Likely to Die

Manhattan DA Alexandra Cooper gets a high-profile case when a leading neurosurgeon is brutally murdered in her office at a major medical center. It appears to have been an attempted rape, but things don’t quite add up. With thousands of people coming in and out of the medical center each day, including numerous homeless vagrants who make themselves at home in the center’s tunnels, Alex and her team have their work cut out for them.

I really like that Fairstein has given us such a strong female heroine. Alexandra is an independent, intelligent, strong (physically and mentally) woman who excels at her job and has a wide range of colleagues and friends who support and admire her. I particularly like her relationship with detective Mike show more Chapman. Their banter shows the deep affection and regard they have for one another. What an excellent team!

While this takes place almost exclusively in Manhattan, the two do have a chance to take a trip across the pond to London for a conference, where they come across some important information for their case.

Fairstein gives us a number of plausible suspects. I was sure I had it figured out, then second-guessed my original assumption, then was certain that I was right from the beginning … only to be completely surprised at the reveal. Good job! show less

I generally like this series but a dip into the past (this is book 2 of a series that current has 18 books) reminded me that not every one was a winner. Likely to Die is about the death of a hospital doctor, a woman found in such a bad way that she is literally "likely to die". Because she was also sexually assaulted, Alex Cooper, deputy DA in charge of Sex Crimes, is brought in from the beginning. There are lots of possible suspects because the hospital has a revolving door and almost anyone can just walk right in.

I always enjoy the characters in this series, especially Mike Chapman and Mercer Wallace. Although the story had an interesting storyline, I felt like the plot was weak and it was filled with tedious details that didn't add show more anything to the book. The strength of the book lies in the authenticity of its police procedural aspects. The author’s knowledge of police work and of the inner workings of a prosecutor’s office definitely seem realistically written. I know the series gets better but I'd forgotten some of the earlier books were not the page turners I'd hoped for. show less

I generally like this series but a dip into the past (this is book 2 of a series that current has 18 books) reminded me that not every one was a winner. Likely to Die is about the death of a hospital doctor, a woman found in such a bad way that she is literally "likely to die". Because she was also sexually assaulted, Alex Cooper, deputy DA in charge of Sex Crimes, is brought in from the beginning. There are lots of possible suspects because the hospital has a revolving door and almost anyone can just walk right in.

I always enjoy the characters in this series, especially Mike Chapman and Mercer Wallace. Although the story had an interesting storyline, I felt like the plot was weak and it was filled with tedious details that didn't add show more anything to the book. The strength of the book lies in the authenticity of its police procedural aspects. The author’s knowledge of police work and of the inner workings of a prosecutor’s office definitely seem realistically written. I know the series gets better but I'd forgotten some of the earlier books were not the page turners I'd hoped for. show less

The second book in this series got a bit off track (when Mike and Alex fly to England for a two day conference) but for the most part this was an interesting read.

Alex is called into a case where a world renowned neurosurgeon, Gemma Dogen, is found murdered. The police believe that Gemma was also raped, so Mike calls Alex to come to the scene with the hope this new case will get her out of her exile since the events in book #1.

Alex is feeling gloomy and honestly you may want to smother her a bit in this one. I liked that Fairstein's secondary character who is friends with Alex even blew up at her. Alex still feels raw and betrayed after realizing her ex-boyfriend was cheating on her. She sits around a lot of the book wondering why is show more she alone. She does meet someone in this one, but starts to question things way too early after only meeting this guy twice and having just a handful of phone conversations.

I still find it weird that Alex's parents and siblings are missing in action. I do love that her close friends check in and call and leave each other messages. My friends and I do the same so that seems realistic to me.

We get some more details about Mercer in this one (thank goodness) but I started to feel that this book and book #3 which I am in the middle of are repetitive. I already know Alex's, Mercer's, and now Mike's backstory. We don't need to get into it every time. I know that Alex and Mike like to bet on final jeopardy questions. Let us not go into the backstory on every little thing. The only reason why I say this is because this case was so good. Fairstein does a great job with not showing her hand until you realize what is going on. Honestly though if I were Mercer, I would start calling out Mike for never seeming to be involved with police work, but is there to go to England with Alex (which I still called BS on by the way).

Mike. Still an ass.

The book's setting is mostly the hospitals in the New York area. We read a lot about the differences between neurosurgeons and other doctors.

The ending was really good and I didn't see it coming. I do hope though this doesn't mean that Alex is going to be in peril in every book. It doesn't seem that realistic to me. There is a dangling loose thread after we get to the end of this book, so that did surprise me. I wonder if we will see this character again. show less

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 show more 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. show less

I enjoyed this book much better than the first book but I still find myself not really liking the main character. On the good side, she is very dedicated to her job but so much of the time she comes off as self-centered. As much as I love the banter Alexandra has with Mike it is starting to feel a little too “will they/won’t they” of the bad TV duo trope.

For me the supporting characters are definitely what keep me reading this series. I love Mike, Mercer and even Battaglia. With the introduction of Alexandra’s other friends Joan and Nina, it gives the series a well-rounded circle of characters.

What really made me more interested in this story is the fact the author provided the readers with a much better pool of suspects than show more first book. The case was interesting and has many opportunities to keep you guessing on who the killer is. I also liked that this case was actually within the three main characters jurisdiction which is very different than the first book.

The narrator was Diane Venora and she did a good job of keep her voices consistent with the last book. You recognized the characters by their voices and it gave them a sense of familiarity. show less

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 show more 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. show less