Linda Fairstein

I've seen Fairstein's stuff on bookstore shelves for years, and for some reason brushed her off as one of those popular crime novelists I don't have time for (as opposed to the large stable of popular crime novelists I DO have time for). So a couple weeks ago, I saw a CBS Sunday Morning segment featuring her, and was intrigued enough to search out her first Alexandra Cooper novel from the library, and now I have to read THIS series. Cooper, like the author herself, is a Manhattan Assistant show more District Attorney (well, Fairstein "retired" to write full time a good many years ago, now) working in the Sex Crimes Unit. This may be what put me off in the first place---not wanting to immerse myself in the ugly world of sexual violence. But there was really very little of that in this one, as we follow the investigation into a murder of a woman initially thought to be Cooper. Was she actually the intended victim, or was the actress borrowing her car and her getaway cottage really the target of the shooter? I clicked with Fairstein's style, the character of Cooper (she's a very believeable combination of tough broad and damsel in distress), and the camaraderie between Cooper and her long-time friend Mike Chapman, who is an NYPD detective assigned to her office (they challenge each other with wagers on the Final Jeopardy clue on a regular basis). Besides Chapman, Cooper has several good friends; she isn't a loner, and her support system is solid. I really like the set-up here. So if Fairstein can avoid a few pitfalls (like putting her fictional self in true jeopardy too often, or going for the sensational when the substantial is what I want), I'll follow her adventures.
Reviewed in 2017 show less

This series has always been a comfort read for me. Alex is a grown-up Nancy Drew and because they're so formulaic, I always know what to expect and Alex has a charmed life (well aside from the occasional murdered friend) that is fun to peek in on. One aspect I do like is the NYC history info that is peppered throughout. This time though, it was info-dump overload! Restaurant regulation info. The Paris Catacombs. French drug-running. African art. Wine buying. 21's secret rooms. Wine storage. show more Ugh! It was too much. Way too much. And please find Alex's spine, Ms. Fairstein. I think she lost it. Maybe it's at the Vineyard or maybe in France or maybe even in the drawer of pantyhose and deodorant in her office, but wherever it is, please give it back to her. If she wasn't a stunned puppy she was blubbering or being confused and snippy. She was hysterical most of the time. Or horny. Or both. Oy. Way too much scenery, backstory and info and way too little crime and investigation.

I appreciated the rape case angle and usually those are secondary plot lines, but this time that case was way more interesting than what was going on with Luc. Who is a jerk, btw. He hasn't had as much screen time prior to this novel so both we readers and Alex got to know his less romantic side and it ain't pretty. I didn't like him much before and now it's even less. There is only one book left in the series unread for me and if it isn't an improvement, I'm afraid it will be my last.

A funny aside...I use a wine storage facility in CT with an eeriliy similar name to the one in the book. Unless a reader is a customer, they wouldn't catch it, but I did. Interesting name change and a bit too close for comfort I think. show less

I don’t understand why Alex is involved in this case at all. It seems that the author wanted to write a more niche type of book when she created Alex as a sex-crimes prosecutor, but quickly bored of that and wants to turn Alex into a homicide prosecutor instead. The thread linking this murder to a rape case is so slim that it merits only a single mention. After that it’s just headlong action, piecing together of clues, bonding, romance and a bit of girl talk. Not a bad book, but that show more aspect is irritating. I would like it if Fairstein returned to the sex-crime angle. I know that my emotion ratchets up when she paints those scenes of Alex arguing her case with some backwards, misogynist fool. I feel for her more then than when she is a common-place homicide prosecutor.

But homicide is what we have and it’s set in a very interesting locale; New York’s underground. A whole mesmerizing and dangerous city in itself, Fairstein does a very good job portraying the atmosphere; dark, closed-in, damp, running with water and highly dangerous. Not just the physicality of the place, but the people who inhabit that world. A group called the sandhogs built virtually all of the infrastructure below ground. For generations, these dangerous jobs are almost handed down from father to son. Families are proud of this vocation and guard against outsiders who just don’t understand the calling. Women underground are verboten and blood feuds span the generations.

Basically, that’s what the title refers to, although there is a side meaning as well. Two families, the Quillians and the Hasetts are bitter enemies over some death that was supposed to be the fault of a rival family member. Who knows if it’s really true, but someone wanted to get to Brendan Quillian to take revenge. Since Brendan eluded the call of the underground, they have to use less direct methods. The other meaning of Bad Blood is that some trace evidence found pointed to one sibling, but it was because of a bone marrow donation from another sibling that threw out the bad blood identification. I still don’t really buy the science that explained that, but as a device it was at least new.

The interpersonal relationships and the vignettes showing them are very calming and reassuring to me. Exactly like they were in Nancy Drew novels which I’ve compared to Alex Cooper novels before. They’re not smarmy portrayals and seem very real to me. I can’t have them myself, so it’s nice to read about them. show less

Linda Fairstein's Alexandra (Alex) Cooper series is one of the few I am nearly on top of (I could swear I had read last year's release, but evidently I haven't--must this soon!). Terminal City is the sixteenth book in the series. What I love most about Fairstein's books is the history of the landmarks in which her crimes often take place, and Terminal City has history in spades. It is what I loved about the book, but also what pulled it down, I think. It was a little too much, at times show more overpowering the murder investigation itself.

For those unfamiliar with the series, Alexandra Cooper is an Assistant District Attorney in charge of the sex crimes unit. She is often paired up with her two good friends, Detective Mercer Wallace and Detective Mike Chapman. Mercer plays less of a role in this novel than he has in the past, whereas Mike takes his usual seat, with the usual teasing and joking manner.

While each book in this series can be read as a stand alone, there is definite back story which would make series purists more likely to want to start at the beginning. One of the features I like best about this series is how Alex doesn't start out as a fresh "character" with each novel. The wear and tear and horrors she faces with each book build on her. The relationships she has with her colleagues has also evolved over the course of the series. In many ways, this book had threads of both, which I don't feel would hinder one's enjoyment of the book, but may make the reader feel a little behind.

I appreciated the tension between Alex and Mike as they sort through their feelings about their changing relationship. Their history and their professions are challenges they both will have to continue to work through if they want to make a go of it.

I enjoyed reading about the more minor side cases that Alex or her team are working on in each of Fairstein's novels. They rarely take center stage in the books, but I find them interesting, nonetheless. In Terminal City, Alex is up against a police officer accused of intending harm to his family and other women. It causes quite a stir given the circumstances of the case. When does fantasy cross the line into becoming a crime? This fictional case in Fairstein's novel is based on a real life case (which, of course, I had to research).

As for the main story line in Terminal City, Alex is called in late one night after a body is discovered in a hotel room. When another body is found on the streets with a similar calling card, the authorities believe there must be a connection between the two murders. It seems impossible they'll ever be able to get to the bottom of the murders the more they uncover--and discover what they do not know. The case took a couple interesting twists in the novel, and I found myself wishing there had been more focus on it and less on the history of Grand Central Station, as interesting as it was. There was, of course, the classic climatic scene in which Alex's life is in danger, a regular staple in a Fairstein novel. At least this time it wasn't because Alex decided to take on the killer alone. She really wasn't trying to get in the way this time.

Overall, I enjoyed Terminal City, even with its flaws. Maybe it is my attachment to the characters and their fates and my interest in history. Like with every series, some books are bound to be stronger than others. show less