Loyalty in Death

Book 29 of my 2015 Reading Challenge

read from May 26 - June 10

Loyalty in Death by J.D. Robb

Book 9 of the In Death series

Summary (via the book jacket)

An unknown bomber is stalking New York City. He is sending Eve Dallas taunting letters promising to wreak mass terror and destruction among the "corrupt masses". And when his cruel web of deceit and destruction threatens those she cares for most, Eve fights back. It's her city...it's her job...and it's hitting too close to home. Now, in a race against a ticking clock, Eve must make the pieces fit - before the city falls. 

My Opinion

My favorite book of the series so far!  I don't know if it's a coincidence, but I finally took my own advice and didn't read the summary before starting so I had no idea what was going to happen.  Of course, looking at it now, the summary for this book doesn't reveal very much at all, but I still think I'll continue to go in 'cold' as I read the series. 

The case was very interesting.  There were enough red herrings to keep me guessing but also plenty of red flags so the reveal wasn't out of nowhere.  The last part was quite a ride - very exciting!

The personal storylines were good too.  I really like the partnership between Eve and Roarke, and adding some new characters helped change it up too.

Two notes that don't really have to do with the story...first, it was a throwaway sentence but the mention of someone living on a "retired professional mother's pension" made me smile; the future isn't all bleak in these books.  Also, it was published in 1999 (pre 9/11) so it was weird to have a book set in the 2050's mention the Twin Towers; they were also mentioned as a symbol that could be targeted for terrorism and I'm glad for the author's sake that she chose other symbols for actual action - that would've been a very unfortunate coincidence. 

All in all, I really enjoyed this read and look forward to continuing the series.

A Few Quotes from the Book

"...little details changed with the fashions and societal sensibilities. But one constant in the business end of life to death appeared to be the last will and testament. Who got what and when and how they got all the goodies the dead had managed to accumulate through the time fate offered.

   A matter of control, she'd always thought. The nature of the beast demanded control be maintained even after death. The last grip on the controls, the last button pushed. For some, she imagined, it was the ultimate insult to those who had the nerve to survive. To others, a last gift to those loved and cherished during life.

   Either way, a lawyer read the words of the dead. And life went on."

"She'd never lived through war. Not the kind that killed in indiscriminate masses. Her dealings with death had always been more personal, more individual. Somehow intimate. The body, the blood, the motive the humanity.

  What she saw now had no intimacy. Wholesale destruction accomplished from a distance erased even that nasty bond between killer and victim."

"He stopped her by brushing a hand over her hair. "It hurts you. The children."

  "It reminds me," she corrected, "of what it's like to have no choice, and to have your life in the hands of someone who thinks of you as a thing to be used or discarded as the mood strikes." "