The Finishing School: A Novel of Suspense (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "EVEN THE MOST dedicated prosecutor hates the sound of a pager shrieking at two o'clock in the morning..." (more)
Key Phrases: endowment campaign, Carmen Reyes, Juan Carlos, Whitney Seward (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

At the start of Martinez's gripping second thriller (after 2005's Most Wanted), New York federal prosecutor Melanie Vargas is summoned at two in the morning a week before Christmas to a sadly bizarre death scene on Park Avenue. The teenage stepdaughter of Wall Street mogul and would-be U.S. senator James Seward has died of a heroin overdose, along with a fellow student at a posh East Side girls' school. Melanie soon finds herself up to her neck in politics: Seward's first call on discovering the bodies is to the police commissioner, not 911, and the agent in charge of the case is from the Elite Narcotics Task Force, which her boss is trying to impress. As the various agencies involved fight for turf and power, it's largely up to Melanie to find out what really happened to the two dead girls. The author draws from her own background as a lawyer and special prosecutor with years of experience in drug cases to raise this well above the common run of suspense novels.
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From Booklist

After hitting the ground running with her debut, Most Wanted (2005), Martinez doesn't slow down a bit in this successor. Sexy Latina prosecutor Melanie Vargas is back, clawing her way up the career ladder as an ambitious New York City prosecutor while at the same time yearning to spend quality time with her young daughter, Maya. When two teenage girls, students at ultraposh Miss Holbrooke's School, are found dead in a Park Avenue apartment, Melanie is assigned to the case--along with her former heartthrob, FBI agent Dan O'Reilly. Melanie begins closely investigating the school and everyone in it, much to the dismay of the administration. When it's discovered that the girls overdosed on heroine that they may have been transporting in their stomachs, Melanie realizes they're dealing with a highly dangerous situation. Martinez generates plenty of suspense while painting a vivid picture of Manhattan life and exposing the underbelly of an elite prep school. Melanie's fiery love scenes with Dan add heady romance to an already intoxicating brew. Jenny McLarin
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 400 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow; First. edition (January 3, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060724005
• ISBN-13: 978-0060724009
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #233,915 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well-written, edgy suspense and smoldering romance , January 22, 2006

By	N. Larrabee (Tarrytown, NY) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Melanie Vargas struggles with the demands of being a single mother and a federal prosecutor. She gets a call one morning at 2 a.m. that two girls attending a swanky girl's school in Manhattan, have died from apparent drug overdoses. Melanie is relentless in her dogged pursuit of the myriad of details pertaining to this case. A third girl remains missing and Melanie does not want to give up on her. The cast of supporting characters in this novel are intriguing and deserve your full attention. FBI agent Dan O'Reilly is back on the case, and does not want to give up on Melanie. They have electrifying chemistry when they are together. A guaranteed page turner!

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars STELLAR VOICE PERFORMANCE CAPTURING BOTH DANGER AND DESIRE, January 15, 2006

By	Gail Cooke (TX, USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)

This review is from: The Finishing School CD (Audio CD)

Both beautiful and tough, federal prosecutor Melanie Vargas grew up in Manhattan. This is her town. The neighborhood in which she spent her youth was rough, yet nothing prepared her for what she would find when she goes undercover to track a cunning murderer.

It all begins when her pager goes off at 2:00 a.m. She picks up to hear orders from her boss, Bernadette DeFelice, chief of the Major Crimes Unit of the New York City U.S. Attorney's Office. This is a woman who gives Melanie "agita under the best of circumstances." Agita is mild for what is soon to come.

Two very wealthy girls have been found dead in the Park Avenue apartment of James Seward, a Wall Street dynamo who is running for the Senate. One of the dead is Seward's stepdaughter, the other a classmate from an exclusive school. It's the week before Christmas, and it looks like the girls have OD'd on heroin. Melanie's orders are to find the drug supplier immediately and not to mess with Seward who has many friends in high places.

Add to the mix Carmen Reyes, the building superintendent's daughter who is missing. Seward is all too eager to name her as the supplier. Melanie isn't buying all of this but she's going to have to risk her life in order to prove it.

Of course, there's romance in the handsome hunk form of FBI agent Dan O'Reilly.

Martinez peoples her story with chilling characters, especially Jay Esposito, a night club mogul who "gave off criminal charisma like musk."

Broadway and television actress Anne Twomey delivers a stellar voice performance, perfectly capturing the danger Melanie faces and the desire she feels for Dan.

- Gail Cooke

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars mystery and suspence, February 24, 2006

By	William Spalter (Hamden, CT) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

What is unique about this book is its authenticity. Nothing is contrived and everything is well researched. A finely written mystery.