What do You think about Likely To Die (1998)?
Heavy on the details of a prosecutor's daily responsibilities and variety of cases, this book took a while to get started--and, truthfully, some of the less-than-believable dialogue is a clear indicator that this is an early book in the series (I note this in the hope that they get better). Still, the fast-moving action ended up making this a nice diversion, and a fast read. There's a good balance of legal work and police work, and while Fairstein goes a bit overboard with legal details, over-explaining matters and laws in various instances, the book as a whole is an engaging read. It is heavier on mystery and detail than on suspense, so readers looking for a thrill might better look elsewhere. On a last note, Alex Cooper veers a bit too much between being a capable and intelligent woman, and a damsel in distress with rather stereotypical reactions--I'm hoping later books in the series straighten out this flaw and do a little more showing versus telling, but we'll see. One way or another, there was enough here to lead me to look into a later book in the series and see how things develop.
—Jennifer Lauren Collins
This is one I picked up at a library book sale. I think it caught my attention because there was a more recent book by the same author that really looked great (The Bone Vault), but was hardcover and was clearly a part of a series. So, seeing this one for 25¢, I figured, why not? Definitely worth the quarter, even if it turned out to be the second in the series. I really liked Alex Cooper, New York prosecutor extraordinaire, as well as her cohorts in investigation (Chapman and Mercer and all the rest). It was kind of scary, because the crime really felt like it could be real—in fact, in the acknowledgements, the author says the events in the book were taken from headlines (and she herself is a prosecutor). I look forward to reading more books by her.
—Robin
Any book that has a mini-side plot involving the main characters' love for the show 'Jeopardy' is a winner in my eyes.As for the meat of the book, I found it to be very well-written. A great deal of it dealt with the legal system as a whole. Despite not being focused on the main case at all times, actually made it feel more realistic because professionals are often juggling multiple things at once and books often make it seem like one 'situation' puts all other work on hold. Cooper, the main character was very well-developed as was the victim. Cooper's coworkers and friends were developed adequately to keep everyone straight. What wasn't as well developed was the suspect pool. I finished the last 150 pages (of 400+) in one sitting, and when I started for the day, I didn't have a clue who to suspect except the lone person they looked at to that point. Over that last segment, the pool did develop enough to provide a climax and resolution, but in the end, some loose ends were never tied up.I would like to read other books by this author, as there was one before this, and I believe it was referenced often in this book. Those loose ends might either be unraveled more, or wrapped up in future installments of this series.
—Kristin
