Review: Random in Death: An Eve Dallas Novel by J.D. Robb

 

Growing up, my parents always cautioned against us kids about going to clubs or concerts. They were convinced they were places where bad things happened. Probably why I have never been to a rock concert and did not club much. If they were alive to read Random in Death: An Eve Dallas Novel by J.D. Robb, they would say it proves their point.

 

Jenna Harbough and her friends were having a blast hearing the rock band, Avenue A. at their concert at Club Rock It. Jenna is 16, a budding musician and singer, and she is having the greatest night of her life. Jake Kincade, leader of the band, saw her and smiled directly at her. She has a demo disc in her purse and hopes to get it to him that night. She knows she is good and the band started at her age too.

 

She’s talking to her friends, LeeLee and Chelsea, when something stings her arm. In pain and holding her arm, she turns and sees some guy grin at her as he flips her off. Before she can say anything, he disappears into the crowd. Within seconds, she feels off. She feels like she is overheated and will throw up. She soon is dead in the alley as Jake Kincade holds her in her last moments. The same Jake Kincade that is dating Nadine Hurst, a huge television news star in New York City.

 

The same Nadine Hurst who is friends with the Lieutenant Eve Dallas, Homicide, of the New York Police and Security Division. Nadine sees the mark on the girl’s arm and is sure that this dead girl is not a junkie. She knows they need help and they need the best. She contacts. of Dallas.

 

It was Saturday evening and that mean a vid, popcorn, and sex with her husband Roarke. It may or may not have been in that order. The fact that on this summer 2061 Saturday night that Summerset, Roarke’s major-domo and serious annoyance, is out of the house, the possibilities were huge. It is almost 11 and Roarke and Dallas were starting a bout of intimacy when Nadine calls.

 

Dallas starts the process of having cops and others respond to the scene. Soon, Roarke and Dallas are also there. He probably would have gone with her anyway, but he owns the building, and has some knowledge of the club and the folks that run it. He can also drive while she starts running things from the car.

 

While designed to look like am overdose, Dallas is not so sure. Besides, she has a personal interest as Nadine and Jake are involved. It also does not take long to conclude it was murder.

 

It also is not the first.

 

As the hours tick by Dallas, Roarke, Peabody, and the whole gang are in a race to stop a killer or killers who are targeting young people in crowded musical venues. It is summer and concerts galore. That means plenty of targets that are going to be potential victims in Random in Death: An Eve Dallas Novel by J.D. Robb.

 

While all the usual writing quirks still happen in this installment of the long running series, they also soon fall away in the rush of the story. A story that twists and turns and is not as predictable as one might have thought in the beginning. A solidly good read to escape the constant stings of a real world that has seemingly gone mad in so many ways.

 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/3Ynb3Ib 

 

My reading copy came by way of the OverDrive/Libby App and the Dallas Public Library System.

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2025