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Short reviews of five JD Robb books.
Aug. 31st, 2010 12:23 amJD Robb is the name that romance author Nora Roberts uses for her In Death books, which are a mystery/romance/sci-fi series, in roughly that order of precedence. A summary of the series as a whole:
Eve Dallas is a police detective in a Poorly-Conceived-Future where there is intergalactic space travel, everyone has flying cars, people routinely live to 150, and widespread environmental devastation does not seem to have had much effect on New York City. Forensic technology appears to be stuck in the mid-90s, and the war on drugs continues, unexamined, to take up most of the justice system's time and money. Also, every two months on the dot there's a new serial killer who targets mainly attractive women, which suggests some possible slippage backwards.
Eve is ruthless, brilliant, and has an strong code of personal honor. She was also sexually abused as a child, and is suffering from PTSD, for which she refuses to go into treatment. She is always the one to investigate these serial killer cases, which I think demonstrates a certain lack of forethought on her superiors' parts. Fortunately, her relationship with Roarke (no last name), the handsomest ethically-challenged billionaire industrialist in the whole world, is helping her heal.
Eve and Roarke are an extremely cute couple, which is good, because there are a lot of scenes of the two of them bouncing off each other. These books are very enjoyable to read, frequently funny, and unbelievably predictable. You can usually identify the murderer from his or her first or second appearance, occasionally just his or her first vague mention. Half the time Eve does so, but she always ends up getting cornered and monologued at anyway.
Every investigation goes pretty much the same way - Eve reluctantly uses Roarke's unsavory technology or connections to solve the case; people sexually harass her and she mocks them in a hard-assed manner; Roarke and Eve render themselves vulnerable talking about their tragic pasts, and then have explicit sex; Roarke's butler shows up to act snobby, and Eve's reformed pickpocket friend shows up to act eccentric and lovable. Etc. So far this is still all pretty entertaining.
Book 1 - Naked in Death
Detective Eve Dallas's ruthlessness, brilliance, and strong code of personal honor have gained her a reputation for being the best detective in Poorly-Conceived-Future-New York. And that is why she is sleeping with Roarke, the primary suspect in the serial killer case. Robb makes this work on an emotional level, but it's not plausible on a plot level.
How Quickly Is The Murderer Identifiable?: (I'm not going to put names or anything in the "How Quickly?" part of these reviews, but I'm spoiler-cutting just in case.) The first time he/she is briefly mentioned in conversation by another character, which happens within the first ten or twenty pages.
Does The Murderer Corner Eve And Monologue At Her?: (This part actually will contain spoilers.) Yup. He's waiting for her in her apartment.
( Books 2-5 )
Eve Dallas is a police detective in a Poorly-Conceived-Future where there is intergalactic space travel, everyone has flying cars, people routinely live to 150, and widespread environmental devastation does not seem to have had much effect on New York City. Forensic technology appears to be stuck in the mid-90s, and the war on drugs continues, unexamined, to take up most of the justice system's time and money. Also, every two months on the dot there's a new serial killer who targets mainly attractive women, which suggests some possible slippage backwards.
Eve is ruthless, brilliant, and has an strong code of personal honor. She was also sexually abused as a child, and is suffering from PTSD, for which she refuses to go into treatment. She is always the one to investigate these serial killer cases, which I think demonstrates a certain lack of forethought on her superiors' parts. Fortunately, her relationship with Roarke (no last name), the handsomest ethically-challenged billionaire industrialist in the whole world, is helping her heal.
Eve and Roarke are an extremely cute couple, which is good, because there are a lot of scenes of the two of them bouncing off each other. These books are very enjoyable to read, frequently funny, and unbelievably predictable. You can usually identify the murderer from his or her first or second appearance, occasionally just his or her first vague mention. Half the time Eve does so, but she always ends up getting cornered and monologued at anyway.
Every investigation goes pretty much the same way - Eve reluctantly uses Roarke's unsavory technology or connections to solve the case; people sexually harass her and she mocks them in a hard-assed manner; Roarke and Eve render themselves vulnerable talking about their tragic pasts, and then have explicit sex; Roarke's butler shows up to act snobby, and Eve's reformed pickpocket friend shows up to act eccentric and lovable. Etc. So far this is still all pretty entertaining.
Book 1 - Naked in Death
Detective Eve Dallas's ruthlessness, brilliance, and strong code of personal honor have gained her a reputation for being the best detective in Poorly-Conceived-Future-New York. And that is why she is sleeping with Roarke, the primary suspect in the serial killer case. Robb makes this work on an emotional level, but it's not plausible on a plot level.
How Quickly Is The Murderer Identifiable?: (I'm not going to put names or anything in the "How Quickly?" part of these reviews, but I'm spoiler-cutting just in case.) The first time he/she is briefly mentioned in conversation by another character, which happens within the first ten or twenty pages.
Does The Murderer Corner Eve And Monologue At Her?: (This part actually will contain spoilers.) Yup. He's waiting for her in her apartment.
( Books 2-5 )
