Piatkus Archives

Book review: Bonded in Death by JD Robb

December 11, 20242 min read

Bonded in Death by JD Robb opens with a prologue set in 2026 as the Urban Wars neared their conclusion… which started a few years earlier (ie about now in JD Robb / Nora Roberts’s world so let’s hope she’s not psychic). We don’t spend much time in the past however before moving to the present (40 years later) in Robb’s futuristic series. And for those who’ve been following the series for a long time, it’s pretty easy to guess that this book will hit close-to-home for NYPD cop Eve Dallas and her mega-wealthy husband Roarke… given their majordomo-cum-father-figure-to-Roarke (Summerset) often talks about his work with the Resistance during the Urban Wars.

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Book review: Identity by Nora Roberts

May 17, 20232 min read

It’d been a while between Nora Roberts’ books for me. Of course I continue to read her JD Robb ‘In Death’ series but I also enjoy her romantic suspense novels and her latest, Identity, is another great read. It was perhaps a smidge longer than it needed to be but offers great characters and – though not edge-of-your-seat suspense – the inevitability of what’s to come simmers menacingly in the background.

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Book review: Forgotten in Death by JD Robb

September 29, 20213 min read

JD Robb’s In Death series is a go-to read for me. I’ve not missed any and own most of the series. Forgotten in Death is number 53 and Nora Roberts’s creations – Lieutenant Eve Dallas and her mega-rich hubby Roarke are still going strong.

I hate the ‘guilty pleasure’ phrase as it implies there’s something wrong with what you’re enjoying but (as I’ve said before) these are akin to a comfort read. There’s a predictability – or rather reliability – about the characters and their behaviour as well as the overall story arc, but Robb / Roberts always offers readers a whodunnit that’s a bit different, though I’m not sure how she manages after so many.

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Book review: Hideaway by Nora Roberts

June 5, 20203 min read

I really enjoy Nora Roberts’ romantic suspense novels. She generally offers a great balance between the two genres. Her latest, Hideaway, is no different. She also gives us some delightful characters. Some less-delightful as well obviously. And the novel unfolds over a couple of decades so we get to know some of the players well by the end.

This was a little longer than I probably would have liked, but it certainly hooks readers from the opening pages.

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Book review: Golden in Death by JD Robb

February 6, 20203 min read

JD Robb’s ‘In Death’ futuristic cop series is one of my ‘go-to’ reads. The arrival of a new instalment leap-frogs anything else in my to-be-read pile or reading queue. Golden in Death actually arrived on its publication day so I was completely justified in delving into it straight away.

Embarrassingly I really didn’t twig (for some time) that the book’s title was a nod to the fact that this is the 50th in the series. D’oh!

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Book review: The Sleepover by Samantha King

November 16, 20193 min read

Thrillers or psychological suspense novels featuring missing kids aren’t a rarity. I went to a session at Bad Sydney Crime Writers Festival about ‘missing children’ in books and they touched on a something I – as a non-parent – found interesting.

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Book review: Vendetta in Death by JD Robb

October 12, 20193 min read

I participated in some Q&A thingy on Twitter the other day. Someone asked a range of questions for followers to answer. One was: which author’s books do we own the most of. (And I’m sure that sentence isn’t grammatically correct, but #whatevs!)

Mine was pretty easy. Thirty-two (32) JD Robb books from the In Death series, I said. And number 33 arrived the day after.

Of course, her latest Vendetta in Death, is in fact the 49th in the futuristic cop series and I’m fairly sure I just requested the next for review – the aptly named Golden In Death – out in February 2020.

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Book review: Under Currents by Nora Roberts

July 10, 20193 min read

I love Nora Roberts’ romantic suspense novels. They usually offer up a good balance of the two, which is important given my love of thrillers and suspense and antipathy towards romance. (As such.)

Interestingly, though this includes some suspense, it’s kinda short-lived. It grapples with some unpleasant themes (domestic violence and family violence, so trigger alert for some), but the thing I enjoyed most about this book was, in fact, how the romance played out and the relationship between our two lead characters.

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