Title: Desperation in DeathAuthor: J. D. Robb
Series: In Death #55
Published by: St. Martin's Press on Sep. 6, 2022
Genres: Mystery/Thriller
Pages: 368
Format: Hardcover
Source: St. Martin's Press
Book Rating: 9/10
The #1 New York Times bestselling author presents a gripping new thriller that pits homicide detective Eve Dallas against a conspiracy of exploitation and evil…
New York, 2061: The place called the Pleasure Academy is a living nightmare where abducted girls are trapped, trained for a life of abject service while their souls are slowly but surely destroyed. Dorian, a thirteen-year-old runaway who’d been imprisoned there, might never have made it out if not for her fellow inmate Mina, who’d hatched the escape plan. Mina was the more daring of the two—but they’d been equally desperate.
Unfortunately, they didn’t get away fast enough. Now Dorian is injured, terrified, and wandering the streets of New York, and Mina lies dead near the waterfront while Lt. Eve Dallas looks over the scene.
Mina’s expensive, elegant clothes and beauty products convince Dallas that she was being groomed, literally and figuratively, for sex trafficking—and that whoever is investing in this high-overhead operation expects windfall profits. Her billionaire husband, Roarke, may be able to help, considering his ties to the city’s ultra-rich. But Roarke is also worried about the effect this case is having on Dallas, as it brings a rage to the surface she can barely control. No matter what, she must keep her head clear–because above all, she is desperate for justice and to take down those who prey on and torment the innocent.
Review:
Deviant, gripping, and sophisticated!
In this latest novel by Robb, Desperation in Death, we head back to New York during 2061, where NYPSD Lieutenant Eve Dallas and her partner Detective Peabody now find themselves on a gruesome case involving a dead teen elegantly groomed and a missing girl who knows more about what the well-funded “Academy” is really a school for.
The writing is absorbing and meticulous. The characters are multilayered, persistent, and intuitive. And the plot, including all the subplots, unravel and intertwine methodically into a sinister tale full of deception, deprivation, manipulation, abuse, corruption, mayhem, violence, murder, and the disturbing, depraved world of sex trafficking.
It’s hard to believe that this novel, Desperation in Death, is the fifty-fifth book in the In Death series, and even though I have not read close to even half of the books in this obviously well-loved, remarkable series, I have to say I think this is the best one I’ve ever read and my new all-time favourite in the series.
This novel is available now.
Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.
Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.
About J. D. Robb
J.D. Robb is the author of the #1 New York Times bestselling In Death series and the pseudonym for #1 New York Times bestselling author Nora Roberts. The futuristic suspense series stars Eve Dallas, a New York City police lieutenant with a dark past. Initially conceived as a trilogy, readers clamored for more of Eve and the mysterious Roarke. Forgotten in Death (St. Martin's Press, September 2021) is the 53rd entry in the series.
