Reviews

Faithless in Death by J.D. Robb

michelleleao10's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Another solid book in the series! Continue to love and grow attached to the main characters and all their quirks!

veraann's review against another edition

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5.0

Another enjoyable installment of the in death series. While every book is a new case and one probably wouldn't get completely lost if read out of order, I would recommend reading in order to understand the characters and relationship developments through the series.

kathydavie's review against another edition

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4.0

Fifty-second in the In Death futuristic romantic suspense series and revolving around Lieutenant Eve Dallas of Homicide in the New York City of 2061.

My Take
I hope we never become like that Natural Order. It's disgusting. Robb has got some nasty, horrible mind to be able to think up this cult. I'll bet she had nightmares writing it!

They work hard to be totally inclusive of all their needs: food, medical care, schooling, religion, impregnating, etc. The children are color-coded according to race. 'Cause god forbid there's any crossing of the lines...*shudder*

Wow! Dallas is so skeptical...! A good thing she pointed out those gaping holes to me...I'd've, yeah, I'd've seen 'em if I'd been paying more attention, lol! And we know how Dallas feels through third person protagonist point-of-view.

I do adore how Roarke supports Eve in her work. As for Bella...that "peas" of hers just got to me. I laughed and cried. As for Officer Shelby, I love her! She's a brave woman who knows what's right...and I love how she outed that bitch.

That's an interesting point to make about the Huffmans — respected — and the Caines — respected and liked.

I do wish we had more interaction with Peabody, McNab, the other detectives, Summerset, etc.

More wow is what Merit learns later in the story. Poor guy. Well, okay, lucky guy. Even more wow, Gwen's mother gave her drugs to "get in the mood" for her husband's desires. It's so sad that there really are people out there who subjugate women. We've come a long way...and have longer yet to go.

Jesus, Gwen's character is so incredibly horrible. I gotta confess, I'd kind've like to read another story about what she does to survive after Faithless in Death. I wanna wallow in her suffering...bwa-ha-ha...

Um, Eve uses bollocks?? I thought that was Roarke...guess I better go re-read some of the past stories...

This is one for the books — Dallas asks the FBI to join her investigation!

And you know Nadine will be writing another book, lol.

The Story
The details for that murder scene in Ariel Byrd's studio don't add up.

If only Gwen Huffman hadn't lied about the little things, hadn't waited an hour to report the death, hadn't been the greedy, manipulative woman she's been for so long.

The Characters
Lieutenant Eve Dallas is in command of the Homicide Division at Cop Central. Roarke is her gorgeous bazillionaire husband. Summerset is their majordomo. Galahad is their enterprising, fat cat.

The NYPSD Homicide Division
Detective Delia Peabody is Eve's partner. Dallas is starting to get used to Jenkinson's electric ties and his partner's, Reineke's, "matching" socks. Baxter is slick and has Trueheart as his partner. Detectives Santiago and Carmichael are also partners; there's also an Officer Carmichael. Turns out Officer January Shelby is gay with some useful information for Dallas (Apprentice in Death, 43); Laurie is Shelby's cousin. Commander Jack Whitney is Eve's boss; his wife, Anna, is his boss. Poor guy, she's always putting him on some kind of diet, lol.

Electronic (EDD) investigates...
...all things computer. Captain Ryan Feeney is in charge. His boys include the brightly dressed Detective Ian McNab, who is Peabody's significant other and Callendar.

Tibble is the chief of police. Dr Mira is their chief profiler. Li Morris is the chief medical examiner. Dick Berenski is chief lab tech. Dr Garnet DeWinter is the forensic anthropologist. Officers Miller and Getz are the first to respond. Detective Yancy is their best police artist...and he's wanting in. Harris is a very efficient 9-1-1 operator. Cher Reo is the assistant prosecuting attorney Dallas contacts most often. Lieutenant Lowenbaum (Delusion in Death, 35) commands a SWAT team. Detective Strong is with Illegals. Kyung is still the police media liaison. Jane Po is a child services caseworker.

FBI
Special Agent Anthony Quirk is missing. Special Agents Teasdale (Delusion in Death, 35) and Conroy, an expert on Natural Order, join the investigation. Other agents include Clyburn, Reese, Monica, Rosencroft, and Paulson.

Abernathy and Jonas at Interpol are also interested.

Ariel Byrd is a sculptor. Rodin is her cat. Julie Byrd is Ariel's ecstatic mother; her daughter-in-law, Ally, just gave birth to Fiona. Julie's son, Lucas, is also ecstatic.

Gwendolyn Huffman is a client of Ariel's. Merit Caine, a lawyer, is Gwen's fiancé; he works for Caine, Boswell, and Caine (Grandad, Mom, and Dad) and clerked for Supreme Court Justice Uma Hagger. Merit's sister is on maternal leave from her job as in-house counsel for Atomic Publishing. A brother is following in Merit's footsteps clerking for Hagger. Henry is Merit's adorable cousin. Marjorie is Gwen's wedding planner.

The disinherited Trace Huffman, a.k.a. Trace D. Huff, is a musician / performer / songwriter out in Vegas. Drs Oliver and Paula Huffman are Gwen and Trace's parents and strong supporters of Natural Order. Felicity and Jonathan work at the reception desk of the House Royale where Gwen lives.

Hettie Brownstone, a dance instructor, is Ariel's neighbor and has a daughter, Tasha. Ms Wasser is a manager at the bank. Chadwick Billingsly was Gwen's first "serious" boyfriend in college. His great uncle Stu was a cop. Holly is Chadwick's current love.

Previous lovers and victims
Robb is vague in her initial distinctions between these two groups, although some are a blend.
Savannah Grimsley is a potter in SoHo who knew Ariel. Vance Bloot is her roommate. Savannah's brother, Keene, was working for the Order when he disappeared. The white Marcia Piper is a former model married to the white Lawrence "Larry" Piper, a VP of Natural Order's social media division; they have three children. The African-American Idina Frank, a former teacher, is married to the African-American Anson, a genetic researcher who works at Natural Order. They have four young children, including Sasha, Harry, and Becca and Jasper, the twins. The pregnant Zoe Metcalf has a young son, Gabriel. Harley is her husband. Gina Dawber Mancini has Lollie and baby Westley, only Gina and Lollie are wearing ankle shockers. Steven Dawber is her jerk husband. Barbara Poole, a.k.a. Mother Rat, is married to Vince and are neighbors.

Eve and Roarke's friends
The pregnant-again Mavis — "knocked-up, the return" — is Eve's best friend and a famous singer married to Leonardo, a highly sought-after fashion designer. Bella is their toddler. Jem, a blogger, and Linc, a biochemist, are working a garden where Mavis and Bella do. They have a 22-month-old son, Ned, who is Bella's "boyfriend". Trina is the terrifying beauty consultant. Sima is a good friend of Trina's. Mavis records at Jake's (of Avenue A) these days. Nadine Furst is a hotshot journalist and the host of Now, a popular news channel. Oh, and Nadine's The Red Horse Legacy is about to come out!

Dochas is...
...a women's shelter built by Roarke and Dallas. Moira, Natalie, Desi, and Gracie work there.

An Didean is...
...a shelter for troubled kids, also built by Roarke and Dallas. Rochelle is in charge.

Natural Order is...
...a hate organization run by Stanton Wilkey, a charismatic lunatic raised by an abusive, alcoholic father, Joshua. They preach no sex unless married — no mixed marriage, no same-sex marriages, no relationships. Outlaw licensed companions. Abstinence and no premarital sex. Races may not mix. Women are second-class. Realignment is brainwashing for those who disobey the tenets. Part of their property includes Utopia Island with sovereign nation status.

The plain, dowdy Miriam is Stanton's repressed daughter. Um, I mean, she's his personal assistant and domestic staff manager. She was allowed online college. Samuel and Joseph are her brothers. Aaron is the youngest...and gay. Rachel Wilkey, née Charles, is Wilkey's legit wife. Rachel's birth family — her parents and older brother Morgan Charles — still live on their ranch in Montana. Patricia Hemstead was forcibly impregnated. Fiona Vassar is Wilkey's breeding wife; Seth, Cassie, and Robbyn are her children.

The Hispanic Cisco drives the cart. Some members — James Burke, Wayne Marshall, and Cody Klark — set fire to a church in Texas. Ella Alice Foxx breaks the case. Gayle Steenberg is married to Carl — they're the "mean version of American Gothic. She's a domestic/trainer, ie., torturer. Their children escaped with one son, Detective Leroy Russ, a cop in St Paul. Mother Catherine, a.k.a. Mother Bitch and Catherine Duplay, is another torturer and is married to Dudley. Mother Deborah, a.k.a. Mother Sweet Smile, teaches classes. William Henley is in security, a cleaner. He's divorced from Amber Johnstone (lucky girl!) and is now married to Wendy Livingston. Wendell Phiffer is a forensic specialist whose parents are Francis and Lydia, employed by the same Purity Labs and Research. Hester Angus works as a midwife. Deborah, educator, and Lloyd (IT) Beyers live in the compound. Karyn Keye is an ob-gyn nurse practitioner. Wexford. Harstead. Congressman Orland and Senator O'Connell are also supporters.

The Cover and Title
The cover has a slightly gradated gray background on the top with the expected graphic from the perspective of Ariel's art studio overlooking an orange-tinted city skyline. At the very top, in black, is an info blurb. Below that, the author's name in an embossed red takes up the top half of the cover. A small white badge with an inner, thin silver circle promotes an inside poster. The title is in an embossed, distressed white font.

The title is too true, for Wilkey and his followers are Faithless...in Death.

jswolf's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

lynguy1's review against another edition

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5.0

Faithless in Death by J. D. Robb (pseudonym for Nora Roberts) brings murder, romance and suspense to a well-written futuristic police procedural and romantic suspense set in New York City and Connecticut during the spring of 2061. This is the fifty-second book in the In Death Eve Dallas series and I have read all of them up to this point.

This story starts with our protagonist, Lieutenant Eve Dallas of the NYC police department, being called to a crime scene. Joined by her partner, Detective Delia Peabody, they find the body of sculptor Ariel Byrd in her studio. While it appears to be a crime of passion, the 911 caller’s story doesn’t track and seems full of lies. As the police investigate, the lies include more than just the tale about finding the dead body. Before long, they get the FBI involved in a case that also involves a fanatical group.

It’s always entertaining to spend time with Eve, Roarke, and Eve’s colleagues. She is definitely a compelling and three-dimensional character. Her need to serve and protect comes through in every book, but the underlying impetus for this is best understood by reading this series in order. Due to the way Eve was raised, she often doesn’t understand commonly used phrases and this comes into play a few times in this book making her seem more real and less perfect. As always, the interactions between Eve and Roarke are enjoyable and bring a different facet of Eve’s personality to light. Many of the reoccurring police characters play significant roles in this book. However, readers also get to see a bit of their private lives as Mavis, Leonardo, and Bella have big news.

The prose is well-written, entertaining, and engaging. This time Eve’s passion for justice and those that need help pushes the story beyond finding a single murderer to taking down a disturbing group of people preying on others. The plot is thought-provoking and tragic. While this book has some action, it is mostly a police procedural until the ending. It is appalling in places and uplifting in others.

Robb is an author that manages to embed humor in her novels, providing some much needed levity to offset some of the more serious and grim aspects of the story. There is a steamy scene in the novel as well. Themes include murder, justice, family dynamics, cults, child abuse, domestic violence, greed, racism, infidelity, intolerance of others, and much more.

If you enjoy engaging near-future police procedurals with some romance and humor, then I recommend this series. Overall, it is entertaining, and over time, it is like spending time with old friends. I can’t wait to read the next book in the series.

I purchased a digital copy of this novel. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own and are not biased in any way. Publication date was February 9, 2021.

rmhs14's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

I have really liked this series. I love the dynamics of Eve and her friends especially with her partner. This book got a little winded at the end with the planning of the take down.

cheryl_gramma's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

sarahhautman's review against another edition

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fast-paced

3.5

bookswithcuppatea's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

Another big case for Lieutenant Eve Dallas and her team, this time delving into a wealthy cult. Some lovely personal moments bring light to a rather dark story. Some charactes Eve and Peabody encounter have very strong entitlement attitudes.
A very satisfying resolution with the taking down of the cult involving interagency cooperation at national and international levels.

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katyanaish's review against another edition

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5.0

I loved this one - horrifying cult of monsters, using their bullshit "religion" to control and abuse women.

It was great to see the team take them down. It was also really great to see the support systems Roark has been building - Dochas, An Didean - fly into action to help with this. It's just lovely that we get to see the pay off of all that.

It is so rare for a series to run this long and keep me captivated. I honestly can't think of a single other example. Part of that - part of why I've blitzed through the whole thing so far in like 6 months - is because there's no firm ending to any book. Don't get me wrong, they wrap up the murder arc of that book, but there's no solid epilogue, no feeling of pause. It makes it very hard to stop reading ... it feels like a show I'm loving on Netflix that I just binge through in a long weekend.

This one, though, will be one I come back to for re-reads.