Night Watch (Alexandra Cooper Book 14)

A high level diplomatic and world figure is being accused of rape by a hotel maid. Fairstein has created a wonderful group of protagonists - each with their own strengths and weaknesses. Mike is brash, bold and fearless. Mercer is quieter, thoughtful and thinks before he acts or speaks. But the three of them together make for a team that gets results.

The camaraderie between these three has grown and solidified over the course of many years. Of the two supporting characters, I prefer Mercer and would like to see him more of a larger storyline. Luc is also planning to open a high end restaurant in New York. Cleared to travel, he heads to oversee his new enterprise Is Luc really the man Alex thought he was? Is he telling the truth or is someone railroading him? Between those worries and the fact that the witness in the high stakes rape case keeps changing her tune, Alex is spreading herself awfully thin.

In Night Watch, Alex doesn't seem to have the same forceful personality I've come to love. Yes, she is still on top of her legal game. But, her relationship with Luc seems to have her making excuses and behaving out of character. Maybe part of it is that I really don't like Luc at all. He makes numerous misogynistic and racist comments in the first few opening chapters. They're quite offensive and I can't believe Coop doesn't take umbrage with them. Her mooning about their relationship and Mike's willingness to feed that neediness just plain rubbed me the wrong way.

The third thing I love about Fairstein's novel is the New York history she always weaves into her novels. This time it's about the Prohibition era and the various ways that the ban was circumvented. I found the piece on 21 restaurant fascinating and went crawling the web to read more. I'm still a big fan of this series and will happily pick up the next book.

While I enjoyed Night Watch, it just fell a little flat for this reader. All the right pieces were there - all that was missing was the Alex I know. My advice - dump Luc. I have read other Fairstein books, and one or two with the Alexandra Cooper character. But this one was so focused on the relationship between Alexandra and her French lover, Luc, who came off as an ass, to be honest, I felt like I was reading a romance rather than a mystery or thriller.

Cooper was constantly contemplating her relationship, while at the same time putting up with Luc brushing aside her opinion and concerns, belittling her career, and giving her the cold shoulder when she dared to I have read other Fairstein books, and one or two with the Alexandra Cooper character. Cooper was constantly contemplating her relationship, while at the same time putting up with Luc brushing aside her opinion and concerns, belittling her career, and giving her the cold shoulder when she dared to obey her boss's call to return to New York.

It's too bad, because the story this lame romance was obscuring was actually interesting. I kept pushing myself to listen for a few more chapters because I wanted to know what happened. But the characters irritated me too much. And so did the reader. Yes, I listened to the audiobook. The narrator is one I've heard before and I do not like her style of reading. I hadn't checked the narrator before getting this book, though. She reads so slow, with a couple of seconds between sentences sometimes, it actually kills any momentum a scene might build for suspense or tension.

It doesn't sound like much, but when you hear a pause that long you think at least there will be a switch in speaker, and possibly the end of a scene, or some time passing. But no, the same person's talking, with the same thought, in fact. The narrator was just taking another long and loud breath yes, you can hear her breathe, and it's annoying.

Sure, you need to breathe, but other narrators clearly manage to do it silently. It may seem that the bad narration turned me off the book, but I found enough reasons to stop reading aside from that. The bad narrator was simply the last straw. Oct 31, Marya Kowal rated it did not like it. I was looking for a gripping police procedural, or at least a crime thriller, and I got a french swamp.

No, I'm not talking about where they found the body. The author seems to think that the French are naturally rude and cryptic while using stilted dialog and a whiny and argumentative first person internal narrative that make reading this book feel like you are taking a stroll in a swamp, with your forward progress getting sucked down, shoes lost, and muck everywhere. One of So disappointed. One of the reviews on the back talked about Fairstein's strong women characters. Any woman who finds piles of bones and skulls while trying to enter her boyfriend's home and lets him call the police while she toddles off to bed?

When she finds out that he didn't bother, and then interrupts her while she's telling the police and re-routes the conversation? Nope, that's not strength There may be a great story after the first few chapters I'm calling it quits and am off to find a book that's actually fun to read Aug 26, Andi rated it liked it. The whole Luc thing is getting tiresome, if nothing else this book seems to get rid of him. May 20, Caitlin rated it liked it Shelves: I'm fond of Linda Fairstein. I greatly admire her pioneering work in prosecuting sexual assaults back in the day when we were all "asking for it.

Fairstein would make that difficult. I also like her Alexandra Cooper series. I especially like that she teaches me something unique and wonderful about New York City's history every single time I read one of her books. Like all series writers some books are better I'm fond of Linda Fairstein. Like all series writers some books are better than others, but those bits of history grab me every time. I've been disappointed in the last couple of her books for one primary reason - at some point she turned Mike Chapman into a raving asshole and that just doesn't feel right to me, even in light of the death of his fiancee.

Then there's the fact that Alex puts up with the emotional and verbal abuse - this doesn't ring true either. Despite these shortcomings I continue to enjoy Ms. Fairstein's books, I just wonder where she's going with this particular turn of relationship events. I'm sorry to say that Night Watch was also a disappointment - a bigger one than the last couple of books.

Suddenly all of the men in Alex's life with the exception of Mercer have turned into raving assholes you want to smash in the face with a shovel and Alex is still waffling about, putting up with the abuse. I truly hope this thread is going somewhere soon because right now it's just obnoxious. I was also hoping for a lot more history in this, particularly since bits of the novel focus around the restaurant industry, but alas I was disappointed. Even a disappointing Linda Fairstein book is a fabulously entertaining read, so don't let me discourage you from reading her.

Her books are always fun, but like all fans I want particular things from her that she may or may not deliver. Really looking forward to the next book! In a crime that could have and probably was lifted straight from the newspapers, the head of a world financial organization is accused of rape by a hotel maid. It should be straightforward for Alex Cooper and her band of sex crimes investigators but it isn't.

First, Alex is in France with Luc Rouget, her boyfriend. Second, Luc knows the alleged perpetrator.

Third, the victim is not completely credible. Meanwhile, there have been two murders, one in France, one in New York, that should not be c In a crime that could have and probably was lifted straight from the newspapers, the head of a world financial organization is accused of rape by a hotel maid. Meanwhile, there have been two murders, one in France, one in New York, that should not be connected but both have matchbooks bearing the name of Luc's new, unopened, Manhattan restaurant. Alex can only hope that Luc is not mixed up in whatever mess police on both sides of the Atlantic are uncovering.

Barbara Rosenblatt reads and while she is always marvelous, I didn't find this story particularly compelling. None of the characters, except Alex's team, were appealing and the story never drew me. It's hard to dislike anything that Rosenblatt narrates and this is no exception but it listens very slowly. Feb 23, Michele A. This book just did not live up to what I have come to expect from Linda Fairstein.

Throughout this book, Alex was just plain whiny and very much annoying to me. All of her friends and Luc tried to give her the support she so desperately appears to feel she needs, yet she alienates all of them throughout this book with her constant whining and insecurities. The plot was only partly intriguing and the story did not live up to what I have come to expect. I hope the next book in this series is bette This book just did not live up to what I have come to expect from Linda Fairstein.

I hope the next book in this series is better. I am begging on all that is holy, please let her eat something in the next book and put the Dewar's to the side. It does not invoke sympathy for her in me at all. It is very old at this point. The name dropping of where she, Mike and Mercer eat has been overdone. It is just too pretentious for words at this point. Aug 14, Jeanne rated it it was amazing. Another great entry in the Alex Cooper series. This time, Linda Fairstein delves into the worlds of high-end restaurants and drug smuggling.

While I'm a little tired of Alex and her boyfriend Luc French, rich, handsome, wealthy, bleah I always enjoy the relationships between Alex, Mike and Mercer and the history of New York that Fairstein always provides. In reality I rated this book 4. As may be clear from the book description, this is one action packed story.

With not one but two separate but high profile and complicated mysteries to deal with our Alex has a very stressful time ahead of her. And both story-lines are interesting, well plotted and full of twists and turns. As far as the In reality I rated this book 4. It is always disappointing when a favourite character lets me down, and boy does Miss Alexandra Cooper do so in this book. I get that she is very much in love with her French chef and that she is worried about him and their relationship. But does that really have to mean that she suddenly starts acting like a silly teenager?

Would she really forget everything she knows about the law, her job, how the legal system works just because there is some connection between her lover and two murders? Is it realistic that all common sense would disappear? Personally I think not. And yet, that is exactly what happens in this story. I guess the idea was to make the story more emotionally engaging but on me it had the complete opposite effect; it only managed to spoil the rather positive image of Alexandra Cooper I had after the previous 13 books.

As far as the case involving Mohammed Gil-Darsin is concerned; it was too close to the real case involving Dominique Strauss-Kahn for my liking. And while I get that for a lot of people this might be a bonus rather than a drawback — after all, it does give the reader a good insight into how such an investigation is conducted and why what appears to be straight-forward may turn out to be anything but — for me it turned into a case of been there, done that.

Now, having said all that I should probably stress that I did really enjoy reading this book. Linda Fairstein writes a very good mystery-thriller. She is also excellent when it comes to integrating interesting bits of fact into her story without taking the pace out of it or making the reader feel that they are being taught something. I like the interactions between Alex and her two regular partners in crime-solving, Mike Chapman and Mercer Wallace.

And I love the Final Jeopardy questions that are such a staple part of these books. So overall I would have to say that while this was, for me, maybe not the best book in this series, it was still a very enjoyable and easy read. And I know that I will be reading the next book as soon as I can get my hands on it. Jul 17, Scott Parsons rated it liked it.

I have read many of Linda Fairstein's Alexandra Cooper series. I enjoyed most of them. In this one, 14 inthe series, she seems to have lost her touch and run out of steam. Her characters are becoming tiresome. She spends much of the novel bitching about her sidekick, Mike. Mercer still comes across as a calm competent insightful investigator.

Alexandra's latest love, Luc Rouget, does not seem real. He comes across as a pretentious and deceitful Frenchman unworthy of Alexandra's attention, let a I have read many of Linda Fairstein's Alexandra Cooper series. He comes across as a pretentious and deceitful Frenchman unworthy of Alexandra's attention, let alone her love. I find Fairstein's ripoff of the infamous DSK episode deplorable. She uses the story, changing only the names and a few of the particulars to pretend it isn't a direct ripoff. But this summing up of the Dominique Strauss-Kahn allegations from Wikipedia shows how directly she has copied the story from the headlines: Really, Linda, have you lost your creative touch altogether!

The second plot involving Luc's plan to develop a restaurant in New York, his wife, and his partners in the New York venture, just does not hang together in a convincing manner. Oct 20, Shelley marked it as to-read Shelves: I haven't missed one book in the series and figure that there are plenty of stories to come that won't be boring or repetitive.

Night Watch

The main reason that I like this series is that Fairstein explores the history in and around the City of New York and she actually has the knowledge of the office of Manhattan's Sex Crimes Unit behind her 20 years. While the story is supposed to be about Alexandra Cooper, the sub characters like Mike Chapman and Mercer Wallace are what makes this series remarkable and enjoyable. Night Watch is a ripped from the headlines kind of book. The story not only follows Alex's exploits and love life with Luc and her concerns about how far it will truly go, but also the fact that the powerful leader of a major financial institution think IMF's Dominique Strauss-Kahn is brought to his knees by charges of rape.

If you paid any attention to the news over the last year, you will absolutely remember this fiasco and what happened to the so called accuser. The other focal point of this books is the restaurant industry itself and how cutthroat it really is. Having been in the business, briefly, I can honestly say I had no clue about all the expenses and threats involved in running a business Throw in smuggling and drugs to the storyline and you have a quick paced book that leaves some mystery as to who the actual villains are.

As the scandal unfolds, Alex finds her attention torn between preparing the alleged victim to testify and a murder case with ties too close to home. International bestselling author Linda Fairstein returns with a ripped-from-the-headlines thriller that takes Alexandra Cooper into the dark underside of New York City.

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Enter your mobile number or email address below and we'll send you a link to download the free Kindle App. Then you can start reading Kindle books on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required. To get the free app, enter your mobile phone number. Her Alexandra Cooper novels are international bestsellers and have been translated into more than a dozen languages.

Would you like to tell us about a lower price? Read more Read less. Books In This Series 20 Books. Page 1 of 1 Start Over Page 1 of 1. Kindle Cloud Reader Read instantly in your browser. Customers who bought this item also bought. Page 1 of 1 Start over Page 1 of 1. After finishing "Silent Mercy", readers will eagerly seek out her other novels.

Product details File Size: July 12, Language: Share your thoughts with other customers. Write a customer review. Read reviews that mention new york night watch linda fairstein alex cooper alexandra cooper sex crimes mike and mercer law and order good read great read cooper series luc rouget look forward mike chapman york city final jeopardy hotel maid well written young woman fairstein books. Showing of reviews. Top Reviews Most recent Top Reviews.

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There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later. The book has two plots that are very loosely connected to Luc, Alex's current boyfriend. The setting begins in France and then NYC where Alex has to work hard in her job as prosecutor in the rape of a hotel maid by a wealthy Frenchman with an African background.

This is based on t he real story which gripped the world a year ago an d frankly was more exciting. This one ends with a fizzle. Aside from that except for Mercer who is one of the policemen working with Alex, the other characters including Alex are all pretty ugly. The end of t he book is good though and is connected to the other plot involving Luc's venture into a great restaurant in NYC.

Like other reviewers here, I really hope that our author will drop Luc an d move on. Mike also is very unpleasant in this book and Alex doesn't shine either. Big disappointment to read this one. If Luc is in the next episode, I probably won't bother with it. Carol Mello Top Contributor: This is one of my recent purchases by an author I had never tried before. I am making these purchases because I am trying to find good large print mysteries for a friend of my sister-in-law.

Night Watch (Alexandra Cooper, book 14) by Linda Fairstein

The friend has health issues and my sister-in-law asked me to help with finding used books for her to read. The book started out as a solid three star book. She has a boyfriend who is French Luc Rouget and owns and operates a Michelin Guide 3 star restaurant in the countryside near Cannes. The heroine seemed whiny and clingy at first. She also is fairly quick to get angry. But she knows her law, although where her boyfriend is concerned, she does some stupid things in the first half of the book that one would not expect from a top notch prosecutor, when her boyfriend becomes a suspect in a murder in France and another in NYC.

I really liked the characters of both Mercer and Mike. Like the heroine, I was not sure if Luc could be trusted. About halfway through, the book started to move up from a 3 star mystery to a 4 star mystery. There are two plot lines in the book. Both plots became more interesting at the midway point. It started to twist and turn. By the end of the book, I decided I would definitely read another Linda Fairstein and I could confidently pass this book along to my sister-in-law's friend. I decided to buy this book based on two data points: The discussion was not flattering, but it piqued my interest.

I have to say, it is a sloppy book. First, without giving away any spoilers, there are chapters of the book that purport to give significant clues but are conceded at the end to have been completely irrelevant to the plot. Second, there are two main plots and neither one has much to do with the other.

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The other plot is fairly preposterous.