dragonfire88's Full Review: J. D. Robb - Rapture in Death
Several years ago I was quickly hooked on the In Death series by J.D. Robb after I read the first book Naked in Death. Since then I have picked up all the other books in the series, buying the new books as they are published. I recently decided to read the books in the series again. I just finished reading Rapture in Death, the fourth book in the series.
The books in the In Death series are set in the future. Rapture in Death was set during the summer of 2058 the best I can figure. The books follow Eve Dallas, a homicide detective for the New York City police department and the cases she works on. Each book focuses on a different case. Aspects of Eve’s personal life, mostly her relationship with her billionaire husband, were also shared. Other characters have also been in each book, some more than others. Feeney, the officer in charge of the Electronic Detective Division, tended to end up working on cases with Eve and was around a decent amount of time. Each book has introduced new characters. Some of them were just involved in the investigation and only in one book. Other characters, like Delia Peabody, were briefly introduced in one book and then went on to become a more important character as the series has progressed. Each of the books have had their own plots while building on the previous books. I do think it is best to read the books in order.
J.D. Robb has created an interesting, unique futuristic world for her In Death series. Police officers carry tasers because guns have been illegal for years. Cars still drove on the ground but also had the ability to fly. Prostitution was legal and space travel was common. Many different resorts were in space. Soft drinks came in tubes instead of cans or bottles. Something called body sculpting had mostly replaced plastic surgery. Many diseases had been cured or have vaccines, though they still couldn’t cure the common cold effectively. People had video phones that were called links and used a machine called an AutoChef to prepare food. I really enjoy reading about all the futuristic things in the books.
When Rapture in Death started, Eve and Roarke were still on their honeymoon. Roarke had planned it and managed to get Eve to take three weeks off. For the last few days, he took her off planet to a resort he was building in space. Their stay was interrupted by the suicide of one of the workers at the resort. Eve handled what investigation there was with Roarke’s help. Once back in New York, Eve arranged for Delia Peabody to work as her aide. They soon had a case that looked like a suicide even though there wasn’t a known reason for the man to kill himself. She and Delia kept investigating, learning about another odd suicide. Eve thought the deaths were suspicious and her hunch paid off when a strange burn was discovered in the brains of the victims in exactly the same location. Eve believed that virtual reality games were involved some way and set out to prove it. Mavis was excited about having met a record producer that wanted to give her a recording contract. Something about that seemed off to Eve since the producer seemed more interested in meeting Roarke than in Mavis’s future career.
The first dead body turned up very early in Rapture in Death. That has happened in the other books in the series so far. The death looked like a suicide, so other than why he would have done it, there wasn’t much mystery at that point. It did take a little bit longer for the mystery to really get going. Eve had to investigate another suicide that didn’t make sense to her. As she dug deeper, she started to discover some strange things and became convinced that the deaths were really murder. The mystery aspect picked up at that point. I thought it was very interesting and intriguing how technology might have played a part in what was going on. Eve’s investigation was the main focus of the book. What was going on with Mavis and the producer added a small amount of mystery as well. There was suspense in several scenes and I was never bored with what was going on. There was violence in some of the scenes that added some action to the book. The violence wasn’t that graphic though the descriptions of the dead bodies could be too detailed for some readers.
The romance aspect of Rapture in Death was filled by Eve and Roarke’s relationship. They met in the first book and their relationship has been growing and evolving ever since. I’ve really enjoyed that aspect of the books. When the book began, Eve and Roarke were still on their honeymoon. Over the course of the book they were shown adjusting to being married and they did have a disagreement or two. There was also a lighter side to their relationship that was shown when Eve freaked at the idea of getting on a shuttle for the off planet part of the trip as well as for the return home. Only the trip home was shared, but it was very funny to read about Eve panicking about the flight since normally nothing rattles her. Roarke found her reaction to the flights hilarious as well. Eve and Roarke were shown in several sexual situations, including some very descriptive sex scenes. I didn’t think the scenes were too graphic, but other readers could feel differently. Their relationship is important to the series overall without distracting from the mystery aspect of each book.
Eve and Roarke were the main characters like they have been in each book. Eve was a little more developed since she has been in more of each book. She was a dedicated cop that had started to value a private life away from work. She still struggled with caring about others, mostly because of her troubled past. She was still uncomfortable expressing feelings at times, even with Roarke. He seemed to have adjusted to their relationship faster and even the marriage. He had a shady past that remained mostly a mystery. He had made billions, not always in legal ways. By the time he met Eve, most of his business dealings were legitimate and he quickly ended the few that weren’t. He was willing to bend or even break the law to help or protect Eve.
Mavis had mostly bounced back from the events that had happened to her in Immortal in Death. She and Leonardo had moved in together and were very happy together. She had started preforming in a new club where a producer had spotted her and thought she deserved a contact. Mavis was thrilled and shared her news with Eve and even Roarke. Mavis didn’t seem to be aware that the producer seemed more interested in meeting Roarke. Summerset had been Roarke’s butler for a long time and they had known each other even longer. Summerset had taken Roarke in many years before and was sort of like a surrogate father to him. Summerset and Eve had disliked each other when the first met and continued to have little spats. Summerset seemed to be softening toward her after seeing her in the grip of a horrible nightmare about her childhood.
Delia Peabody was briefly introduced near the end of the second book, Glory in Death. She has been back in every book since then and became a regular character as Eve’s aide. The two women worked well together and were starting a friendship. Delia got along with Roarke and Mavis as well. Delia was a good cop that hoped to be a detective someday. Feeney and Eve had known each other for years, having worked together before Eve became a detective. He had been like a surrogate father to her. He was now in charge of the EDD and usually ended up having to do some computer work for Eve’s cases. Dr. Mira was the psychiatrist that worked for the police station doing profiles of suspects or talking with officers that had gone through some difficult things on the job. Eve frequently consulted Dr. Mira about suspects. Dr. Mira was a kind woman that thought of Eve as a friend. Nadine Furst was a reporter that would pop up wanting exclusives with Eve about her cases. Nadine would hold back on a story when Eve needed her to.
Nora Roberts uses the name J.D. Robb when she writes the In Death series. I have read all of the books in the series as well as many of the books she has written under her own name. I’ve enjoyed all of them. I actually started with the In Death series and then moved on to her other books once I had read all of them that had come out at that point. Really the only difference between the groups of books is that the In Death series is set in the future. Both groups of books blend mystery and romance, though the mystery does tend to be stronger and the focal point of the In Death books. I think that people that have liked one group of books can also like the other since they were actually written by the same person. She has written one book, Remember When, that started off in current times and then concluded in Eve’s time. The two parts of the book were connected by a mystery. Eve’s part of Remember When took place between Imitation in Death and Divided in Death. There was an important development for one of the In Death characters in Remember When, so fans of the series should pick it up. There have also been three short stories included in the series. Nothing really important happened in the short stories, so people won’t really miss much if they don’t read them.
Rapture in Death was another good edition to the In Death series. People who have enjoyed the first three books should also pick up this one.
When the autopsies of three suspicious suicides reveal small burns on the brains of the victims, Eve s investigation turns to the provocative world of...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.