Likely to Die (Paperback)

Like Alexandra Cooper, the protagonist of her bestselling series of crime novels, Linda Fairstein was once an assistant district attorney in Manhattan. While both are undeniably savvy and tenacious, the author has denied any other similarities and often jokes that her fictional character is by far "younger, blonder, thinner and richer." Fairstein was born in Mt. Vernon, a pleasant suburb in Westchester County, New York. Her father, Samuel, was a doctor, and her mother, Alice, was a nurse. She attended Vassar College, graduating in 1969, and then followed her older brother, Guy, to the University of Virginia Law School. After earning her J.D. degree in 1972, Fairstein joined the New York County District Attorney's Office. In 1976 she was appointed head of the sex-crimes unit. Founded specifically to prosecute cases involving sexual assault, domestic violence, and child abuse, it was the first such unit in the country, and Fairstein was hailed as a pioneer and role model. Among the high-profile cases she handled were that of the so-called "Preppy Murderer" and the notorious rape of a woman dubbed "the Central Park Jogger" by the press. Fairstein, who was married to the late Justin Feldman, a fellow lawyer, remained at the D.A.'s office until 2002. Her first book, the nonfiction SEXUAL VIOLENCE: OUR WAR AGAINST RAPE, was published in 1993. Buoyed by its success, she turned her attention to fiction, publishing the debut Alexandra Cooper novel, FINAL JEOPARDY, in 1996. (It was made into a television movie in 2001.) Her subsequent novels--which all take place in colorful or historic New York City locales--have regularly appeared on the bestseller lists and have been translated into more than a dozen languages. She has asserted that her work proves the cliché that truth is stranger than fiction. "Sometimes my colleagues and I sit in my office and talk about a situation, and someone will tell me that I should use that in one of my books," she has said. "And the truth is that if I wrote that story, no one would believe that it happened. "