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Hell Gate is one of the strongest mid-period Alex Cooper novels and the book where Linda Fairstein's New York geographic and institutional knowledge gets a real workout. The case opens with a wrecked freighter on the Hell Gate channel between Manhattan and Queens, with a human-trafficking dimension that pulls in the sex-crimes unit Alex runs.
Fairstein's strength has always been the procedural detail of how the DA's office actually works, and Hell Gate has more of it than usual. The NY geographic asides are well-handled rather than touristy. The trafficking case is serious and the investigation honors the difficulty of pursuing it.
Four stars. A confident mid-series Alex Cooper. Recommended to fans of NYC-set procedurals.
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