Vengeance in Death

Author: J.D. Robb
Published: October 1, 1997 (Berkley)
Category: Romantic Suspense
Series: In Death #6
Rating: 10/10

It's official - I'm addicted to Nora Roberts. It took me quite some time to get here, and I've got a lot of catching up to do!

I have not been disappointed yet by Roberts' J.D. Robb books, and I'm sometimes afraid that things will get boring with the same couple in each book, but each book is interesting in its own right, whether it's the mystery or some aspect of Eve's character healing from her traumatic childhood or her relationship with Roarke deepening even more.

He is an expert with the latest technology - a madman with the mind of a genius and the heart of a killer. He quietly stalks his prey. Then he haunts the police with cryptic riddles about the crimes he is about to commit - always solved moments too late to save his victims' lives. Police lieutenant Eve Dallas found the first victim butchered in his own home. The second lost his life in a vacant luxury apartment. The two men had little in common. Both suffered unspeakable torture before their deaths. And both had ties to an ugly secret of ten years past - a secret shared by none other than Eve's new husband, Roarke.

I think this one is my favorite Eve Dallas novel so far. The killer is targeting Roarke through Eve, and all his victims are just in preparation for Roarke's eventual murder.

Vengeance in Death gives us a glimpse into Roarke's murky past, and for the first time, Eve's life is threatened because of Roarke. However, she would shield Roarke with her life, and he gets angry about that. They each love each other so much that they can't imagine what life would be without the other, so they'd rather save them than themselves. Awww. They have a marital spat about it, one of those that winds up with them sleeping in separate beds, something that never happens when Roarke isn't away on business.

The mystery in this book is so interesting and suspenseful. The murderer believes he's an avenging angel of God, and his religiousness is so obnoxious that I was rooting for Roarke to get his hands on the wacko. The constant friction between Eve and Summerset was always slightly annoying, and turns out he's the prime suspect for the murders. There were lots of personal feelings floating around the interrogation room from Eve's dislike of Summerset and Summerset's dislike of cops and Eve as a person.

So excellent story and excellent character-relationship development. I loved it.