Rapture in Death (original 1996; edition 1996)

Oh my GOSH!

First of all, the beginning ROCKS. Roarke and Eve's HONEYMOON! I mean, it suck that they find a dead guy at the end, but still. HOTT!

Anyway, this was an AWESOME story. My favorite so far, mostly for the ending, I think.

So there are these 3 dead people, all of whom self-terminated (committed suicide)... all three of whom aren't "the type", you know? Successful, happy relationships, brilliant futures, etc. (Not that there's a type, but still. ZERO indication? There'd be SOMETHING...) Plus, all three have this HUGE GRIN on their faces. WEIRD. Eve is like, "Ummmm... coincidence? I think not, people!" But she's kinda got nothing to go on but a hunch until ANOTHER person commits suicide RIGHT IN FRONT OF HER, again, totally happy and grinning. They've all got the same scar-type-thing on the INSIDE of their brain, and they all used virtual reality goggles just before their deaths. So Eve's gotta figure out (1) who has to technological skill to mess with VR/subliminal message stuff, (2) who's got a connection to all four seemingly RANDOM victims, and (3) who has the disposition to KILL!

My favorite part is the ending... when Eve discovers who killed the people and realizes that Roarke is the next intended victim and can't get to him.... She's running and crying and running and soooo desperate.... Is he still alive? Is he dead? Eve really realized how intensely and powerfully she loves Roarke and how much he means to her, you know? :*)

2/20/2011 - 2/22/2011
5/3/2011 - 5/5/2011 ( )

Place-marker for listening 2x in 2011 ( )

The first half of the book was too slow for me. Luckily the second half was action packed and quite good so it still ended up being a four star read.

The killer in this book was fairly obvious from the moment he/she is introduced. I think Eve is a good cop, but I do think she tends to get tunnel vision once she has a suspect in mind.

What I enjoyed most in this book was watching Eve's relationships grow. I love seeing she and Rourke adjusting to married life. I also love her friendship with Peabody (who I happen to find delightful.) As for the other side characters, Feeney and Summerset always make me smile. However, I'm finding Mavis less likable in each book. Perhaps because of how strong the other female characters in the book are, she just appears so weak in comparison.

Overall, 4 stars and I will be moving on to book 5. ( )

More of the same. Peabody's character continues to grow, great mystery with ending visible about 80 % of the way through. A tad more sex than necessary for my taste. ( )

I have to agree with the other reviewers on this one. It was too easy to guess who the murderer was. I also thought this was a sub par effort on the part of J.D. Robb/Nora Roberts. I did like the expanded role Peabody is getting. She cracks me up. Great banter between Dallas and Peabody. I didn't like the scene at the party given for Mavis. The book did bring up some interesting concepts, but over all I was a little let down. I hope the next one is a little better.
The general synopsis is: Eve and Roarke return from their honeymoon. It's back to to work for Eve, and right off she deals with suicides she thinks are murders, but has no way of proving it. Once again, Roarke helps Eve out in the investigation.
Overall a C ( )