GUILT!

4 Reviews=Guilt -- J.D. Robb (Nora Roberts) - Strangers in Death

??? Here is a question for my fellow Critical Monkeys: As a girl, many years ago, (and here comes the embarrassing part), I read Harlequin Romances. I think Nora Roberts wrote for Harlequin but I am not sure if I have ever actually read her work. I leave it to my fellow monkeys and the big alpha Critical Monkey (Corey Redecop) to decide whether or not this should be disqualified???

Here is my review.

Strangers in Death is one of a series of novels by Nora Roberts writing as J.D. Robb. The protagonist is Lieutenant Eve Dallas, her partner, Detective Delia Peabody. The story opens with a graphic description of a horrible homicide scene involving a very rich philanthropist, Thomas Aurelius Anders. The crime occurred in his bedroom and the victim has been discovered trussed with black velvet cords to the four corners of his bed, naked but covered with blanket, penis in a drug-induced permanent erection and surrounded by sex toys. So begins what I am thinking will be a very disgusting read...so not my kind of novel!! What was I thinking? What WAS I thinking????

Actually, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Definitely better than the Jameses (Patterson and Frey).

What I liked about this novel is that there was a significant amount of it dedicated to the protagonist and her life with her husband, Roarke. The character is introspective and critical of herself. She questions her decisions and her tactics. She bends the rules occasionally in her pursuit of justice. I also liked the fact that the protagonist was a female detective who was successful and independent. Unfortunately, I found that the other characters were not as well developed, although Roarke was somewhat more realistic than the others.

(Spoiler Warning: Not that I really expect any of you to want to read this book.)
In terms of the plot, it borrows the idea of strangers killing the other's unwanted spouse and is somewhat stereotypical in that the wife is a money-hungry dilettante with nothing better to do than spend her self-made rich husband's hard-earned money. Nonetheless, the plot was intricately woven and Lieutenant Dallas' dogged determination and belief in her investigative skills were entertaining as the mystery was solved and the wicked carried off to jail.

Although it is set in 2060, very little has changed in society -- people are still killing one another. Unfortunately, Roberts fails to take advantage of this futuristic setting by inventing new technology which would help her protagonist solve her problem more quickly and perhaps intrigue the reader. The realism wanes in this regard.

In terms of Robert's writing, it is very simplistic...limited vocabulary, banal sentence structure, no memorable metaphors, similes or any other literary device. In fact, the only memorable part of the writing involves the sex scenes which I found detracted from the novel and made me feel voyeuristic -- I guess I am a prude!

Critical Monkeys for this book: Two and a half out of Five. Will I read another? Very unlikely!!