Customer Reviews

Survivor In Death

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Most readers of this will be fans of the series and this is a great example of the sheer genius of the In Death books. I will rate it as one of her best additions to the series, it was that good!
The book follows the death of an entire family and eve dallas (and co.) work diligently to uncover the killer and protect a survivor of the murder - a 9 year ol girl. The book touches on humour, sexiness, drama, mystery and most of all, sadness. A slighly melancholic tone that will prove to make you even more hooked. A great buy!

Firstly, this is a long running series, so if you're new to these books you need to hunt yourself out a copy of Naked In Death or much of what follows will go straight over your heads!
As ever 'Survivor' is a pleasing blend of humour and futuristic muder mystery romance. Set in 2058 we rejoin our favourite NYSPD lieutenant Eve Dallas who is aided in her crime solving by her super sexy billionaire husband Roarke and her wise cracking partner Peabody as well as an assortment of the secondary characters we've come to know and love.

The plot this time around follows a brutal home invasion that leaves an entire family in a middle class suburb slaughtered in their beds. However, the killers made one mistake; they overlooked nine year old Nixie Swisher, the sole survivor, who immediately forms an attachment to her rescuer Eve Dallas.

What follows is light on the detective work, but heavy on the emotional workout for Dallas who takes Nixie into her home and protection. Dallas must hunt down the killers whilst dealing with emotional and uncomfortable flashbacks that caring for young Nixie instills.

As In Death books go this like 'Divided' feels like a transitory book and Robb's way of clearing the decks regarding some of the most frequently asked questions by fans of the series, namely will Eve and Roarke ever have a family of their own? 'Survivor' gives us a look at what might be as Roarke and Summerset both have emotional scenes with Nixie, and we see Roarke and Eve discuss plans for any future brood. Essentially the answer boils down to what Nora has said all along; they're not ready for children be they adopted, fostered or biological.

There are many touching scenes in the book (particularly when Nixie sees the bodies of her family at the morgue) but from a reviewer and a reader's point of view this installment seemed a little shallow and read more like a checklist of issues the author was ticking off.

Nixie is well written and Robb avoids the trap of making her too cutesy but she is not as largely featured as one might think. Most In Death's rate a four star from me but this one I feel I must dock a star because the pacing seemed off; the actual detective work and the motive of the killers comes too easily and seems a little too conveniant and convoluted.

Stand out scenes are a rare display of temper from Dr Mira and Peabody's reaction to it, scenes between Summerset and Nixie, and a hilarious pregnant Mavis intervention where she lets Eve feel the baby kicking- Eve's reaction in particular is priceless! This is an interesting if not gripping installment of the In Death world that will keep you ticking over nicely until 'Origins in Death' is released.

"Survivor in death" is the 23rd book in the "In death" series. If you already are a fan of the series, I am pretty sure you will like it a lot, as it has a good plot, fast-paced action, and continues with the development of the characters you already probably love. On the other hand, if you are new to the series, I would advise you to read it in order, instead of jumping ahead. Trust me, you will enjoy all the books more in that way.

That having been said, what is up in this new book?. A family has been murdered during the night, and there is only one survivor, a very scared young girl, Nixie. Lieutenant Eve Dallas is primary at the scene, and she will do her best to catch the murderers. The problem is, there is no evident reason to kill the family, nothing that stands out as suspicious in the lives of Nixie's parents. But surely, they must have done something to provoke the wrath of whomever killed them in their beds, despite their high-tech security system.

Dallas decides to take Nixie to her house, overcoming the objections of the social worker in the case, and due to the fact that the little girl doesn't want to part with her. There is a problem, though. Eve is more scared of children than of criminals, and both her and Roarke are more or less out of their depth in their dealings with Nixie. Thanksfully, they have Summerset (the "frog-faced demon from hell", according to Eve), who takes care of Nixie while the case heats ups and the murderers of her family go on killing, with an ultimate target in mind: Nixie.

In "Survivor in death" you will meet again (if briefly) old characters of the series, as well as the regular "cast" (Eve, Roarke, Peabody, Feeney, Mavis, Summerset, Trueheart, Baxter, etc...). Something stands out rather starkly, and that is that Eve was somewhat cold towards Nixie. In my opinion, that had to do with two facts: that Nixie's ordeal made Eve remember her own, and that Eve isn't comfortable with children (do you remember "Ceremony in death"?). Both Nixie and Eve are survivors, but their past and nightmares are vastly different. Eve realizes that, and will do all in her power to protect Nixie, keeping her alive and not leaving her at the mercy of the system. Roarke is also an important character in "Survivor in death", and you will see him going to the rescue once again, and scare the daylights out of Eve mentioning the possibility of having children "one day"...

All in all I can say that I really liked this book. It kept me entertained, and I enjoyed it till the very last page. This is another worthy addition to the series, and I highly recommend it to you...

Belen Alcat

I consider Survivor in Death which is the latest story in the In Death series to be by far the most sensational, thrilling, fast-paced, chilling, and rich in plot . It brought memories of DISCIPLES OF FORTUNE.This book follows the death of an entire family, with the sole survivor being Nine-year-old Nixie Swisher. So, Lt Eve Dallas leads a team that not only works hard to ensure that Nixie stays alive, but also carries out a diligent pursuit to uncover the killer. Serious in content but also rich in humor, tragedy, loyalty, drama, mystery and sex,

"Survivor In Death" is the 23rd book in the "In Death" series by Nora Roberts/J D Robb, and boy can she churn out books at a cracking pace. However, her books never feel really rushed or thin, she is somehow able to make them full and interesting works.

However, I think the Eve Dallas and Roarke series is getting past its useful life. I know lots of you reading this review will disagree (and thus award me an `unhelpful vote', even if my review is actually helpful!), but I do feel that the characters that we know and love (in most cases) have been pretty thoroughly explored. This instalment looked further into Eve's concept of childhood - she ends up looking after little Nixie Swisher after her entire family are murdered in their beds. However Eve pretty much instantly hands Nixie over to Summerset, Dr Mira, Baxter and Trueheart, anyone she can find really as she discovers there are too many echoes of Eve's awful childhood in this child, despite her upbringing being completely different, and it's almost too much for her.

Anyway, Eve and Roarke carry on in much the same vein as always - Eve being obsessively focused on her job (Roarke has to be satisfied with the crumbs of attention she gives him - usually when she wants to borrow a private jet or his special computer skills or something), Roarke being handsome and rich and good at computers... and both of them continually referring to their difficult pasts and trying to make a new future. Yes, it's all worthwhile stuff but getting rather repetitive. And I found in this instalment that I didn't much like Eve any more - she seems so massively self-absorbed and is pretty dismissive of a very distraught child who merely wants to spend some time with her. And I continually wonder what it is Roarke sees in her as she gives him so little back (apart from random platitutes like "you centre me") and he is so generous and giving with her.

I digress. The story is about the murder of the Swisher family (apart from Nixie) and then the murder of the Social Worker who may have known where Nixie was placed following the murders (which she didn't, fortunately). Eve and Peabody do a lot of checking and background searches into the lives of the Swishers and discover some other murders previously that are linked which gives them their first clue in working out who killed the Swishers. They are working under the assumption that Nixie's life is still in danger so they're working flat out to find the perpetrators.

The notable thing about the baddies in this book is that pretty much every hunch that Dallas/Peabody have bears fruit and leads them to the correct information - in fact, rather unbelievably so. No chasing off down blind alleys in this book, Eve seems to have a magical ability to make leaps of imagination which are correct. Wow. The action is never slow in this book, the banter between the police works well, it's just I feel like I've read it all before in this series and there was nothing new here. Also, despite the perpetrators being incredibly good with gadgetry and information gathering they miss a rather obvious opportunity to finish off Nixie (in my mind) which I presumed would be part of the denouement in the novel - they didn't seem to work out where she was stashed which I thought was fairly obvious. I suppose a few unexpected things like that were good (along with Nixie's future plans which were not what I thought they would be when halfway through the book) but most of the rest of the book is pretty much what you'd expect.

An honourable mention goes to the world that J D Robb has created. Lots of futuristic books have a rather Utopian view of society - I think J D Robb has probably got it right, that in the future human nature is just the same (i.e. you are just as likely to come across hate, drugs, murder, crime etc) and it's just the tools needed to prevent and detect it that are different in futuristic police work. I loved the series at the beginning as it had such a fresh view - that freshness is gone now but it's still an excellent piece of world-building. Unfortunately for me this instalment didn't have enough new about it and the characters seemed to be becoming rather fixed and repetitive in their natures. This book is probably one for the die-hard fans rather than a new reader to the series.

a big fan of this series and thought this was one of the best reads. I really feel I know the characters and wish we had an Eve Dallas in this country to kick some butt!! Great series

my fav author by far, she never lets me down! another thrilling story in this series,looking forward to reading many more

I enjoy the books of JD Robb they afre good escapism / bedtime read. If you have read her books all follow similar line.

I have read most of JD Robb's In Death series over the years. But this time, i started at book one and am systematically going to read the lot. I love her books!

J D Robb is definitely one of my favourite authors. I have read all the in death series and have enjoyed every one!