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msripley's review against another edition
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
lynguy1's review
4.0
Death, suspense, action, and drama immediately pull readers into Payback in Death by J. D. Robb (pseudonym for Nora Roberts). This well-written futuristic police procedural is set in New York City (NYC) in the summer of 2061 and features Lieutenant Eve Dallas with the NYC homicide police department. After three weeks of vacation, Dallas and her husband Roarke have returned home. Before they get unpacked, a retired internal affairs police captain is found dead and Dallas is called to the scene to investigate. Is it foul play or not?
Time spent with Dallas, Roarke, Delia Peabody (Eve’s partner), and Eve’s colleagues is always entertaining. The main characters are compelling and three-dimensional. She’s honorable, honest, has strong moral principles, and has a sense of duty to victims and their families. Eve’s need to serve and protect comes through in every book, but the underlying impetus for this is best understood by reading this series in order. As always, the interactions between Eve and Roarke are enjoyable and bring a different facet of Eve’s personality to light. Roarke is complicated, fascinating, and generous, but he can also be irritating. I also enjoyed seeing Delia continue to take on more responsibility in this story line. Additionally, Detective Jenkinson plays a more significant role in this book. Readers get to see a bit of the private lives of Peabody and her significant other, McNab.
The prose is well-written and engaging. The plot is twisty, thought-provoking and tragic. While Robb usually manages to weave humor into her novels, providing levity to offset some of the more serious and grim aspects of the story, this one had less of it than usual. The author brings strong characters, great plots, wonderful relationships, and excellent pacing to the series. Woven through the novel are threads of caring for others, standing for victims, friendship, relationships, ego, careers, leadership, love, respect, and trust.
Robb is an excellent storyteller who combines a creative plot with suspenseful scenes and some action. The writing is fluid and there are many suspects to investigate. Besides the investigation, Dallas’s relationships with her friends and colleagues drive the narrative. It has the right balance of mystery, police investigation, romance, and creative twists. There is one steamy scene late in the novel.
Overall, this novel was a twisty tale with great characterization that kept me turning the pages. If you enjoy engaging near-future police procedurals, then I recommend this series. This is the fifty-seventh book in the In Death Eve Dallas series and I have read all of them up to this point. I can’t wait to read the next book in the series.
St. Martin’s Press and J.D. Robb provided a complimentary digital ARC of this novel via NetGalley. All opinions expressed in this review are my own. Publication date is currently set for September 05, 2023. This review was originally posted at Mystery and Suspense Magazine.
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My 4.7 rounded to 4 stars review is coming soon.
Time spent with Dallas, Roarke, Delia Peabody (Eve’s partner), and Eve’s colleagues is always entertaining. The main characters are compelling and three-dimensional. She’s honorable, honest, has strong moral principles, and has a sense of duty to victims and their families. Eve’s need to serve and protect comes through in every book, but the underlying impetus for this is best understood by reading this series in order. As always, the interactions between Eve and Roarke are enjoyable and bring a different facet of Eve’s personality to light. Roarke is complicated, fascinating, and generous, but he can also be irritating. I also enjoyed seeing Delia continue to take on more responsibility in this story line. Additionally, Detective Jenkinson plays a more significant role in this book. Readers get to see a bit of the private lives of Peabody and her significant other, McNab.
The prose is well-written and engaging. The plot is twisty, thought-provoking and tragic. While Robb usually manages to weave humor into her novels, providing levity to offset some of the more serious and grim aspects of the story, this one had less of it than usual. The author brings strong characters, great plots, wonderful relationships, and excellent pacing to the series. Woven through the novel are threads of caring for others, standing for victims, friendship, relationships, ego, careers, leadership, love, respect, and trust.
Robb is an excellent storyteller who combines a creative plot with suspenseful scenes and some action. The writing is fluid and there are many suspects to investigate. Besides the investigation, Dallas’s relationships with her friends and colleagues drive the narrative. It has the right balance of mystery, police investigation, romance, and creative twists. There is one steamy scene late in the novel.
Overall, this novel was a twisty tale with great characterization that kept me turning the pages. If you enjoy engaging near-future police procedurals, then I recommend this series. This is the fifty-seventh book in the In Death Eve Dallas series and I have read all of them up to this point. I can’t wait to read the next book in the series.
St. Martin’s Press and J.D. Robb provided a complimentary digital ARC of this novel via NetGalley. All opinions expressed in this review are my own. Publication date is currently set for September 05, 2023. This review was originally posted at Mystery and Suspense Magazine.
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My 4.7 rounded to 4 stars review is coming soon.
katounettetae's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
starthelostgirl's review against another edition
5.0
I was hesitant to read this one after the very disappointing Encore, but was definitely proved wrong. This was a thoroughly enjoyable return to Eve’s world, with a sweet emphasis on found family.
ndbeyer's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
This series is one that I enjoy and this book was no different. The narrator does a wonderful job on the voices
kaki4forks's review against another edition
3.0
This is my least favorite of the series so far. The plot was the boring part of police work- narrowing options and ruling people out. Most of the story was about people who weren’t the killer… and the confession didn’t feel inevitable like it normally does. 2.5
suepony's review against another edition
4.0
Fast-paced, entertaining read with likable characters. This is one of the more recent books in this series, and though I had not read the earlier books I was able to come up to speed without knowing the detailed backstories.
abeyerlein's review against another edition
5.0
I'm almost current in this long-running series (one of my all-time favorites). Eve continues to be my favorite example of a bada$$ FMC, kicking tail, and taking names. The found family aspect of these books is top-notch. In this one, my favorite scene was when Eve went to see the progress on the house that Peabody/McNabb and Mavis/Leonardo are rehabbing. Her confusion over what seems special to them and yet determination to participate just tickles me. And of course, Roarke is the dreamiest book husband ever! He's the original morally grey, billionaire, reformed-for-her MC that started my obsession.
The actual mystery in this one was fascinating in the way that Eve quickly had to overcome her own internal prejudices but stood for the victim as always.
The actual mystery in this one was fascinating in the way that Eve quickly had to overcome her own internal prejudices but stood for the victim as always.
katyanaish's review against another edition
5.0
On some level, it is astonishing to me that a series could go 57 books and still have me so engaged.
But then, you can think about it like a TV series. There are mountains of TV series that have hooked me for way more than 57 episodes (I believe my record is Supernatural and yes, I watched every single episode). The key to making that work is having characters that you adore, so that every chapter is just another chance to visit with them, and having what in TV shows they'd call "bad guy of the week" - each episode has an independent short plot for that episode alone, as the characters tackle whatever the new situation is. For genre shows like Supernatural or Buffy it was "monster of the week" and for cop dramas like Law & Order or CSI (two shows that I swear have been on for decades), it is more like this book series. I guess you'd call it "crime of the week" and the team has to solve them. There can be overarching plot threads, but each episode/book has a satisfying arc itself, so that every visit with these characters that you love leaves you feeling good, wanting more.
This was a really good crime of the week episode. Tangled, sad, and pretty thrilling at the end. We got to touch base with most of our favorites in the large secondary cast (I think that after 57 books, the cast is too large to touch base with ALL our favorites in every book, but I believe most of them were here at least briefly, except for Charles and Louise).
We had an odd subplot with Lansing, but if I'm honest, I'm not sure that worked - I just don't understand what his deal was and why he dialed up from 0-100 like that. Is it over, or is this going to be a continuing thread? It was a good, dramatic encounter and a good way to involve her team, but I just don't really get what his beef was. But whatever, it was a side plot to the story, and as I said, a thrilling beat with her team.
I love that we see Eve and Roarke's relationship thrive - they have such a solid foundation together, and they understand each other so well. The scene in Ireland was just wonderful and gooey.
All in all, I can't wait for the next visit with these characters. And because I'm not sure I want to leave just yet, I might pick a random book from the series for a re-read (when a new book comes out in a favorite series and a I finish but am not ready to leave the world yet, I generally re-read the series. I'm definitely NOT doing that with a 57 book series, but I can try picking an old favorite from it instead).
But then, you can think about it like a TV series. There are mountains of TV series that have hooked me for way more than 57 episodes (I believe my record is Supernatural and yes, I watched every single episode). The key to making that work is having characters that you adore, so that every chapter is just another chance to visit with them, and having what in TV shows they'd call "bad guy of the week" - each episode has an independent short plot for that episode alone, as the characters tackle whatever the new situation is. For genre shows like Supernatural or Buffy it was "monster of the week" and for cop dramas like Law & Order or CSI (two shows that I swear have been on for decades), it is more like this book series. I guess you'd call it "crime of the week" and the team has to solve them. There can be overarching plot threads, but each episode/book has a satisfying arc itself, so that every visit with these characters that you love leaves you feeling good, wanting more.
This was a really good crime of the week episode. Tangled, sad, and pretty thrilling at the end. We got to touch base with most of our favorites in the large secondary cast (I think that after 57 books, the cast is too large to touch base with ALL our favorites in every book, but I believe most of them were here at least briefly, except for Charles and Louise).
We had an odd subplot with Lansing, but if I'm honest, I'm not sure that worked - I just don't understand what his deal was and why he dialed up from 0-100 like that. Is it over, or is this going to be a continuing thread? It was a good, dramatic encounter and a good way to involve her team, but I just don't really get what his beef was.
Spoiler
So, he had a thing for Nadine, who turned him down, like 8 years ago ... and that made him loathe Eve for...being Nadine's friend? What? So much so that he wanted to kill her? And why now?I love that we see Eve and Roarke's relationship thrive - they have such a solid foundation together, and they understand each other so well. The scene in Ireland was just wonderful and gooey.
All in all, I can't wait for the next visit with these characters. And because I'm not sure I want to leave just yet, I might pick a random book from the series for a re-read (when a new book comes out in a favorite series and a I finish but am not ready to leave the world yet, I generally re-read the series. I'm definitely NOT doing that with a 57 book series, but I can try picking an old favorite from it instead).