Kookpunt

CSI: New York #4

by Keith R.A. DeCandido

Detectives Mac Taylor, Danny Messer, Sheldon Hawkes, and Don Flack are called in to investigate a double homicide at a medium-security facility on Staten Island. Racial tensions turned the prison into a pressure cooker that finally boiled over in an all-too-lethal fashion, leaving two inmates dead. One of the killings is an open-and-shut case, complete with eyewitnesses; but the other, the murder of a former cop, defies easy answers. Initial investigation of the crime scene points to one cause of death, but the CSI team's scientific methods uncover something completely different&mfash;and wholly unexpected…

On the other edge of the city, Stella Bonasera and Lindsay Monroe look into the murder of a young woman who worked at a popular Italian bakery in the Bronx. They find the perfect suspect almost immediately: a frequent customer who spent a lot of time flirting with the victim and who previously had been arrested for a violent crime. Yet Stella can't help but think that their perfect suspect is just a little too perfect for such a messy murder…

Nothing is as it seems as New York City's dedicated crime scene investigators piece together the clues and examine the evidence to discover the true killers in their midst.

Genres: Crime, Mystery, Fiction, Thriller, Media Tie In, Tv, Detective

244 pages, Paperback

First published April 29, 2008

Reviews

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

The fourth and last novel of the CSI:NY series is penned by a different writer who has some history in writing novels based upon series like Star Trek & Supernatural (all stuff that gets watched at my house). He does show his skill by adding some personal stuff to the stories.

Two cases this book, Stella & Lindsey investigate the murder of a waitress in an Italian coffee-shop who got killed before closing time. The main suspect is a man who got a house out of a previous police investigation where he was falsely accused and put in custody before that was warranted so everybody is on his best behaviour this time not wanting to give the suspect a change at a bigger house.
The second one takes Hawkes, Flack, Taylor and Messer to a correctional facility where a double killing took place. One is an easy clear-cut case the other one a bit more of a mystery.

Bot cases get a satisfactory solution one is actually quite ingenious. And the story ends with an outing organised by Stella and does offer us some more insight in the characters. The book actually refers to some stuff happening in the series, which felt good being a fan of the show. Too bad that this writer was not asked to continue a few more novels as he has a good feeling for the material.

[Brigitte · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dit vierde deel van de CSI NY-serie was eindelijk weer een duidelijk leesbaar boek. Per hoofdstuk of per half hoofdstuk werd er aan 1 zaak gewerkt. Er was dus geen "van de hak op de tak"-gedoe zoals in de eerste 3 delen waar het vaak niet gelijk duidelijk was welke zaak er beschreven werd.

In dit boek ging het om 3 moorden en de processen hoe die opgelost werden, zijn duidelijk beschreven. Ik vond het een goed verhaal en hoe de karakters werden beschreven was ook persoonlijker dan in de andere CSI NY delen. Dit maakte het ook leuker om het verhaal te lezen. Het voelde of je er als lezer ook meer bij betrokken werd/was.
Vooral het laatste deel van het laatste hoofdstuk vond ik erg leuk.

[Sohxpie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A pretty decent TV Tie-In novel. I liked how there were two separate cases, it meant that nothing was unnecessarily drawn out. I would say that it got a little frustrating when it was constantly jumping between the two cases after each chapter, sometimes it was easy to forget where each case was at when you left it. It was nice that the story focused a bit more on characters like Flack and Monroe, sometimes they feel a little left out of the show so it was nice to see more of them. Overall, one fairly interesting case with the prison murder and one very cliché (but still decent) murder story.

[Vin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ok so I usually fly through books from any CSI series pretty quickly becuase they are always good but this one only had one interesting case in my opinion and one that was just very blah. The prison one was interesting but a non event. The bakery shop one was more interesting.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5*

[Gloria · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. Just like watching the show. It gives a little background on the characters too.

[Lynn Howard · Rating 5 out of 5]

First one I've read. Will probably get more

[Jonathan Gentry · Rating 2 out of 5]

Okay first off I only finished Four Walls due to me being in contact to this particular writer's agent. Second off, writer to readers the story and plot are solid but the execution of such was bland and dull. Mr. DeCandido failed to place the events of the story in a rhythmic and succinct style. Like the events of the first chapter could have been placed after the crimes took place or edited out all together. The first chapter lacks a hook that the second chapter had. Another big thing is the "show/tell" ratio. There are excessive passages of narration peppered throughout the book that could have been turned into scenes that show rather than tell. The book did however feel like an episode of the TV show and Mr. DeCandido did his research on the all of the characters. All in all I give CSI NY Four Walls a rating of two stars but it definitely could have been better than this.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

The four main detectives in the book are Mac Taylor, Danny Messer, Sheldon Hawkes, and Don Flack who work for CSI. Each of them has their own funny personality, which makes me laugh. Even though they are solving homicides mysteries, they still have their funny moments. All of the detectives work together most of the time, but they can get competitive with each other.

This book is about two different homicides. One of the most interesting parts to me was the computer assisted reenactment of the homicide itself. This technology helps them get closer to finding out who committed the homicide. Even though it didn't' tell them exactly who did it they could easily figure it out. This technology doesn't really exist today but it might be helpful if it did exist today.

[Soph · Rating 3 out of 5]

The cases were rather straight forward and rather simple. They didn't take a lot of twists and turns like a normal CSI NY episode would take, but it was still enjoyable reading. It's been a while since I watched an episode of the show, so my judgement may be off, but at times it seemed like the characterisation was not quite right.
It tied in very well with the show, referencing pivotal events for characters, in a way that wasn't just the author trying to show how much he knew about the show, but rather as a way of exploring the characters within the limits of the show. I particularly liked how parts of the ending were setting up for an episode of the show that it was timed to be directly before, but in a subtle way where it didn't matter if you hadn't seen the referencing or not.

[Johan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read this book in 3 hours time and am glad that the ordeal is over. The CSI novels are what I usually call fastfood. Not real food, but sometimes you just want to stuff something in your mouth and chew. Sometimes you just want to sit in a couch and read something to pass the time. A bad book is still better than a good movie. This book is an exception to the rule. I hesitated a few times whether I should continue reading or stop and do something useful, like read another book. I would rate most of the other CSI novels that I have read 3 stars, which means better than watching TV.

I have read the Dutch translation from the public library, but that was also the case for the other CSI novels. Characters and plot are boring and uninspiring.

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like reading the CSI:NY books especially when it during hiatus when I don't have episodes on my Ipod. Four Walls is good, and very easy to read, something I can get lost when I need to get out of the real world for a while my only but is, the author clearly didn't check his facts right. I am always annoyed by the fact that in it he mixed up Jess's name in the book it's Jennifer. I always feel like crossing it out and writing Jessica.

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

A classic New York CSI tale, both cases appear simple but in reality are complex with numerous twists and turns. Each of the characters is true to their on screen persona and it actually links together Series 3 episodes Comes Around (episode 23) and Snow Day (episode 24). A very good read with plenty of twists and turns to keep you on your toes.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid entry into the CSI: NY universe. Two cases, neither of which are as straightforward as they first appear to be. A few nice twists and turns. Easy to read, but enjoyable. The characters are well depicted here.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not much to say other then this is a good book and really builds on the characters...I enjoyed it! :)

[Holly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Totally love it

[Stacy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun and quick read, but I just don't think this story will stick with me for long - just not that memorable amongst all the other CSI stories out there.

[Jacqima]

it was awesome had more detail

[Margaret Konecsni · Rating 5 out of 5]

DeCandido researched CSI:NY as thoroughly as Collins did Las Vegas, and for that we can be grateful. Truly a capture of NYC flavor!

[Nanci · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a fan of the TV series I was very happy to find that this book truly captured the essence of the writing style and characters. An entertaining and easy read.

[Kate Guinn | katereadsanddrinks · Rating 2 out of 5]

I remember now why I don't usually read books based on television shows. (Unless it's Star Trek) The plot was okay, but the writing itself was pretty boring. I think I'll just stick to watching CSI.

[Monica Willyard Moen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has a plot with many layers and many ideas to sort out. It's fast-paced, gritty, and goes deep into the mindset of each of the members of the CSI team.