nomadreader

Hell Gate , Linda Fairstein's twelfth novel featuring ADA Alexandra Cooper, is another ode to the history and architecture of New York City and a fascinating mystery. Fairstein has a knack for weaving multiple storylines and cases without muddling the narrative. As we all know, only ADAs on television have the luxury of having one case at a time. If you're a fan of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit , you should really read Linda Fairstein. She ran the SVU at the Manhattan District Attorney's office for decades, and now she writes wonderful novels. Thankfully, she manages to write one each year, but I find I even enjoy rereading them, which is rare for mystery novels. She is one of my favorite authors. The usual cast of characters is back in  Hell Gate . The novel opens with the wreck of a human cargo ship and a promising New York politician crashing his car after fighting with his mistress. Sex scandals abound, yet Fairstein keeps the story from becoming...

Thank you NBC, for finally bringing me a new episode of SVU this week; by my count, it was the first new episode in the month of March. Still, nomadreaderboy and I settled in with anticipation for a new episode, but we spent half of the episode deciding if we'd seen it already. It was a ripped from the headline episode on the infamous conservative Christian minister who also dabbled with meth and gay prostitutes. After going back and forth, we finally determined that it was in fact a new episode, but it was unnecessarily similar to the Criminal Intent take on it (oh, Tom Arnold as a closeted conservative televangelist). The stories ended quite differently, and they were both good. Still, can the L&O writers for the three shows please get together and divvy up the headlines?

Variety is now reporting on the television shows whose fate will be determined in the coming months as the networks finish their primetime schedules for the fall. Here are the shows I currently DVR and my thoughts on their possible cancellation: 1. 30 Rock - I believe 30 Rock is the funniest show on television. Granted, I also believe there is not nearly enough competition in this category. I was late to come to 30 Rock due to (in my opinion) poor scheduling. It airs in the same timeslot as Grey's Anatomy and The O.C. (R.I.P.), and my DVR can only handle two shows at once. I'm only three episodes in, but I love it. If I were wagering, I would bet NBC will keep 30 Rock; it's only mildly underperforming, and it does air against the two most-watched shows of the season ( American Idol not withstanding). 2. Friday Night Lights - I have never watched this show due to scheduling conflicts (Bones, Jericho & now America's Next Top Model ) . I plan to catc...