Title: Apprentice in Death
Series: In Death bk 43
Author: J.D. Robb
Genre: Murder Mystery
Blurb: Nature versus nurture…
The shots came quickly, silently, and with deadly accuracy. Within seconds, three people were dead at Central Park’s ice skating rink. The victims: a talented young skater, a doctor, and a teacher. As random as random can be.
Eve Dallas has seen a lot of killers during her time with the NYPSD, but never one like this. After reviewing security videos, it becomes clear that the victims were killed by a sniper firing a tactical laser rifle, who could have been miles away when the trigger was pulled. And though the locations where the shooter could have set up seem endless, the list of people with that particular skill set is finite: police, military, professional killer.
Eve’s husband, Roarke, has unlimited resources—and genius—at his disposal. And when his computer program leads Eve to the location of the sniper, she learns a shocking fact: There were two—one older, one younger. Someone is being trained by an expert in the science of killing, and they have an agenda. Central Park was just a warm-up. And as another sniper attack shakes the city to its core, Eve realizes that though we’re all shaped by the people around us, there are those who are just born evil.
Thoughts: Usually after about book 15 in a series it starts to go stale but that hasn’t happened with Robb’s In Death Series. What appeals the most is that not only do readers get to see how Dallas and Roarke are doing in their marriage, but also how she’s doing in all of her relationships.
A reader could also wonder how after 43 books she’s still able to come up murder plots…but then a line from one of the first books came back to me.
“You want the good news or the bad news?”
“What’s the bad news?”
“Crimes on the rise.”
“What’s the good news?”
“Job security.”
So there’s lots of murder plots for her to choose from.
As for the murder plot of this book I have to say that when it was revealed the who and why I was shocked but not really as nothing that the human race does surprised me anymore. I do love how she takes things that have happened in real life and has them as part of the story, referencing them as history. It gives the story more credence I think.
One of my favorite aspects of this series is the myriad of relationships that Eve has with people. So seeing her interacting and growing as a person and letting others in accepting feelings gives me all the feels. In this book, I got the most feels at the end of the book when Eve and Roarke… well I’ll let you discover it for yourself.
Like all of the In Death books this can be read as a stand alone, but if you truly want to see the evolution of Eve Dallas then I recommend reading them in order starting with Naked In Death (one of my personal favorite books).
With Apprentice in Death Robb once again shows us why she’s the queen of the murder mystery and why after 43 books readers are still invested in the cases of Lt Eve Dallas.
Grade A
I’m a few books behind in this series, but love it!