Review by Booklist Review
Like many college coeds, Chelsea Hart came to New York City on spring break to have a good time. Little did she know her days spent partying with gal pals would be her last. Newly minted homicide detective Ellie Hatcher and her brother, Jess, are out for an early morning jog through Manhattan when they come upon Hart's strangled body at a construction site near Central Park. Detective Hatcher is eager to prove that her quick promotion from police work was legit. With the help of her partner, she arrests haughty Jake Myers, Chelsea's dance partner at a tony Meatpacking District club, and the last to see her alive. But then careful study of some cold cases has Hatcher convinced they've nabbed the wrong man. Worse still, she fears the perpetrator may be linked to the serial killer case that cost her father his life. While Burke, the daughter of James Lee Burke, has an engaging writing style, her Ellie Hatcher character is considerably less compelling than the protagonist of her debut series, cool Oregon lawyer Samantha Kincaid.--Block, Allison Copyright 2008 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Starred Review. Near the start of Burke's gripping second procedural to feature NYPD detective Ellie Hatcher (after Dead Connection), Ellie happens on the mutilated body of college student Chelsea Hart in East River Park while on her morning jog. Friends of the victim point the cops toward posh nightclub Pulse, located in the trendy Meatpacking district, where Ellie and partner J.J. Rogan are able to match a VIP's credit card receipt to young and arrogant investment banker Jake Meyers, with whom Chelsea was last reported seen. But pinning the case on him doesn't feel right when Ellie discovers similarities between Chelsea's murder and two others from years past. Meanwhile, local media keep getting hold of unreleased facts of the case, making Ellie's superiors suspicious of her romantic relationship with Daily Post crime reporter Peter Morse. Knowing the cops aren't on the right track lends a sense of dread to the plot. Burke leaves her principle characters little time to sleep; readers will relate. Author tour. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
Never mind the case she's carefully built against a young hedge fund manager. NYPD detective Ellie Hatcher wonders whether a serial killer who chops off his victims' hair is actually responsible for the latest murder. With a national tour. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Burke (Law/Hofstra Univ.; Dead Connection, 2007, etc.) scores on all counts in this thriller about a serial killer with a hair fetish. Pathos underscores the complicated second case Burke hands to NYPD cop Ellie Hatcher. On her bare knees in an alley outside a club in Manhattan's Meatpacking District, Indiana University student Chelsea Hart tops a spring-break night of booze and drugs with sex by fellating a man who resembles Jake Gyllenhaal. Chelsea never learned how dangerous the Big Apple can be for party kids. In a few hours, someone drops her slashed body beside the East River. Jogging nearby, Ellie comes upon the scene. Soon she's on the case and has a likely suspect under arrest. But several unsolved, cold cases unsettle Ellie. Since all of them involve victims with cut or hacked-off hair, she suspects a serial killer committed the crimes. She wonders why a superior scoffed at an officer who worked this theory a few years back. At home, Ellie's boyfriend Peter, a tabloid reporter desperate for a book idea, nags Ellie for details about the case, which he may be leaking to the paper. Everything goes on hold when a janitor at the club where Chelsea partied on the last night of her life confesses to her murder. But if he's the killer, then who is narrating a series of chilling scenes detailing plans to murder another young woman with a blond ponytail? When this victim's body turns up, her hair has been crudely styled to look the way Ellie's looked in a school photograph, and Ellie's initials have been carved on the victim's forehead. Ellie appears a likely target and one of the parties to the case appears a too likely suspect. Then Burke makes good on a solid buildup by pulling off a big surprise. Burke's brisk and ultimately suspenseful narrative offers wily and intricate plotting and sharply etched major and minor characters. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
