Publisher's Weekly Review
Of the numerous narrators who have brought Fairstein's series to audio, Barbara Rosenblat is arguably the best, due primarily to her ability to capture the character's intelligence and romantic sensibility plus the toughness the job realistically requires. She even sounds a bit like Fairstein herself. Ordinarily, it would be merely lagniappe that she can also gruff up enough to do justice to the hard-boiled NYPD detective Mike Chapman. But this murder investigation-involving New York's historical churches and synagogues, a traveling circus out of Water for Elephants, leprosy, and a mixed martial arts fundamentalist sect-relies as much on Chapman as it does on assisstant DA Alexandra Cooper. The ease with which Rosenblat handles both her heroes, along with her vivid portrayals of teen drug dealers, religious dignitaries, Alex's arrogant bosses, frustrating judges, a martinet circus owner, and a large cast, makes it almost easy to accept the book's melodramatic conclusion. A Dutton hardcover. (Apr.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Library Journal Review
Fairstein's newest thriller (after Hell Gate) commences at the scene of a grisly fire at a historic Harlem Baptist church. Assistant D.A. Alexandra Cooper and NYPD colleagues Mike Chapman and Mercer Wallace investigate the badly burned and beheaded body of a woman on the porch of the church behind a locked gate. After a second corpse is found mutilated at a landmark Catholic cathedral and a recent unsolved murder in a Kentucky Pentecostal church is discovered, possible connections among the victims arise. Before another dies, can Cooper and her colleagues apprehend this killer who is literally and figuratively silencing women? Fairstein's 30 years as a New York City prosecutor and a gift for suspense have enabled her to craft a riveting novel that thrusts readers into the darker side of religion and bigotry against the backdrop of some of New York's oldest churches. -VERDICT The 13th entry in Fairstein's series is a tightly wound mystery that delivers an adrenaline rush with its fast-paced, nail-biting manhunt across several states. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 10/1/10.]-Mary Todd Chesnut, Northern Kentucky Univ. Lib., Highland Heights (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.