Rating: 
Summary: Another winner.
Review: The 7th book in Jd Robb's "Death" series is Holiday in Death. Like her previous novels, it focuses on Lieutenant Eve Dallas and her husband Roarke and takes place in the future. The series is part sci fi, part romantic suspense, part police procedural drama, part murder mystery. Eve is investigating a serial killer who dresses as Santa claus and chooses his victims via a dating service. The book also re-introduces secondary characters that have appeared in the earlier books- like Eve's partner, Peabody, fellow officers McNab and Feeney, police profiler Mira and reporter Nadine. As each book progresses, we learn more and more about them as well as Eve and Roarke and the world that they inhabit. Eve and Roarke's relationship continues to evolve and he plays more and more of a role in her cases as the series progresses. Its nice to see their relationship develop, despite Eve's abused past and her job. The book blends nicely the relationship part of the series and the murder mystery. Its hard to guess who the ultimate killer is, at least until the very ending. Holiday In Death is a great addition to a great series..can't wait to read the next installment.
Rating:
Summary: Perfect read for Christmas
Review: The Holiday Season is not all joy and celebration because in the year 2058 a woman is found murdered and left with a figurine showing "partridge in a pear tree" (The Twelve Days of Christmas). Lieutenant Eve Dallas is quickly summoned to the scene and becomes the primary investigator in the case. The killer's modus operandi is to knock at the victim's door dressed up in a Santa's costume and kill them after getting access to their house. Eve quickly finds a connection to a dating agency called Personally Yours that will lead to some very interesting developments.
Confirmation comes when a second victim is found; she has two turtle doves in her hair and has also requested the services of Personally Yours. And as the investigation progresses, we find Charles Monroe, a character who we met in the first book in the series, "Naked in Death", and who has also been using the services of the dating agency even though he is a licensed companion. I think Robb made an excellent decision in reintroducing Charles in the series, since he brings no small amount of smart comments and interesting personal interactions with Eve and Peabody.
Peabody, Eve's aide, is having the time of her life, because the search for the killer is taking the duo around town where they have a chance to visit shops and mingle in the crowd of holiday shoppers. Eve, on the other hand, hates the experience and besides being worried about finding a dangerous killer, has to deal with her personal issues regarding Christmas. She even has to figure out what to buy for her friends and husband, the billionaire Roarke. Finding a present for a man that has everything is no small task!
This series is moving ahead full steam, with interesting cases and characters that are becoming more complex and fascinating. I think the latter aspect is what I enjoy most about this series, since Robb spends a fair amount of time on the relationship between Eve and Roarke, Eve and Peabody, etc. For those of you that have not read other books in this series, I am fully confident that this book stands on its own, but you will be missing a considerable part of the appeal found in these books due to the relationships among the main characters. My recommendation is that you start with the first book in the series, and I guarantee that you will be hooked after that.
Rating:
Summary: ABSOLUTELY THE BEST!!!
Review: The J.D. Robb series is one of my all time favorites. Not only do I read them over and over, but I have also bought them for all my friends. The chemistry between Eve and Rourke literally heats up the room, but it is the unique history they share and the relationship they have built that makes this book (and all others in the series) shine. I am greatly anticipating the next book!!
Rating: 
Summary: Holiday Surprise
Review: This book on tape is a refreshing story of suspense to listen to. The narator of the story is Susan Ecicksen and her reading adds the necessary flavor to this story. The story will grab you all at once and not let you go until you get to the end of this "who done it" holiday surprise. As soon as you think that you know who did it, up pops another suspect to consider. Just who is this person in the Santa costume ringing the doorbell with a surprise package just for his true love? Don't open the door or this gift will be something to die for. Lieutenant Eve Dallas will not stop searching for the killer who is leaving clues which represent the twelve days of christmas song as well as bringing up distrubing recollections of Eve's own past of victim outrage. This book will not let you down as the next in line to this "...death in" series. Don't miss out on this holiday story, it is a must have for your cozy fireside read this season.
Rating:
Summary: Santa's packing....
Review: This book was very well written and kept me on the tip of my toes from beginning to end. It was the first of the series I read and it left me craving for more. Most of the time when I read a book that has a murder mystery plot I figure it out long before the detectives, but it kept me guessing right up until the end. I LOVED IT and you will too.
Rating: 
Summary: Ugh!
Review: This has to be one of the worst books I have ever read. I enjoy all types of books and was looking for something light and entertaining as a break from heavier reading. The characters were totally unbelievable and shallow. The book was supposed to be a mix of sci-fi, suspense, and romance. The sci-fi part was fun, I'll admit. The suspense consisted of a mediocre crime plot, that was very graphic and disturbing in its description. The romance was nonexistent, unless you consider gratuitous sex scenes romantic. I know that Nora Roberts is known for the "steamy sex scenes" in her books, but these scenes were just stuck in there for the sake of their steaminess. They had no connection to the story whatsoever. The relationship between the protagonist and her husband was based solely on sex. What made this especially unbelievable was the fact that the main character was a survivor of abuse/incest. I'm no expert, but you'd think somebody with this type of background would have a few issues regarding sex/intimacy. I just thought the book was awful. Flat characters, silly predictable mystery. I left it on the train and feel sorry for the poor soul who picks it up.
Rating:
Summary: Great mix of suspense and romance.
Review: This is the first book I read in the "In Death..." series, and it definitely won't be the last. I'm generally a romance reader, but the mystery half of this novel really engaged me and was a nice change of pace. I think the romance side of the story suffered a bit for me because I hadn't read the previous books and wasn't up on on the history of the characters' relationship. However, I still enjoyed it and was particularly impressed with the way Robb/Roberts successfully added some tension and interest in a long-term, committed relationship.
Rating:
Summary: Couldn't put it down!
Review: This is the first of JD Robb's books that I've read - really entertaining, with well thought out characters and plot. I can't wait to read the entire series!
Rating:
Summary: PERFECT!
Review: Truly, grand, fast paced, twisting plots, steamy romance(S) Yes, more than one! Great futuristic, tech-no gadgets... Eve dealing with new events such as "family" & the holidays is priceless. Officer Peabody is growing, McNab is coming along quite nicely. As always Eve & Roarke's relating tickles me & makes me a wee bit jealous. Too sexy by far.... MORE!
Rating:
Summary: Higher heights to scale
Review: Undoubtedly, J.D. Robb has fashioned two characters with amazing depth and complexity in this series. That needs to be applauded, and it is what keeps me coming back to this series in order to find out more about Eve and Roarke. There is, however, still much room for improvement. I am often deeply unsatisfied with the mystery aspect of these novels. Holiday in Death, as with Rapture and Ceremony for example, has basic insanity as the reason why these people committed these crimes. They have no logical motivation for what they did, and I think this way of solving a mystery is a deplorable cop out in lieu of a plausible mystery plot line. Furthermore, I don't think the author takes full advantage of the fact that she has chosen to set the novels in the future. Besides superficially peppering the novel with new gadgets and flying cars, Eve's New York City is really not that different from the New York City today. True, human nature with all its problems probably dictates that the future will still have many of the same problems, but I feel that J.D. Robb has yet to fully recognize the potential of the science fiction element that she has introduced. Holiday in Death is a good example of how some of her novels are unbalanced in this manner. And her best and most satisfying novels so far, such as Vengeance, are better than the others because they have a more plausible mystery plotline. If the author can, in the future, blend the romance, the mystery and the science fiction in more balanced proportions, I believe the series can rise to new heights. As it is, it is already far better than most books out on the market. It just has higher heights to scale.
|
