Angel's Tip

by Alafair Burke Narrated by Eliza Foss

Overview

Alafair Burke writes thrillers that keep readers on the edge of their seats, and as Entertainment Weekly says, she "knows when to drop clues to keep readers at her mercy." In Angel's Tip, Detective Ellie Hatcher enters the high-priced world of New York City nightlife when a pretty clubgoer is found brutally murdered. "Be prepared for a knuckle-biting journey that'll keep you turning pages until the very end."-Faye Kellerman

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

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.)

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Library Journal

New York City rookie police detective Ellie Hatcher, first introduced in Dead Connection, is out on her morning run when she discovers the corpse of a teenage girl who's been strangled, stabbed, and shorn of her blond hair. The 19-year-old had been visiting the Big Apple with friends and hitting all the clubs while on break from college. Her murder creates a whirlwind of bad publicity for the city, but the NYPD breaks the case very quickly-or have they? Turns out there are weird similarities to some cold cases that Hatcher's deceased partner had been checking out, and she is unconvinced they have the right perp. When another young woman is killed in a similar fashion, even the hunky district attorney has to admit the case has problems. Hatcher, meanwhile, is getting an uneasy feeling that somehow it's personal. Lots of suspense and plot twists galore keep the pages turning, but the story lines about Hatcher, her boyfriend, her brother, and her partner deserve the credit for making this novel a winner. Highly recommended for all public libraries. [See Prepub Alert, LJ5/15/08.]
—Stacy Alesi

Kirkus Reviews

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 abig surprise. Burke's brisk and ultimately suspenseful narrative offers wily and intricate plotting and sharply etched major and minor characters. Agent: Philip Spitzer/Philip G. Spitzer Literary Agency, Inc

Product Details

BN ID:	2940171021351
Publisher:	Recorded Books, LLC
Publication date:	12/05/2008
Series:	Ellie Hatcher , #2
Edition description:	Unabridged

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