Calculated In Death

Did you think I had stopped reading?  Nope, not me.  I’m always reading something or other.  Calculated in Death, by J.D. Robb in my growing “have -read”.  I love this series.  Set in the not so distant future, Eve Dallas is a homicide detective in New York City.  I’ve lost count of the number of books in this series, but I have them all, and it takes up a considerable amount of shelf space.  One of the great things is that each book can be read as a stand alone, but if you read them in order you get to see the characters grow and change, which is always fun for me.  The first book in the collection is Naked in Death and this is where we first meet our eclectic cast of characters.  Most of the cast of favorites gets to make an appearance in the latest installment to arrive in paperback.  (It was just the latest installment, but Thankless in Death came out in hardcover before I finished reading.  I swear this woman never sleeps!)  The cast of characters has grown so extensive over the years that not everyone gets a cameo in every book, but old favorites pop up from time to time for a visit.

One of the things that I adore about this author is her characters.  They are all very easy to relate to.  Eve Dallas is strong, intelligent, funny, broken, determined, committed, stubborn, and, above all, believable.  It is easy to see something of yourself in an aspect of her personality.  Well, it is easy to see something of yourself in all of her characters.  J.D. Robb marries the suspense of a great mystery novel and realistic world building of future New York, in which it is hard to come by a hot dog that is anything but soy and harder to get real coffee, with the friendships and relationships that have been building since Naked in Death was released in 1995.  With an average of two book releases a year in this series, fans don’t have to wait long for their next dose of Dallas.  Eve’s no nonsense attitude and frequent misuse of cliche can be a bit addictive for readers looking for a suspenseful escape from reality, even as her fumbling to figure out relationships and people endear her.  Toss in handsome as sin Roarke, with his jet black hair, glacier like eyes, and hint of an Irish accent…seriously, who can resist that combo?

Oh yeah, did I forget to mention the romance?  J.D. Robb is a pen name for Nora Roberts. (Holy cow is this woman prolific! ) There’s romance.  The relationship takes a back burner to the case at hand for the vast majority of each of these novels, so, although it is written under the pseudonym of a romance author, I never think of them that way.  I read it for the suspense, the drama, the death defying stunts (there are a few of those too).  The romance is just…icing.

J.D. Robb novels are always a great escape.  They are a way to set today behind and jump into the future and someone else’s problems for a few hours.  Imagine what 2053 will really look like, and just…well, cling to the edge of your seat.  Hey, that’s my idea of a good time.

What’s your great escape novel?  Do you have any juicy mystery recommendations?

‘Til next time,

Jessica

Related articles

• Immortal in Death ~ J D Robb (silkscreenviews.wordpress.com)
• Review: Naked in Death (In Death, #1) (nknh.wordpress.com)
• Vision in Death (In Death # 19) (smuttyromanceblog.wordpress.com)
• Calculated in Death (onbookthoughts.wordpress.com)