When Assistant DA Alex Cooper goes missing, detective Mike Chapman starts to lose it, as the two have recently become lovers. He assumes Alex's disappearance is a kidnapping related to her work as a prosecutor, and he feverishly begins working the case with close friend and detective Mercer Wallace, who provides both emotional and investigative support. Emotionally volatile in even the best of times, Mike manages to steady his nerves as he narrows down the possible places where Coop might be held to Manhattan's waterfront, including Liberty Island, home to the iconic statue. Meanwhile, Coop's office mates are working to figure out if a recent computer hack is related to her disappearance. Fairstein changes things up in her seventeenth Alexandra Cooper novel as Mike takes center stage. Working in fascinating details on the construction of the Statue of Liberty, the George Washington Bridge, and the lighthouse at Jeffrey's Hook, Fairstein shows off her prodigious knowledge of New York City while also crafting high-stakes action scenes on the Hudson River and its environs. Another solid entry in the series. BACKSTORY: Fairstein's Alexandra Cooper novels have been translated into more than a dozen languages, and her newest is sure to follow its predecessors onto the best-seller lists.--Wilkinson, Joanne Copyright 2015 Booklist

In bestseller Fairstein's subpar 17th novel featuring ADA Alexandra "Coop" Cooper (after 2014's Terminal City), a paralegal steals Coop's files for a sex trafficking case and gives them to the defendant. Then investigators find a connection between the theft and a shady self-styled pastor and community agitator with suspiciously close ties to Alex's boss, DA Paul Battaglia. When Alex disappears, her friends assume that she's taking a break from professional stress and her new romance with NYPD homicide detective Mike Chapman, but in fact she's been kidnapped. Mike takes over the first-person narrative from Coop, but this shift reduces his smart, gritty persona to a clichéd tough-but-sensitive cop. The search for Coop allows Fairstein to show off Chapman's encyclopedic New York knowledge, which becomes didactic at times, and delve into backstory about his legendary cop father and a brutal Irish gang. Series fans should enjoy the glimpse into his past, and Battaglia's possible corruption promises to figure in a future installment. Agent: Esther Newberg, ICM. (Aug.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.