New York to Dallas by JD Robb

As you can tell from my other reviews I’m a long-time fan of this series by JD Robb. This 33drd book in the series does not disappoint and the author does a great job of bringing Eve Dallas’ past and present together in a riveting thriller.

All the books in the series have been leading up to this story. As more and more of Eve’s past has become known it’s been apparent that at some point she would have to confront it and in this book she comes face to face with her childhood nightmares. As always there is a generous helping of humour and romance in this story which helps to temper some of the ugliness of the crimes being committed.

Although I enjoy a good first person story, the beauty of a 3rd person narrative is that you get to hear what all the characters are thinking, not just the main one. That’s important in this kind of book where the plot is driven by the dialogue and not necessarily the action. As Eve spends more and more time trying to profile her suspect and target where she will capture him we get variety and insight by getting to hear what the suspect is thinking and feeling.

I’m surprised that this series hasn’t hit TV or the movies yet. It would make a great crime/drama/sci-fi series with the right casting and scripts.
I can see far ahead in this series. In fact it could now be called In Life instead of In Death and focus on things like Eve and Roake’s children which I’m sure will be showing up sooner rather than later and even delving into the futuristic aspect that so far has only been a setting for the stories rather than a plot line. This series still has a long way to go and JD Robb shows no signs of stopping for which I’m glad.

The Ideal Man by Julia Garwood

I arrived home from work last week to find a box of books from Penguin Publishing Company for review.

The Ideal Man has one of the best opening paragraphs I’ve ever read. After the first couple of lines I was afraid I wasn’t going to like the book but I’m glad I kept reading as there was a surprise at the beginning of the next paragraph. No I’m not going to tell you what it is; you’ll have to read it for yourself.

Dr. Ellie Sullivan is a trauma surgeon. After a long weekend of surgeries she decides to take a break by going for a run; and runs smack into an FBI takedown in which shots are fired and people are hurt. While taking care of the injured she meets Max Daniels and her world changes forever.

This is an entertaining mystery/romance. There is lots of suspense, humour and snappy dialogue. It was an easy read; I finished it in a couple of days. A great book for a lazy summer (or winter) weekend.

Tell Me Your Secret by Deirdre Purcell

The story begins in Ireland in 1944 and spans 60 years. It’s a tale of a family with secrets, terrible secrets formed by misplaced ideas of discipline and justice.

The Shine family lived in the “Big House” in their Irish village. Violet Shine is a beautiful 16 year old who has fallen in love with a village boy who would be deemed very unsuitable by her family. So they have been meeting secretly. Naturally, her father discovers them and the story unfolds from there. The punishment meted out to her is truly unimaginable for she is imprisoned in an attic in their house for nearly 35 years!

Despite that last sentence this is not a story of revenge or even hate. It’s a beautifully told story of love and forgiveness. The story is told in many voices, starting with Violet’s. Claudine is the modern voice of the story, the real estate agent who is interested in the old house in the village now in disrepair but still worth a lot of money. She begins to investigate its ownership and discovers a startling connection to her own story about family.

The story is told in the first person by a variety of speakers and it’s easy to be completely taken in by the tale, indeed it was hard for me to put the book down. This is the first book I’ve read by Deirdre Purcell but I can tell it won’t be my last.