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All Topic Reviews "Intimate" Violence against Women3 NBS of Julian DrewA Little PregnantA Natural History of RapeA Parent's Guide to Asperger Syndrome and High-Functioning AutismA Stir of BonesAbout a BoyAdult Children of Emotionally Immature ParentsAgainst MarriageAgainst MarriageAlmost a PsychopathAlone TogetherAnatomy of LoveAngelsAnother CountryAnxious ParentsApples and OrangesBe Honest--You're Not That Into Him EitherBeing the Other OneBetrayed as BoysBeyond AddictionBipolar DisorderBoys Will Put You on a Pedestal (So They Can Look Up Your Skirt)Breaking ApartBrief Adolescent Therapy Homework PlannerBringing Up ParentsBut I Love HimCaring for a Child with AutismCaring in Remembered WaysCherishmentChildren of the Aging Self-AbsorbedChildren of the Self-AbsorbedChildren, Families, and Health Care Decision MakingClawsCloserCold HitCoping With Difficult PeopleCouple SkillsCruddyDancing in My NuddypantsDivorce PoisonDoing ItDone With The CryingEcstasyEmotional ClaustrophobiaEmotional Fitness for IntimacyEmotional Intelligence at WorkEntwined LivesErotic PassionsEssentials of Premarital CounselingEvery Pot Has a CoverFacts About ADHD ChildrenFamilies Like MineFamilyFamily BoundFamily FirstFear of IntimacyFinal JeopardyFind MeFlashpointFor Lesbian ParentsForgive Your Parents, Heal YourselfGandhi's WayGeorgia Under WaterGetting over Getting MadGetting the Love You WantGetting the Love You Want Audio CompanionGirl in the MirrorGirl StuffGoing Home without Going CrazyHandbook of AttachmentHandbook of Counseling and Psychotherapy with Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual ClientsHappiness Sold SeparatelyHard to GetHe's Just Not That Into YouHealing ConversationsHollow KidsHot ButtonsHot Chocolate for the Mystical LoverHow Families Still MatterHow to Create Chemistry with AnyoneHow to Give Her Absolute PleasureHow to Handle a Hard-To-Handle KidHow to Keep Your Teenager Out of Trouble and What to Do If You Can'tI am Not Sick I Don't Need Help!I Don't Know How She Does ItI Hate You-Don't Leave MeI Only Say This Because I Love YouI'm OK, You're My ParentsIn the Mood, AgainInside the American CoupleIntrusive ParentingIt's Called a Breakup Because It's BrokenIt's Love We Don't UnderstandJakarta MissingKeeping Passion AliveKeeping Your Child in MindLet's Get This StraightLiberation's ChildrenLife's WorkLikely to DieLove JunkieLove SickLove Times ThreeLove Works Like ThisLoving Someone With Bipolar DisorderLoving Someone with Borderline Personality DisorderLust in TranslationMaking the RunMaking the RunManic DepressionMars and Venus - Starting Over.Mating in CaptivityMom, Dad, I'm Gay.MotherstylesMurder in the InnMysterious CreaturesNecessary NoiseOdd Girl OutOpenOpening to Love 365 Days a YearOphelia's MomOrgasmsOur Journey Through High Functioning Autism and Asperger SyndromeOut of the DustOvercoming Your Difficult FamilyParenting and the Child's WorldParenting on the GoParenting Your Out-Of-Control TeenagerParents and Digital TechnologyParents Do Make a DifferencePassionate MarriagePlanet JanetPreventing Misbehavior in ChildrenProblem Child or Quirky Kid?Raising AmericaRaising ElijahRaising Kids in an Age of TerrorRaising Kids in the 21st CenturyRaising Resilient ChildrenRay's a LaughRelationship RescueRelax, It's Just SexRespect-Me RulesRomantic IntelligenceRoom For JSecrets of a Passionate MarriageSelf-NurtureSelfish, Shallow, and Self-AbsorbedSex Addiction: The Partner's PerspectiveShidduch CrisisSickenedSingleSlut!Socrates in LoveSomeone Like YouSong for EloiseSpecial SiblingsSpiritually Healing the Indigo Children (and Adult Indigos, Too!)Staying Connected to Your TeenagerStaying Sane When Your Family Comes to VisitStop Arguing with Your KidsStop SignsStop Walking on EggshellsStop Walking on EggshellsStrong, Smart, & BoldSummer of the SkunksSurviving a Borderline ParentTaking Charge of AngerTelling SecretsThank You for Being Such a PainThe Anti-Romantic ChildThe AwakeningThe Bastard on the Couch CDThe Birth of PleasureThe Brief Couples Therapy Homework Planner with DiskThe Bully Action GuideThe Burden of SympathyThe Commercialization of Intimate LifeThe CorrectionsThe Couples Psychotherapy Treatment PlannerThe DisappearanceThe Dream BearerThe Educated ParentThe Emotional RevolutionThe Employee Assistance Treatment PlannerThe EpidemicThe Ethics of ParenthoodThe Ethics of the FamilyThe Gay Baby BoomThe Good DivorceThe Guide for International Intercultural Couples and Families Intercultural MarriageThe Healing Journey for CouplesThe Hostile HospitalThe Husbands and Wives ClubThe Inside Story on Teen GirlsThe Introvert AdvantageThe Little FriendThe Love HexagonThe Moral Intelligence of ChildrenThe Neuroscience of Human RelationshipsThe New I DoThe Normal OneThe Nurture AssumptionThe OASIS Guide to Asperger SyndromeThe Other ParentThe Philosophical ParentThe Psychology of Parental ControlThe Real Rules for GirlsThe Reflective ParentThe Right to Be ParentsThe Secret Lives of WivesThe Spider and the BeeThe State of AffairsThe StepsThe Story of My FatherThe Velveteen FatherThe Virgin BlueThe Visitation HandbookThe Whole ChildTo Have and To Hurt:Two Is EnoughUnderstanding MarriageUnderstanding the Borderline MotherUnhitchedUntrue Up in FlamesWe've Got IssuesWhat about the KidsWhat Goes UpWhat Is Secular Humanism?What It Means to Love YouWhat Our Children Teach UsWhen a Parent is DepressedWhen Mars Women DateWhen Someone You Love Is BipolarWhen Someone You Love Is DepressedWhy Are You So Sad?Will You, Won't You?WomanWorking With Emotional IntelligenceWorried All the TimeYes, Your Teen Is Crazy!
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Final
Jeopardy by Linda Fairstein is the first in the "Alex
Cooper mystery series." Alex Cooper is an assistant DA and bureau chief
for the Manhattan's Sex Crimes Prosecutions
Unit. Final Jeopardy focuses on the vicious murder of Alex's friend, a
sexy movie star, at Alex summer home. Did some one have it out for the selfish
star or was it a case of mistaken identity?
Final
Jeopardy is set during the mid-1990s in upscale Manhattan and quiet Martha's
Vineyard. The novel opens with
Alexandra Cooper being notified of her own death. Obviously the news is in
error. She is not the faceless body found in the driveway of her Martha's Vineyard home. It was instead the body of Isabella Lascar, a movie
star acquaintance, who borrowed her summer house for a little undisturbed
R&R in order to study a new script. Unfortunately she was disturbed and in
a most vicious way. The major question for Alex, however, is was Lascar the
intended victim or herself? The beautiful Lascar had her troubles with stalkers
as well as a long string of jilted lovers. Then again, Alex, as the lead
prosecutor of the New York City Sex Crimes Unit is not without her own
malicious fans. The NYPD is not taking any chances and Mike Chapman, Manhattan detective and Alex's longtime buddy, is assigned to guard her.
Together they tackle the question of who was the intended victim - Lascar or Cooper.
Meanwhile, Alex struggles to maintain some semblance of professional normalcy
as the Bureau Chief of a major prosecution unit for the city of New York. Alex is also pinning for her latest lover, Jed Segal, an
investment banker current working on a deal in Paris. As the novel and investigation proceed the reader is
invited into the busy world of the Defender's Office. Alex juggles a number of
crimes, including the Con Ed rapist,
goes head to head with office politics, and fends off Ellen Goldman, a dogged
reporter for USA Lawyer Digest. Along the way we are introduced to a rogues'
gallery of characters including, Nina Baum, Alex's best friend who seems to
live in her car on the California freeway system, Luther Waldron, an unsophisticated
FBI agent who delights in sharing the latest in locker room sexual humor with
Alex, Johnny "Gorilla" Garelli, a stuntman
and former Lascar lover, who has better accuracy with his guns then with his
brain, and finally the mysterious Cordelia Jeffers, a supposed Fellow of the Royal Academy of
Medicine who according to the medical profession does not exist but writes
overly insightful letters about Lascar and Cooper's private lives. (Who is
she?)
I must admit the "Alex Cooper Mystery series" is my latest
addiction. I can not seem to get enough of Fairstein's
novels. While I have never been a fan of Grisham, Trurow,
or the legal fiction genre, this series reads more like a literary version of the
television show "Law and Order". (There is definitely
enough of the "men in blue", crime scene analysis, and investigative
snooping to keep this gal happy!) I must admit it is a real eye open to have a
lawyer who must multitask juggling numerous cases, rather than exclusively focusing
on only one case as most legal fiction does. As a character, Alex is slightly
unbelievable in her ability to handle quite so many things without mussing up her
lipstick or running her panty hose. And, like so many modern female heroines, although
she is one step removed from Superwoman in her ability to survive certain
disaster, she crumbles into tears over quite ordinary relational issues. Still,
I trust that Fairstein knows of what she writes and is realistic in regard to her portrayals after all she is the role-model
for her character and her life is the fodder for her plots. I also must admit
to liking Chapman as the smart mouth detective. He strikes me as very
realistic.
Linda Fairstein, like her character Alex
Cooper, has been a District Attorney and Bureau Chief for the Manhattan Sex Crimes Unit for over twenty years. Also like
Alex Cooper, Fairstein lives in Manhattan and has a home on Martha Vineyard. Unlike
Cooper, however, she is married. Her first book was the non-fiction,
Sexual Violence: Our War against Rape (1993). Final Jeopardy is her
first novel. Her website is: http://www.lindafairstein.com
Final Jeopardy by Linda Fairstein is the first, but not the last, in the "Alex
Cooper mystery series." It has enough legalese, police procedure, and fast
paced action to thrill most readers. Fairstein is one
DA to watch! Highly recommended.
© 2004 Su Terry
Su Terry: Education: B.A. in History from
Sacred Heart University, M.L.S. in Library Science from Southern Connecticut
State College, M.R.S. in Religious Studies/Pastoral Counseling from Fairfield
University, a M.Div. in Professional Ministry from
New Brunswick Theological Seminary, a Certificate in Spirituality/Spiritual
Direction from Sacred Heart University. She is a Licensed Minister of the
United Church of Christ and an Assistant Professor in Library Science at Dowling
College, Long
Island, NY.
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