Payback in Death by J. D. Robb

5 out of 5

In Death 57

Lieutenant Eve Dallas is barely back from her vacation with Roarke when she is called to the scene of a dead body. The body is Martin Greenleaf, retired Internal Affairs Bureau captain. Although an attempt to indicate suicide was made, it was too sloppy. Not to mention that neither Greenleaf's protege from the department, Detective Webster, nor his wife believe he would ever commit suicide.

Narrowing down the possible suspect list will be the biggest problem, especially considering Greenleaf was a righteous and dedicated IAB investigator, dealing with black and white, not grey when it came to dirty cops. Eve has to go by the book, but her instincts are already screaming about who is involved if she can only prove it before anyone else dies.

Starting with a visit to Roarke's family in Ireland was an endearing chapter and hinted strongly at the thread of family, both blood and chosen, that wove through this story. As Dr. Mira said, family's where you make it. But unfortunately sometimes that feeling of family and/or friendship may be only one-sided.

I know this is a much repeated refrain whenever I review the books of J. D. Robb and Nora Roberts, but the characterization is the real shining star. We know these people, not just the main characters. The supporting side people, friends and coworkers, hit just the right spots, giving a familiar ambiance to everything happening. It is what keeps the reader coming back time and again.

I honestly couldn't stop reading as I got farther into the book the second day. I kept thinking that I would go just a little bit more and then put it aside to finish cleaning the house, doing laundry, etc., but I just wasn't able to. I found this a winner and look forward to the February installment.

I enjoy the In Death series a lot. It’s very fun to read but for the love of God I will pay a million kisses to whoever can get J.D Robb (Nora Roberts) to stop writing Eve interact with characters who are victims of rape and sexual assault/abuse. A lot of times those characters end up killing their abusers or are “in the way” of Eve identifying the killer. For example I recently read Brotherhood in Death and Vengeance in Death, also kinda Purity in Death.

All it does is shows the hypocrisy of Eve’s morals. She seems to have a very hard time understanding that some people’s form of Justice is having their abuser dead by their hand. That is good enough for them. It’s not that she has to agree with it or support it, she can’t cause she’s a cop. But she seems to have a hard time understanding it at all.

All we get is everyone around Eve being like “no Eve you killing your abuser is different! Those other guys who killed their abusers are in the wrong, you’re not.” Even though in the grand scheme of things one can argue her killing is exactly the same.

Also she comes across as rude, unsympathetic, and sometimes heartless. Not because she’s “standing for the victims” and often times because of her job it makes her hunt down victims and stand for the people who victimized them in the first place. However, what makes her worse in my opinion, is the fact that she doesn’t really offer any kindness or sympathy. Just “why didn’t you go to the police” or “it’s your fault you didn’t go to the police” which is ironic because 1) them killing their abusers is sometimes the only reason their crimes get brought to light and investigated and 2) with her (spoiler?) background with Homeland Security she should know that not all organizations deemed to protect and serve are trustworthy. What can be said to a victim of their abuser is powerful enough to just call up the chief of police when they get accused?

My other thing is that Roberts writes Eve as a character who comes off as so deep into the patriarchal bargain (in simple terms a ‘not like other girls girl’) that she is very misogynistic when dealing with women who step out of her schematic of what a woman should be. (This also extends to her friends). Which makes sense in terms of her job, her position but makes her unlikable when it comes to cases where women and their pain are the forefront. I suppose that’s what Peabody is for.

Eve is not my favorite character of the series, she is a good character in some regards. When I read cases like what I hope I outlined above it’s like really hard for me to brush past her (what I deem) character flaws.

This Goodreads review of Brotherhood in Death by reader “E” pretty much sums up my thoughts more eloquently.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1545230948

"Are you and Roarke going to the ball drop?" "Oh, absolutely. If we both suffer extensive brain damage in the next twenty-four hours."

J.D. Robb, Obsession in Death

“Money doesn’t talk, it sings.”

“ ‘Grief passes, doesn’t it...?’

‘It must...Life is to be lived.’ ”

-JD Robb

Ceremony in Death

The manga industry, especially JUMP, needs to hurry up and do away with weekly scheduling for mangaka. There needs to better regulations put into place for their health and safety because this is pitiful. Two weeks - monthly updates should’ve already been the standard for the manga industry at this point. These money grabbers will only continue to put the lives of these artists at stake for the sake of capitalism unless some serious changes are implemented.

Book Review: RANDOM IN DEATH by J.D. Robb

It's that time of the year! RANDOM IN DEATH, the 59th addition to the "In Death" series by #JDRobb releases soon and TBDR has just posted a review. #fiction #bookreview #suspensethriller #InDeath @StMartinsPress #recommendedread

Random in Death, In Death #58, by J. D. RobbISBN: 9781250289544 (hardcover)ISBN: 9781250289551 (ebook)ISBN: 9781250328816 (digital audiobook)ISBN: 9781250328809 (audiobook on CD)ASIN: B0C3PQ535C (Audible audiobook)ASIN: B0C1X8GDPV (Kindle edition)Page Count: 368Publisher: St. Martin’s PressRelease Date: January 23, 2024Genre: Fiction | Romantic Suspense | Suspense | Police Procedural In the new…

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Nora Roberts does excellent sex scenes, right? God knows she's done enough of them. I tend to skip or skim the myriad ones in her "In Death" series, but sometimes I catch a bit that just, like... doesn't go. Just like a weird bit of grammar can pull you out of your reading flow, I caught this bit in my skim and my visualizations did a record scratch

The problem is in the pluralization of "hands". They've been rolling around just previous to this, and there's a pretty clear indication of missionary position. So my brain's doing this "hang on I want to figure this out" refusal to move on and flipping through the possibilities of how he's not doing some bujangasana hoverboard shit

Like if he shifted to one hand and lifted her hips with the other, makes sense. Otherwise "he shifted" is gonna have to cover him, like, strugglebussing around to get his knees under him -though he'd have to be lifting her hips REALLY high to still get the "long hard strokes." Or scootching them both down until he can stand at the edge of the bed, if it's high enough to accommodate his long legs (which hasn't been much mentioned before)

It's really not important but it's definitely one of those "I think the author lost track for a bit" moments

Whenever a reading slump sets in, I go back to one of my comfort reads - books I've read dozens of times but still go back to re-read every now and then. Felt like the time to bring this out again. Kind of missed Eve and Roarke.

Random in Death by J. D. Robb

In Death 58

4.5 out of 5.

Jenna Harbough was sixteen, determined to break into music, when she and two friends attended a non-alcoholic night at Club Rock It. She ever brought a demo to pass to Jake Kincade of Avenue A. Unfortunately she died in his arms instead, a victim of a lethal injection. Jake's lover Nadine immediately calls her friend for help.

NYPSD Homicide Lieutenant Eve Dallas is worried that the murder of Jenna could be random, making the search for a suspect vastly more difficult. Then there is a second murder. Despite the lack of connections between the two teens, Dallas and Mira have managed to narrow down the suspect profile.

With a killer who doesn't hesitate between victims, the clock is ticking, the pressure mounting on Dallas and her people. She knows him, recognizing exactly who and what he is, all she still needs is a name and a face. I absolutely love these type of mysteries! Makes readers dig down to read even faster.

There's so much going on here that engaged my attention from the start. As to the star rating, it came damn close to five. Maybe think 4.75. I can't exactly say why it didn't make it to five stars, although I think it might have been the lack of interaction between Eve and the killer before the takedown. This one was almost completely a standard cop crime story which I enjoyed. Yes, there was a sexual component to the murders, but in a typical way. If that makes sense. Still a fantastic read!

canary’s ascent to death

"He's killing for me, Roarke. It makes me sick inside." "He–or she–is killing for himself." Roarke came back to her, framed her face with his hands. "You're an excuse. And you'll do better work when you fully accept that, and put all the blame–every bloody bit of it, Eve–where it belongs." He kissed her again. "Now, we'll go into your office, and you can tell me all of it."

J.D. Robb, Obsession in Death

This post is so real I just had to share it with everyone else