From Publishers Weekly
The specter of Edgar Allan Poe hovers, chillingly, over bestseller Fairstein's seventh thriller featuring Manhattan sex crimes prosecutor Alexandra Cooper. Alex's labyrinthine path to a serial killer travels through a lot of forensic evidence and two initially unconnected cases: the Silk Stocking rapist is terrorizing women after a few years' respite and a woman's skeleton is discovered in the wall of an East Village building. Said discovery takes on additional dimension when it's learned that the victim was walled up alive and that the house was once inhabited by Poe. Freelance writer Emily Upshaw appears, at first glance, to be the Silk Stocking rapist's latest victim, but several details feel off to Alex and NYPD detective sidekicks Mike Chapman and Mercer Wallace. Emily, it's determined, is the victim of a copycat, but she does have a tenuous link to Poe and to a secret organization called the Raven Society. These are the puzzle pieces that Alex and company work with, in a tale that develops like the proverbial peeled onion, a layer at a time. Alex, fresh from a breakup, also continues her unconsummated flirtation with Mike. It's a tribute to Fairstein's integrity and her clear, measured prose that the novel never tips into prurience. Her methodical presentation of authentic detail engages reader interest more than narrative flourish or cheap thrills.

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Update 10/1/07: This is the third in my Poe-related bookrays. Suspenseful mystery with a Poe backdrop. A lot of interesting information about Poe was presented as part of the story. I thought the novel took off once the skeleton was found behind the wall and the Poe-related events began. The serial rapist part of the story was kind of thrown in with a hasty outcome. Overall I did enjoy this suspenseful story.

Bookray

Starting a bookray for this book. Please PM me if interested. Bookray will remain open until last person has the book.

Participants so far:

. geniedances from Texas, USA (USA only)
. LyekkaMarengo from Pennsylvania, USA (anywhere)
. sarradee from Texas, USA (North America only)
. JennyC1230 from Georgia, USA (USA preferred - international if needed)
. ExemploDucemus from Georgia, USA (international)
. UnwrittenLibra from Maryland, USA (anywhere)
. adeps from Sweden (international)
. Moonwoolf from Portugal (international)
. silvia-pco from Portugal (Europe preferred - international if necessary)<----No longer wants to read book

Note: Order is subject to change based on shipping preferences and others joining the bookray.

How the bookray works:
* Someone will PM you for your address, PM them back and provide your address
* When you receive the book, please make a journal entry letting everyone know that you received it
* Put the book at the top of your TBR pile (under other rings/rays that arrived first)
* Read the book (take your time and enjoy the book, don't feel rushed to finish it but try to pass it on within a couple of months - others are waiting!)
* When the end is in sight, check the book's journal and PM the next person to get their address
* Finish the book, make another journal entry and let everyone know what you thought of the book
* Send the book to the next person on the list (please use the cheapest shipping method available), make release notes (Controlled Release) or journal entry to let everyone know that it's in the mail
* END OF THE RAY, The last person on the ray could try and continue the ray or just give/mail the book to someone else who might like to read it, perhaps a RABCK - look at cliff1976.com wish list web site, or release it into the wild.

Please feel free to PM me at any time with questions

Bookray is now completed. Thanks everyone for participating!

RELEASE NOTES:

In the mail to geniedances in Houston, Tx to start this bookray. Enjoy!

"Entombed" arrived last week. Meant to journal it but somehow got sidetracked. I started reading it today and hope to finish it by next week.
Thanks to perryfran for sharing this book.

Enjoyed the book. I almost got as caught up in the interesting Edgar Allen Poe information as I was the plot. As the story progresses, we discover two different killers are on the lose. The sub-plot is the relationship forming between Mike and Alexandra. I have PM'd LyekkaMarengo who is the next reader on the list.

Received safe and sound in Central PA. Have to finish the books I'm reading now, then 1 other bookring.

Book has been mailed to sarradee in Ovilla, TX. Sorry for the delay. I can only get to the Post Office on my lunch hour and hadn't gotten a chance until today.

Arrived safely today. Will get read and passed along asap. Looks like a good, quick kinda read.

Enjoyed this entry in the Poe spiral. All the Poe trivia was almost more interesting than the main story about hunting down the serial killer. I grew up in New York, and didn't even know there was a Poe Cottage, now I'll have to check into it on my next visit "home". The author did a decent job twining the stories together although the final outcome seemed a bit rushed.

I've pm'ed JennyC for her address and am ready to pass it on.

12/19 - Got an address and the book is in the mail.

I received the book today! I will start reading it soon.

Thanks for starting this book spiral perryfran and thank you to sarradee for mailing it to me!

I finished reading this today. It was a new author for me. I liked the characters and their dialogue, the mystery part of the story just didn't grab me as much as the characters did. Thank you for sharing perryfran! This is the last book read for me in 2007! Wow! :-)

I have the address for ExemploDucemus so I will be sending soon!

Mailed to ExemploDucemus today. USPS Delivery Confirmation #03070020000131411168

Received today, and what timing. I have just finished the book I was reading, so will start this one tonight.

Thanks for including me in this

PM'd UnwrittenLibra today for their address, will update when the book is mailed.

RELEASE NOTES:

I enjoyed the characters in the book, far more than I did the storyline. I felt that even though the characters were strong, they weren't strong enough to help a mystery that limped along at best.

Thank you for including me in this, the book has now been mailed to UnwrittenLibra.

DC 0307 0020 0002 0787 7324

Arrived today in Baltimore, Maryland...I seem to be getting a lot of rings and rays these days! I still have to get to For Edgar. Thanks, ExemploDucemus!

Phew! Finally finished today during lunch...it's a long one! Sorry for keeping it so long.

I loved the first 400 or so pages...I really thought that Alex Cooper was a hardcore detective, actually getting stuff done herself rather than relying on a man or a team of men to help her...but sadly, in the last 100 pages, I felt the plot fell apart a bit and Alex showed signs of weakness and just a bit of foofoo [my own word - if you're interested, ask me what it means] but not too much as some cozy detectives. Despite a few stupid pitfalls, Alex pretty much established her presence in the book and established my interest in reading the prior and anterior books in the series. The Poe references were par excellence.

I've got the next address and it will be mailed off very soon!

Mailed off to Sweden today from Amherst, Massachusetts! Go book go!!!

Safe and sound in Sweden. Thanks for sending and sharing!

I didn't like this book, I never got into it at all, I didn't even finish it.

Sent to Portugal today. Obrigada :)

Arrived today. After the two rings i'm currently reading i'll start this one.
Thank you.

03-01-2012=> This book is available to be readed...