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.

Ghost Story by Jim Butcher

Penguin Publishers sent me a copy of this to review. It is the next book in the series called The Dresden Files. I’m both glad and sad that they sent me the book. Glad because it was a great book; sad because it’s the first time I’d read anything in the Dresden files and now I know the end but haven’t read anything that came before.

However, if you happen to be a Dresden fan then I have to believe that this novel would be a satisfying and compelling continuation of the story.

Harry Dresden is a wizard who has an unfortunate condition; he’s dead. But he can’t continue on into the afterlife until he finds out who murders him. His ghost is commissioned to find the murderer, save his friends who are in danger and probably save the world at the same time; all without benefit of his body or his magic.

This is an entertaining read. The plot while fantasy is still believable and the characters are well written. Not having read any other books in the series I’m not sure if Harry is normally a thoughtful guy but in this book he spends a lot of time ruminating on his life and how he got to be the way he was. He was a sarcastic, confident and caring person in life and his ghost also has those qualities. The dialogue is great and I’m sure would be even more entertaining for those who have read the series and are used to the way Butcher writes.

This is like a Harry Potter book for adults. But with more adult type of angst and moral dilemmas (yes even for a ghost). If you’re a Dresden fan, you have to read this book. If you’re not and think you might like to be, start with Storm Front the first in the series and work your way up to this book. It’ll be worth the wait.