Creation in Death
by J.D. Robb
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Book Reviews of Creation in Death
Book Review: Romance novelists should stick to what they do best
Summary: 2 Stars
This is the first and last novel I will ever read by Nora Roberts. It is possible she may be a decent romance novelist, but since I dont read that stuff, I will never know. But as a crime/suspense novelist, there are hundreds and hundreds better. The most interesting character in this novel, the serial murderer himself, was given a grand total of maybe 4 or 5 pages until the end. So much of the first 2/3 of this book concerned characters perusing e files that it became laborious to read. I realize its time consuming grunt work to actually solve a crime, but a little more attention should have been given to the actual crime to at least make the first 2/3 of the book more interesting to read.
And Nora Robert's attempts to make Eve witty are embarrassing. (Since I dont have the book in front of me, forgive me if the following quote is not perfectly word for word). One scene involves Eve passing some male cops near the elevator after she was bitten by a petty thief she had chased and apprehended. A male cop joked "Hey Dallas (Eve), I hear you got bitten by a perp and now he has rabies" to which Eve replies "I hear you spent time with an LC (a call girl) and now she's got a case of the clap." Uhhh huh huh...Uhhh huh huh (Beavis and Butthead laughter). Nora must have been reading the bathroom stalls in Metro stations to come up with that knee slapper. I hate to break it to you Nora, Ive known many police officers in my life, and they are FAR more clever than that.
Almost as bad are the scenes where Eve becomes "upset" with Roarke. The reasons are so contrived and the dialogue gets so fake and the disagreements are resolved so quickly, it makes me want to throw the book across the room. Its clear Nora has no clue what an actual argument in a healthy marriage is like. And Roarke is simply too fawning and too patient and too understanding and too adoring and so strong when he has to be and soooo romantic (and on and on and on and on) to be believable. His character more than any other reminds us that the author writing this book is actually a trash romance novelist. I dont know anyone in real life like him and I dont believe anybody does.
When I finally reached the climax of the book, without spoiling the ending, it seemed to end too quickly. Eve was in danger, but got out very quickly and conveniently. Again...way too contrived to be believable.
Im giving this book 2 stars because at least I finished it. The serial killer was somewhat interesting, and Nora should have let us peer a little more into his twisted world earlier in the book. Thats why people read crime novels. But I certainly didnt like the book enough to ever pick up another Roberts novel. I should have seen the signs before I read it. Cranking out 120+ novels in a career, when the career is far from over? Quality is bound to suffer.
Book Review: No creation, only death
Summary: 2 Stars
After reading one of Nora Roberts paranormal romances (Face the Fire) and being distinctly underwhelmed, I felt it was only fair to give her a chance to redeem herself with a crime story, which is more to my taste as reading matter.
And I did enjoy this more, in that I was at least able to finish it. However, that said, the 'annoyances' factor was just as high for this effort as it was for her romance.
A short list includes her decision to shorten words into some kind of b*stard amalgam of cop show and futurism. I had to struggle with wits, vics and transpo throughout, with wit, in particular, producing some very strange misunderstandings as in "Find me the wit who..." What? Told me that joke about the three Irishmen in a bar, perhaps?
We also had to contend with the cast's constant drinking of "fizzies" and trips to "vending" and the "autochef". Quite why the world would have lost branding in the space of 50 years, when branding is paramount in our culture, I do not know. And, paradoxically, "autochef" sounds exactly like the brand name that would have been given to a food mixer in the fifties - a curiously dated anachronism. That said, other than some other uses of 'e', 'links' and 'comms', there was absolutely nothing that made this feel futuristic at all. I'm at a loss to understand why she bothered.
All that under our belts, this was exactly like watching any American cop show on TV. We had all the cop stereotypes, constant barked demands of "With me" and "On it" and the obligatory moralising of The Great American Right meets carbon-copy evildoer.
In this case, our evildoer was ringing as many bells as the cops. He liked opera, he listened to music while he tortured people, he stalked and killed women, he had a nasty relationship with his mother and a dodgy childhood, he was flabby, impotent and - unusually, for once - old.
That 'old' was the sole point of originality in a story that was as turgid and clichéd as Nora's romance, if marginally less mawkish.
It's apparent to me, after two books, that Nora's fans must enjoy the predictability of her work. There can be no other explanation for the popularity of such second-rate cookie-cutter writing. I am all for escapism and an 'easy read', but when the 'easy' becomes simple regurgitation of popular TV then I wonder Nora's readers don't just watch TV. At least TV pushes the envelope from time to time. All Nora does is run along behind it, licking up crumbs to spew out again in blander form.
Sad and depressing, and only recommended if originality and talent makes you feel threatened.
Book Review: A gripping continuation of the series
Summary: 5 Stars
It should first be said that this is part of a series about New York Police Lieutenant Eve Dallas, her friends and colleagues and her husband, multibillionaire Rourke. It makes sense on its own, but regarding the characters it's a lot better to have read the other titles in the series first. And they're definitely worth it.
'Creation in death' is about a serial killer who kidnaps young women with a specific look and age and then slowly tortures them to death. He then cuts the time they lasted under his torture into their chests, washes the bodies, and leaves them where they can be found. The case is particularly important to Eve Dallas because the killer was in New York when she had just become a policewoman. She and her instructor Feeney couldn't catch the killer back then. And the killer already has his next victim. So the police know that while they're desperately trying to find this killer, the next woman is already being tortured. A race against time begins. As always, Rourke helps his wife, so do her colleagues. But it soon becomes clear that the killer will come after Eve herself as his final victim. And she is more than willing to let him catch her in the hope that she can save his present victim.
This was one of the most intense books in the series when it comes to the crime story because it's not 'just' about catching a killer after the crime or before he / she can commit another, but about saving women who are being tortured to death as the police are investigating. I could imagine that this story may be hard to take for some readers, but I thought it was really well-done and gripping. As I like the characters and the series, it's always a pleasure to get another Eve Dallas novel. I would definitely recommend this book and the whole series if you like intelligent crime stories with well-developed characters.
Naked in Death (In Death)
Book Review: Well-done!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
I've been reading J.D. Robb for years, well, from the inception of the Eve Dallas series. I've always liked this series a great deal, although I'm not a big fan of "Science Fiction", per se. However, this series is set in the immediate future of the 2050's initially, so it's not so far-flung that I'm not able to relate to the evolutions in the technology that runs throughout the stories. The advancements in the technology are definitely a part of the stories, but they are used with such surprising subtlety that they are barely there. The characters are very strong and the developement from book to book is apparent and, in many cases, captivating.
On to this particular book. This is one of the Eve Dallas books that is devoted almost completely from start to finish in the actual crime drama that is going on with Eve and company, including yummy husband, Roarke, with little to no understory happening. Now, understand that part of the fun of these books IS the understory and the continuing lives of the characters that populate these books, so I'm not belittling that in any way. But, because this book is totally devoted to the crime and the solving of same, by the time I got to the end of the book and the resolution, I was actually in tears. We all know Eve comes through because there is a "next" book, so I'm not giving anything away when I say, when Eve came through and the crime was done, the condition she was in, as well as the comedic timing of the person for whom she came through lent a whole new aspect to who Eve is a person. Her heart and compassion was just dripping from her as well as her sense of ownership of the victims. Sometimes, Robb can make Eve just a tad too rough and tough and those final scenes, final chapters, were just the fix I needed to remember that Eve has a wonderful, soft, almost magical side to her and that that is much of what Roarke loves in her. Me, too! Enjoy!
Book Review: Wish I could give it negative stars
Summary: 1 Stars
I am disappointed that Robb chooses to denigrate being a female. It is disturbing to hear from the female protagonist (Eve) that if she is ever concerned with her appearance, she requests that her husband "put her down." (p.179) So she would rather be *dead* than sound or look or be female or associated with anything feminine. For her mostly female audience, it must be disquieting, at the very least, that the author spits out this message, from the mouth of the loved protagonist, no less. The author makes sweeping, judgmental statements about femininity and what it means to be a woman. Robb lacks creativity in distinguishing Eve as focused and driven (notice, those traits are non-gender specific). Instead she uses the trite concept that all other females are only interested in "girly" things, that is, "frivolous" things. Therefore Robb is attempting the impossible: proving a negative, as in describing Eve as 'not' something instead of who she is. This concept makes all other females viewed as 'less than' and okay to denigrate. Except if they are victims that Eve rescues. So women are put down for being interested in "female" things, but it is certainly okay if they are the victims. The author has really mastered the mixed message about femininity and what it means to be female.