Rating: 
Summary: Excellent Page Turner!
Review: I loved this book. I had to wait through the summer, and it was well worth the wait. This is the best book in the series so far. I love how Eve and Roark interact. With every book, the series get's better and better. The serial killer in this particular book was a teaser. Just when you thought you knew who the killer was, you would get clues leading to someone else. I couldn't put the book down and finished it in a few hours. I can't wait until the next book comes out in September.
Rating: 
Summary: Strong police procedural highlights 17th Eve Dallas !
Review: We continue to be astounded at the publishing pace of Nora Roberts. Despite her "regular" books under her own name, these fun NYPD homicide Lt. Eve Dallas stories, written as "JD Robb", keep coming at the rate of one or two a year. "Imitation...", the 17th entry in the "... In Death" series, is not the emotional blockbuster of the just prior two ("Purity..." and "Portrait..."), but nonetheless entertains throughout this tough-minded police procedural. When a licensed companion (that's a "hooker" in year 2059 parlance) is found brutally murdered in the style of Jack the Ripper, followed in quick succession by the killing of a popular female apartment dweller, slain Boston Strangler style, it doesn't take the two notes recovered from the bodies, on unusual stationary, to clue any of us that a vicious copycat serial killer is on the loose. When it turns out the notes are addressed to Dallas personally, it's also clear that she herself is probably on the intended hit list, providing immense worry to her billionaire but loving husband Roarke. His role in this novel, as in many of the prior tales, is one of Eve's crime-solving sidekick, along with faithful aide Officer Delia Peabody. Fortunately, the notepaper provides a small roster of immediate suspects, but Robb cleverly keeps us guessing, 'til like ten pages before the end, which of the half dozen users of the stationary might be the real sicko. While a sub-plot of sorts involves Peabody's trials and tribulations getting ready for her detective's exam, the storyline is very much ala Ellery Queen in terms of clues, follow-up, and solid police work. Eve's intuition serves her well, but her assembling and processing of the clues is flawless as she gradually zeroes in, then sucks in, the bad guy.Eve's hardships as an abused young girl, and her husband's often "shady" background provide the usual backdrop to much of the motivation of the principals. Their marital relationship is always a subject of both display and discussion. Meanwhile, Peabody's moving in with McNab, another regular, provides a foil in "examining" the nature of adults living together. We're still big fans of the whole set, and at the point when many similar ongoing character series novels have long gone stale, find continued enjoyment in Dallas' pursuits. We think you will too!
Rating:
Summary: Good stuff on married love
Review: I love the dynamics in the marriage of Eve Dallas and Roarke: both deeply wounded and deeply in love with each other. A loving marriage has tremendous healing power, a wounded past has tremendous power to make waves in a marriage, and Nora Roberts (alias J.D. Robb) has struck a beautiful balance in this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Dead Giveaway
Review: All right, I've said it before, but I'm sure I'll say it again and again: This series is my guilty pleasure. The characters are great, and if you've read this far in the series (the books should be read in order) you're either hooked or masochistic. I can't decide what that says about me. Being a mystery buff, I'm dismayed at the lack of actual "mystery" in these books. Usually, the title gives you the 'whodunit'; maybe Ms. Robb doesn't want to cause her readers any anxiety by making them wait for Dallas to solve the crime. In the case of this book, the answer wasn't in the title, but rather in something equally as obvious. But I'm still reading them because I love the characters and their interaction. No one plays a minor role in these stories, which is in itself an accomplishment. Yep, definitely my guilty pleasure.
Rating:
Summary: Eve Dallas just gets better and better
Review: The usual futuristic murder, mayhem, electronic intrigue, and psychological angst familiar to fans of Lieutenant Eve Dallas, the brainchild of Nora Roberts, a.k.a. J.D. Robb, take a back seat, again as usual, to Roberts' ever-evolving characters. Like the tough, courageous, makeup-scorning New York-loving culturally deprived but brilliantly wise Eve, the reader has difficulty selecting a favorite from Roberts' list of "suspects": the stalwart, always-hungry Officer Delia Peabody, Eve's sidekick, fretting over the detectives' exam; Peabody's main squeeze, the ultimate computer geek Detective Ian McNab, whose relationship with Peabody Eve has at last (reluctantly) accepted; Charles Monroe, the smooth-talking but heart-of-gold LC (that's high-class legal prostitute) dating Eve's doctor friend after a tense love triangle with Peabody and McNab; Mavis Freestone, Eve's pregnant but untamed friend; Dr. Charlotte Mira, the razor-sharp-within-velvet-gloves New York police (NYPSD) psychologist who horrifies Eve by inviting her to a family barbecue; Eve's mother and father, who would make Susan Smith's blood run cold, glimpsed in Eve's nightmares; and Roarke, Eve's wealthy, romantic, utterly sexy (his attempt at a private barbecue is adorably botched) husband who, like her, emerged from a rough childhood as a productive if not always law-abiding citizen.
Motherhood and family, including the extended family Eve has put together (her relationships with Peabody, Roarke and Mira in particular become richer), form the heart of this thriller, combined with the sharp police work, moral compass and hot loving sex readers have come to expect.
Rating:
Summary: Strong police procedural highlights 17th Eve Dallas !
Review: We continue to be astounded at the publishing pace of Nora Roberts. Despite her "regular" books under her own name, these fun NYPD homicide Lt. Eve Dallas stories, written as "JD Robb", keep coming at the rate of one or two a year. "Imitation...", the 17th entry in the "... In Death" series, is not the emotional blockbuster of the just prior two ("Purity..." and "Portrait..."), but nonetheless entertains throughout this tough-minded police procedural. When a licensed companion (that's a "hooker" in year 2059 parlance) is found brutally murdered in the style of Jack the Ripper, followed in quick succession by the killing of a popular female apartment dweller, slain Boston Strangler style, it doesn't take the two notes recovered from the bodies, on unusual stationary, to clue any of us that a vicious copycat serial killer is on the loose. When it turns out the notes are addressed to Dallas personally, it's also clear that she herself is probably on the intended hit list, providing immense worry to her billionaire but loving husband Roarke. His role in this novel, as in many of the prior tales, is one of Eve's crime-solving sidekick, along with faithful aide Officer Delia Peabody. Fortunately, the notepaper provides a small roster of immediate suspects, but Robb cleverly keeps us guessing, 'til like ten pages before the end, which of the half dozen users of the stationary might be the real sicko. While a sub-plot of sorts involves Peabody's trials and tribulations getting ready for her detective's exam, the storyline is very much ala Ellery Queen in terms of clues, follow-up, and solid police work. Eve's intuition serves her well, but her assembling and processing of the clues is flawless as she gradually zeroes in, then sucks in, the bad guy. Eve's hardships as an abused young girl, and her husband's often "shady" background provide the usual backdrop to much of the motivation of the principals. Their marital relationship is always a subject of both display and discussion. Meanwhile, Peabody's moving in with McNab, another regular, provides a foil in "examining" the nature of adults living together. We're still big fans of the whole set, and at the point when many similar ongoing character series novels have long gone stale, find continued enjoyment in Dallas' pursuits. We think you will too!
Rating:
Summary: Intriguing reading!
Review: Eve Dallas, a police lieutenant, faces the most challenging case of her career, when she has to track down a serial killer that duplicates the brutal killing styles of notorious serial killers. A prostitute (LC is the term used in the book) is killed in the style of Jack the Ripper and the next victim meets their fate a la Boston Strangler style. With each murder, a personal note is left for Eve as the killer singles her out. Roarke, Eve's husband, is not the least bit amused with this last fact. Robb, a.k.a. Nora Roberts, offers a splendid blend of mystery, thriller action, internal friction amongst the principle characters and poignant intimacy spiced with a dash of sex to make this a very interesting read. I recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: Imitation may be the sickest form of flattery.
Review: An LC (futurist term for prostitute) is murdered in the flamboyant style of Jack the Ripper, which is bad. But the unknown killer leaves a personal note for Lieutenant Eve Dallas, which is even worse. When the serial killer strikes again, it is not as Jack the Ripper, but as The Boston Strangler. Another note is left and Dallas and her associates race against time to figure out who is so meticulously copycatting the infamous serial killers of old. This is the first 'In Death' book I have read and it most certainly will not be the last. The mystery is good, with enough red herrings to keep the pages turning, but, sadly, the front cover offers more than a bit of a spoiler. The secondary characters are likable and, in the end, I looked forward to spending time with them again...another fan won over. Recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Good, but not the best in the series
Review: As the latest in the In Death series, J.D. Robb is still cooking. If you're a fan of the rest of the series, I don't think you'll be disappointed with this latest addition. It's the classic mix she's been using all along, and one as a fan of the series, I'm glad she hasn't decided to mess with. If you're new to the series, stop and go back to the beginning - start with the first book Naked In Death. Trying to jump into the series this far into it, you may enjoy the book, but there's a whole host of character development and backstory that you'll miss out on, which will add to your full enjoyment of this book (and probably help explain a lot).
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