ETERNITY IN DEATH

TITLE: ETERNITY IN DEATH

AUTHOR: J.D. ROBB

Date: 26/10/2013

Grade: 4.5

Details: no. 24.5 “In Death”

            Audio Book, 3 Discs

Narrator: Susan Erickson

Library

The Blurb:

“When club-hopping bad girl Tiara Kent is found dead in her plush Manhattan apartment, the killing has all the earmarks of a vampire attack. The ever-practical Lieutenant Eve Dallas has to deal with superstitious cops carrying garlic and stakes, as well as the ever-hysterical press. None of the wealthy young victim’s friends seem to know much about the Dark Prince she has been secretly seeing. The chase to stop him before he kills again will lead Eve and her team into areas of the city that not even the most intrepid cop wants to visit, and into the very heart of darkness.”

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I may have to create a new grading system for audio books; one in which I give one rating to the story and, when necessary, another one to the narrator.

Mind you, the narrator in this book was mostly fine. I liked the way she made Eve sound, and had no issues with the way Peabody and almost every other character was portrayed. But the Irish accent she put on for Roarke was diabolical. As my husband (who is Irish and was “forced” to listen with me since we were on a road trip together) pointed out, this was the “Darby O’Gill and the Little People” variety of Irish. Both of us were waiting for the “begorraghs” and “top of the mornings” to start. Not that J.D. Robb would ever write those clichés but Roarke on these disks sounded like they were constantly on the tip of his tongue.

I don’t want to be too harsh. I get that the accents are used to distinguish between characters, and I know that the Irish accent may not be the easiest to mimic for non Irish people but that still didn’t stop this exaggerated accent from taking me out of the story. I found myself wanting to laugh through the tender and hot moments and actually grinning through the tension. Not to mention that it actually managed to irritate the husband. Finally I have to point out that this version of Roarke sounded like he had just stepped of the plane from Dublin and not like the man who had lived in America for years and had retained only some of his Irish lilt. (My husband would like to add that nobody in Dublin has ever sounded like Roarke does in this book. In fact, I don’t think the accent as used in this book resembles any accent actually used on this Island.)

Time to get of my hobbyhorse and get to the actual story, which was exactly what I expected it to be. In fact I’m absolutely delighted I managed to get my hands on this “In Death” novella. These shorter, in between titles are next to impossible to get in Irish shops so I tend to miss out on them, much to my regret. Discovering that my library actually had one came as a very welcome surprise.

As far as “In Death” stories go, this one was great fun. All the aspects you’d expect in an Eve Dallas mystery are here; the rather gruesome but highly imaginative murder, the snarky but affectionate banter between Eve and Peabody, the steamy interactions between Roarke and Eve, the action filled finale all showed up giving me exactly what I want and expect from these books.

And I love the comical twist the vampire story-line brought. I enjoyed that everybody around Eve was willing to buy into the possibility that they were actually dealing with a vampire to some extend. Eve seems to be the only one completely unimpressed by the man who acts the vampire; the only one convinced that it will be normal procedure and normal weapons that will bring him down. And so Eve, much to her exasperation, finds herself surrounded by people taking precautions in the form of garlic, silver crosses and wooden stakes. And the fact that at least one of those artifacts actually turns out to come in quite handy only made the story better. But nothing in this book was better than the moment Eve used her stock reply “bite me” only for it to turn around and actually, well, bite her.

I admire the way the author managed to bring us a novella without it ever feeling that she had to take shortcuts in order to tell her story. This is a complete story which happens to be shorter than the main novels while giving the reader everything they would expect to find. I’m going to have to start hunting for all the other novellas I managed to miss – although maybe not on audio.

CALCULATED IN DEATH

TITLE: CALCULATED IN DEATH

AUTHOR: J.D. ROBB

Pages: 386

Date: 16/04/2013

Grade: 4.5

Details: no. 36 In Death

Own

At first glance the dead woman appears to be the victim of a mugging gone wrong. With her bag and coat gone it seems that somebody tried to rob her, only for things to get out of hand. A closer look though reveals that things are probably not that simple. If robbery had been the motive, would the thief not also have taken her expensive boots, for example?

It doesn’t take Eve Dallas much more than one look to conclude that whatever the motive for this murder, it wasn’t theft. The victim was an accountant and it isn’t long before Eve finds herself up to her neck in the world of finance and audits. This is a world she knows very little about but being married to Roarke, possibly the most successful businessman in the world, does have its advantages. With a host of suspects, more murders and an attack on herself and Peabody to contend with, Eve has a complicated investigation on her hands. And when it seems that the murderer is developing an appetite for killing, the investigation becomes more urgent as well. Still, dealing with high finance, arrogant businessmen and crazy killers doesn’t faze Eve nearly as much as the prospect of the upcoming premiere and all the preparations that event is going to require.

With this being the 36^th book in this series, and having read all and reviewed most of them, I’m running out of original things to say. It must be clear to anybody who has been following my reading that I love these books. I love them because of the mysteries, the setting – New York in the near future -, the humour and the original and fascinating characters. In fact, it is the opportunity to spend more time with Eve, Roarke, Peabody, McNab, Summerset and all the other regulars that has me eagerly awaiting every subsequent book in this series. I enjoy the interactions between these characters; Eve’s snarkiness, her ongoing verbal battle of wills with Summerset, her almost reluctant loyalty to her friends and, most of all, her relationship with Roarke. I’m getting a kick out of watching her develop and coming out of her self-imposed shell a little bit more with each subsequent book. And I adore the way in which she will muddle up expressions and have a good explanation as to why hers is as good as the original:

“Though modesty will prevent me from playing my own fiddle…

Tooting your own horn.

What’s the difference? They both make noise.”

As she does in most, if not all, of her books J.D. Robb (Nora Roberts) paints a crystal clear picture with her words. She introduces you to characters who come alive on the page to such an extent that you can see and hear them. Her dialogue sparkles and sounds natural. If nothing else, this author is a master storyteller, a wordsmith of the highest order. And I, like millions of other women, will always be grateful that she keeps on bringing us her wonderful stories.

DELUSION IN DEATH

TITLE: DELUSION IN DEATH

AUTHOR: J.D. ROBB

Pages: 388

Date: 06/12/2012

Grade: 5

Details: no. 35 Eve Dallas

Library

Picture the scene: Early evening. A busy day in work is over and you’re enjoying happy hour with friends. The blind date between your best friend and your boyfriend’s best friend is working out just fine; it is a good evening. And then you start snapping at your friend, at strangers and finally at your boyfriend. You pick up a fork and stick it in your boyfriend’s eye… and then all hell breaks lose.

When Eve Dallas arrives on the scene there are 80 dead bodies and about 10 survivors have been taken to hospital. This is a sight that shocks even our stoic lieutenant, who thought that by now she had seen it all. What could have caused a bar full of people to start attacking each other until most of them were dead? When the cause of the killing proves to be an airborne cocktail of drugs, leading to horrific hallucinations and violence, the question becomes whether the investigators are dealing with terrorism or a personal vendetta.  But, for the moment at least, Eve is treating it as “just” another murder case. Assisted by her usual team and her husband Roarke, who happens to own the bar, Eve investigates the big businesses in the area and those who work there. It isn’t long before a link to the Urban Wars and biological warfare is discovered and Eve finds herself accepting help from unexpected sources in order to uncover a ruthless killer who doesn’t think twice about using excessive means to achieve personal revenge.

When I finished this book I found myself wondering about the contrast between Nora Roberts’ romances and these mysteries she writes as J.D. Robb. How did the woman who writes romances that, without fail, cheer me up end up imagining crimes as deprived as the one described in this book? How does anyone come up with a scenario like this one? I have absolutely no idea, but I will say that it made for a chilling and totally engrossing thriller. Chilling, mainly because it was made quite plausible that somebody could be deprived enough to go to these lengths to achieve a personal goal.  Chilling also because chemical mixtures such as these could already exist in reality. The idea behind this mystery turned this story into one that was almost impossible to put down. Not that any of J.D. Robb’s previous books have been slow reads for me, but this story seemed to take the level of tension up a few notches.

Of course, all the regular elements that make me love this series so much were very much present in this book too. The interaction between Eve and the world around her; the relationship between Roarke and his at times stubborn wife; the fascinating picture of life in the near future and the way in which Eve continues to grow and get better at dealing with her friends and even her enemies.

Even after more than thirty books in this series, I still find myself eagerly awaiting each new instalment. Very often when I read a long series of books featuring the same characters I find myself getting bored. Not in this case though. These books continue to grip and excite me. Part of the reason for this addiction is the way in which the author writes. She always manages to portray her characters and the world they inhabit in such a way that they become real for me. I care about Eve and Roarke and all the other characters and view every new book as an opportunity to catch up with old friends who never let me down.  It is very comforting to know that 2013 will be bringing me two more encounters with these characters and the fascinating world they live in.