Book Review: Random in Death by J.D. Robb
By Janet Webb
January 31, 2024
What makes us return, again and again, to the futuristic thriller series In Death? Random in Death is #58 of 59 Eve Dallas novels—by any measuring stick, that’s quite a run. J.D. Robb cleverly balances deepening familiarity with Eve Dallas and her gazillionaire husband Roarke—and their friends, co-workers, and family—while introducing new people to the mix. The secret sauce is Robb’s ability to teleport the visceral fears of today decades into the future. In Eve Dallas’s universe, it’s the summer of 2061, hot nights in New York City, but some things stay constant over time. One of them is the eternal struggle for freedom between teens and their parents.
It’s the most exciting night of Jenna Harborough’s sixteen-year-old life. Her parents have finally relented and said she can go to a music club so that she can see and hear guitarist Jake Kincaid and his famous band Avenue A in person. Jenna’s a passionate musician: she brings a demo with her to the club in the hopes she can get it in Jake’s hands. When Jake winks at her from the stage, she thinks she’s died of happiness. Tragically, Jenna is stabbed by an unknown person in the crowd. She stumbles out to the alley, disoriented and ill. Jake’s in the alley too, catching a breath of air. He’s the last person to see Jenna alive: although he does everything in his power to save her, she dies in his arms. Jake’s girlfriend is uber-famous celebrity journalist Nadine Furst and a friend of Eve Dallas. Nadine knows what Jake must do, even though he’s paralyzed with grief and horror: get Lieutenant Eve Dallas on the scene yesterday. Jenna’s life has tragically ended but Nadine knows that Eve Dallas and her trusty sidekick Peabody will work without ceasing to get justice for the young girl. As always, Roarke has Eve’s back.
“It’s going to be a really ugly night for the victim’s parents. I’m going to go do the notification.”
“Without Peabody?”
“I can’t spare her for this when we have all those potential wits and suspects in that club. Look, I don’t know how long we’ll be at this so—”
“You’re about to go tell a mother and father their child’s dead.” He took her field kit to put it in the trunk. “I’m with you, Lieutenant.”
One of Dallas’s necessary but painful jobs is to interview Jenna’s friends Leelee and Chelsea—the girls who accompanied her to the music club. Given their ages, their parents sit in on the interview. The girls are angry, grieving, and hostile. Dallas understands, but she needs to cut through their hostility to get to the bare bones of what happened to Jenna, particularly since the rumor mill has it that Jenna overdosed. Chelsea is particularly incensed at the character assassination of her friend.
“It’s freaking me because they’re fuckwads saying she OD’d, and she was a junkie.”
“They’re fuckwads,” Eve agreed, ignoring the mother, giving the girl her attention. “And they’re liars looking to stir up ugliness about someone who can’t defend herself. We’ve also concluded, conclusively, through solid evidence, Jenna did not use illegals.”
“As if,” Leelee muttered. “Illegals are for losers and flakers. Jenna wasn’t, ever.”
“But someone did jab her, and she did overdose—through no fault of her own. I want you to think back to that last song before the break.”
“We’ve thought and thought.”
“And it’s hard,” Peabody put in, “hard to keep thinking. But that’s when and where he hurt her.”
“We were all there, all three of us. This close.” Chelsea held her hands up, a foot apart. “And she was so mega juiced because Jake looked at her, right at her, and smiled. I mean that was the ult!”
Eve’s job is two-fold: find who stabbed Jenna but also, perhaps even more importantly, have her medical team develop an antidote. Why? “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.” Uncovering clues will be like finding a needle in a haystack. Unfortunately, another girl is murdered using the same method: Dallas and Peabody don’t need publicity and pressure to rachet up their investigation…they’re on it, even though it’s seemingly hopeless. Dallas says to Peabody, “Sweepers aren’t likely to find much in this mess. Over two thousand people stomped around.”
Fans of the In Death series know that Dallas is smart, persistent, and that a stellar team of investigators have her back. It may seem that the two murders are “random in death,” but Dallas weaves together the most miniscule of clues to develop a case and find a killer. As always, the latest In Death is unputdownable.