Critics' Opinion:
Readers' rating:
Published Jul 2007
336 pages
Genre: Thrillers
Publication Information
When two young women are murdered on the streets of New York, exactly one year apart, Detective Ellie Hatcher is called up for a special assignment on the homicide task force. The killer has left behind a clue connecting the two cases to First Date, a popular online dating service, and Flann McIlroy, an eccentric, publicity-seeking homicide detective, is convinced that only Ellie can help him pursue his terrifying theory: someone is using the lure of the Internet and the promise of love to launch a killing spree against the women of New York City.
To catch the killer, Ellie must enter a high-tech world of stolen identities where no one is who they appear to be. And for her, the investigation quickly becomes personal: she fits the profile of the victims, and she knows firsthand what pursuing a sociopath can do to a cop—back home in Wichita, Kansas, her father lost his life trying to catch a notorious serial murderer.
"Ellie's character never quite gels, however, and her interactions with the suspects don't provide enough tension or heat to keep pages turning all the way through." - PW.
"[T]he author here suffers from too many plot threads and enough characters for two books. Still, too much of a good thing is better than not enough" - Booklist.
"Holds the reader's attention from first word to last,and begs for a sequel." - Kirkus.
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Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
alafairburke.com
Alafair S. Burke is an American crime novelist, professor of law, and legal commentator. She is the author of two series of crime novels-one featuring NYPD Detective Ellie Hatcher; the other, Portland, Oregon, prosecutor Samantha Kincaid.
A former deputy district attorney in Portland, Oregon, Alafair Burke now teaches criminal law at Hofstra Law School. The daughter of acclaimed crime writer James Lee Burke, she is a graduate of Stanford Law School and currently serves as a legal and trial commentator for radio and television programs, including for Court TV.
She has served on the Board of Directors of the Mystery Writers of America and as President of its New York chapter.
Her notable works include: Judgment Calls (2003), Missing Justice (2004), Dead Connection (2007), Long Gone (2011), ...
... Full Biography
Author Interview
Link to Alafair Burke's Website
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