Series heroine Alexandra Cooper, head of Manhattan's sex crimes unit, returns in a novel that might have been titled "Nevermore,": focused as it is on the life and works of Edgar Allan Poe. When the body of a two-decades-old skeleton is found bricked up behind a wall in a soon-to-be-demolished building where Poe once lived, it looks like a very cold case indeed. But then that old murder is linked to a more current slaying, one that at first looks like the work of the Silk Stocking Rapist, Alex's old enemy, who terrorized the upper East Side of Manhattan several years ago but hasn't been heard from since. As usual, Alex and her good friends, detectives Mercer Wallace and Mike Chapman, take the reader to an area of New York most tourists never see--in this case, the Bronx Botanical Gardens and its wild, forested environs--and bring it dramatically to life. Just in case Poe ever has his own category on Alex's favorite TV show, there’s enough trivia included about the master of the macabre's life and work to propel any reader to Final Jeopardy. Entombed is a smart, stylish, well-told tale. --Jane Adams

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. She's the real deal. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
Alexandra Cooper returns in another case featuring two seemingly unrelated crimes that the talented sex-crimes prosecutor is hell-bent on connecting. A serial rapist is terrorizing Manhattan's tony Upper East Side. Dubbed the Silk Stocking rapist, his usual M.O. is to terrorize the victim but not kill her. When one girl winds up dead, Alex and her trusted detective partners, Mercer Wallace and Mike Chapman, believe that perhaps a copycat perpetrator is out there who takes his crimes one step further. At the same time, Alex becomes obsessed with the stories of Edgar Allan Poe, especially after a young person's skeleton is found in an old home Poe once inhabited. Could that victim's killer still be on the loose, and, by some strange turn of fate, be connected to the Silk Stocking assaults? Fairstein pays homage to the great Poe with a complicated, intriguing account involving the underbelly of New York and a strange group of Poe enthusiasts who would do anything to gain the respect of their similarly obsessed peers. Creepy and oh-so-much fun. Mary Frances Wilkens
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Book Description
New York Times bestselling author and famed former Manhattan prosecutor Linda Fairstein delivers a chilling new Alexandra Cooper thriller, in which Alex matches wits with the master of detective fiction himself -- Edgar Allan Poe... Workers demolishing a nineteenth-century brownstone where Poe once lived discover a human skeleton standing -- entombed -- behind a brick wall. When assistant district attorney and sex crimes prosecutor Alexandra Cooper hears about the case, it strikes her as a classic scene from Poe's fiction...except that forensic evidence shows this young woman died within the last twenty-five years. Meanwhile, Alex is furious at the news that an old nemesis may be preying on women once again. The Silk Stocking Rapist first struck four years ago, leaving a string of victims in his wake, then abruptly disappeared before Alex and the NYPD could identify him. Now, with improved forensic technology and a national DNA databank to draw from, a fresh attack may give Alex a new lease on many old crimes, just in time to beat the statute of limitations. Masterful and exhilarating, this heady thriller combines dramatic New York City lore and the macabre world of Edgar Allan Poe with the authentic legal and forensic detail that only Linda Fairstein can offer. Entombed is electrifying crime writing at its very best.

FROM OUR EDITORS

The Barnes & Noble Review
For sex crimes prosecutor Alexandra Cooper, even a night out can be murder. Already troubled by the return of the Silk Stocking Rapist (back in business after a four-year break), Alex is further burdened when the seminar she's attending at NYU Law School is interrupted by the discovery of a skeleton bricked up behind the wall in the basement of a Manhattan brownstone that was once the residence of Edgar Allan Poe! Although the tabloids have a field day with the Poe connection, this corpse is no relic from the poet's era. Forensics estimates that the body was entombed sometime after 1979 -- ancient history only from the perspective of leads gone cold.

Meanwhile, someone is mimicking the M.O. of the Silk Stocking Rapist -- with one notable distinction: He leaves his victim dead. As that investigation unfolds, Alex wonders if the copycat's victim might have had information about the body in the basement￯﾿ﾽ. Suddenly the cold case turns red-hot, and it's up to Alex to ensure that no one else gets burned.

Linda Fairstein's inside knowledge of police procedure and legal work (she spent 25 years in the Sex Crimes Prosecution Unit of the Manhattan D.A.'s Office) provides Entombed with intriguing realistic touches; her craft as a writer turns it into an atmospheric, fast-paced tale that rivals Poe. Sue Stone

FROM THE PUBLISHER

From New York Times bestselling author and famed former Manhattan prosecutor Linda Fairstein comes a chilling new Alexandra Cooper novel, Entombed, in which Alex matches wits with the master of detective fiction himself-Edgar Allan Poe...

Workers demolishing a nineteenth-century brownstone where Edgar Allan Poe once lived discover a human skeleton entombed -- standing -- behind a brick wall. When sex crimes prosecutor Alexandra Cooper hears about the case, it strikes her as a classic Poe scene...except that forensic evidence shows that this young woman died within the last twenty-five years. Meanwhile, Alex's old nemesis the Silk Stocking Rapist is once again terrorizing Manhattan's Upper East Side. The attacks soon escalate to murder, and the search leads Alex and detectives Mercer Wallace and Mike Chapman to the city's stunning Bronx Botanical Gardens. There, an enigmatic librarian presides over the Raven Society, a group devoted to the work of Poe. In exploring the fabled writer's tormented life for clues, Alex will cross paths with a cunning killer and face some of the greatest challenges of her career. Entombed is masterful, exhilarating crime fiction from one of crime writing's most dazzling stars.

FROM THE CRITICS

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. She's the real deal. Agent, Esther Newberg. (Jan.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

With a rapist wandering about and the skeleton of a recently dispatched young woman found upright behind the wall of the brownstone where Edgar Allan Poe once lived, sex crimes prosecutor Alexandra Cooper must seek help from the Raven Society (Poe fanatics, of course). With a 12-city author tour. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews