Final Jeopardy

De: Linda Fairstein

Narrado por: Barbara Rosenblat

From the former chief of the sex crimes unit of the Manhattan District Attorney’s office comes the bestselling thriller featuring a New York City prosecutor unraveling a terrifying and brutal murder mystery.

Alexandra Cooper, Manhattan’s top sex crimes prosecutor, awakens one morning to shocking news: a tabloid headline announcing her own violent murder. Confused and horrified, Alex discovers that the actual victim was Isabella Lascar, a Hollywood film actress who was staying at Alex’s Martha’s Vineyard retreat. This only raises more questions: was Isabella slain by a stalker or was Alex herself the intended target?

In an investigation that twists from the alleys of lower Manhattan to the chic boutiques of the Upper East Side, Alex has to get inside the killer’s head before the killer gets to her. “With riveting authenticity” (Vanity Fair), Final Jeopardy is a fast-paced and explosive thriller that only Linda Fairstein could write.

Really Good

interesting story thst seems gritty and realistic, with lots of details that suck the reader in. Heard about this book because a netflix show had a fictional character named after the author do bad stuff.

A very good book, indeed

Where does Final Jeopardy rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I would put Final Jeopardy in the upper middle class of the books I've listened to over the years. It was steady and well done.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

This was an ending I had not anticipated until well into the book. It's different and plausible so that was a nice shift from what I was expecting.

What about Barbara Rosenblat’s performance did you like?

Barbara Rosenblat has the sultry voice of a Kathleen Turner character. It's low and husky and slightly different from so many other readers. Once I got past the fact that this was a big voiced gal speaking a small woman's role I thoroughly enjoyed her performance.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Perhaps I liked the book as well as I did because it didn't produce an extreme reaction The characters were so well read, the accents so perfect, and the comfort with which they all interacted made this a comfortable listen.

Any additional comments?

It's easy to forget that the same person is doing all the parts in Final Jeopardy. Barbara Rosenblatt is more than equal to the task. She is marvelous with the male voices and makes Mike, the NYPD cop with whom she works, a great guy, someone I'd like to know. All the characters are quite separate with voices and inflections of their own. Well done.

I'm confused by the several bad narrator comments.

Would you consider the audio edition of Final Jeopardy to be better than the print version?

For me, listening to a book is always a different experience of the story than reading it. If I like a book exceedingly well, I'll both read and listen to it - just to get all the nuances from it. Having said that, I also think a great narrator can take a so-so story and give it life and humor and a naturalness that the actual story doesn't really have. And, of course, the reverse is true as well. Fairstein's books are complicated enough that it might be easier to keep track of all the characters and story turns on the page rather than by earbud.

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

I'm not quite finished with it, but I'm pretty sure I've guessed whodunit. More red herrings might have been good. :)

Which scene was your favorite?

The scene in Jed's club must be the confrontation fantasy of most people at one time or another.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Beware the fried clam stand.

Any additional comments?

It was surprising to me to see so many comments about the annoying aspect of narrator's (the brilliant Barbara Rosenblat) mouth noise. I have listened to dozens of BR's performances and, yes, I've heard her swallow. I've heard her carrying on with what sounded like the end of a head cold. I've heard her voice deepen as time went by.

I purposely listened out for these noises and can only remember hearing one swallow and virtually no 'sparkles' or 'clicks'. I'd also like to point out that an over abundance of this kind of noise should be at least partly attributed to the sound engineer. It certainly is easy enough to edit noise out of a reading.

If I have any complaint, it's with the voice BR chose to do for Mike. I keep seeing him as an overweight middle-aged guy, rather than the tall, dark, handsome (if crude) guy he is supposed to be. But maybe that's because it's been too long since I've been to NY.

Frankly, it's my opinion that it would take an awful lot more (purely natural) mouth noise to offset the fact that Ms. Rosenblat can do any gender, any accent, any genre with complete believability. (I have a terrible crush on her rendition of Emerson in the Amelia Peabody series.)

Interesting

I found the book interesting, kept me interested and entertained...but the horrible narration was really hard to take! The tongue noises and dry mouth took away from the good story. Good mystery though.

A surprise ending!!!!!

What made the experience of listening to Final Jeopardy the most enjoyable?

The Narrator. She was great with doing the different voices, especially Lt. Wallace.

What other book might you compare Final Jeopardy to and why?

Dark Horse by Tami Hoag. Similar twists and turns.

Have you listened to any of Barbara Rosenblat’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No, just other Linda Fairsteins. I enjoyed this one more.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

No.

Any additional comments?

No.