Creation in Death by J.D. Robb Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Creation in Death
Book Review: No creation, only death
Summary: 2 Stars
After reading one of Nora Roberts paranormal romances (Face the Fire) and being distinctly underwhelmed, I felt it was only fair to give her a chance to redeem herself with a crime story, which is more to my taste as reading matter.
And I did enjoy this more, in that I was at least able to finish it. However, that said, the 'annoyances' factor was just as high for this effort as it was for her romance.
A short list includes her decision to shorten words into some kind of b*stard amalgam of cop show and futurism. I had to struggle with wits, vics and transpo throughout, with wit, in particular, producing some very strange misunderstandings as in "Find me the wit who..." What? Told me that joke about the three Irishmen in a bar, perhaps?
We also had to contend with the cast's constant drinking of "fizzies" and trips to "vending" and the "autochef". Quite why the world would have lost branding in the space of 50 years, when branding is paramount in our culture, I do not know. And, paradoxically, "autochef" sounds exactly like the brand name that would have been given to a food mixer in the fifties - a curiously dated anachronism. That said, other than some other uses of 'e', 'links' and 'comms', there was absolutely nothing that made this feel futuristic at all. I'm at a loss to understand why she bothered.
All that under our belts, this was exactly like watching any American cop show on TV. We had all the cop stereotypes, constant barked demands of "With me" and "On it" and the obligatory moralising of The Great American Right meets carbon-copy evildoer.
In this case, our evildoer was ringing as many bells as the cops. He liked opera, he listened to music while he tortured people, he stalked and killed women, he had a nasty relationship with his mother and a dodgy childhood, he was flabby, impotent and - unusually, for once - old.
That 'old' was the sole point of originality in a story that was as turgid and clichéd as Nora's romance, if marginally less mawkish.
It's apparent to me, after two books, that Nora's fans must enjoy the predictability of her work. There can be no other explanation for the popularity of such second-rate cookie-cutter writing. I am all for escapism and an 'easy read', but when the 'easy' becomes simple regurgitation of popular TV then I wonder Nora's readers don't just watch TV. At least TV pushes the envelope from time to time. All Nora does is run along behind it, licking up crumbs to spew out again in blander form.
Sad and depressing, and only recommended if originality and talent makes you feel threatened.
Book Review: Pushing the Envelope
Summary: 3 Stars
Since Naked in Death, I am an avid J D Robb fan. However, the torture murders in Creation in Death pushed the limit of my reading sensibilities. Book of the Dead by Patricia Cornwell gave me the same feeling ... we are trying too hard to horrify our readers! Unlike Book of the Dead and similar torture scenes, Creation in Death has merit based on the characters. Eve is still the undefeatable NYC murder cop and Roarke is still her devoted rich husband who rolls up his sleeves way beyond the elbows to help bring this serial killer to justice. All the other players in the "In Death" series have tossed aside their personal lives and joined in the effort to keep one more woman from suffering a horrific death. But the horror is still there ... throughout the book ... in graphic detail ... it's not pretty.
I hope authors will soon eschew advice encouraging them to shock their readers beyond the point of enjoyment. As a reading audience, how calloused can we become?
Book Review: Romance novelists should stick to what they do best
Summary: 2 Stars
This is the first and last novel I will ever read by Nora Roberts. It is possible she may be a decent romance novelist, but since I dont read that stuff, I will never know. But as a crime/suspense novelist, there are hundreds and hundreds better. The most interesting character in this novel, the serial murderer himself, was given a grand total of maybe 4 or 5 pages until the end. So much of the first 2/3 of this book concerned characters perusing e files that it became laborious to read. I realize its time consuming grunt work to actually solve a crime, but a little more attention should have been given to the actual crime to at least make the first 2/3 of the book more interesting to read.
And Nora Robert's attempts to make Eve witty are embarrassing. (Since I dont have the book in front of me, forgive me if the following quote is not perfectly word for word). One scene involves Eve passing some male cops near the elevator after she was bitten by a petty thief she had chased and apprehended. A male cop joked "Hey Dallas (Eve), I hear you got bitten by a perp and now he has rabies" to which Eve replies "I hear you spent time with an LC (a call girl) and now she's got a case of the clap." Uhhh huh huh...Uhhh huh huh (Beavis and Butthead laughter). Nora must have been reading the bathroom stalls in Metro stations to come up with that knee slapper. I hate to break it to you Nora, Ive known many police officers in my life, and they are FAR more clever than that.
Almost as bad are the scenes where Eve becomes "upset" with Roarke. The reasons are so contrived and the dialogue gets so fake and the disagreements are resolved so quickly, it makes me want to throw the book across the room. Its clear Nora has no clue what an actual argument in a healthy marriage is like. And Roarke is simply too fawning and too patient and too understanding and too adoring and so strong when he has to be and soooo romantic (and on and on and on and on) to be believable. His character more than any other reminds us that the author writing this book is actually a trash romance novelist. I dont know anyone in real life like him and I dont believe anybody does.
When I finally reached the climax of the book, without spoiling the ending, it seemed to end too quickly. Eve was in danger, but got out very quickly and conveniently. Again...way too contrived to be believable.
Im giving this book 2 stars because at least I finished it. The serial killer was somewhat interesting, and Nora should have let us peer a little more into his twisted world earlier in the book. Thats why people read crime novels. But I certainly didnt like the book enough to ever pick up another Roberts novel. I should have seen the signs before I read it. Cranking out 120+ novels in a career, when the career is far from over? Quality is bound to suffer.
Book Review: She continues to amaze me!
Summary: 5 Stars
J.D. Robb/Nora Roberts just keeps 'em coming! She's amazing! I've read every one in the series, and perhaps the most miraculous writing technique is her ability to re-introduce this fascinating cast of characters each time in a different way, thereby treating new readers and not boring us continuing fans. What fun! Keep it up, Nora!
Book Review: She's not even trying with the futuristic details anymore
Summary: 3 Stars
It's kinda sad...Nora Roberts isn't even trying to give us many of the fun futuristic details anymore. Aside from the occasional Auto Chef meal, nothing was really futuristic in this novel. I missed that.