"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.

"Eternity In Death" (novella) book 29 of "...In Death" series by J.D. Robb (Nora Roberts)

"Eternity In Death" (novella)
book 29 of "...In Death" series
by J.D. Robb (Nora Roberts)
read by Susan Ericksen
Produced by Brilliance Audio
approx. 3.5 hours

Okay, I've been reading a huge batch of vampire, zombie and werewolf novels and thought I'd go back to listening to one of my favorite futuristic detective novels. Once again I visit the "...In Death" series by J.D. Robb and the thrilling world of Lt. Eve Dallas of the NYPSD as she solves another series of murders. Well guess what? This book, which I just picked out of the blue as one in the series I haven't read yet, has vampires. Either that is synchronicity at work or just luck, either way this book was great to hear.

To sum up Lt. Eve Dallas has escaped a childhood of torture only to become the best homicide detective on the New York Police and Securities Department in the mid 21st century. She is assisted by a wonderful cast of characters including her husband, Roarke, an Irish immigrant that now seems to own half the world and even a few planets and satellites, that may be a bit of an exaggeration, but not much of one. Other fun characters are here detective assistant Delia Peabody, Peabody's main squeeze Electronics Division Detective McNabb, the Chief of Electronics division, Feeney (her former partner in homicide) and Psychologist/Profiler Dr. Mira. The setting of these books is just far enough into the future to have some really cool sci-fi toys to work with or contend with, yet close enough where real detective work is still done.

The entire series is read by Susan Ericksen, who does a smashup job of capturing each and every character vocally. Sometimes I wonder if Ms. Ericksen doesn't suffer from some sort of personality disorder with all the voices that come out of her. Each character is distinct and acted vocally to perfection.

This book opens with a young, famous-for-being-famous, socialite anticipating the visit of a dark stranger that has promised she will keep her 23 year old youthful appearance, but first she has to die.

The next morning the socialite's body is discovered drained of blood and two punctures on the neck. Lt. Eve Dallas is called to the scene where the adventure into the darker side of New York City begins. Dallas, in no way believes in vampires, but her assistant, Peabody, does get the creeps on this one and starts wearing a cross.

The clues lead to a vampire themed club in New York's seedy underground. In Eve Dallas's time New York's Underground is a place where even the police have no jurisdiction. A club called "Bloodbath" is where the socialite recently frequented and the owner of the club seems to have some strange powers. Eve must pull in all her resources to ignore the supernatural beliefs trying to sneak into her thoughts and bring down a murderer masquerading as a vampire.

Once again J.D. Robb (a.k.a. Nora Roberts) creates an exciting detective thriller that you can't stop until the last word is spoken. Once again I will point out the single downfall of the entire series and that is the explicit sex scenes. I realize that J.D. Robb is a pseudonym for Nora Roberts, and Nora Roberts is a romance writer, but come on, enough is enough. The scenes are totally unnecessary. The story moves great without them and they add nothing to the story, plot or characters. The good side of this novella is that it is short and only one of these scenes is in the book. In audio format I just fast forward and lose nothing in the missed scene.

"Bloodlist" Book one in the "Vampire Files"

"Bloodlist"
Book one in the "Vampire Files"
by P.N. Elrod
Published 1990 by Ace Books

One of the latest trends on the internet is what is called a "mashup," where two different items are combined to make a single unique item. The trend has been mainly in combining two different songs and making a new song. The trend has come into the literature world with some recent publications like "Pride & Prejudice & Zombies," where the classic Jane Austen novel, "Pride & Prejudice" has been combined with some zombie battles by Seth Grahame-Smith. Well before this was an internet meme, P.N. Elrod created a unique mashup with the combining of the film noir type detective story and the supernatural world of vampires, in her Vampire Files series.

I love the old detective stories where the detective gets into many tight situations before finally solving the mystery. The best part of those old stories is that they are told in first person with the detective telling the story, and the descriptive language with quotes like,"You'll always be a two-bit cannon. And when they pick you up in the gutter dead, you're hand'll be in a drunk's pocket." P.N. Elrod continues this great language tradition and even throws in some vampires into the mix making this series pretty fun, if this first book is a good representation.

Jack Fleming, former newspaperman has learned that when you die you lose your memory. Jack seems to have a problem remembering who killed him. The last thing he remembers is waking up on the beach with holes in his shirt where the bullets entered and exited his body. Oh yeah, I should say Jack died human but thanks to his girlfriend, he woke up a vampire. Jack takes on the job of solving the crime of murder, his own. Jack's investigation takes him to Chicago where somehow his death is connected with that town's mobsters. The timeline of this story takes place during the years just after prohibition and yes the mobsters are still running gambling joints and night clubs.

Jack gets some help from a former actor turned private investigator named Charles Escott and with Escott's ability to put on stage make-up and act out roles manages to get behind the scenes of a local gambler and mob boss and find out why he was killed and then try to exact revenge.

The interesting aspect of this story is how Jack discovers the various new powers being a vampire offers. He's able to disappear at will and to control people's minds at times. Jack has to visit the Chicago stockyards for his dinner, since he doesn't like to take blood from people, he'd rather dine on the cows, at least to some degree.

If you are a fan of the old detective stories or a fan of vampires you'll enjoy this book, if you are a fan of both, be prepared to enjoy some literary bliss.

"Hardball" (V.I. Warshawski Novels) by Sara Paretsky Published 2009 by Putnam

"Hardball" (V.I. Warshawski Novels)
by Sara Paretsky
Published 2009 by Putnam


As a new fan of the Private Investigator/Thriller/whodunit genre, I wasn't sure what I was in for when picking up this book. "Hardball" is the 13th novel in the V.I. Warshawski novels and not having read any of the previous books, I have found a winner. V.I. Warshawski is a private investigator working in Chicago, her father was a police officer for the Chicago Police Department in the late 60s/ early 70s. That much is learned in this book and any other knowledge of Warshawski's past is not really needed so this book is not one that you have to have read the previous books to know what is going on. Which means you too can jump right in and enjoy this superbly written detective story.

Speaking of the story, this book covers a very interesting time in America's history and the author, Sara Peretsky, does a great job of mixing fact with the fiction to create a backdrop for a thriller whodunit that will knock your socks off, or at least keep you turning the page to find out what happens next.

Private Detective, V. I. Warshawski is hired to find a young black man, Lamont Gadsden, after he disappeared in 1967 during a snowstorm. Lamont's aunt is nearing death and wants to know where her nephew is before she dies. Warschawski reconnects with some of her father's old police colleagues; pays a prison visit to Johnny Merton, a notorious gang leader she once defended in her days as a public defender; and tracks down Steve Sawyer, who disappeared following a murder conviction. She then has to confront an sour time in Chicago's history, a peaceful march in 1966 by Martin Luther King that resulted in a white riot and the murder of a young black woman, Harmony Newsome. Digging into this ancient history stirs passions and fears of what secrets might be revealed.

While searching for Lamont, Warshawski's young cousin is fresh out of college and is helping with a senatorial candidates campaign. This man seeking election is part of a family from that same history of Warshawski's father and when the paths of finding Lamont, solving an age old murder and the ties with her father begin to cross with those of the family of the wanna be senator, her cousin may be in danger.

This book not only provides the thrills-a-minute excitement that a good detective novel should but also deals in a very proper manner with part of America's (not just Chicago's) dark past.