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BONE VAULT, THE
by Linda Fairstein
Scribner, January 2003
384 pages
$25.00
ISBN: 0743223543


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

Former New York prosecutor Linda Fairstein has plenty to say about events that have transpired over the last two years. It is not enough to write editorials in respected newspapers or as a contributor to COSMOPOLITAN magazine. Now her alter ego, A.D.A Alex Cooper shares the author’s same views and complaints diminishing the interest readers might have in the book. It does not enhance the story and it serves as a distraction to the main plot.

Alex Cooper is called to a crime scene where the body of a young woman was found inside an Egyptian sarcophagus about to be headed overseas and soon to be forgotten. A full police investigation is now under way looking for a killer who thought had performed a perfect crime. During the course of the story, the reader gets to visit several prestigious New York museums and learn what goes on behind the scenes. While talking about security, the author takes the opportunity to complain about something from over fifteen years ago. The outside cameras of one of the museums was not working properly and Alex then goes as to how that could have enhanced the prosecutors case against Chambers, the so-called Preppy murderer. Ms. Fairstein was the prosecutor of that infamous case.

The other issue that the author works into the story is the effects of the September 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. A small mention or a paragraph would have been more than enough, but she goes further than that in THE BONE VAULT. One chapter is devoted to the events, but instead of putting it as a prologue she puts late in the book. Granted it was a terrible day, but it could have been handled better within the story. The author could have written a short story and made it part of an anthology of New York based characters and how they were affected. The proceeds could have gone to the children of the victims. Unfortunately, there has been an over flux of books on the tragedy and it is time to move on.

The ending is predictable and the story that had a great start just continues to weaken. If an author wants to express their opinions, write an article or a non-fiction book. Keep it away from series characters. They are supposed to be an escape for people wanting to forget about life for a while. It should not be forced on them; they already have their own opinions. Nobody is going to change it for them.

Reviewed by Angel L. Soto, June 2003

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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


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