Purity in Death
by J.D. Robb
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Book Reviews of Purity in Death
Book Review: It's so good, it's so good, it's so good, baby, it's so good
Summary: 5 Stars
This was the hardest book to put down. Upon getting it from the bookstore over the weekend, I read bits and pieces of it at every traffic stop on the way home; took it along on a fast 5-mile walk along the River des Peres; and almost took it in to the shower with me.From the first word to the last word, J. D. Robb weaves a story that is astonishingly good. It's a tale of a virus that can be transmitted from machine to man by means of sound and light. Provocative sci-fi fantasy only? The thing is in the realm of possibility, and that adds tremendously to the cachet of the plot. It is possible. For once, the villain of the plot is not immediately apparent until the end, and that's a departure from the previous ... in Death novels. The end of the novel is stunning! Eve makes the right media play and, who knows, she might wind up a captain in the near future.
Many of the characters from some of the previous novels are there, and so Robb maintains a certain consistency of character use and through that manages to develop further the characters of Eve and Roarke. There's Jamie Lingstrom, lovely cocky young thing; Mavis takes a brief whirl through with exciting news that sparks an extremely comical reaction in Eve -- will Eve be next?! <ggg> MacNab and Peabody are there, in part as victims of the latest criminal mind. The reactions of Eve and Roarke to the situation in which MacNab is thrown is revelatory of the continued weaving of the fabric of relationships that is so much a hallmark of this series.
Again, with J. D. Robb, dialogue wins the day. Witty and character revealing in many places. Indeed, at times I found myself laughing out loud as I haven't since I last read the often-hilarious Geogette Heyer. Robb has that same laughter inducing Heyer quality, which is an excellent thing in a series so preoccupied with murder.
To say more would be to sell out the plot, and I don't want to do that. Would that Cahner's Business Daily would employ a review who has a proper sense of the series. Purity in Death won't win J. D. Robb any new fans? Somebody needs their head examined.
Bring on Portrait -- I hate to rush the years, but I can't wait for March to come! Great reading, folks. Enjoy!
Book Review: Fantastic read, great premise, gripping emotional story
Summary: 5 Stars
This is the 15th novel in the Nora Roberts (writing as J. D. Robb) suspense/mystery/crime thriller series about a NYC Homicide Lieutenant, Eve Dallas. Supporting our leading lady is a cast of characters we have come to enjoy, including her billionaire husband, Roarke; her aide, (Ms.) Peabody; a young policeman named Trueheart (honest!); and electronic/computer cop specialists McNab and Feeney. A contemporary premise, that a PC virus could cause a human brain virus, starts things off in a hurry with Trueheart killing a civilian who seemingly has gore berserk and murdered one of his neighbors while raving and ranting about how his head hurts. Eve Dallas takes this call, and soon other deaths in like fashion occur, including one in which a fellow cop is killed from working on an infected PC. Autopsies reveal significant brain swelling from unknown causes. A screen message "Absolute Purity has Been Achieved" leads to the supposition that a vigilante group is behind the killings, as at first their targets are dope dealers and pedophiles, etc. The story follows police efforts to identify and catch the criminals -- but along the way we get doses of differing philosophy about the group and its cause; emotional scenes surrounding the death of the policeman and McNab's disability; glimpses into the politics of modern police departments, and as much suspense as we can handle til the real culprits surface after several mis-directions near the end.As always, the scene is set ahead in time 50 years, so that video cellphones, personal air vehicles and a few other sci-fi touches enliven the stories without dominating the basic police procedurals. Still, Robb's writing seems at the top her form in this story; we wept several times during various sad and gripping scenes surrounding the deaths and funerals involved with the innocent. We feel this one of the most exceptional stories we have read in several months and have decided to put in on our ten-best in our lifetime list. That says an awful lot for someone who reads a couple of thousand books each decade.
Get it; read it; weep, smile, and enjoy immensely !!
Book Review: Once You Swallow the Bolonium, It's Pretty Good
Summary: 3 Stars
On a panel at a science fiction convention, i once heard an author explain that you are permitted to introduce one piece of the miracle element "Bolonium" (which can do or be anything the author wants) into your story, but after that you can't do anything else contrary to fact in your storytelling.Robb gets away with two chunks, but, since one is the underlying pseudo-science-fiction setting in the year 2059 introduced at the very beginning of the series, i'll give her a bye on that one.
My wife and i are both involved professionally with computers, and she told me that she was afraid i wasn't going to like this book because it involved a computer virus that could attack human brains. I explained the Bolonium Hypothesis to her; and, as i expected (based on previous Dallas/Roarke mysteries), while i didn't believe for a moment that such a thing could happen, if i accepted that it could, i was in for a pretty good romance/police procedural novel as Dallas and company mobilised to catch the Bad Guys.
Said Bad Guys are a group of vigilante-types who are out to bring their own brand of "justice" to child-predators who cannot be touched by the law; as is often the case in plots of this type, the initial public reaction to their actions and manifestos is guardedly favourable -- after all, they're only attacking nasty child-molestors.
But Dallas and her people are aware that people who deal extra-legal "justice" to one class of offendor are likely to expand their attentiosn to others. And not everyone agrees as to just who ought to die for his "crimes". A child-molestor? Quite possibly. A dealer in nasty drugs? Maybe. A jay-walker. perhaps?
As usual, Robb delivers the goods, specially in the secondary characters with which this series is so rich. Peabody and McNabb have particularly strong (and uncharacteristic, but completely in-character) roles to play, and Mavis has a Startling Announcement.
While you can start the series with this volume (or any other), i really think you'll have more fun if you start with the first and read them in order.
Book Review: Not the best Eve Dallas novel, but still a decent read.
Summary: 3 Stars
A frightened phone call from Officer Trueheart has homicide Lieutenant Eve Dallas running to a crime scene with even more urgency than usual. The keen rookie to homicide has killed a man, but he's not sure exactly how. One Louie Cogburn had been beating the heck out of one of his neighbours when the call came through, and doing a fine job of it too. One dead and another on the way to being in the same state until Officer Trueheart stepped in. Was excessive force used to bring down the raging man? Eve doesn't think so. Interviewing one of the witnesses tells her that the stun delivered from the weapon of her officer wouldn't have been enough to kill, but maybe it was enough to trigger something else.
Can a computer virus be spread from unit to user? An officer working on the unit pulled from the crime scene escalates from being irritated at the job into an out of control, psychotic rage. Firing off his weapon at work Officer Halloway shoots down a fellow officer and takes hostage the captain of the electronics division, Eve's old mentor Feeney. Eve manages to talk the hostage free of that situation, but the sick and enraged Officer Halloway doesn't make it.
The usual gang all have their turn in "Purity in Death", the 15th novel in the best selling "in Death" series by author Nora Roberts, writing as J.D. Robb. There isn't too much you have to unravel mystery wise but there's enough going on in the personal avenues of the secondary characters to keep the interest up. This novel suffers again from too much Roarke, as Eve's gorgeous and glamorous husband is seconded (yet again) into the service of the New York police. Police procedures 2059 style are on show once again, with all the technological wonders of the imagined age stylishly presented. Newbies might be a bit lost on this one as Robb does not bother this far into this series with the detailed explanations, but first contact with the fast and furious Eve Dallas should prove a welcome one. Read, enjoy, and then mostly forget.
Book Review: I love the In Death series, but NOT this one.
Summary: 1 Stars
I've been a fan of the In Death series for sometime. I love Roberts, and her alter ego of Robb, I think Lt Eve Dallas and crew are well written dynamic characters, and that the futuristic slant is innovative, the stories refreshing and inspired. I love how you get to know these characters throughout the series and the way Robb is able to weave the story of the crime Eve is working on through the story of her characters' relationships.
All that said... this was the WORST book in the series thus far. The interpersonal relationships were off, the dialogue was off, and I find that I am forcing myself to keep reading it, hoping against hope that it turns back to the writing style and characters I've come to know and love. All of the scenes and diagloues were so disjointed and there seemed to be a disconnect between this and the rest of the series, as well as a detachment as the book progressed...It felt superficial, whereas all the rest of the books thus far have seemed seamless in terms of characters' development, continuous story lines, the mini/side stories that result as part of the investigation... It felt like a completely different author was trying to take Dallas out for a spin, trying to mimic Robb's style. This was only furthered by the "trademark phrases" such as Eve's pithy "Bite Me"; they felt phoned in, gratuitously. Even the bickering that takes place between Eve and Roarke felt stilted and forced.
I'm forced to wonder if Robb was allowing someone else to use her pen name, because it really does not feel like a Roberts/Robb book. If I had any reassurance that I could skip the rest of this book and move on to the next without missing a key point in the continuous series plot, I would do so. Because this wasn't Dallas, Roarke, Peabody, McNabb, and Feeney. Hopefully the next book gets back on track (and hopefully I can force myself to finish this one).