HELL GATE by Linda Fairstein
Linda Fairstein is a former New York attorney who once headed up the Sex Crimes Unit. She has written several novels with HELL GATE being her twelfth. Once again she uses Alexandra Cooper as her lead character. Cooper is the ADA in the Sex Crimes Office of New York County. Whereas some of Fairstein’s previous novels have been gripping dramas this new one falls flat on all accounts.
In this new story Alexandra Cooper starts work on identifying and helping women who were part of a sex slave ring. The boat that carried them to the shores of America was a Ukrainian vessel. Before the “cargo” was off loaded there was a spotting of a police boat which caused panic among the crew. Several of the women jumped overboard and were drowned while others made it to shore. Cooper now wants to know who is responsible for bringing the women into this country.
While this is going on a New York politician is arrested for drunk driving and leaving the scene. It also happens that a scandal comes to light involving him and a young woman with whom he allegedly has a child. The politician is married and wants to protect his name and his seat in congress.
All of this makes for a fast start to the novel but then it just bogs down in nothing happening and pages and pages of filler concerning the history of different buildings in New York. What this adds to the story is difficult to understand.
Fairstein has a basic plot for the book but if left to its own devices it would probably take up less than a hundred pages. That isn’t enough for any publisher to print so the plot has to be stretched and that is what is done here. We get Cooper babysitting for a friend’s child. Not exactly the stuff of drama. Then we get the history lessons. They just don’t belong in this story in this much detail.
Fairstein has a reputation for good story telling but if this new novel is an indication of where her talent is taking her then that reputation is going to begin to decline. Still there is always hope that her next novel will be more in line with the abilities she is known to have.
For the present it is best to skip HELL GATE. Some might say it is a hell of a ride, but others will say it is hellish in its dullness and that is more accurate.
HELL GATE is published by Dutton. It contains 400 pages and sells for $26.95.