Seduction in Death [Hardcover]

J. D. Robb (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 29, 2004

She was twenty-three and already in love. She was certain he'd be handsome. She would be dead before midnight. Bryna Bankhead carefully dressed for her date with the wonderful Dante, a man she's only ever spoken to online. By the end of the night, rose petals are scattered, poetry has been quoted - and Bryna has been murdered. What starts as a mistake, becomes a terrifying game, as two young men pursue their poisonous obsession with an illegal drug and an insatiable desire. As more girls are taken, homicide lieutenant Eve Dallas and her roguish husband Roarke must think fast and act even faster. And then Eve discovers the secret to their destructive past and a deadly trap is set ...

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

New York Times bestselling author Nora Roberts, writing as J.D. Robb, continues her prolific string of hits with her latest installment in the In Death series of futuristic thrillers starring hard-boiled detective Eve Dallas and a quirky cast of characters, including Eve's husband, Roarke, who owns most of Manhattan and can be relied upon to bring all his considerable resources to bear to help his wife solve the case whether she wants him to or not, and Peabody, Eve's uptight assistant, who has an off-again, on-again thing going with the irreverent Officer McNab. This time Eve is on the trail of a serial killer--or maybe killers--who stalks young women looking for love in online poetry chat rooms. Once a romantic date has been arranged, the murderer sets the scene with roses, champagne, and candlelight, then serves his unsuspecting victims a lethal combination of date-rape drugs that takes them to the height of pleasure and too far beyond. But this killer is really clever, altering his look to become each victim's dream date. What a nightmare! Detective Dallas is on the case, chasing an anonymous psychopath with a twisted taste in romance. But Eve seems a little more fragile this time around, still plagued by the nightmare of childhood abuse. Is retirement from the business of crime solving in the near future for Detective Dallas? Robb has found a winning formula in the genre, so hopefully we'll see a lot more of peppery Eve Dallas. --Alison Trinkle --This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

From Publishers Weekly

In the 13th installment of Robb's (aka Nora Roberts) futuristic In Death series (after Betrayal in Death), New York's Lieutenant Eve Dallas takes on a Casanova killer who targets young women via on-line poetry chat rooms. The killer sets the mood for murder with rose petals, candlelight and expensive wine laced with a deadly date-rape drug. The novel opens (as others have in the past) with Eve reliving the horror of stabbing her abusive father to death. The narrative then switches to another grim scene that of a woman who has been pushed from a balcony. With the technology available in 2059, identifying the culprit should be simple, but this killer is more inventive than most: he becomes each victim's fantasy man. To make Eve's job even more difficult, a psychological profile indicates that there may be two killers or one with a multiple-personality disorder. Robb sprinkles her narrative with the usual supporting characters: Roarke, Eve's rich husband, uses his state-of-the-art computers to assist her with the case; Peabody, Eve's assistant, is still dancing a sexual tango with Officer McNab; and Roarke's lofty but caring butler remains a thorn in Eve's side. Although Robb's energetic prose and hard-edged dialogue will keep readers engrossed, this installment offers little that is new or fresh. (Sept. 4)Forecast: Thirteen may very well be Robb's unlucky number. Although the recent revelation that J.D. Robb is Nora Roberts will prompt many new readers to pick up the latest book in the series, Robb's long-time fans may find that this well is running dry.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Piatkus (July 29, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0749906790
• ISBN-13: 978-0749906795
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (70 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,497,496 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

J.D. Robb is the pseudonym for a number-one New York Times-bestselling author of more than 170 novels, including the futuristic suspense In Death series. There are more than 300 million copies of her books in print.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A little change of format but a winner all the same!, January 18, 2002

By 

"intentaccess" (Boca Raton, Florida USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Seduction in Death (Mass Market Paperback)

In this latest installment, Eve Dallas is investigating the serial murder of women who participated in on-line chat rooms, each A victim of romance that was a game set up for a deadly ending.

This novel was of a different format then the last 12 as you know who the killer is early on. The format may have changed but the suspense, wit and character building sure did not! Can eve beat the killer at is game before anybody else is killed???

J.D. Robb has the most wonderful skill of building her characters and this book gets better. Peabody and McNab continue to grow in their involvement and as main characters. Charles and Dr. Louise even grow as more important characters. This is Book 13 , which I have read them all, also read the two short stories and I cannot get enough! Way to go Robb you most certainly did it again!!!

34 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Down with supersitition! 13 is a winner!, August 29, 2001

By 

gayelle "gayelle" (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Seduction in Death (Mass Market Paperback)

Seduction in Death is a homerun! Highly enjoyable characters and more character development of the series' protagonists, Roarke and Eve; witty dialogue which sparks gut deep belly laughs; new story lines involving characters introduced earlier -- Charles and Louise, simply fantastic! -- good, strong plot; and bad bad-guys. Nobody does it like Robb (Nora Roberts). She's simply the best.
After Amazon's Publishers' Weekly reviewer panned the novel, I had reservations about
quite what to expect. (I think Publishers' Weekly's review ought to read the whole series
and think about things a bit more.) However, J. D. Robb does not at all disappoint. In 354 pages of enjoyable, small print reading, readers familiar with the In Death series are witness to Dallas' further development as a character. Those who are familiar with all the books in
the series will realize the extent of Eve's growth. She has come a long way baby from the woman who could not respond with other than silence to Roarke's expressions of love. Robb gives Dallas a richer complexity, a maturity wrought by love in this novel. I'm not going to sell out the storyline, but the closing pages of this novel are surely a testament to the depth of Robb's creativity and to the richness with which she imbues her characters.
In many places, from the beginning onwards, the dialogue is rip roaringly funny. Some of the
exchanges between Dallas and Peabody, Dallas and Roarke, Dallas and other characters, the Peabody-McNabb situation are so hilarious that this novel ought not be read in public <g>. Robb has more than a touch of the blarney in her and a wonderful way with her pen. Read the novel to find out how simply wonderful is its dialogue--in fact, read it at home so people won't think you're crazy when you burst into a belly laugh!
So often readers pay $7.99 for a novel and wind up wishing that they'd kept their money in their pockets because the story line dragged, the dialogue was meaningless, and the characters were dull. No one can accuse Seduction in Death of any of this. This was a well spent $7.99, and I enjoyed every penny's worth. My only regret is that I forgot to order an autographed copy for my birthday as I had intended to.

22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best Yet, September 15, 2001

By 

Wendy Kaplan (Houston) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Seduction in Death (Mass Market Paperback)

Two sophisticated serial killers are stalking the women of New York via email. Or is it one man with multiple personalities? Tough homicide lieutenant Eve Dallas must solve the mystery quickly, before any more women are brutally raped and killed.

In perhaps her toughest assignment yet, Eve must unravel clue upon clue to get to the core of the case. And it won't be easy. As she peels away each false identity of the murderers, another even more clever identity emerges. Each victim has been lured to her death by a so-called "poet," who just happens to share a love of art, poetry, the classics, and other intellectual pursuits with his online "soulmate. It is chillingly easy to disguise one's identity on email, especially if, in the case of this murderer, he has multiple accounts that lead to nowhere.

Surveillance tapes and first-hand sightings of the possible suspect or suspects only compound the puzzle, as the killers are adept at face putty and other disguises, and so appear completely different each time they kill. In 2059, such appearance enhancers are all too available, as Eve well knows. When she needs a disguise of her own, she has to be almost literally hogtied as she submits to the "beautification" efforts of her dear friend, "mag" rock star Mavis, and Mavis's sidekick Trina. Those of us who know Eve et al. from the previous "In Death" novels tend to root for Mavis and Trina, as Eve's idea of beauty is primitive at best.

This insertion of comic relief is a Robb trademark, and only serves to intensify the mystery beneath. The genius of it, however, is that with each little interlude such as the beauty session, we learn more about what makes the "In-Death" regulars tick, just as we would in a real-life relationship. Thus we are privy to the on-again, off-again, often hilarious romance between Eve's stalwart aide Peabody and her peacock-dressing boyfriend, detective MacNab. There is more nasty verbal byplay between Eve and her husband's stiff and unyielding butler, Sommerset. And we get to see Eve's onetime mentor and dear friend Feeney in some unforgettable pajamas. As always, new readers will enjoy these characters, who only serve to add color and depth to the story. But regulars such as I feel we KNOW these people, and while we follow the mystery, we are also treated to the ongoing saga of each of their lives. MOST satisfying!

Nowhere is this more evident, of course, than in the deep and complicated relationship between Eve and her husband of one year, the brilliant and impossibly gorgeous billionaire Roarke. I have referred to their relationship before as fascinating, and it is...two strong, forceful people, each of whom have overcome unspeakable childhood horrors and emerged winners, must accommodate themselves to each other. We have watched as, in book after book, both Eve and Roarke, but especially Eve, have allowed layers of self-protection to fall away as they each learn to trust in the love they share. Theirs is not an easy relationship, but at its core is an intense bond that reveals itself more and more.

Robb skillfully weaves the many threads of her plot together with great skill, making it seem easy. In the end, the murdered women are avenged, and Eve has survived yet another attack on her character by a jealous rogue cop; queasily accepted the very physical relationship of Peabody and swain; seen her mentor in shocking pajamas; glimpsed a side of her Commander (Whitney) that she has never seen before; and, most importantly, let down another barrier in her erotic and high-energy marriage.

I strongly recommend this book. Regular readers will be thrilled to see Robb back in the groove after a somewhat disappointing (but still worth reading) "Betrayal in Death." Those new to the series will be tantalized enough to want to read all 12 previous efforts. And me? I'm pacing the floor, waiting for the next one.