"Missing in Death" (short story in The Lost Anthology book) "In Death"series book 29.5 by J.D. Robb

"Missing in Death" (short story in The Lost Anthology book)
"In Death"series book 29.5
by J.D. Robb
produced 2009 by brilliance audio
read by Susan Ericksen
approx 3.5 hours

I just can't help myself, I keep coming back to this sci-fi detective series by J.D. Robb, I know what it is, it is the characters. J.D. Robb/Nora Roberts from book one has created some solid characters to fill these books. They are solid, three dimensional, and intriguing. Robb has created characters the reader can care about and want to hear/read more about their adventures. Lt. Eve Dallas is a tough homicide detective in New York City in the mid 21st Century. She led a rough childhood thanks to the some dark workings of Homeland Security. Eve's Husband, Roarke, also had a rough childhood, living off the streets in Dublin, Ireland, but is now a multi-billionaire (or multi-gazillionaire, depending on who you ask) who loves to dabble in computers and technology. And a cast of many more that make the family of these books.

Another aspect of these books is that they are set in the distant future, not too far to keep the stories on Earth, but far enough, that with the cool gadgets and some space travel to bring in the sci-fi fan. In fact if a television series were ever made of this book series, I would place my bets on the Sci-Fi (SyFy) channel getting the rights.

This story is a nice short story set in Lt. Eve Dallas's world that provides a very interesting mystery with one of those sci-fi gadgets turning out to be the focus of the investigation.

Lt. Dallas and her assistant Detective Delia Peabody are called in to one of the Staten Island Ferries (named "Hilary Rodham Clinton," how's that for futuristic?) because a woman is missing but what really brings the Homicide detectives to the ferry is that where the woman was last seen is a large amount of blood splatter, enough so that if it is from one source that person did not live. The mystery is how did the killer remove the body from the ferry packed full of 3,000 plus tourists?

When the missing tourist shows up, not only does the question of who does all that blood belong to, come up, but also a new threat. That new threat is some sort of mind control/hypnosis device. Dallas and her team set out to solve the mystery and catch a criminal that could be a threat to National Security.

The reader, Susan Ericksen, is the reader for the entire series and does a excellent job voicing these books. She is able to apply different voices to each character that not only separates who is talking but even adds deeper to the characters created by J.D. Robb, in fact at times you may think you are listening to a multi-cast performance.

This series is definitely worth checking out, and this short story would be a great intro into the series, even though it occurs late in the series.