Faithless in Death by J.D. Robb – a Review

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Description:
The scene in the West Village studio appears to be classic crime-of-passion: two wineglasses by the bed, music playing, and a young sculptor named Ariel Byrd with the back of her head bashed in. But when Dallas tracks down the wealthy Upper East Side woman who called 911, the details don’t add up. Gwen Huffman is wealthy, elegant, comforted by her handsome fiancé as she sheds tears over the trauma of finding the body–but why did it take an hour to report it? And why is she lying about little things?

As Eve and her team look into Gwen, her past, and the people around her, they find that the lies are about more than murder. As with sculpture, they need to chip away at the layers of deception to find the shape within–and soon they’re getting the FBI involved in a case that involves a sinister, fanatical group and a stunning criminal conspiracy.

Review:

Faithless in Death by J.D. Robb is the 52^nd book in her wonderful In Death (Eve Dallas) series. I am a huge fan of this series, having read every single book, as well as all the novellas; not to mention how much I love Eve and Roarke, the best literary couple ever. I noted in the last In Death Book (Shadows in Death) that J.D. Robb created a masterpiece. Well, I am happy to say that Faithless in Death was different, but equally as great, as this is another masterpiece. I marvel at how Robb can continue to give us fascinating stories 52 books later. Bravo to J.D. Robb/Nora Roberts.

Eve is called to the scene of a murder of a woman, who was bashed on the head, in what looked like a possible crime of passion.  Eve and Peabody visit the person who discovered the victim and called 911. Immediately both Eve and Peabody question the woman, who not only found the victim murdered, but ran away and called the police a few hours later; she claims she had to get control of herself due to the trauma.  However, they know the woman is lying or trying to protect someone.

Upon further investigation, with Peabody and Roarke, they discover that the woman, Gwen belongs to a huge powerful fanatical cult, involving terrible criminal acts, such as kidnapping, possible murder, political and other contacts that do their bidding, prejudice against gays, and separation of races; not to mention all the money they gather along the way.  After interviewing members of the cult, as well as some victims, Eve knows this is not just a murder anymore, as it is becoming an all-out war to stop this horrific cult; she starts calling in the FBI and other agencies/departments.

What follows is an amazing, intense, exciting, non-stop, action-filled race to find the murderer, as well as stop and destroy the cult, especially with women and children all being held almost like slaves.    What I loved was how all the members of Eve’s police team, were determined to help bring down this cult.   Over time, Eve has built such a fantastic team and their loyalty was awesome. 

In between all the tense excitement, I loved certain parts that lighten things, such as Mavis, Leonardo and Bella showed off their new home (which needs a lot of work), and will also have an apartment addition being offered to Peabody and McNab.  I loved how all of these secondary characters we have come to love, are so close and loyal to Eve and to each other.  We also got some quality time with Nadine, and I loved that too.  This series started with Eve all alone (she did have Feeney), coming from a tragic childhood, meeting Roarke, and now years later (or shall I say 52 books later), she has an abundance of friends who play a large part of her life. Even her police team are great, and totally loyal to their queen. This is another plus that we get to see all these wonderful recurring characters.

The last 1/2 of the book was wild, intense, and mindboggling, with the entire team, Roarke, Reo, Mira, including the Commissioner, and the FBI and other agencies work together to bring down the Natural Order group.  Faithless in Death was so very well written by Robb, and to tell too much more would ruin things, and this is one book you do not want to miss a thing.  This was very exciting, tense, intriguing, nonstop action from start to finish, with never a dull moment.  J.D. Robb once again gives us another masterpiece to this wonderful series, which I hope keeps on rolling for many years to come.  I thought that Faithless in Death was another great book, which certifies that J.D. Robb will continue to give us many more Eve and Roarke books.    

Reviewed by Barb

Copy provided by Publisher