Double entendre is a skill that Linda Fairstein excels in her Alexandra Cooper Series. Here in the 6th installment, THE KILLS, the title refers to the name that NYC homicide detectives commonly call murders and The Kills are a warren of tributaries between the small islands off the toe of Manhattan Island. Prosecutor Alex Cooper isn’t thrilled with the way her date rape case begins. “Murder. You should have charged the defendant with murder.” “He didn’t kill anyone, Your Honor.” Not yet. Not that I could prove.“Juries like murder, Ms Cooper. You should know that better than I do.” Harlan Moffett read the indictment a second time as court officers herded sixty prospective jurors into the small courtroom. But her job in the Sex Crime Unit is never easy. And this case is particularly difficult. There are more lawyers involved than witnesses on her list to call. The defendant stands accused of brutally raping 36 year-old Paige Vallis in front of his 10 year old son whom she hasn’t been able to interview. And the judge is predisposed to dismiss the rape case, while leaving the lesser charges of child abuse and endangering a child to stand. After all, the victim stayed succumbing to the charming Andrew Tripping, didn’t she? Meanwhile, Mike Chapman responds to a call in Harlem – an octogenarian has been murdered in her apartment, posed seductively in death. She is MacQueen Randsome, a Harlem Renaissance dancer who was also the mistress of Farouk, the King of Egypt during the height of her fame and beauty. The two cases collide in a strange way and become a very intricate case for Alex and her two detective friends, Wallace Mercer and Mike Chapman, especially after one of Cooper’s main witnesses is killed. Fairstein skillfully moves the reader through a warren of subplots as the kills move among the islands of New York Sound: the too cozy relationship of Tripping, his defense attorney, and his son’s Guardian Ad Litem, mercenaries, assumed identities, stolen Egyptian treasures, stalkers, a boy’s jacket, and a hurricane. Linda Fairstein fans like me will enjoy this twisting tale to the very last word.
THIS SUMMARY/REVIEW WAS COPIED FROM OTHER SOURCES AND IS USED ONLY AS A REMINDER OF WHAT THE BOOK WAS ABOUT FOR MY PERSONAL INTEREST. ANY PERSONAL NOTATIONS ARE FOR MY RECOLLECTION ONLYI so so agree w/this;The Alex Cooper books will never set the world on fire. If you want gritty, real life crime stories then look somewhere else. These are all set in places like museums, art galleries. This one involves rare coins.It was OK, I found myself asking why I was reading these books when I got to the end. I swear I will scream if she has to re-tell the story about her old fiance one more time (yes I realise not everyone has read all of the books so she has to re-cap, but even patrica cornwell can dress things up differently when she does it).I guess I'm still reading these in the hope that Alex and Mike will finally give in and jump into bed together - but that will probably never happen*****************Alex Cooper is prosecuting a classic rape case ("he said..she said"), complicated by the presence of the accused rapist's son at the home at the time of the "alleged" rape. The incarceration of the accused causes a child welfare problem as the young boy's mother is deceased, and his grandmother who was his primary care provider had recently died. Alex wants the accused held without bail but it isn't happening. The judge appears to participate in ex-parte communications with the defense attorney, and doesn't appear to have a problem with the complex responsibilities for the child divided among a foster family, the attorney for the child protective system, the psychologist appointed to oversee the welfare of the child, and the attorney for the hospital employing the psychologist. Oh, an another attorney appears on the scene as a "guardian ad litem"With so many conflicting currents, the victim seems diminished in the struggles, and when she dies under suspicious circumstances it is not a great surprise. Between the start of this court case and the death of the accuser, Mercer Wallace learns of another death, that of an aging black dance with an international reputation, which appears to be a murder with sexual overtones. (less)
What do You think about The Kills (2005)?
Linda Fairstein, no doubt, has the ability to write with authority about New York's upper echelon. But her novels really shine for me when she ditches the "Dynasty" settings of billionaires and tells the horror of urban life for average folks. That setting brings out a stark and gritty reality that she captures with flair -- dark and brutal without being melodramatic or fake. This is my sixth or seventh novel of hers, and my favorite. There are things I could poke (every novel has something one could criticize), but I won't. This was, simply, a fictional 150-mile-an-hour ride exploring two interesting cases that left me with a wonderful feeling of gratitude that I'd bought this book for a snowy evening with cocoa and a great novel.
—Darren L.
Different from the others... we finally see Alex in the courtroom. Interesting that she basically gets her head handed to her, but it's clearly presented as ' this is the system we have,' no sympathy requested. Good history lesson, but the repetition of relationships and history gets old. That could be my fault for basically reading them all at once, so I'll own a grain of it...but only a grain! I will finish these, I can't walk away. They are decent stories, but unless you're a murder mystery junkie, don't start. They're adequate, not brilliant.
—Sue
Linda Fairstein's thriller novel 'The Kills' is the sixth novel in the Alex Cooper series and examines the connections between several murders in hopes of finding a culprit. The story, in my opinion was absolutely fantastic for its originality but also the likeable and readily accessible nature of Fairstein's characters.She develops a storyline that intricately ties several cases into one and involves many unexpected twists, to which I had thoroughly enjoyed. I recommend to anyone who is a fan of crime and thriller novels to explore Fairstein's novels from her Alex Cooper series!
—Moc Nguyen
