Review: Random in Death

Random in Death by J.D. Robb
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

4.5 for the pure horror of this plotline! Another half-star because we didn't have to hear so much squealing about Peabody's new house. Then a subtraction of half a star for a lot of the incomprehensible (to me at least) modern cant.

58 books with another coming up Passions in Death #59 on September 33 -you have to expect some bumps in the road, but I sure felt this one was smooth sailing all the way!

The idea behind this novel and the author's execution of it was so horrifying that I can see this happening, although not in quite this manner, in this day and age. And that makes me very glad I don't have any kids, although now I'm going to worry about my nieces and nephew!

The stomach-churning tension and horror make the ending to this particular story so much more satisfying!

*ARC was supplied by the publisher St. Martin's Press, the author Nora Roberts, and NetGalley.


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"In the new crime thriller from #1 New York Times-bestselling J.D. Robb, a small and easily concealed weapon wreaks havoc, and the killer is just a face in the crowd.

Jenna’s parents had finally given in, and there she was, at a New York club with her best friends, watching the legendary band Avenue A, carrying her demo in hopes of slipping it to the guitarist, Jake Kincade. Then, from the stage, Jake catches her eye, and smiles. It’s the best night of her life.
It’s the last night of her life.

Minutes later, Jake’s in the alley getting some fresh air, and the girl from the dance floor comes stumbling out, sick and confused and deathly pale. He tries to help, but it’s no use. He doesn’t know that someone in the crowd has jabbed her with a needle—and when his girlfriend Nadine arrives, she knows the only thing left to do for the girl is call her friend, Lieutenant Eve Dallas.

After everyone on the scene is interviewed, lab results show a toxic mix of substances in the victim’s body—and for an extra touch of viciousness, the needle was teeming with infectious agents. Dallas searches for a pattern: Had any boys been harassing Jenna? Was she engaging in risky behavior or caught up in something shady? But there are no obvious clues why this levelheaded sixteen-year-old, passionate about her music, would be targeted.

And that worries Dallas. Because if Jenna wasn’t targeted, if she was just the random, unlucky victim of a madman consumed by hatred, there are likely more deaths to come."