Treachery In Death

Author: J.D. Robb
Publisher: Putnam
Released: February 22, 2011
Genre: Futuristic Romantic Suspense/Police Procedural

The latest installment in the In Death series, Treachery in Death takes a slight detour from the formula of past books, and in doing so explores the aspect of Eve's "why" more deeply. A murder does kick off the investigation, but Eve and her team investigate fellow cops - dirty cops who have not only skimmed profits but also killed weasels and other cops. Because Eve confronts a cop who is a disgrace to the badge, she re-examines her own reasons, and all her team's reasons, for being a cop. I really like that part of this. It makes for some open-hearted moments between Eve and Peabody, between Eve and Roarke, between Eve and Whitney.

The humor, the sarcasm - it's all there, but tempered this time because the subject hits so close to home - by now, not just for the characters, but for the readers who have come to identify with all the characters. One thing that's there that I felt like - oh, come on, not again - was that once again Eve uses herself as bait and puts herself in death's way. That's something I think we could do without by now. Thankfully, Roarke didn't react too strongly this time, so the whole setup was over quickly.

I sped through the book, because it's made for speeding! Every step of the investigation is clear, without being "dumbed down" in any way, so there's just the right mix of being able to follow what's going on and being kept in suspense as to what will happen next.

In My Mailbox 20

In My Mailbox is a meme started by Kristi of The Story Siren, with inspiration from Alea of Pop Culture Junkie, in which bloggers post any new books they have on their shelves that week - received, bought, begged, borrowed, or - no. Not that.

I have been so caught up in schoolwork recently that I haven't posted to the blog in over a month! Gasp! It hit me how little time I had these past weeks when I checked in and saw that I haven't updated anything - not the blog, not my fun-read shelves - for that long. But thankfully, this thing called spring break was invented, and being Jewish, I have plenty of forced down-time due to Passover, so I've been able to read some. And I did add two books to my to-read pile, even as I returned some unread books to the library because I decided to be realistic and keep only the ones I must read. I will return to those that I haven't read, maybe in the summer, but until then I'm focusing on galleys from NetGalley and books that I'm just dying to read. So here's what I got this week:

Time for the Stars, Robert A. Heinlein

I went through a science fiction phase a while back, and my report for a physics class got me interested again, so I'll re-read this one now.

Treachery in Death, J.D. Robb

Another In Death book!! I already started this one, and so far I'm loving the new angle - waiting for more bodies to turn up, but till then enjoying the banter and watching the team work in new territory.

Warped

Author: Maurissa Guibord
Publisher: Random House
Released: January 11, 2011
Genre: Young Adult Paranormal Romance

Tessa's father buys a bunch of old books at an auction - and Tessa finds one really old book and a tapestry among the lot, a tapestry which doesn't act the way tapestries usually do. Whenever Tessa touches it, she has these weird dreams - as if she's traveled back in time. And then when Tessa pulls one thread, Will - sixteenth-century Will - transforms from the unicorn in the tapestry to a boy, living and breathing in Tessa's own room. Together, Tessa and Will try to figure out how to set things straight, dealing with the witch Gray Lily who started the whole mess and with the Norn, the three sisters who weave Fate and want their threads back.

I like the style of writing in the book, the way the words flow and bring events to life. But the book as a whole didn't really work for me. First of all, I felt like the romance was forced. It didn't develop naturally, and it felt like it was included because it's one of the essential elements of a YA paranormal novel. Which would lead me to think that the paranormal/fantasy/mythological parts would be played up instead, but I was disappointed there too. I wanted more explanation of how things worked, how Gray Lily could have stolen the threads, why some people could see the threads of life and not others, and most especially how things worked out in the end. But that was all glossed over. And one more area I felt was lacking was the proactive element. Tessa doesn't really do  anything, and neither does Will. Things happen to them, and yes, they fight their way out of trouble brilliantly, but I like seeing my heroes/heroines take matters into their own hands, and I felt like they were basically passive for most of the book.

So all in all, this was an okay book, but not one I'm likely to revisit.