Anyway, I'm getting off topic. Topic being my review, so here it is:
published by Putnam in February 2007
Innocent in Death picks up almost where it left off in Born in Death and it's now close to Valentine Day. Eve gets a new case: a young teacher is found poisoned in a private academy and was found by two 10 years old girls. The man was well-liked, young and righteous and Eve cannot figure out who would want him dead.
On the personal front, it doesn't get better for Eve, as an old flame of Roarke re-appears: Magdelana Percell. She knows that Roarke loves her, but she can't help herself but fear and worry as she also knows that Magdelana, or "Maggie," is different than the others. Magdelana is such a threat that even Summerset had to warn her, so you can imagine...
Series: In Death series, book 28
Genre: Romantic suspense, futuristic
Review: Hmmm, I was thinking about what to write while I was driving to work and this is what I thought. I don't think there's been any bad books in this series. After 28 books, readers still rush to read it. You know that when you read an "In Death" book, that it will be good and that you'll be entertained. The only question is how good will the book really be: good, very good or a wowzer? Well this one was a wowzer. My only complaint is that I didn't enjoy it as much as I should because I read some spoilers, but that's my own fault... kind of - I guess if I wanted it, I could blame the person who posted the spoilers and every fans who couldn't wait and asked for the spoilers...
The Characters - Let's face it, one of the reasons why this series is so popular is the characters, Eve and Roarke, as well as the multitude of secondary characters. But back to Eve and Roarke, we just can't get enough of them. Both have strong personalities and there's this "opposite attracts each other" thing going on and it's also fun to see how they interact with each other. In addition, Eve is no TSTL heroine... when you're talking about tough, you're talking about Eve. Even more interesting for us, the readers, is the changes, evolution and growth that these characters undergo CONTINUALLY. This is another reason why the series is still going so strong. If you want a series to work, sure you need good characters. However, good is not enough... evolution of the characters is needed, which is why another series that I won't name is losing a lot of readers. Anyway, another thing that work for this book was going back to the basis, i.e. Eve and Roarke. It's impossible to have written a 25+ books series without having a strong cast to back-up the leads (well, perhaps it's possible, but it's boring). I'm actually the kind of readers that love sidestories and secondary romance, but it seemed that in the last few books, the supporting cast was stealing the spotlight from the lead. So it's nice that this book focuses on Eve and Roarke. For fans of the supporting cast, don't worry, some of them do make an appearance, but that's about it. This book is about Eve and Roarke.
Sidenote: about what happens in the book. Was Eve's reaction justified? Absolutely. It's already a miracle that Eve doesn't care about Roarke's past conquests, but this woman was indeed different, because she did mean something to Roarke. Was it Roarke's fault? Euh, I don't think so. For once, Roarke was a real man and didn't understand women :P Was it fun to see Roarke confused? You bet. However, I like how they solve their problems.
The Story & Writing- Well I don't have much to say without spoiling it. Also, i think I've already alluded to Eve and Roarke's marital problems, which was a good idea to put in. I mean, after 28 books, this is really the first time you see Eve and Roarke have real problems concerning their marriage. Sure, they fight and sometimes have issues that affect their relationship (eg: Roarke's discovery of his biological mother), but we haven't seen the relationship being at the core of the issue. I also think this was the next natural step, cos after all, their relationship has been too good to be true. As for the murder case, it was really interesting and quite freaky... we really live in a bad world... *shudder*
As for the writing, do I need to say anything? I know some people don't like Nora Roberts, and I mostly think it's the genre that bothers them, more than the writing. Her style is very fluid, easy to read and it complements her plots very well.
The Cover - I like it :D It's a nice green :)
Am I keeping this book? Euh, yeah! I like this series enough to buy it in hardcovers, so yeah, I'm keeping it.
Anything else? I wonder till when NR will be writing this series... the longer the better right?
