Creation in Death (In Death)
Berkley - Berkley
Release date: 2008-04-01
Mass Market Paperback
Author: J.D. Robb
American Mystery & Suspense Fiction, Fiction, Children's 12-Up - Fiction - Mystery, Fiction - Mystery/ Detective, Mystery/Suspense, Fiction / Romance / Suspense, Mystery & Detective - Women Sleuths, Romance - Suspense, General
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Creation in Death (In Death)
Date undefinedAfter reading one of Nora Roberts paranormal romances (Face the Fire) and being distinctly underwhelmed, I felt it was only fair to give her a chance to redeem herself with a crime story, which is more to my taste as reading matter.
And I did enjoy this more, in that I was at least able to finish it. However, that said, the 'annoyances' factor was just as high for this effort as it was for her romance.
A short list includes her decision to shorten words into some kind of b*stard amalgam of cop show and futurism. I had to struggle with wits, vics and transpo throughout, with wit, in particular, producing some very strange misunderstandings as in "Find me the wit who..." What? Told me that joke about the three Irishmen in a bar, perhaps?
We also had to contend with the cast's constant drinking of "fizzies" and trips to "vending" and the "autochef". Quite why the world would have lost branding in the space of 50 years, when branding is paramount in our culture, I do not know. And, paradoxically, "autochef" sounds exactly like the brand name that would have been given to a food mixer in the fifties - a curiously dated anachronism. That said, other than some other uses of 'e', 'links' and 'comms', there was absolutely nothing that made this feel futuristic at all. I'm at a loss to understand why she bothered.
All that under our belts, this was exactly like watching any American cop show on TV. We had all the cop stereotypes, constant barked demands of "With me" and "On it" and the obligatory moralising of The Great American Right meets carbon-copy evildoer.
In this case, our evildoer was ringing as many bells as the cops. He liked opera, he listened to music while he tortured people, he stalked and killed women, he had a nasty relationship with his mother and a dodgy childhood, he was flabby, impotent and - unusually, for once - old.
That 'old' was the sole point of originality in a story that was as turgid and clichéd as Nora's romance, if marginally less mawkish.
It's apparent to me, after two books, that Nora's fans must enjoy the predictability of her work. There can be no other explanation for the popularity of such second-rate cookie-cutter writing. I am all for escapism and an 'easy read', but when the 'easy' becomes simple regurgitation of popular TV then I wonder Nora's readers don't just watch TV. At least TV pushes the envelope from time to time. All Nora does is run along behind it, licking up crumbs to spew out again in blander form.
Sad and depressing, and only recommended if originality and talent makes you feel threatened.
Creation in Death (In Death)
Date undefinedI have no ability to read this book as the Kindle I bought did not work even a month and I have no way to read the book.
Creation in Death (In Death)
Date undefinedI've been reading J.D. Robb for years, well, from the inception of the Eve Dallas series. I've always liked this series a great deal, although I'm not a big fan of "Science Fiction", per se. However, this series is set in the immediate future of the 2050's initially, so it's not so far-flung that I'm not able to relate to the evolutions in the technology that runs throughout the stories. The advancements in the technology are definitely a part of the stories, but they are used with such surprising subtlety that they are barely there. The characters are very strong and the developement from book to book is apparent and, in many cases, captivating.
On to this particular book. This is one of the Eve Dallas books that is devoted almost completely from start to finish in the actual crime drama that is going on with Eve and company, including yummy husband, Roarke, with little to no understory happening. Now, understand that part of the fun of these books IS the understory and the continuing lives of the characters that populate these books, so I'm not belittling that in any way. But, because this book is totally devoted to the crime and the solving of same, by the time I got to the end of the book and the resolution, I was actually in tears. We all know Eve comes through because there is a "next" book, so I'm not giving anything away when I say, when Eve came through and the crime was done, the condition she was in, as well as the comedic timing of the person for whom she came through lent a whole new aspect to who Eve is a person. Her heart and compassion was just dripping from her as well as her sense of ownership of the victims. Sometimes, Robb can make Eve just a tad too rough and tough and those final scenes, final chapters, were just the fix I needed to remember that Eve has a wonderful, soft, almost magical side to her and that that is much of what Roarke loves in her. Me, too! Enjoy!
