REVIEW: Connections In Death by J.D. Robb

Title: Connections in Death (In Death #48)
Author: J.D. Robb
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Publication Date: February 2019
Genre: Urban Fantasy / Mystery
Buy The Book: Amazon | BN | Audible

Description: In this gritty and gripping new novel in the #1 New York Times bestselling series, Eve Dallas fights to save the innocent—and serve justice to the guilty—on the streets of New York.

Homicide cop Eve Dallas and her billionaire husband, Roarke, are building a brand-new school and youth shelter. They know that the hard life can lead kids toward dangerous crossroads—and with this new project, they hope to nudge a few more of them onto the right path. For expert help, they hire child psychologist Dr. Rochelle Pickering—whose own brother pulled himself out of a spiral of addiction and crime with Rochelle’s support.

Lyle is living with Rochelle while he gets his life together, and he’s thrilled to hear about his sister’s new job offer. But within hours, triumph is followed by tragedy. Returning from a celebratory dinner with her boyfriend, she finds Lyle dead with a syringe in his lap, and Eve’s investigation confirms that this wasn’t just another OD. After all his work to get clean, Lyle’s been pumped full of poison—and a neighbor with a peephole reports seeing a scruffy, pink-haired girl fleeing the scene.

Now Eve and Roarke must venture into the gang territory where Lyle used to run, and the ugly underground world of tattoo parlors and strip joints where everyone has taken a wrong turn somewhere. They both believe in giving people a second chance. Maybe even a third or fourth. But as far as they’re concerned, whoever gave the order on Lyle Pickering’s murder has run out of chances…

My Thoughts: One of the things that make Eve and Roarke such interesting and intriguing characters is how they have pulled themselves out of a life of violence, despair and ultimate misery and made something of themselves, individually and as a couple. Yes, Roarke is the richest man in the universe who buys and sells planets like they are baseball trading cards, but at his heart, he is a humanitarian who happily uses his wealth, power and influence to make life a little better for those who society discards and writes off.

Roarke has taken on the building of a school and youth shelter, which he hopes will help the children in the area make better choices to help them on the path to success. He hires child psychologist Rochelle Pickering because she knows better than anyone what a life of addiction and crime can do. Her brother, Lyle, lived that life until she helped him overcome it and with her help he has found his way back to sobriety and stability.

Unfortunately, Lyle’s success is short-lived when Rochelle comes home to find him dead with a syringe, an apparent overdose, another statistic. Eve doesn’t see it that way and quickly determines that Lyle’s death has been staged to appear as an overdose but she knows he was murdered. Eve knows that Lyle’s former gang is involved but tracking down who gave the order is a little more difficult and not so obvious. This story had a lot of unexpected twists and turns, several villains and agendas. A lot more than meets the eye, but Eve does not let that slow her down. In fact, I think it motivates her more to solve it.

My Final Verdict: With forty-eight installments in this series and more to come, what surprises me about this series is how thorough and meticulous Eve continues to be. I love how her brain works, organized and compartmentalized. She remembers the most trivial and smallest of details. I’m starting to wonder if she’s actually human or droid. More surprising is that she can solve the most intricate and twisted of murder cases, but she has been unable to figure out who the candy thief in her office is. Or, maybe she has…stay tuned…

REVIEW: Leverage In Death by J.D. Robb

Title: Leverage In Death (In Death #47)
Author: J.D. Robb
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Publication Date: September 2018
Genre: Urban Fantasy / Mystery / Suspense
Buy The Book: Amazon | BN | Audible

Description: Lieutenant Eve Dallas puzzles over a bizarre suicide bombing in a Wall St. office building in the latest in the #1 New York Times bestselling series…

For the airline executives finalizing a merger that would make news in the business world, the nine a.m. meeting would be a major milestone. But after marketing VP Paul Rogan walked into the plush conference room, strapped with explosives, the headlines told of death and destruction instead. The NYPSD’s Eve Dallas confirms that Rogan was cruelly coerced by two masked men holding his family hostage. His motive was saving his wife and daughter―but what was the motive of the masked men?

Despite the chaos and bad publicity, blowing up one meeting isn’t going to put the brakes on the merger. All it’s accomplished is shattering a lot of innocent lives. Now, with the help of her billionaire husband Roarke, Eve must untangle the reason for an inexplicable act of terror, look at suspects inside and outside both corporations, and determine whether the root of this crime lies in simple sabotage, or something far more complex and twisted.

My Thoughts: What an intense nail-biter plot this story offers! I could not wrap my mind around the abject fear, horror, misery and anguish these people felt knowing they were going to die, choosing to die because the alternative is too horrible to imagine. Once again, J.D. Robb pulls out all the stops to deliver another in death installment that knocks my little white cotton socks right off my feet.

More than that, I get such a good buzz from hanging around these characters, they are interesting and fun to be around. I especially love that Robb makes them real. They aren’t just one dimensional characters. They have so many layers to their personalities and after forty-seven books, I still believe there is much more to them.

My Final Verdict: Stories that continue to deliver intensity while maintaining an intriguing edge and characters that always entertain and surprise me remains the biggest reason I keep coming back to this series. I try to figure the case out before Eve and Roarke put it together, but I usually fail and that’s completely fine with me.

REVIEW: Lizzie's Christmas Escape by Christie Barlow

Title: Lizzie’s Christmas Escape
Author: Christie Barlow
Publisher: Bookouture
Publication Date: October 2016
Genre: Chick-Lit / Christmas Holiday
Buy The Book: Amazon | BN

Description: A gorgeous country house hotel, a liberal dusting of snow, a cozy weekend away…what more could Lizzie ask for at Christmas?

Every Christmas Lizzie promises herself that things will change and she will leap into the new year a new woman. And yet here she is again, at the beginning of December and nothing is different. Her girls have grown up and left home, her husband Henry is slumped in front of the TV and she is alone in the kitchen, seeking refuge in the cooking sherry and talking to her Gary Barlow calendar. She’s also been very diverted by handsome new neighbor Marcus and she knows she shouldn’t be …

So when best friend Ann suggests a weekend away in the country, Lizzie jumps at the chance. Will this Christmas escape give Lizzie some much needed perspective and allow her to mend her marriage? Or will Marcus prove to be too much of a distraction?

My Thoughts: There is so much more to this story than what meets the eye and I had to struggle a little bit as my feelings for Lizzie changed quite a bit as I got further into the story. I began with a lot of empathy for her and her situation. She’s been married a long time, her children are grown and away at university and her husband barely acknowledges her existence other than to ask when dinner is ready. I felt bad for her and when she meets her new neighbor Marcus, it seemed innocent but then the flirtation starts to take on a very serious tone and I had a much harder time feeling any empathy for Lizzie. I began to get angry because as cold and distant as Henry was, Lizzie never communicates her feelings to him. He deserved a swift kick and a shoe thrown at his head, but it annoyed the living daylights out of me that Lizzie so quickly embarked on this fling with Marcus without even TRYING to resolve the issues in her marriage! Also, the Christmas escape is more of an afterthought that occurred near the end of the story after Lizzie’s life is already in shambles.

I’m glad I didn’t give up on this story, however, because I was surprised at how it all played out and it resolved very well. In the end, I ended up feeling a lot of empathy for Lizzie, but also admiration. I was pleased to see her take full responsibility for her actions when confronted by not only her husband but her daughters. She also demonstrates a lot of courage by starting her own business, something she always wanted but never dared to try.

The story flows well and the characters were easy to engage with. I especially liked Lizzie’s friend, Ann, who demonstrates loyalty to Lizzie even though she is going through her own trials. Lizzie is lucky to have her as a friend. There are some surprise twists that came out of left field, but it enhanced the story very well.

My Final Verdict: Although I struggled with a few parts of the story, I recommend this story to readers who are looking for a story about forgiveness and second chances because isn’t Christmas the season of hope?

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of Lizzie’s Christmas Escape from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.