The Finishing School

by Michele Martinez
Isabel Keating

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A late-night call from her boss sends federal prosecutor Melanie Vargas to a vast Park Avenue apartment where two beautiful teenagers, students at a posh East Side girls' school, lie dead under suspicious circumstances. As determined as she is smart and ambitious, Melanie will do what it takes to get to the truth. But it's tough for a woman to focus on work when she's paired with a hot cop who has a talent for making her pulse race. Feeling pressure from the top, Melanie needs answers fast. Breaking all the rules, she goes undercover on a hunt that takes her into the darkest recesses of the city's nightlife-and into the hands of a devious murderer with no intention of getting caught.

Creators
- Michele Martinez
  
  Author
- Isabel Keating
  
  Narrator
Series

Melanie Vargas
Publisher

Blackstone Publishing

Edition: Unabridged
Release date

August 2, 2006
Formats
- OverDrive Listen audiobook
  - ISBN: 9780792744566
  - File size: 355619 KB
  - Duration: 12:20:52
Languages
- English
Reviews
- AudioFile Magazine
  
  Two teenagers who attend a posh private school are found dead, apparently from drug overdoses, and Melanie Vargas, federal prosecutor, investigates, going undercover to uncover the truth. This is a badly written book that reads like a soap opera, and, unfortunately, Isabel Keating performs it as such. Characters are read with overdone and/or weak accents and over-the-top emotions. No cliché is missing in the book, which is filled with unnecessary details that bear no relationship to the story. This is an unfortunate marriage of a weak book and a weak reader. S.S.R. (c) AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine
- Publisher's Weekly
  
  September 12, 2005
  At the start of Martinez's gripping second thriller (after 2005's Most Wanted
  ), New York federal prosecutor Melanie Vargas is summoned at two in the morning a week before Christmas to a sadly bizarre death scene on Park Avenue. The teenage stepdaughter of Wall Street mogul and would-be U.S. senator James Seward has died of a heroin overdose, along with a fellow student at a posh East Side girls' school. Melanie soon finds herself up to her neck in politics: Seward's first call on discovering the bodies is to the police commissioner, not 911, and the agent in charge of the case is from the Elite Narcotics Task Force, which her boss is trying to impress. As the various agencies involved fight for turf and power, it's largely up to Melanie to find out what really happened to the two dead girls. The author draws from her own background as a lawyer and special prosecutor with years of experience in drug cases to raise this well above the common run of suspense novels. Agent, Meg Ruley. 12-city author tour.
- AudioFile Magazine
  
  Two girls at a tony New York prep school die of an apparent drug overdose, threatening the smarmy headmistress's fundraising plans and her romance with the father of one of the victims. It's up to prosecuting attorney Melanie Vargas to sort things out in the midst of a complicated personal life. Anne Twomey is good at bringing out the shallowness of most of the players (maybe some depth was lost in the abridgment), as well as Vargas's confused emotions. Only a Hispanic janitor and his daughters truly engage the listener's sympathy. If you like suspense that is heavy on action, light on subtlety, this is for you. J.B.G. (c) AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine
- Library Journal
  
  July 1, 2006
  In this legal thriller, federal prosecutor and single mother Melanie Vargas goes undercover in her hometown of Manhattan to investigate the drug supplier of two recently deceased wealthy teenagers. A third girl turns up missing, and Melanie is determined to solve these seemingly unrelated mysteries. Through her investigations, she sheds light on the more hidden aspects of an elite Manhattan prep school and the darker side of Manhattan night life. Politics are involved as well, adding another dimension to this well-written and edgy suspense story. FBI agent and Melanie -s romantic interest Dan O -Reilly is on hand to help. Isabel Keating -s reading of this finely written mystery enhances the presentation of the various characters as well as keeping the listener in suspense through the fast-paced action. Recommended." -Denise A. Garofalo, Astor Home for Children, Rhinebeck, NY"
  Copyright 2006 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
- Publisher's Weekly
  
  March 6, 2006
  A federal prosecutor and single mother, Melanie Vargas, the protagonist from Martinez's first book, Most Wanted
  , is back with some of the same characters, plus a handful of new ones who will not be easy to forget. Vargas is investigating the heroin overdose of two elite prep school girls and begins to suspect one overdose may be murder. As the plot unravels, Vargas takes the listener on a wild ride of hunches, risks and action. Broadway and television actress Anne Twomey does a superb job of performing all parts. She has a quiet, calm, determined voice, slightly reminiscent of Jane Fonda; crystal clear diction; and an knack for delivering convincing dialogue and believable accents. Her talents become particularly evident with Carmen Reyes, the mixed-up, and kidnapped, classmate of the girls, and with the sleazy and deadly nightclub tycoon, Jay Esposito, whose preferred lethal weapon is his set of golf clubs. The fear Twomey generates is palpable, as is the longing and desire felt by Vargas as she is partnered with her former crush, FBI Agent Dan O'Reilly. Simultaneous release with the Walker & Co. hardcover (Reviews, Sept. 12).