Wednesday, November 30, 2016

Book Review: Apprentice in Death by J. D. Robb

Apprentice in Death
Author: J. D. Robb
Series: In Death (Book 43)
Publication: Berkley (September 6, 2016)

Description: Lieutenant Eve Dallas returns in a fast-paced new novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author J. D. Robb.

Nature versus nurture...

The shots came quickly, silently, and with deadly accuracy. Within seconds, three people were dead at Central Park’s ice-skating rink. The victims: a talented young skater, a doctor, and a teacher. As random as random can be.

Eve Dallas has seen a lot of killers during her time with the NYPSD but never one like this. A review of the security videos reveals that the victims were killed with a tactical laser rifle fired by a sniper, who could have been miles away when the trigger was pulled. And though the list of locations where the shooter could have set up seems endless, the number of people with that particular skill set is finite: police, military, professional killer.

Eve’s husband, Roarke, has unlimited resources—and genius—at his disposal. And when his computer program leads Eve to the location of the sniper, she learns a shocking fact: There were two—one older, one younger. Someone is being trained by an expert in the science of killing, and they have an agenda. Central Park was just a warm-up. And as another sniper attack shakes the city to its core, Eve realizes that though we’re all shaped by the people around us, there are those who are just born evil...

My Thoughts: This 42nd Eve Dallas futuristic mystery/romance has Eve working the case of a long distance serial killer. The first three victims were picked off at a skating rink. Eve and her team try to find some connection between the three or find out which might have attracted a serial killer. A second shooting in Times Square has five victims. And, again, Eve and her team try to find connections.

Roarke helps by developing a software program that enables them to track the shots back to their origin. It is soon plain that the killer must be someone with extensive practice as a sniper. Soon Eve, Roarke, and the team know who the sniper was but now have to track them down before the next shooting happen.

Meanwhile, Eve is stressing over attending a birthday party for Mavis's one-year-old daughter Bella. She is also choosing the design for her new home office since she has outgrown the one Roarke first provided for her which was a copy of the office in the apartment she lived in before she met Roarke.

I really like the strong relationships in this series. Eve has moved from being a loner to a woman who is deeply loved and who deeply loves and who can expand and deepen her friendships. Despite feeling sometimes that she now has too many friends, Eve has a much richer life than before she met and married Roarke.

This book also explores the conflict between nature and nurture as Eve sees some of herself in the killer that she is tracking. She sees someone she could have been had she made different choices in her life. This also explores the variety of mentors in her life and in Roarke's and the way they helped shape the people Eve and Roarke have become.

This is a series that never gets old for me. I move each new book to the top of my reading stack and look forward greatly to the next.

Favorite Quote:
He knew how thin her defenses were when she worked herself into exhaustion.

At least she'd get a get hours' sleep in her own bed, he thought as he drove through the gates. And he'd see she ate a decent breakfast in the morning.

He, too, did what he must, and the most important must for him was Eve.
I bought this one. You can buy your copy here.

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