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Title: The Bone Vault by Linda A. Fairstein ISBN: 0-7432-4091-X Publisher: Scribner Pub. Date: 21 January, 2003 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $27.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.25 (28 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: THE BONE VAULT should be opened by all readers.
Comment: Spending time with Alex Cooper and Mike Chapman and to learn more about New York City landmarks and institutions is enough of a reason to buy the book. This time it's the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the American Museum of Natural History. When the body of a young intern at the Cloisters is found in a sarcophagus on a ship bound for Egypt, Alex and Mike find the inner workings of the museums, not to mention its many hidden room both fascinating and possibly deadly. An intriguing tale after which one will never look at the institutionalized collection of art and artifacts, including human bones, in quite the same way. It's also a view of why other cultures and countries may not look upon the European/American penchant for "collecting" with quite the reverence that collectors have come to expect. As always Fairstein intersperses other cases that the Sex Unit of the District Attorney's office is investigating. There is also some interesting, but very subtle movement in the relationship between Alex and Mike. Although books rarely cause me to cry, Alex's recounting of the events of September 11 from her viewpoint as well as from Mike's brought tears to my eyes. It's a beautiful and heartrending account that has nothing to do with the story, but fits in beautifully with the novel. It is also a story that I imagine the author had to tell. "The Bone Vault" is a wonderful book that is available this month. Highly recommended for all who enjoy a great story, fully realized characters and fine writing.
Rating: 4
Summary: The Three Museum Shell Game
Comment: This is my first Linda Fairstein book, and I must say, even though this is a mixed review, that I am impressed. She uses the occasion of the discovery of a freakishly preserved corpse discovered in a sarcophagus where only a mummy should have been to write a detailed and convincing police procedural about the world behind the exhibits in several of the world's most famous museums. As I discovered with 'The Relic,' I am a sucker for stories that play out in the almost gothic settings these museums and their secret places provide.
Alexandra Cooper, head of the Manhattan DA's Sex Crimes Unit, becomes involved in this case as the result of attending a museum event announcing a new joint exhibit to be created but the Metropolitan, the Cloisters, and the Museum of Natural History. When the body is discovered while in the process of shipment, she is asked to consult, and brings in the Manhattan Police Department when it becomes clear that this is a murder case. Thereby triggering a steady stream of museum political wrangles and infighting. Balancing this is her regular caseload of criminal investigations and prosecutions. This makes for a rich and satisfying story with plenty of mystery, complications, and personality.
I have to issues with the narrative, however. The first is that Fairstein writes almost an entire chapter using the events of 9/11 to build sympathy for both Alexandra Cooper and her colleague, Mike Chapman. Personally, I do not think this was necessary, certainly not to the extent that it was done. Moreover, at the end of it all, we really know very little more about either character. I think there are more effective ways to honor the lives lost on that day, and more effective ways to do character development.
On a more literary note, Fairstein puts considerable energy into creating suspense with a complicated and interwoven story line. Thus building into what should have been a climactic ending where the solution to the crime should have been an epiphany. Instead, the plot simply unravels, and the ending, while still a bit surprising, does not live up to its harbingers. You want the conclusion to be shattering, the material is there, but it simply does not happen.
Despite my complaints, this is an eminently readable story, and so far Fairstein hasn't fallen for the excessive angst that eventually ruined Patricia Cornwell's series. The detailing about the museums is wonderfully fine, worth the price of admission on its own. I intend to go back and read 'The Deadhouse,' her first novel, and will watch for new work from her as well.
Rating: 3
Summary: Disappointed Reader
Comment: I was at first pleased with the book but when it drifted into a political statement on the rights of minorities even to the point of a white woman from South Africa being raped by a blackman not seeking to pursue justice as couldn't bring herself to accuse a blackman because of the injustices done to blacks in her native county in the past it lost my interest.
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Title: The Deadhouse by Linda Fairstein ISBN: 0671019546 Publisher: Pocket Books Pub. Date: 31 December, 2002 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: Cold Hit by Linda Fairstein ISBN: 0671019554 Publisher: Pocket Books Pub. Date: 03 October, 2000 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: The Kills by Linda Fairstein ISBN: 0743223551 Publisher: Scribner Pub. Date: 13 January, 2004 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
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Title: Final Jeopardy by Linda Fairstein ISBN: 0671010123 Publisher: Pocket Books Pub. Date: 01 June, 1997 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: Likely to Die by Linda Fairstein ISBN: 0671014935 Publisher: Pocket Books Pub. Date: 01 September, 1998 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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