duchessmerry 's review for:

Salvation in Death by J.D. Robb
4.0

I’ve been in a major reading funk for the last month and a half. Never finishing a book that i have picked up for one reason or another, all I know is that nothing was fitting my mood. So last week I went to Barnes to find a computer book for the SO for him to study for his next certification and they didn’t have the book I was looking for, but I knew I would find Salvation in Death so I made a quick stop on the best sellers list and picked it up. I was not disappointed.

JD Robb has the knack for being able to make her settings control how she writes a story. It has been an interesting reading year for me because I haven’t read nearly as many books as I have in past years, but I have realized that I am more aware of the books that i am reading and I appreciate them a great deal more and I find more to appreciate about the authors who write them. Both books that Robb has written for the in Death series this year haven’t been the grabbed by the seat of my pants mysteries that embroil me and have me agonizing as I turn the pages, but they do have me taking my time and enjoying all the subtleties of each of these installments.

Dallas is investigating the deaths of 2 religious figures, one a Catholic priest murdered during the ritual of turning wine into Christ’s blood during a funeral and 1 Evangelist who seemed to have lost his way. As readers we have taken many journeys into the past of our favorite characters, but never before have we been asked to look beyond what we are given and see the characters on a deeper level. That is Robb’s other gift, she writes her characters with such beauty and integrity. The relationship between Eve and Roarke is one of complete and unabided love. They see each other as they are and love each other unconditionally and no matter what lines they have crossed together or separate they always meet up in the middle. There is a tenderness mixed with the fierceness in both these characters, but there is also a humor and hope that Robb has created and allowed us as readers to partake in those little moments if only for a few hours as we turn the page.

In Salvation in Death we get a glimpse of how Eve deals with the world in the shadows. Not only in the black and white where the bad guys are always bad and the victims are truly only victims. She shows such integrity and honor that with each visit to the future, I grow to respect her as a character, but to also respect Robb as an author because Eve and all the rest of her family don’t stay stagnant, but continue to grow and change which allows us as readers to not be bored after 27 installments in this amazing series.