Divided in Death

Publisher's Summary

Reva Ewing, a former member of the Secret Service and a security specialist for Roarke Enterprises, is a prime suspect in a double homicide. She had every reason to want to kill her husband, the renowned artist Blair Bissel. Not only was he having an affair, he was having it with her best friend.

But Lieutenant Eve Dallas, who's on the case, believes Reva is innocent. Eve's instincts tell her that the murder scene looks too perfectly staged, the apparent answers too obvious. And when she digs for more, she discovers that at nearly the exact time a kitchen knife was jammed into the victim's ribs, the passcode to his art studio was changed - and all of the data on his computer deliberately corrupted.

To Roarke, it's the computer attack that poses the real threat. Signs show that this is the nightmare his company has secretly been preparing for. He and Reva have been under a code-red government contract to develop a program that would shield against a new breed of hackers, the Doomsday Group. These techno-terrorists with brilliant minds and plenty of financial backing hack into systems, steal data, and corrupt computer units on a large scale - and kill anyone who gets too close.

Eve and Roarke must infiltrate an extraordinarily secretive government agency to expose the corruption at its core, before the virus spreads from one office to a corporation to the entire country.

Crack another case with Eve Dallas.

©2004 J. D. Robb (P)2004 Brilliance Audio

If you haven't read Big Jack, get it first

Although the In Death numbering scheme makes it look as if this book is the sequel to Imitation in Death, it's not. Between the two, Roberts wrote a half Roberts/half Robb novel called Remember When, a two part book set half in present day and half in 2050s NYC. Only the second half is about Dallas, and it's available standalone under the title Big Jack. It's a very nice story, so go back and get it if you missed it.

Now, about this book...

I'm listening to the series in order, and Divided is my favorite since Witness. There is real tension between Eve and Roarke as he is torn between his desire to protect her "bad Roarke" style and his respect for the law through her.

There is, as a negative review noted, a higher percentage of dialog to action than in some other books, but if you're into series fiction it's really all about the characters. This book has some great Roarke and Dallas character development, funny and touching scenes with the still pregnant Mavis, and some interesting glimpses into the workings of the mysterious Roarke Enterprises.

Program your auto chef for coffee and danish, put on your favorite Freestone album, and enjoy.

10 of 10 people found this review helpful

Narrator?

Love the book. The narrator doesn't seem do the same voice as in previous books. Great story.

5 of 5 people found this review helpful

Liked the Story but the Voices Were Off

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes, I love the series and think friends would like it also.

What did you like best about this story?

The government twist was unexpected.

Have you listened to any of Susan Ericksen’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I'm listening to the In Death series from the beginning. I absolutely love Susan Ericksen. She does all of the voices and 98% can tell which character is speaking without the normal preface of Peabody said or McNabb said then Roarke said. The characters just speak and you know who they are.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Roarke and Bond are hard to imitate.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Same narrator?

Was this the same narrator? Peabody & Whitney especially were portrayed differently & Roarke was so high pitched he almost sounded feminine.
Story wise, thought it was a good premise, but Eve's tough guy routine & the conflict between her & Roarke way over the top.
Huge fan, but this was one of my least favorites.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Another Great Story by JD Robb

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes, the series is well written. The books are murder mysteries, but the author has away of combining the suspense of a mystery while also building intriguing sub-stories of the main characters to draw you into the book and the character's lives. I find myself rooting for Eve's marriage, Peabody's professional success and Rorke's calming and steadfast love to mention a few.

Would you listen to another book narrated by Susan Ericksen?

I have listened to JD Robb's "In Death Series" books 1 through 18 in chronological order and I have thoroughly enjoyed listening to Susan Ericksen narrate each with the exception of this book. Peabody's voice in this book was not the same as the previous books.

Susan has a way of portraying each character through her voice that you begin to connect/build a relationship to each character through her voice interpretation. I missed the voice of Peabody in this book. Some of the other voices were also lacking a bit, but not as bad as Peabody. I have recently purchased book 19 in the series and I truely hope Peabody comes back

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Good but not great

I did not get as involved in this book as I usually do with In Death books. There is a complicated murder plot that involves spies, Homeland Security, etc. Roark's administrative assistant's daughter, Reva, is the suspected killer. Roark does not believe Reva is guilty of killing her husband and his lover. He thinks she was framed and he wants to help prove her innocence. There is another plot line regarding Eve's father. Roark finds out that many years ago a US government spy organization had surveillance on Eve's father and knew that Eve was being abused and raped by her father, yet decided not to intervene because it would upset their spy mission. Roark is furious and wants to get revenge on the men who left an 8 year old little girl at the mercy of rape and abuse. Eve does not want Roark to do anything to get revenge because she does not want him to get in trouble, or even worse, risk his soul and integrity. This creates quite a problem in their relationship.

Peabody is now a detective and she an McNabb are very much in love. Peabody is my favorite character in the entire In Death series. Speaking of Peabody, the narrator was off on her voice in this book. In fact, the narrator did not seem to be the same Susan Erickson that usually narrates. I can't quite put my finger on it, but it just did not seem like the normal narrator in most of the book. There were sections when it seemed normal, but much of the book was not. The narration was not bad, just off a little, in my opinion.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Good story but Eve was too bitchy

I love this series but this is the first time I wanted to smack Eve. She is bitchy and has a high horse attitude

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Character voices

Character voices changed some but when you get past that it's alright. Touching Roarke and Dallas segment.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

great series...great book in series

I love this series!! Eve and Rourke's fighting in this one almost breaks your heart, but I had a tear in my eye when they worked things out and finished this case together!! And bringing Finney in to help and to act as Eve's father figure was great and comical. I'm glad that the voices of Peabody and McNabb are back. I missed them in a few of the earlier books. Just bought the next 3 in the series. Hopefully they will last me for a week!!

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Good as always!

I love me some JD, but does anyone else notice the changes in Dickie’s and Morris’ voices? Bugs me.