I received this book for free from my own shelves in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Source: my own shelves
Fantasy in Death
by
JD Robb
romance, police procedural in a Kindle edition that was published by Putnam Adult on February 23, 2010 and has 368 pages.
Explore it on Goodreads
Other books by this author which I have reviewed include Connections in Death, Encore in Death, Faithless in Death, Payback in Death, Passions in Death, Random in Death
Thirtieth in the In Death police procedural romance series and revolving around Lieutenant Eve Dallas. The focus is on computer gaming.
My Take
Wow. Just wow. It’s amazing how much research goes on behind the scenes in creating a computer game. It sounds like a lot of fun.
As for Bart’s home. Wow, just wow. Seriously, it sounds like a fun place and reminds me of Tom Hanks in Big. Yeah, Bart is a combination of happy child and practical businessman who cares about people. Benny has a thing for Star Quest and has decked his place out as Commander Black’s quarters. Cill is obsessed, and I do mean obsessed with privacy . . . for extremely sad reasons. Var, on the other hand, is tidy urban.
I loved their titles: GID, Get It Done; GTB, Go To Benny; BS, Brainstorm; and Triple B, Big Brain Boss. I’ll bet their employees enjoy that job requirement that everyone has to play.
Dallas and Roarke have an amazing relationship that continues to evolve. They love. They fight. Dallas is very aware of Roarke’s emotions while Roarke “knows all”, lol, but she has a difficult time knowing how to respond. It’s scary how much nurture has a part in later life. It’s her sense of safety, being with him, that has allowed the horrors of her past to slide pas the blocks in her memory. Some of those horrors arise in her dreams . . . and those are just nasty!
Robb always includes “classic” cultural references that Eve invariably doesn’t know which plays up her lack of a normal childhood. Another bad childhood was Cill’s. What is wrong with parents??
More color comes with Robb’s descriptions of what a number of the characters are wearing — McNab’s dress is . . . beyond colorful, as is the rest of EDD. Except for Feeney, hee-hee.
Oh lordy. The concept of the kill is incredible. The killer? Omigod. It always astonishes me the excuses criminals come up with for why things happened as they did.
Robb uses third person global subjective point-of-view, as we get perspectives from a variety of characters, although the primary ones are from Dallas and Roarke.
The one question that does keep cropping up for me is Roarke. How is it that everyone is so okay with him going out on cases, etc.? I do not question his usefulness. At all. It just seems weird.
If you enjoy a locked-door mystery and are intrigued by futuristic gaming, jump into the action with this colorful group of characters. It’s a futuristic world Robb has created that will set off your imagination.
Gamers and gadget-lovers would enjoy this one; twisty, twisty, twisty.
The Story
Bart Minnock, founder of the computer gaming giant U-Play, is found in his locked private playroom, in a pool of blood, his head separated from his body. Despite his violent end, Eve can’t find anyone — girlfriend and business partners included — who seemed to have a problem with the enthusiastic, high-spirited millionaire.
Of course gaming, like any business, has its fierce rivalries and dirty tricks — as Eve’s husband, Roarke, one of U-Play’s competitors, knows well. But Minnock was not naïve, and he knew how to fight back in the real world as well as the virtual one.
Eve and her team are about to enter the next level of police work, in a world where fantasy is the ultimate seduction — and the price of defeat is death . . .
The Characters
Lieutenant Eve Dallas is in charge of Homicide at Cop Central. Roarke is her beyond gorgeous, gazillionaire husband. Galahad is their tub of a cat. Summerset is the majordomo.
Their friends include . . .
. . . Nadine Furst, an on-air reporter for Channel 75 and the host of Now. Mavis Freestone, Eve’s best friend and a music sensation is married to Leonardo, an in-demand fashion designer, and they have an amazing toddler, Bella. Dr Louise Dimatto and Charles Monroe are on their honeymoon (Kindred in Death, 29). Trina is the beauty stylist who terrifies Eve.
New York City Police and Security Department (NYPSD)
Detective Delia Peabody is Dallas’ partner. Homicide includes Detectives Reineke and Baxter and Baxter’s aide, Trueheart. Captain Ryan Feeney is in charge of the Electronics Detective Division (EDD) and his “boys” include Detectives Ian McNab (Peabody’s significant other) and Callendar.
Dr Charlotte Mira is the department’s profiler and shrink. Cher Reo is an assistant prosecuting attorney. Dr Li Morris is the chief medical examiner. Officers Uttica and Kobel are involved. Foster.
U-Play is . . .
. . . a computer gaming company founded by Bart Minnock (development), Benny Leman (research), and Cill Allen (organizer and “mom” to the staff) who are all friends from high school. Var Hoyt (marketing) joined them later in college, forming a quartet of innovators and friends.
CeeCee Rove is Bart’s girlfriend. Bart’s server droid is a replica of Princess Leia. Jackie is Bart’s doorman. Bart’s neighbors include Drs David and Susan Sing with two boys (Min is the nanny), Steven and Michael; and Linc Trevor. Benny’s server droid is Alfred.
Fantastical is the game the quartet is creating now. In one game choice, the warrior Tor fights against Lord Manx (the Black Knight) for the King of Juno. In another choice, Delancy Queeg is a treasure hunter. Felicity Lowenstien is a friend and their corporate lawyer.
Their employees include the jittery Roland Chadwick, Jessie, Airskate, and Stick.
Milton “Milt” Dubrosky is Roland’s duplicitous boyfriend. Urban Meadows is Milt’s salon where Nanette is his consultant. Milt’s other “friends” include Britt Casey and Chelsea Saxton, a roommate.
Lane DuVaugne is a vice-president with Synch Entertainment. His second, sweet wife is Taija. Derby is their droid butler.
Razor knows his weapons. Dr Pruitt is a neurosurgeon. Polumbi’s is a hole-in-the-wall pizza joint for which Eve has fond memories.
The Cover and Title
The top +two-thirds of the cover is a grayish orange with the author’s name spread across it in a grayish purple. At the very top is an info blurb in black. Below this is a black band with the title in white. Below this is a collage of events in the story with “Homicide” in a gradient that runs from deep pink to lighter pink. The images are what appears to be a two-barreled gun and a broken medieval sword against a background of computer programming in orange against black and then blue against black. On the far right is a wooden staircase.
The title truly reflects this Fantasy in Death, for it’s only the fantasy of the mind that can murder in this way.
