Customer Reviews

Killer Heat

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Those who want their heroines tough, strong, and super intelligent know they've found her in Alex Cooper. She's a D.A. in Manhattan and as we meet her again in the tenth offering by Linda Fairstein, she's enjoying victory. It was a tough rape case but Alex won it (and incurred the animus of Latin Princes gang members along the way).

Nonetheless, her winning feeling is soon lost as she is notified that the body of a young woman has been found in an abandoned building. Now, author Fairstein knows this territory well as she once headed the Sex Crimes Unit of the District Attorney's Office, and she minces no words.

After viewing the victim, Alex is offered a cigar by Mike, a detective with the Manhattan North Homicide Squad. Despite the oppressive August heat he puffs on a stogie and encourages her to take one with this advice, ""The stench from that corpse is going to stay in your brain for weeks unless you infuse it right away with something more powerful. Why do you think I've always got a couple of these in my pocket?"

As stated, Alex is tough and while she may be able to get over the sickening smell of death, what she cannot get over is another beaten woman's body found and then a third.

Being directed to catch the killer before the city is deadened by fear is one thing, trying to stay alive when those gang members want revenge is quite another.

Since the introduction of Alex Cooper in 1996 Ms. Fairstein has turned out nine additional thrillers, each more exciting than the last. Tony Award winner Blair Brown gives another sterling performance in her narration of this spine-tingling novel.

- Gail Cooke

Killer Heat, prosecutor-turned-author Fairstein's 10th book, is by far her best. All of her mysteries feature little-known NYC locales (Poe's house, underground water tunnels) or a behind-the-scenes look at famous institutions (Natural History Museum, Metropolitan Opera House). This one doesn't disappoint, taking the reader from an abandoned ferry terminal downtown to a thrilling conclusion on Governor's Island. Fairstein deftly weaves courtroom drama, real-life cases and thrilling action into a seamless tapestry. Fabulous!! A perfect "10".

I was surprised to see all of the 5-star reviews. I have been a big fan of Ms. Fairstein since the first book, but this one felt like a paint-by-numbers. For the first time with one of her books, instead of reading straight through, I put it down a few times and had to make myself keep going.

For me, none of the victims ever came alive, making it difficult to care for them. Similarly, the perpetrator never felt real. I felt as though Ms. Fairstein has completely lost interest.

The connection among the murders, while coherent, was supreficial enough that when Alex figured it out, the reader didn't have the sensation that lots was now explained.

Some of the other commentors said they enjoyed having less character development and conversation, fewer digressions into personal lives, and therefore more straightforward plot movement. To me, those are the sections that matter most, and without them, the story didn't pull me in.

Although the New York lore existed, it was a lot less integral to the story (although it was connected) and had a lot less depth.

In sum, a huge disappointment.

This was the first Linda Fairstein book I've read. I wondered about the Five-Star ratings and didn't feel this book warranted that. Maybe it's just not my type of "sleuth" novel. I thought it was boring and it didn't hold my interest. I guess I like more action and not so much courtroom and legal blah blah blah. The characters didn't grab me one way or the other --- they were just "there." I lean more towards the quirky types --- not the run-of-the-mill detectives, DA, etc.

Fairstein's novels are still better than many books out there. But I have to agree with the reviewer who said the series has gotten a cookie-cutter feel. The characters aren't growing from book to book. Alex hangs out with the cops and a limited group of girl friends. She and her cop friend Mike have the Jeopardy bet. She spends time on crime scenes working with the police.

What Fairstein does instead is introduce us to different parts of New York and we get a sense of history. That's good but as mystery readers, we want character and plot.

The strongest parts of the book take us behind the scenes, so we learn how a prosecutor prepares for trial, how she works with witnesses, and similar background. But Alex has to get out of her own history and show some growth. Maybe it's time to send her off to private practice, so she can capitalize on what she's learned. Or give her a challenging personal life. She's almost too perfect: I want to see how she struggles and grows.

One quibble: Perhaps my sensibilities as a mystery reader have changed since I've become aware of the Innocence Project, the DVDs Capturing the Friedmans and Paradise Lost, and the infamous Duke lacrosse player case. To buy into the mystery (especially police procedurals like this one) you need to accept good guys vs bad guys -- and our heroine is on the side of the angels, of course.

So I was a little dismayed when Alex keeps a witness in the station house. She admits she couldn't legally force the woman to remain but she bluffed. Lacking a lawyer and thoroughly intimidated, the woman believed her.

That's great if you really need to capture a serial killer and the witness really has solid information for you. But from what I've read, the lines often get blurred. Innocent people are afraid to leave and after a long, scary interrogation, they say anything to get food or sleep. Look at the Amanda Knox case, where we've just been told the interrogators even hit her at one point.

Innocent people do confess under these conditions and witnesses tweak their memories. So I was somewhat appalled to see this scene in a popular novel in 2008. It seems to reinforce the negative portrayal of DAs we are getting in the media.

This was my first book written by Fairstein and thought it was okay. the story is a good quick read but felt like it was jerky. If you are looking for a good mystery then this is a fast one to go through. The kindle version is good and its the third book i have read on it.

Linda Fairstein's "Killer Heat" takes places during a sultry August in New York City. Detective Mike Chapman and Alex Cooper, who is the Assistant District Attorney in charge of sex crimes, have worked together for more than ten years along with their close friend, Detective Mercer Wallace. Mike calls Alex to the scene when a decomposed corpse is found in an abandoned maritime building; the victim had been bound, tortured, and subsequently bludgeoned to death. Mike and Alex suspect that she might be twenty-two year old Elise Huff, who disappeared after a night of trolling bars with her girlfriend. Or could the body actually be that of thirty-two year old Amber Bristol, a call girl who has been reported missing by her sister, Janet? After a third brutalized woman is found dead, similarities between the cases suggest that a psychopath may have started his own killing spree.

Also on Alex's mind is the retrial of sixty-one year old Floyd Warren, who allegedly attacked twenty-two year old Kerry Hastings back in 1973. Warren fled the jurisdiction before the jury could agree on a verdict, and later, he apparently assaulted over forty other women in such places as Philadelphia, Maryland, and North Carolina. Thanks to the miracles of DNA testing, this cold case has suddenly heated up, and Alex is determined to provide justice for the long-suffering Kerry. Complicating matters is the presence in the courtroom of five members of the Latin Princes, a gang whose leader Alex helped put behind bars.

Although Alex and Mike are not personally involved, there has always been a certain chemistry between the two. However, she is currently dating restaurateur Luc Rouget, who frequently travels back and forth between France and the United States. Much to her chagrin, while she is involved in this complex and troubling investigation, she has precious little time to spend with Luc.

"Killer Heat" has all of the usual Fairstein touches. The knowledgeable author, who ran the Sex Crimes Unit of the Manhattan DA's office for more than twenty years, loves New York lore and she treats the reader to a host of factoids about the history and geography of Governors Island and other locales that figure in the plot. In addition, through her characters, she imparts information on how the prosecution of sex crimes has changed over the years and briefs us on such innovations as CODIS (Combined DNA Index System) and NYPD's Real Time Crime Center. As always, Alex and her cohorts are pressured by their nervous supervisors to bring their case to a quick and successful conclusion. Although there are few surprises here, long-time Fairstein fans will enjoy this suspenseful installment in a series that has remained popular since 1996.

Being a native New Yorker and a lover of history, I thoroughly enjoy the way Ms. Fairstein blends NY history with crime. Unfortunately, for me, the way Mike delivers it is obnoxious and condesending. Reviewers discuss that Mike and Alex become involved. I certainly hope not. I don't know why she tolerates his excessive rudeness. They are supposed to be professionals, and she the head of a sex crime unit; where does he get the nerve to use sexist terms like "blondie" when refering to her? Having said that, I must finish with the fact that I love Alex Cooper and Ms. Fairstein's writing is a pleasure to read.

Assistant NYC District Attorney Alex Cooper is a smart, gutsy lady who finds her work, helping victims and putting away those who harm them, deeply satisfying. Working with a skilled, equally devoted team of detectives, she finds herself conducting investigations in the hidden places in and around the city, little known locations that provide the perfect settings for enterprising criminals. This time around, Governor's Island, a military bastion that's been used for defensive purposes since America was young, is the scene of a series of horrific rape/murders. In less than ten days, three women have gone missing, and the pressure is mounting to catch the monster behind the abductions. To up the ante, Alex is being stalked and threatened by a group of gang bangers trying to wreak vengeance for her conviction of their illustrious leader.

Once again, Linda Fairstein has expertly constructed a gripping story brimming with legal conundrums, forensics, and local history. Killer Heat is a winner, with its final 75 pages bristling with suspense. Right up my alley!

In this Linda Fairstein novel "Killer Heat" you are taken to a hot summer in New York with Manhattan District Attorney Alex Cooper. She is celebrating because she just closed her rape case. The celebration ends quick due to a phone call about the body of a woman who was beaten and raped. Then again another body shortly after also turns up murdered in the same manner, so this case becomes top priority. Time adds additional pressure to the case because the news reporters were all over it.

"Killer Heat" is a great thriller because of it's complex story mixing Alex's career as a D.A. with some of her personal life when she meets a charming restaurant owner. So she is juggling it all and then the body of a third victim turns up. All of these incidents take her to the islands around New York Harbor with a new development in the case. I love the way Fairstein mixes intriguing facts of forensic science, legal issues, and personal life battles making this novel one the is really outstanding.