Apprentice in Death

In Death, Book #43

By J.D. Robb

ISBN# 9781101987971

Author’s Website:  https://jdrobb.com/

Brought to you by OBS reviewer Heidi

*Beware of possible spoilers*

In futuristic New York, murder never sleeps.  And, this time it’s being pulled off with precision accuracy from miles away.  Three people were killed while skating at Wollman Rink.  Nobody saw the strikes until they had already been made.

Then two more attacks come in quick succession at Times Square and Madison Square Garden.  Twenty-five dead between all three attacks and countless others injured.

Eve and her team have determined the weapon is a tactical laser rifle, fired by an expert sniper.  There are few that could pull these strikes off; someone highly trained such as a police officer or someone with military training.  

The police soon make an ID, former NYPSD officer and his teenage daughter.  Reginald Mackie lost everything when his pregnant wife ran into traffic and was killed.  He fell into the bottle and drugs.  Now he and his daughter are on a mission to make those at fault pay for what they’ve done.  However, Reginald’s hands are too shaky from the drugs and he can no longer make the shots needed, so he leans on his teenage daughter to be his weapon.  A teenager that finds the kill count more important than the mission.  And, she’s conceited enough to think she can get away with it.  That’s where Eve and her team must prove her wrong.  However, they must locate her before she kills again.

Lieutenant Eve Dallas, has faced down a lot of killers in her career, but none are quite as volatile as a spoiled teenager trained to kill.

This book was okay … none of them really excite me anymore.  However, I’m so far into the series that I can’t stop reading them.  I’m too invested.

I’ve always loved Roarke, but even he seems so tame now.  Like he’s been perfectly trained.

In this installment, we get to see the deluded mind of someone so full of grief that they can’t see anything else.  And, of course we got to see how evil a spoiled child could really be.  The best scenes in this book really were when Eve was interrogating Reginald and Willow.  Especially Willow, she thought she knew everything and would get a way with a slap on her wrist because of her age.

And, I do find it interesting that the strikes all took place at real places, well-known places we’ve all seen or read about.  It gives the book a dose of reality, even if it’s set in a futuristic world.

Unfortunately, none of the killers, in this series, really stick out anymore.  They all seem about the same and everyone in the book is just going through the motions.  

There wasn’t much going on in Eve and Roarke’s personal lives in this book, just some redecorating and preparing for Bella’s first birthday party.  I think that is actually what I’m missing in these books now.  The romance, the bickering, Eve and Roarke just living their lives between all the chaos.  There was a funny quip here and there, but that was about it.  I really hope we start seeing more of their relationship and their emotions. I really need it.  Although it doesn’t feel like we’ll be getting it any time soon.  A girl can hope though.

Overall, it was an okay read, but it really didn’t move the needle for me.