Hell Gate

March 8, 2010
At the outset of bestseller Fairsteins winning 12th legal thriller featuring New York County ADA Alex Cooper (after "Lethal Legacy"), the bodies of human trafficking victims wash up on Rockaway Beach. At least one young woman appears to have been dead before she hit the frigid waters. Meanwhile, Ethan Leighton, a rising Manhattan congressman, has fled the scene of a car accident, possibly to avoid exposure of an extramarital affair and a love child. Leightons paramour, who calls 911 to report that Leighton has threatened her, later disappears amid signs of violence. Both cases attract the keen attention of Vin Statler, New Yorks ambitious post-Bloomberg mayor, who adds political pressure to the crime solving. Fairstein throws a City Council slush fund into the mix, but manages to resolve the various plot threads nicely. While the main criminals identity will surprise few, readers seeking a realistic depiction of law-enforcement work will be more than satisfied. "8-city author tour. (Mar.)" .

January 1, 2010
ADA Alexandra Cooper of Manhattan's Sex Crimes Office struggles to keep up with real-life New York scandal in her 12th not-entirely-ripped-from-the-headlines case.

When a Ukrainian vessel loaded with illegal immigrants, including 30 women earmarked for the lucrative American sex industry, goes aground within sight of its destination, Alex is among the first law-enforcement officials at the scene. Her heart moved for the thousandth time by the survivors' laboriously translated tales of brutal oppression, she is determined to spend every ounce of her energy, along with that of former U.S. Attorney Donovan Baynes' Joint Trafficking Task Force, in the quest to learn who ensured that at least one of the Jane Does didn't survive. But the city that never sleeps keeps supplying high-profile diversions. First Baynes' classmate Ethan Leighton, a congressman from the Upper West Side, is picked up for a DUI. Then his mistress, Mexican immigrant Salma Zunega, and their love child Ana go missing after she's repeatedly called 911 on him, then denied ever placing the calls for help. When Salma is next seen, she's been stabbed to death and tossed down a well on the grounds of Gracie Mansion. (You won't believe where Ana finally turns up.) Every politician in the city seems to be implicated, most of them inspired by unwilling tabloid hogs like Bernard Kerik, Eliot Spitzer and John Edwards. Even as she rehashes recent juicy scandals, Fairstein dishes out a steady stream of tourist-grade background info on Archibald Gracie and the mansion he built. But all this historical exposition, which often threatens to sink Alex's cases (Lethal Legacy, 2009, etc.), becomes surprisingly relevant when a rose-shaped tattoo links high crimes and low, and Alex realizes that her distinguished colleagues are actually suspects.

Thrills, gossip, sex, history, self-righteous indignation and hints of parallels to the contemporary rich and famous, all whipped to a fine frenzy. Fairstein's most potent cocktail since Entombed (2005).

(COPYRIGHT (2010) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

February 1, 2010
Assistant D.A. Alexandra Cooper and colleagues Mike Chapman and Mercer Wallace are called to a disaster scene: the shipwreck of a cargo ship transporting more than 300 Ukrainian immigrants. The task force works to identify the dead, secure translators, and make sense of the tragedy. Their investigation uncovers human trafficking/prostitution with possible ties to New York. Alex and her associates are then pulled away to check into scandalous allegations regarding a popular New York congressman. When unearthed clues link the two cases, things get dangerous. Does Alex know too much? Is this the case that leads to her demise? VERDICT The 12th entry in Fairstein's Alexandra Cooper series grabs readers at page one and doesn't let go until the breathtaking climax. Fairstein mixes intrigue, political corruption, and international exploitation with just the right amount of New York history: a perfect recipe for a winning thriller. [See Prepub Alert, "LJ" 11/1/09.]Mary Todd Chesnut, Northern Kentucky Univ. Lib., Highland Heights

Copyright 2010 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 15, 2009
What do a boatload of illegal immigrants, a congressman, and the body of young woman who has been stabbed in the chest have in common? Not quite what you think. And thats part of the beauty of Fairsteins latest, which takes a fairly routine bunch of crime-fiction elements and twists them into something unexpected. As usual, readers get a taste of the city along with its political wrangling as Fairstein invests her plot with dollops of her beloved Big Apples architecture and history. This time its a trio of Federalist mansions, including Gracie Mansion (the official mayoral residence) that take center stage, with their background judiciously but intriguingly limned as each one plays into the story. Providing legal expertise is prosecutor Alexandra Cooper, who works hard to maintain the integrity of her office while maneuvering around New Yorks most powerful politicos. On hand, as usual, is her sidekick-partner, the smart, argumentative cop Mike Chapman, whose teasing keeps the counselor on her toes and occasionally off balance. While Fairstein keeps lots of balls in the air here, she juggles them with aplomb. Her devoted fans will be pleased.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)