Human trafficking, corrupt politicians, a Congressman’s extramarital affair, a love child and some more New York City landmarks are some of the elements of the author’s 12th legal thriller in which ADA Alexandra (“Alex”) Cooper and her detective sidekicks, Chapman and Mercer, are the protagonists. It begins with a ship stranded in Queens, NY on a Rockaway beach on which hundreds of illegal Ukrainians were being transported for entry into the United States, including dozens of women destined for the prostitution trade. Some of them jumped off the ship, attempting to swim ashore, several drowned, and at least one was found murdered.
Meanwhile, a rising young Congressman, DWI, flees the scene of a car accident, possibly to avoid public exposure about an extramarital affair and the child his paramour has borne. Politics also raises its ugly head in the form of the Mayor, who exerts pressure on the investigations to influence Alex and the police, and a scandal involving slush funds enjoyed by City Council members arises.
All in a day’s work for the trio to solve the various crimes and tie the various themes together. The author once again demonstrates key sites of her beloved New York City, with vivid descriptions and history of such buildings as City Hall, the oldest structure still in use in the United States for municipal government; Gracie Mansion, the official (but lately uninhabited) official residence of Hizzonor the Mayor; the Grange, originally the home of Alexander Hamilton; and the Morris-Jumel house, the third of only three Federalist homes left in New York City, as well as High Bridge, the oldest (and presently unused) bridge in the city, originally built as an aqueduct to carry water to Manhattan from upstate.
The trio demonstrates, as they have in prior installments, various elements of the legal process and investigative procedures, however unorthodox some of their methods are, along with the accustomed perilous situations in which Alex can find herself before being extricated. Fast and enjoyable reading, and recommended.
