Remains Silent

June 20, 2005
Married couple Baden, former New York City medical examiner, and Kenney, legal commentator for CNN and Court TV, team up for this debut thriller starring a romantic and professional pair with job titles remarkably similar to their own. Dr. Jake Rosen, deputy chief medical examiner for New York City, gets a call from his beloved mentor, Dr. Pete Harrigan, who as county medical examiner in his retirement upstate, has just been handed a pile of bones dug up in an excavation for a new mall. After Harrigan identifies the bones of Korean War vet James Albert Lyons, who mysteriously disappeared in 1963, Jake suggests that Lyons's daughter hire an attorney, Philomena "Manny" Manfreda, a fashionista spitfire who specializes in representing the downtrodden. On their first date, Jake takes Manny to dinner and then to an emergency autopsy, where they banter cute while he dissects the corpse. After Harrigan dies of apparently natural causes, the body count rises, the romance between Manny and Jake heats up and soon nefarious experiments by the government come to light. Pedestrian writing and an implausible ending detract from this vehicle for Baden and Kenney's medical and criminal expertise. 11-city author tour.

August 15, 2005
In this forensic mystery with a lighter side, medical examiner Jacob "Jake" Rosen is called upon to investigate multiple human remains found at a construction site and suspects that an adjacent but now defunct psychiatric facility is somehow related. A short time later, feisty, fashion-obsessed legal crusader Philomena "Manny" Manfreda is hired by the family of a missing former patient of the facility. Together, Manny and Jake set out to identify the bodies and determine why they were buried so unceremoniously in the field behind the institute. Standing in their way is someone who will resort to murder to ensure that information remains secret. Baden, a former New York City medical examiner and host of HBO's "Autopsy", and Kenney, a legal commentator for CNN and Court TV, have written a brisk debut novel full of forensic details and unforgettable characters. Fans of Patricia Cornwell and Kathy Reichs who appreciate a little humor with their thrillers will enjoy this one. Recommended for popular reading collections. [See Prepub Alert, "LJ" 5/1/05.] -Leslie Madden, Georgia Inst. of Technology, Atlanta

Copyright 2005 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2005
Baden, a former medical examiner and host of the HBO series " Autopsy" and Kenney, a legal analyst for several cable news programs, add some sparkle to a rapidly growing subgenre with this energetic thriller that introduces a pair of strong-willed, affable protagonists who come to grips with bodies both long dead and hardly cold. Jake Rosen won't turn up on anyone's best-dressed list, but he's a crackerjack medical examiner, and he doesn't hesitate when he's summoned by his mentor to scrutinize human remains uncovered by a crew clearing land for a shopping center abutting the grounds of a state mental hospital. He stubbornly pursues the case, despite a series of occurrences obviously meant to warn him off. Just as obdurate as Jake is attorney Philomena Manfreda (Manny for short), "fighter for the underdog," whose client is the daughter of one of the dearly departed. Cruising around in her sports car, impeccably attired Manny seems flaky at first, but in terms of wits and courage, she's a perfect match for Jake. If not entirely bloodless, the forensic details are surprisingly tidy, delivered with an almost tutorial detachment, and the quirky personalities of the characters, especially Manny, add a layer of comedy unheard of in forensic thrillers. There's even a little romance. All in all, it's a very promising start to a new series; expect demand.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2005, American Library Association.)