.

.

Thursday, February 8, 2018

Dark in Death - J. D. Robb

Dark in Death by J. D. Robb

First Paragraph(s):

On the mega screen bloody murder played out in classic black and white for an audience of one hundred and seven.  With the sharp screech of violins, violas, and cellos that number dropped by one.
     Unlike the character of Marion Crane, Chanel Rylan didn't scream or flail at the shock of violent death.  In row twenty-seven in theater three of Vid Galaxy in New York City's Times Square, she let out little more than a mouse squeak as the ice pick plunged into the back of her neck.

My Thoughts:

Dark in Death is #46 in J.D. Robb's series featuring Lieutenant Eve Dallas and her husband, Roarke.  I have loved this series.  Truly.  In fact, I listened to the whole thing, #1-45, in 2017.  It was my treat to myself in order to keep my walking quest going.  I'd walk and walk and walk and listen and...you get the idea.  Some books are better than others.  There were aspects of this newest book that were fun and then...well, it was a little underwhelming.  First the fun parts - Hitchcock - as in Alfred.  The book begins as a woman is killed while watching the shower scene of Psycho - yes, Janet Leigh and Anthony Perkins.  Have you seen Psycho?  It's a great movie.  There is also a crime novelist and discussion of mystery writing and why people (Roarke especially) read crime novels.  That was fun.  The rest of the story was OK, but not nearly as much action as usual.  I'm not sure if Robb is winding down the series or if this was just one of the books that wasn't quite there.  The recurring character base has broadened over the 46 books, naturally.  Eve and Roarke are still solid with each other, but I think that Eve has been tamed somewhat and so has Roarke.  I missed getting to hear more from a few of my favorites, but again, there were fun parts.  I'll say that Dark in Death was a decent entry into the series, but I'm hoping for more in the next book.  In case you wondered, Roarke says that he reads crime novels for the puzzle and the good vs. evil battle.  I knew I liked that man.  Ha!  Me too!

Blurb:

It was a stab in the dark.

On a chilly February night, during a screening of Psycho in midtown, someone sunk an ice pick into the back of Chanel Rylan’s neck, then disappeared quietly into the crowds of drunks and tourists in Times Square. To Chanel’s best friend, who had just slipped out of the theater for a moment to take a call, it felt as unreal as the ancient black-and-white movie up on the screen. But Chanel’s blood ran red, and her death was anything but fictional.

Then, as Eve Dallas puzzles over a homicide that seems carefully planned and yet oddly personal, she receives a tip from an unexpected source: an author of police thrillers who recognizes the crime—from the pages of her own book. Dallas doesn’t think it’s coincidence, since a recent strangulation of a sex worker resembles a scene from her writing as well. Cops look for patterns of behavior: similar weapons, similar MOs. But this killer seems to find inspiration in someone else’s imagination, and if the theory holds, this may be only the second of a long-running series.

The good news is that Eve and her billionaire husband Roarke have an excuse to curl up in front of the fireplace with their cat, Galahad, reading mystery stories for research. The bad news is that time is running out before the next victim plays an unwitting role in a murderer’s deranged private drama—and only Eve can put a stop to a creative impulse gone horribly, destructively wrong.

21 comments:

  1. JD Robb is another author whose bibliography stretches so far, I can't imagine going to the beginning and starting it. Is this a series you could jump in at any point?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, probably, thought I'd read the first in the series - Naked in Death - just to see how Eve and Roarke meet.

      Delete
  2. The Hitchcock connection intrigues me!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I've never read a Robb book that I can remember but I like that genre so should try one.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. They are fun - police - crimes - romance - futuristic. Not so much that as they used to be. Time has passed. LOL

      Delete
  4. I'm a big Nora Roberts but somehow I haven't read anything in the JD Robb series. I love the idea of listening this series being your treat to yourself. I do need to start reading them. I may get the first one with my next audible credit. The high series count number has been scaring me off but it's not like it's going to get any shorter!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Try the first one for sure. It's Naked in Death. You need to see how Eve and Roarke meet. And remember, these are police procedurals plus romance. There are definitely crimes, some pretty grim.

      Delete
  5. YEAR ONE is the only book I've read by Nora Roberts and honestly, I wasn't that impressed. Maybe I should try her J.D. Robb books? Sounds like they might be more my style.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think you'd like the JD Robb books, but do understand that there is 'intimacy' - ha! If you know what I mean. You can skip those parts if you like. ;-)

      Delete
  6. That Roarke is a good one! I cannot believe how many books there are in this series. From book one to this latest how many years are spanned do you think?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well, she wrote the first book in 1995, so 23 years in real time. In the books, only 3 or 4 years have passed. They are futuristic, set in 2060-ish. Now so much time has passed, some of the things she mentions as normal are now coming to pass - in a manner of speaking.

      Delete
  7. I've only listened to two in the series. I have a hard time imagining I'll get through all she's written. There are just so many! Haha I am glad you are still enjoying the series.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh, you probably won't. I know this is a really long series. It took me months to listen to them.

      Delete
  8. I am astonished that there are 46 books in this series. I'm not sure what book I stopped reading at but somewhere in the early teens. And not because I didn't think they were good...more because it became easier for me to get books from all over the world - I like travelling virtually. But I did like Eve and Roarke and that their relationship was a solid one. Wonder if I could dip in again at book 46 and make any sense of it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You could I imagine. In Eve's world, only a couple of years have passed - maybe 3 or 4 since the beginning of the series. New characters have been introduced, but it's easy to figure out who they are and get a picture of them in your head.

      Delete
  9. I always look forward to a new "In Death" book. This is still one of my favorite series.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mine too. I'll be watching for the next one. I can't believe that she still is writing 2 of these a year.

      Delete
  10. 46?! She must win the award for the longest running series. Amazing. I've only read the first. LOL.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, she still puts out 2 a year. I've wondered how long she'll continue.

      Delete

Thanks for stopping by! I am so happy to hear your thoughts and will respond as soon as I can. Happy Reading!