Tue 25 May 2010
Reviews by L. J. Roberts
J. D. ROBB (aka NORA ROBERTS) – Fantasy in Death. Putnam, hardcover, February 2010. Reprint paperback: Berkley, July 2010.
Genre: Police procedural. Leading character: Det. Eve Dallas, 37th in series. Setting: New York City–Future/2060.
First Sentence: While swords of lightning slashed and stabbed murderously across the scarred shield of sky, Bart Minnock whistled his way home for the last time.
U-Play is a fast-rising gaming company with a quartet of co-owners. One of them takes the disk home for a game in development, and literally loses his head over it. Lt. Eve Dallas is faced with a locked-room mystery where she and her team have to find out not only who did it, but how it was done.
Reading J. D. Robb has always been one of my guilty pleasures. I enjoy her voice and her humor. Only Robb can write a conversation about private parts that is neither silly, salacious or scatological, but is laugh-out-loud funny.
She has such a wonderful ear for dialogue and banter. I appreciate her references to books, literature, television and movies, including a delightful homage to “The Godfather.”
She also does a very good creating life in 2060; the not-too-distant future. It’s a tricky balance of making it seem possible but not fantastical. “It’s always fiction until science catches up.”
The focus of this book is relationships; friends, partners, lovers. It is nice watching Eve develop emotionally with each book and the sexual relationship with Roark, while still there, be less prominent. The usual supporting relationships were all there in a more cameo role than in the past, but they contributed to the theme.
Where the book fell apart a bit, for me, was the plot. It started off really well as a locked-room mystery. There were viable suspects and some good red herrings. However, because of the type of crime, it didn’t quite make sense that Eve was the one who came up with the solution; the logic, perhaps, but not the technicality.
The final climatic scene seemed abrupt and over the top. I did enjoy the book, do still enjoy the series and know I’ll continue reading it, but would like to see Robb/Roberts change it up a bit.
Rating: Good.
Editorial Comment: Can there already really be 37 in this series? The first one was Naked in Death, which came out in 1995 as a paperback original from Berkley. That’s well over two books a year ever since.
But when I went to look the series up online, I found that while the Fantastic Fiction website agrees that Fantasy in Death is #37 in the series, it appears that a few of the 37 were only long novelettes that appeared in collections with other authors. Looking further on the same page, though, I see that some of these have been published individually as novellas under the J. D. Robb byline, so I’m assuming the number is at least semi-legitimate and to let it stand.
May 25th, 2010 at 7:25 pm
I tried reading one of the Eve Dallas books early on, back when they were still coming out only in paperback. I didn’t get far — nothing there that appealed to me — but while I haven’t been buying the books, I’ve always marveled at their success.
LJ, even though you didn’t care for this one, you’ve tempted me into trying another one, if only to see if I can’t get farther into it this time around.
I’m not sure what turned me back the first time. If I did, I’d be able to tell you, but I don’t, so I can’t.
Looking at the almost generic jacket of the hardcover of FANTASY IN DEATH, with the author’s name taking up two-thirds of the space, you can see that the publisher doesn’t have to do much to sell the books. All they need is the author’s name.
If were an author, that’s a position I’d sure love to be in!
May 25th, 2010 at 7:36 pm
For what they are these are entertaining and efficient time passers. I wouldn’t go out of my way to hunt one down or read them all, but if they are available and on sale cheap (which they often are) I know they are a consistent read — the literary equivalent of one of the better crime series on television.
And what writer wouldn’t want to be in Nora Roberts position? Talk about name recognition.
May 25th, 2010 at 8:41 pm
Looking at the descriptions of some of the books I found online, many of the stories seem to involve serial killers, ritualistic murders and a considerable amount of violence, often toward women. That could easily be why I got no farther into the one I tried.
I seldom read stories with serial killers or ritualistic murders, whether they take place in the future, the past, or the present. I’m fairly consistent in this regard!
If I’m wrong about the series, I hope someone will let me know. Next time I’m at Borders, though, it’s certainly time I took another look for myself.
— Steve
May 26th, 2010 at 6:47 am
I don’t think you’re wrong, Steve, about most of the books involving serial killers(though all of this comes secondhand from Jackie as I’ve never read one). That said, she loves the books, having read them all (and some of them twice). She says they take place about a month apart and should be read in order as the characters change and grow from book to book.
Surprisingly, what got her started on the series in the first place was a positive review of an early book from Bob Briney.
May 26th, 2010 at 2:07 pm
Yes, I remember Bob’s review, which as I recall he wrote for his DAPA-Em zine. He’s probably the reason I started to read the one I did. I never told him that I couldn’t finish it, though.