Devil’s Bridge: An Alexandra Cooper Novel #17 by Linda Fairstein

Devil’s Bridge: An Alexandra Cooper Novel #17. Linda Fairstein. Penguin Group (USA). August 2015. 384 pp.  ISBN#: 9780147538932.

Alexandra Cooper’s job isn’t pretty but it’s all about justice.  She’s the chief prosecutor of the Manhattan Sex Crimes Unit and has made more enemies than she can count on both hands.  So no big shock when she’s called into the scene of a murder of a pimp, a creep who was so passed out from booze that he probably never knew that the gal who clambered over him was just aiming for a guaranteed hit!

Mike Chapman, one of Alexandra’s peers, quickly becomes involved in finding the murderer.  A series of events will quickly connect a very well-known Reverend to not only the murderer but also many other connected crimes.  The problem is the so-called “Reverend” is connected to just about every high politician and their family members in New York City.  So the job is clear but where it will end up and through how many mazes before they get there is for the reader to discover.

The plot becomes rivetingly more intense when Alexandra disappears. Since she and Mike have recently become a “couple,” everyone seems to think he knows precisely where she’s gone.  More deaths will follow and the investigators will have to ramp up their skills to capture the elusive killer, who is not who the reader thinks committed the brutal kills.

There’s a story behind the term “Devil’s Bridge,” a story obviously connected to the practice of evil, a connection all too real and too well-known, a fact of life that grossly tarnishes what is otherwise a remarkably lovely view along the Manhattan waterfront.

Devil’s Bridge… is fine crime fiction with just the right amount of tension, tenderness and humor.  Finely crafted, Linda Fairstein!

Terminal City: A Novel by Linda Fairstein

Terminal City: A Novel.  Linda Fairstein. Dutton Adult. June 2014. 384 pp. pbk. ISBN #: 9780525953884.

Assistant District Attorney Alex Cooper is called to the scene of another horrific murder.  This time the victim is a young woman who was obviously raped and knifed by a vicious killer.  One odd piece of evidence remains; a carving on the woman’s body that looks like a precisely carved ladder.  Add to this that the murder took place in the famous Waldorf Astoria, the notable hotel in which the President of the United States is to be a resident in a few days. 

Hundreds of videos need to be screened, dozens and dozens need to be interviewed, and of course relatives need to be notified.  Mercer and Mike are among others required to find the killer before POTUS arrives in three days.

Meanwhile, what seemed to be a unique crime is followed by other murders, each with the singular carving of what appears to be a ladder. A few days later while searching for anyone who would have seen someone carrying a large case into the hotel, the mystery becomes more complex.  An underground city exists with residents who are homeless but who feel safe in this putrid, filthy place with its caves and rules and regulations.

So the search continues. A mystery also concerns Mike who had taken a three month leave of absence and is now lying to Coop (Alex Cooper) for her own safety, supposedly. She’s not quite buying it!

Terminal City: A Novel is a fast-moving, intriguing criminal mystery that will satisfy readers who like this genre as well as new readers.  Linda Fairstein knows how to pace the tension and clues, while adding many funny moments to deflect the horror of the crimes that rear their heads during the investigation.  Nicely done, Linda Fairstein! 

Death Angel by Linda Fairstein

Death Angel.  Linda Fairstein. Penguin Group (USA). July 2013. 384 pp. hbk. ISBN #: 9780525953876.

A young girl is found murdered in Central Park near a famous statue called, “Angel of the Waters.”  The reader slowly begins to realize how huge this park is and more amazing is that the entire nineteen acres of the park was totally planned and man-made, paid for private donors who valued this as a spot of beauty and culture that would become famous world-wide.  It’s a favorite spot for both local residents, people from out of state and tourists from around the world.  But now it’s become a place of death for more than one young woman, and the “Angel of Death” is tied to an ancient Seneca tribe that lived here before it became Central Park.  That connection is what begins to lead to the actual murderer after a long, hard, complicated journey for Alexandra (“Coop”) Cooper and her colleagues, Mercer Wallace and Mike Chapman.

Two sub-plot threads are just as engaging, one involved a psycho Judge who believes Coop has stolen Mike Chapman from her romantic interests.  The Judge is willing to ruin Coop’s career and threatens her and Mike.  It’s fascinating that rumor has it Coop and Mike have been lovers and yet that has never been even an inkling – until now the idea begins to creep up as a minute possibility.  Coop, however, is no wimp and takes on the Judge in a style that will make readers roar with laughter and raised fists!

The other sub-plot concerns a disappearing child of a very famous New York family, the grief it left behind, the secret theories about that disappearance and the unraveling of the mystery of the kidnapper who created a memorable tragedy that no other human ever knew was the final outcome.

Linda Fairstein crafts a spot-on, dynamic, step-by-step, clue by clue mystery or criminal investigation that keeps the reader absolutely riveted on every page, never lagging and never doubting that the savvy characters, despite their deepest flaws, will get the job done.  It’s a tough job as can be realized through this reading but one whose sacrifices are all the more noble, as well as difficult, because of the costs that lead to safe, secure outcomes.  Very, very nicely done, Linda Fairstein and highly recommended.