The area of Midtown Manhattan around Grand Central Terminal, with its host of landmark buildings, serves as the backdrop for bestseller Fairstein’s gripping 16th novel featuring ADA Alexandra “Coop” Cooper (after 2013’s Death Angel). An unidentified young woman lies dead in a luxury suite on a high floor of the Waldorf Astoria hotel, with “lines that appeared to have been sliced by a sharp instrument into her upper thighs.” With the U.S. president scheduled to arrive at the Waldorf in just a few days, Coop teams with Special Victim Unit detectives Mike Chapman and Mercer Wallace, the highest-ranking African-American in the squad, in a race against the clock to track down the deranged individual responsible for this and subsequent brutal murders with the same m.o. Meanwhile, a complicated and evolving romance between Mike and Coop muddles the pursuit, as the detective’s shady recent past puts Coop on edge. The tour of Midtown, both above and below ground, is alone worth the price of admission. [em]Agent: Esther Newberg, ICM. (June) [/em]