The Kills

Written by Linda Fairstein

Narrated by Barbara Rosenblat

From New York Times bestselling author and former top prosecutor Linda Fairstein comes an electrifying thriller rich with the riveting behind-the-scenes authenticity that only she can offer.

It’s going to be a tough trial. Manhattan sex-crimes prosecutor Alexandra Cooper’s case, involving an attack on investment banker Paige Vallis, would be difficult to prove even without the latest development—it seems that Paige has something to hide.

Most of her story is clear. She’d had dinner with New York consultant Andrew Tripping three times before the March evening when she accepted his invitation to accompany him to his apartment. But what occurred that night? Why didn’t she leave the apartment when he started to act strangely? What about Tripping’s little boy, Dulles? What happened to the child that fateful evening? And who is the strange man whose appearance in the courtroom seems to terrify Paige?

While Alex’s police detective friend Mercer Wallace helps her learn more of the sad details behind the increasingly puzzling rape case, colleague Mike Chapman is uptown in a decaying Harlem brownstone where eighty-two-year-old McQueen Ransome has been murdered, her apartment ransacked.

What could this impoverished, elderly woman have possessed that could have inspired such violence? Photographs on the wall suggest that “Queenie” was once a beautiful and voluptuous young woman who traveled to faraway places. Could there be a clue to her murder in her exotic background?

Her murder will be only the first. Others follow, as the tragic strands of the Paige Vallis and McQueen Ransome cases begin to converge in a poignant alliance of two women from very different worlds.

Faced with formidable personal and professional choices, Alex must learn the old lesson that appearances can deceive, even as she heads for a showdown in which her wits and her courage will be tested as never before.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
• Release date: Jan 4, 2011
• ISBN: 9781442342682

Linda Fairstein

Linda Fairstein was chief of the Sex Crimes Unit of the district attorney's office in Manhattan for more than two decades and is America's foremost legal expert on sexual assault and domestic violence. Her Alexandra Cooper novels are international bestsellers and have been translated into more than a dozen languages. She lives in Manhattan and on Martha's Vineyard.

Reviews for The Kills

[Angela Baldwin · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Good listing but dragged out listen to the abridge one

[nx74defiant · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Fun but convoluted mystery. I learned a lot about King Farouk of Egypt and the Double Eagle. I really like how there is some new thing to learn about in this series.

[jalenv_2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I docked half a star from The Kills because Alex Cooper heard a strange noise in her house -- which happens to have a fireplace -- and didn't think to snatch up the poker before she investigated.

[nicolefromcarmel · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Alex and Mike are at it again trying to solve crimes with out aAlex getting shot. The kills has plenty of excitement and intrigue. The reader is treated to the sites and sounds of New York. A wonderful series for police procedural lovers.

[kathy89_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I didn't like this Alexandra Cooper novel as well as the others I had read. Complicated plot involving the theft of valuable old coins from an old women who had taken them from Egyptian dictator when she was young model but now is living almost in poverty. This overlaps a child abuse case in contrived way. There's stalkers, treasury department, conspiracy, local authorities and way too much thrown in to this story.

[jepeters333 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Paige Vallis, a powerful businesswoman, has charged a man she dated with attacking her. But during the trial, as Alex represents Paige, she soon suspects her client is hiding something vital to the prosecution. By the time the gutsy prosecutor discovers what it is, Paige is dead, and Alex has been pulled into a case that now involves pornography, priceless coins and international politics.

[ennie_2 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Part of the Alexandra Cooper (a Manhattan sex crimes prosecutor just like the author) series, the plot was too complicated for me, involving coin collecting, rich people, and not-so-rich people. For a New Yorker, Alex drove an awful lot (perhaps as a DA, she didn't feel safe on public transportation).

[literarylinda · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Fairstein is a good suspense writer. However, I like some others more.

[skinglist · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Had read it, but re-read it in my quest to read the Alex Cooper novels in order. Didn't like this one as much as others, felt too contrived but it was kind of cool to weave the Double Eagle and its myths into a story. Looking forward to seeing how Mike's relationship progresses and for the love of moo, Alex, kick Jake to the curb!Finished enroute to Singapore from Melbourne. Not sure if I'm going to hang on to it and pass it on at work and/or to a flatmate or release it at Kansai--not thinking a wild release in Singapore would be smart.