Loyalty in Death by J.D. Robb

Completion Date: May 2007
Publication Year: 2004
Pages: 368
Owned Prior to 2007
Book Ten in the In Death series

This post will be another buddy review from me and Marg from Reading Adventures. I am in blue and Marg is in black.

#1 New York Times bestselling author J. D. Robb's phenomenal series has captivated readers with it tantalizing blend of romance, suspense, and futuristic police procedural. Now, New York cop Eve Dallas returns to face her most ingenious foe -- a "secret admirer" who taunts her with letters...and kills without mercy.

LOYALTY IN DEATH An unknown bomber is stalking New York City. He is sending Eve Dallas taunting letters promising to wreak mass terror and destruction among the "corrupt masses." And when his cruel web of deceit and destruction threatens those she cares for most, Even fights back. It's her city...it's her job...and it's hitting too close to home. Now, in a race against a ticking clock, Eve must make the pieces fit—before the city falls.

Eve Dallas seems to really attract the interest of all the crazy people in New York City. They have a personal interest in taunting her and staying one step ahead of her. They are determined to be the ones that are going to bring down New York's top cop. Dallas has still not fully recovered from having her badge taken away from her, so she is determined to do whatever she can to redeem herself. There's no question that Eve is a target for many reasons, but it is a tribute to her skill that Robb manages to still keep each book fresh, and without becoming too cliched.

This book starts with a case that seemed open and close, a woman kills her boyfriend and admits to it. It is a simple case compared to other books involving her. (Which in itself should have been a dead giveaway - nothing is ever that straight forward in Eve's world!) Then, things start to heat up and it is really a different book from the other books in the series. She finds herself involved in an organization that is determined to wipe out a entire city, not the normal serial killers that she is normally hunting down. This time it is serial destruction with taunting messages to test whether Dallas can get to the bottom of the case before they bring another building down and kill a lot of people. In some ways I found it quite poignant that Robb suggested that the Twin Towers at the World Trade Centre could become a target of terrorists, especially given that this book was originally published in 1998, and interesting that some of the other locations that are well known in New York could also be targeted in such a way.

One of the things that bothered me about this book was I sort of found Roarke annoying. He just always has to be in the middle of things. I suppose that is what happens when he owns most of the world's buildings, but I just found his meddlesome qualities annoying in this book. It was like he is going out of his way taking care of Eve in this book and that she is not capable of taking of herself. She gets to the bottom of the case and I really enjoyed it for a nice light read, but Roarke annoyed me. I think it might have something to do with this not being my normal genre and I think Robb goes too far to have Roarke involved. At least he was not a suspect, but sometimes it would be nice to just have a character and not always someone involved in every case. I actually thought that Roarke's presence was more real in this case than it has been in the last couple of books, and certainly didn't find it annoying. I like that Roarke knows when Eve is pushing herself too hard, even before she knows it herself, and takes steps to ensure that she does take care of herself. Yes, he is sometimes domineering, but to be honest, I think he has to be, because otherwise Eve just would not listen, and would push herself to the point of collapse on a regular basis.

What I really liked about this book was that there was more going on than in her regular books. Normally she is just hunting one person, but in this book there is a lot more going on and the messages that the organization sends to her will get your brain thinking. There was a lot going on in this one, and I enjoyed the subplots in this one as well as the main story. The sexual tension between Peabody and McNab fairly crackled off the page, and provided much needed comic relief as they tried to hide their feelings from each other, and from those around them, and helped balance the seriousness of the main plot.

Another interesting book in the In Death series. I look forward to reading the next book. This is right up there with my favourites of the series that we have read so far! When are we reading the next one? Whenever you are ready, I own them, it is you that has to get them from the library. :)

Marg's Rating: 4.5/5