Book Review: Promises in Death (In Death #28) by J.D. Robb

 

Amarylis Coltraine may have recently transferred to the New York City police force from Atlanta, but she's been a cop long enough to know how to defend herself against an assailant. When she's taken down just steps away from her apartment, killed with her own weapon, for Eve the victim isn't just "one of us."

Dallas's friend Chief Medical Examiner Morris and Coltraine had started a serious relationship, and from all accounts the two were headed for a happy future together. But someone has put an end to all that. After breaking the news to Morris, Eve starts questioning everyone from Coltraine's squad, informants, and neighbors, while Eve's husband, Roarke, digs into computer data on Coltraine's life back in Atlanta. To their shock, they discover a connection between this case and their own painful, shadowy pasts.

The truth will need to be uncovered one layer at a time, starting with the box that arrives at Cop Central addressed to Eve containing Coltraine's guns, badge, and a note from her killer: "You can have them back. Maybe someday soon, I'll be sending yours to somebody else."

But Eve Dallas doesn't take too kindly to personal threats, and she is going to break this case, whatever it takes. And that's a promise.

Once again, Nora Roberts, writing as J.D. Robb in this 28th book of the In Death series, manages to keep the excitement going.  The relationship between Eve and Rourke is still going strong, although they don't fight as much in this book, thank goodness!  The mystery is well written and interesting with enough twists to keep you guessing.  An old nemesis pops up, as happens a good bit in these stories.  Promises in Death is another high quality read in the series.

 I give this book 4 Bookworms.

Reading Challenge: Anne & Kristilyn’s 2014 Book Bingo Reading Challenge

I think it's time for me to join another reading challenge.  This one looks really fun!  You have to fill in the bingo card.  You can win bingo the regular ways, but the big challenge is to do a blackout.  So I'll try!  Click on the button above to come join us!

Book Review: What Remains (Dead World #1) by Kay Holland

Project Fed. It was supposed to be the answer to hunger, but instead, it was the destruction of the world as we knew it. The growth of chemically enhanced "super" fruits and vegetables began in unmarked farms across the Nations, as well as their distribution in small towns. Within hours of Project Fed's first delivery and primary consumption, something far beyond expectancy was unleashed. Something far beyond what anyone could help.

Four months later, seventeen year old Max Cade is trying to survive amongst what remains of her old life. In an effort to escort an awry "Doctor" from one camp to the next, she will have to reintroduce her two young friends to the horrors beyond their shelter that she so badly wanted to shield them from. Getting there was supposed to be the easy part, but when travelling through a world of ruin, sometimes the undead have other plans

I really wanted to like this book, but I just didn't.  The title is good, that's about all.  The book is full of typos, incorrect grammar, misspelled words, and sometimes the wrong word entirely.  Ignoring that, the writing style was awkward  and choppy in some places. The characters were flat and uninteresting.  The zombies in the book are a little bit different than the usual ones you read about or see in movies.  While they were always around in the story, I felt like they could have been emphasized a little more.  What Remains by Kay Holland is not a book I would recommend.

 I give this book 1 Bookworm.

Book Review: Creation In Death (In Death #25) by J.D. Robb

Eve has seen this crime scene before: the artfully arranged body of a young brunette, arms spread, palms up, body marked by the signs of prolonged and painful torture. Carved into her torso is the time it took her to die - in hours, minutes, and seconds. And on the third finger of her left hand has been placed a silver ring. Eve is catapulted back to a case nine years earlier, when a man whom the media tagged "The Groom" put the city on edge with a killing spree that took the lives of four women in fifteen days. Eve and her partner Feeney, her friend and mentor, couldn't stop him before he disappeared, only to resurface in other parts of the world to kill and kill again. But now The Groom seems to have come back to where he started. When it turns out that The Groom's most recent victim was employed by Eve's billionaire husband, Roarke, she brings him onto the case. A move that proves fitting when it becomes chillingly clear that the killer has made it personal. The corpse was washed in products from a store Roarke owns and laid out on a sheet his company manufactures. With the Groom's monstrous return, Eve is determined to finish him once and for all. Familiar with his methods, she knows that he has already grabbed his next victim. But his sights are set on the biggest challenge of his illustrious career - an abduction that will test his skills and that promises to give him satisfaction as he's never known. Time is running out on another woman's life and for Eve...

Creation in Death is the twenty-fifth book in the In Death series written by Nora Roberts (writing as J.D. Robb).  I've been slowly reading all the books in this series (and some of the novellas in between numbers) for over a year now.

The characters are real and engaging.  They have grown and changed through the whole series.   I enjoy how Roarke and Eve support and care about each other, even though they tend to fight a lot.  Most of the characters have some snarkiness to them, and the sarcastic jibs help lighten the story which is about torture and murder.

The book is written well, the action is fast paced.  It's hard to put this book down once you start reading it!  Even though this book is later in the series, you can read it as a stand alone if you wish.  But to get the full background on the characters and their stories, start from the first one, Naked in Death.

 I give this book 4 Bookworms.

Reading Challenge: ARC April

I'm joining the ARC April reading challenge hosted by Octavia at Read Sleep Repeat.  The challenge is to read as many ARCs as you can during April 2014.  Here's what I hope to get done (I'll add more as I think I can do them!)

Reading Challenge Wrap-Up: Take Control of your TBR Pile

This challenge ran from March 1st - March 31st 2014, hosted by Caffeinated Book Reviewer (click button above).  I had just started doing book reviews again and this was the first challenge I signed up for.  I was a little wary, so I just thought I'd try for 5 books.  I did a little better than that!

     

  

  

Book Review: Dog Gone Back Soon (Cyrus Mills #2) by Nick Trout

When Dr. Cyrus Mills returned home after inheriting his estranged father's veterinary practice, The Bedside Manor for Sick Animals, the last thing he wanted was to stay in Eden Falls, Vermont, a moment longer than absolutely necessary. However, the previously reclusive veterinarian pathologist quickly found that he actually enjoyed treating animals and getting to know the eccentric residents of the tiny provincial town-especially an alluring waitress named Amy.

So Cyrus is now determined to make Bedside Manor thrive. Not an easy goal, given that Healthy Paws, the national veterinary chain across town, will stop at nothing to crush its mom-and-pop competitor. And the rival vet practice isn't Cyrus's only competition; a handsome stranger shows up out of nowhere who clearly has a mysterious past with Amy. To top it off, Cyrus finds himself both the guardian of a very unique orphaned dog and smack in the middle of serious small town drama.

Dog Gone Back Soon is the second book in the Cyrus Mills series by Nick Trout.  I reviewed the first book in the series, The Patron Saint of Lost Dogs here.  It's not necessary to read the first book before this one, although the story picks up right after The Patron Saint of Lost Dogs ends.  

The story is written well and flows smoothly.  There are some great moments with animals, as is to be expected with a book about a veterinarian.  The characters are growing in depth in this second book, and we are introduced to some new ones.  I enjoy the quirkiness of the small town community.

A couple things in the story just didn't sit well.  Cyrus falling for and going along with the blind date and all it entailed went too far for me.  Then Cyrus diagnosing a human without the man asking for one and without any testing, Cyrus just blurting it out, was irresponsible and stupid.  While Cyrus is a bit of a bumbler, he's not irresponsible or stupid, so that scene wasn't believable.

Everything with Stash, the labradoodle was wonderful.  I wish there was more with him.  Actually, I would have preferred more animal interaction throughout the whole book.  

I was given a copy of Dog Gone Back Soon in exchange for my honest review.  I enjoyed reading the book and would recommend it to anyone, especially animal lovers.

 I give this book 3 Bookworms.