a chain of small, abandoned islands around New York harbor.
Once again Linda Fairstein brilliantly orchestrates a page-turning mix of cutting-edge legal issues and forensics, New York City history, and spine-tingling suspense. And at the center of it all is Alex Cooperâ"stunning, single-minded, accomplished, and not to be trifled with whether she's in or out of a courtroom.
Another great book by Linda Fairstein. I love the camaraderie between Alex, Mike and Mercer. They really work as a team which is why IMHO they solve so many cases. In real police work, each and every cop (detective/boss whatever) is looking to stroke their own ego and toot their own horn. This makes them hold info back from the rest of the team and puts themselves in the spotlight. In real life, it doesn't seem to be about the crime but more a personal aim to advance their careers.
There are several things going on in this one. Alex is in court trying a rapist case; Alex has a love interest; and all three are involved in the serial rapist case. The serial rapist in this mystery is particularly brutal and devious. He's a diabolical creep but he's careful, leaves no clues and provides some interesting misdirection. There is a lot of military talk as military bases are somehow involved in the mystery as well as military supplies. I found this to be distracting from the mystery itself but necessary in the long run.
Those who want their heroines tough, strong, and super intelligent know they've found her in Alex Cooper. She's a D.A. in Manhattan and as we meet her again in the tenth offering by Linda Fairstein, she's enjoying victory. It was a tough rape case but Alex won it (and incurred the animus of Latin Princes gang members along the way).
Nonetheless, her winning feeling is soon lost as she is notified that the body of a young woman has been found in an abandoned building. Now, author Fairstein knows this territory well as she once headed the Sex Crimes Unit of the District Attorney's Office, and she minces no words.
After viewing the victim, Alex is offered a cigar by Mike, a detective with the Manhattan North Homicide Squad. Despite the oppressive August heat he puffs on a stogie and encourages her to take one with this advice, ""The stench from that corpse is going to stay in your brain for weeks unless you infuse it right away with something more powerful. Why do you think I've always got a couple of these in my pocket?"
As stated, Alex is tough and while she may be able to get over the sickening smell of death, what she cannot get over is another beaten woman's body found and then a third.
Being directed to catch the killer before the city is deadened by fear is one thing, trying to stay alive when those gang members want revenge is quite another.
Since the introduction of Alex Cooper in 1996 Ms. Fairstein has turned out nine additional thrillers, each more exciting than the last. Tony Award winner Blair Brown gives another sterling performance in her narration of this spine-tingling novel.
During the heat of summer, Alex, Mike, and Mercer try to find a serial killer who is leaving bodies all over New York. As a hurricane makes landfall, they race to try to find his next victim before it is too late.
Killer Heat is the 10th book in the Alex Cooper series by Linda Fairstein. Killer Heat is another great addition to this series.
