Likely to Die (1997)

I think that the audio cassette that I listened to was abridged - it was only 2 cassettes long.

I sure like this series. There's suspense, there's humor, there's a story that doesn't require you to leave your brain at the door. ( )

Maybe it was because it’s been almost 5 years since I read a book in this series, but I was not impressed. If this book had been edited to eliminate everything that had nothing to do with the plot, it could have been half its size. Fairstein gets way too long-winded about the intricacies of sexual crimes and the prosecuting of them, including a section about how grand juries work, and at some point you have to trust your audience to either be familiar with the elements of crime fiction or to look up what they don’t understand. There are OODLES of crime books that don’t go into this level of detail.

Beyond that, there just wasn’t anything particularly interesting about the mystery, except maybe the sorry state of New York hospitals. We’re never given a chance to connect and sympathize with the victim, because she was basically portrayed as a bitch at every turn. All in all, it was rather boring. I do enjoy the character of Mike Chapman, and sometimes I’d rather the novel followed him around than Alex. That’s a big fail.

I’m sure I’ll read more in this series because I’ve already read some of the later books and enjoyed them more. Fairstein worked out some of her kinks. But I’m sure glad I’m done with the early books. ( )

ALEXANDRA COOPER

(review based on reread)
Likely to Die is the second Alexandra Cooper book. The story picks up six months after the first book, Final Jeopardy. All of the familiar cast of characters return. The main case in this novel is the murder of a prominent neurosurgeon, Gemma Dogen at a major New York City hospital. As always, Alexandra is busy with many cases at the same time; it's the reality of an ADA. It's wonderful and refreshing to see these characters grow across each book. I first read Likely to Die six years ago, and although I remembered some things about this case, I was once again surprised by the mystery. It's turning out to be a blessing I read these novels in a only a few days. Over the years, I forget what happens, and I can relive these adventures over and over again.

As always, I recommend starting with the first book in the series, Final Jeopardy, and reading them in order. ( )

I liked this one, though I'm already beginning to see signs of 'samey' where Coop goes after the perp and nearly gets killed in the process. Guess it has a lot to do with crime writers being, by necessity, somewhat formulaic.

As always though, love Mike and Alex. Mercer and Loo are cool and LF manages to explain the necessary details without bogging us down in them. And I like how she tied Coop's 35th b-day back into the house at the vineyard, good continuity. ( )