If You Were Here

If You Were Here is the newest novel by author Alafair Burke, a former prosecutor who now teaches criminal law and lives in Manhattan.  She is the author of nine novels, including the Ellie Hatcher series and several stand alones.  This novel is set in Manhattan, and stars McKenna Jordan, a magazine journalist (and former prosecutor) who is chasing down a story.  Her friend has been missing for years but when she sees a subway video of a heroic

act, she swears the woman in the video is her long-lost, presumed dead, friend, Susan.  Susan was also a classmate of McKenna's husband, Patrick, at West Point.  NYPD concluded that Susan disappeared after a tiff with her dad about the end of her military career, but McKenna thinks that there is something more to the story.  Thus begins a story of twists and turns as McKenna uses her reporting skills to ferret out the truth of Susan's disappearance and the story she was embroiled in.  The action is quick, the mystery is a good one and all in all this is a very suspenseful read.  This novel is a standalone book and may be read without reading any other novels first.  If you are interested in discovering more about the author, check her out online at www.alafairburke.com

Long Gone

I truly enjoy reading Alafair Burke's novels and her new one, Long Gone is another winner! True, she is the daughter of James Lee Burke, the author of the "Louisiana policeman turned private investigator" Dave Robichaux, one of my all-time favorite authors, but she has earned her place in the realm of great thriller writers with this novel. Alafair Burke writes a wonderful series about gutsy heroine Elie Haskell, but Long Gone is her first stand alone novel and it is a page-turner. The stories' basic premise is that struggling art major Alice Humphrey has been trying for months to get a job in New York City when she is suddenly offered her dream job of being a gallery owner in a new gallery in the Meatpacking District. Alice thinks the job is too good to be true and when she meets savvy gallery owner Drew Campbell and learns that the main gallery exhibitor will be a man with questionable artistic tastes, she hesitates about taking it. Although Drew tells Alice that the anonymous artists' work is a little edgy, Alice thinks that her dream of running her own gallery outweighs any objections she has to this anonymous artist's work. Alice is trying to balance her life being the daughter of a famous Academy-Award winning director and his leading lady, and her life seems just about perfect, until she walks into the gallery and finds the work gone, the owner dead on the floor and her dream job vanished. Alice is suspect number one until she teams up with an FBI agent and works to clear her name. There are at least three different stories tied together in this book and it makes the story an interesting read. I enjoy Alice Humphrey's character and admire her guts as she tries to discover the truth. The book has many twists and turns, especially at the end, and I think you'll find it very enjoyable!

Get Hooked by an Angel

I am a big fan of police procedurals and I have just finished reading a really great one! Angel’s Tip is the latest mystery thriller from Alafair Burke, and it truly is a fast and exciting read. The book is set in New York and features Ellie Hatcher, a tough, “newly promoted” NYPD detective who has been working in the homicide division of the Thirteenth precinct for exactly one week. The book’s action is centered around the murder of Chelsea Hart, a college student from Indiana who was spending her spring break with her two best friends, in New York City. A bit wild and carefree, Chelsea convinced her friends to leave her at a nightclub on the last night of their trip, so that that she could dance and have fun “a little bit longer.” But, the best night of Chelsea’s life turned sour when her murdered body was discovered the next day in East River Park. The plot is complicated and the action moves quickly in this book. Not only do readers’ get to hear Ellie’s point of view, but also they are pushed into the mind of the killer during several parts of the book. The best part of Alafair Burke’s novel is her heroine, Ellie Hatcher. Ellie’s father was a policeman and she has followed in his footsteps in her own career choice. Ellie lives in a world of men, and being attractive and blond has hindered her ability to be taken seriously by her fellow detectives. In this book, Ellie receives a new partner, J. J. Rogan, who as an African American has had to face his own battles within the force. Ellie and J. J.’s developing partnership and uphill battle to learn the “lay of the land” within the NYPD add an extra layer of tension to this already exciting story. Dead Connection is the first novel written by Alafair Burke, that stars Ellie Hatcher. Burke has also written three books in a series with Deputy District Attorney Samantha Kincaid that are set in Portland, OR; the first book in the Samantha Kincaid series is Judgement Calls. If you like Angel’s Tip, try also reading The Surgeon by Tess Gerritsen, the first book in Gerritsen’s series starring Detective Jane Rizzolo. The story involves a creepy cerebral serial killer, a charismatic female doctor and a tough female detective set amidst the history and bustle of Boston, MA.