No. 2 in the Alex Cooper series. In this one, Cooper is brought into the investigation of the murder of a highly regarded doctor who was stabbed multiple times in her own office at a mid-town hospital, where she was known to work alone very late at night. The condition of the body suggests at least an attempt at rape, bringing it within Cooper's purvue as head of the Manhattan D.A.'s Sex Crimes Unit. A page turner, with all the proper elements.
Reviewed in 2017 ( )

Wasn't too bad, though I thought some areas were just drawn out ( )

This is the 2nd book in the series and I enjoyed it. It's a good mystery book and the main character Alex is very likeable. ( )

I generally like this series but a dip into the past (this is book 2 of a series that current has 18 books) reminded me that not every one was a winner. Likely to Die is about the death of a hospital doctor, a woman found in such a bad way that she is literally "likely to die". Because she was also sexually assaulted, Alex Cooper, deputy DA in charge of Sex Crimes, is brought in from the beginning. There are lots of possible suspects because the hospital has a revolving door and almost anyone can just walk right in.

I always enjoy the characters in this series, especially Mike Chapman and Mercer Wallace. Although the story had an interesting storyline, I felt like the plot was weak and it was filled with tedious details that didn't add anything to the book. The strength of the book lies in the authenticity of its police procedural aspects. The author’s knowledge of police work and of the inner workings of a prosecutor’s office definitely seem realistically written. I know the series gets better but I'd forgotten some of the earlier books were not the page turners I'd hoped for.
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The second book in this series got a bit off track (when Mike and Alex fly to England for a two day conference) but for the most part this was an interesting read.

Alex is called into a case where a world renowned neurosurgeon, Gemma Dogen, is found murdered. The police believe that Gemma was also raped, so Mike calls Alex to come to the scene with the hope this new case will get her out of her exile since the events in book #1.

Alex is feeling gloomy and honestly you may want to smother her a bit in this one. I liked that Fairstein's secondary character who is friends with Alex even blew up at her. Alex still feels raw and betrayed after realizing her ex-boyfriend was cheating on her. She sits around a lot of the book wondering why is she alone. She does meet someone in this one, but starts to question things way too early after only meeting this guy twice and having just a handful of phone conversations.

I still find it weird that Alex's parents and siblings are missing in action. I do love that her close friends check in and call and leave each other messages. My friends and I do the same so that seems realistic to me.

We get some more details about Mercer in this one (thank goodness) but I started to feel that this book and book #3 which I am in the middle of are repetitive. I already know Alex's, Mercer's, and now Mike's backstory. We don't need to get into it every time. I know that Alex and Mike like to bet on final jeopardy questions. Let us not go into the backstory on every little thing. The only reason why I say this is because this case was so good. Fairstein does a great job with not showing her hand until you realize what is going on. Honestly though if I were Mercer, I would start calling out Mike for never seeming to be involved with police work, but is there to go to England with Alex (which I still called BS on by the way).

Mike. Still an ass.

The book's setting is mostly the hospitals in the New York area. We read a lot about the differences between neurosurgeons and other doctors.

The ending was really good and I didn't see it coming. I do hope though this doesn't mean that Alex is going to be in peril in every book. It doesn't seem that realistic to me. There is a dangling loose thread after we get to the end of this book, so that did surprise me. I wonder if we will see this character again. ( )