Portrait in Death

"Portrait in death" is the 18th book in J.D. Robb's futuristic "In death" series. If you haven't read the previous books in the series, please start by the first one, "Naked in death", and continue reading them in order. If you do that, I promise you that you will enjoy the series much more.Now, and regarding this book, did I like it? The answer is simple, yes. Do I think I did the right thing purchasing it? Again, yes, because it is entertaining and certainly a keeper. The plot was good, and Eve and Roarke are, as always, a wonderful couple. There is a good whoddunnit, and we discover a mystery that has to do with Roarke's family, a secret that shakes Roarke so much that he closes up to Eve and puts their relationship in danger.Despite all that, I do not think that this book was outstanding when compared to the other books in the series. Anyway, for those who are fans of J.D.Robb , "Portrait in death" will be a welcome addition to your library. It brings quite a strange role reversal: in this opportunity is Eve who takes care of Roarke while he tries to come to terms with some revelations regarding his past (more specifically his mother). There is also a good crime story, about a killer who chooses his victims due to their beauty, follows them and murders them, never forgetting to photograph them just after he slays them, believing that by doing that he will own their beauty and innocence forever.So, if you have already read some of J.D. Robb's books I recommend you to buy "Portrait in death" too, because you are highly likely to enjoy it. I know I did :)Belen Alcat

Roarke's Eve, is a very busy Lieutenant in the local police force in the mid-years of Decade 2000--meaning that the entire setting is futuristic and you'll enjoy all of the neat advancements that are available then, such as being able, in a cop car, to zoom upward, ahead, and then back to the road to get closer to the car you're chasing... LOL That's just one of the small things I enjoy about this fantastic series!In this book, a psyopath has kidnapped his first young student, followed his grand plan, and then disposed of her "receptacle" which was no longer of use... But nobody other then he feels that way, and are now in the midst of working to identify, capture, and arrest for murder, hoping it will help the family as they grieve her loss... As always, the case is crafted to create suspense as the police team work and Robb has successfully kept this series alive and well generation after generation... JD Robb is like a potato chip--you can't read just one...But in this book, we get a very rare glimpse into the life of Roarke, a mega-rich man who, like Eve, grew up on the streets, having been abused and tortured through their young lives... This time, however, readers will learn, at the same time that Roarke does, that who he thought was his mother...was not...Consider this, if his hated parents, with his mother then leaving him to live with his abusive father, had been so horrible, what would it mean to learn that the woman who had left him, was not really his mother?Well, readers quickly see a Roarke that they've never seen before... He refused to believe the individual who was telling him "possible" lies, while, at the same time, his heart began to beat wildly... Could this be true? And what if it was? What did or could that mean to his life now?Because he had also learned from that same informant that his father had murdered his real mother...Realize that Roarke, a brilliant man, who had early worked to get funds to improve his life, in whatever way he needed to--most of them illegal! Then, after finding Eve and merging their lives in one of the, for readers, "happily ever after" stories we could ever have conceived, and who now owned so much he couldn't keep track of it all, both on earth and off-planet... Well, Roarke's world turned upside down and he did what I do, and maybe you, too, do, he withdrew from his present world...to think... to try to review and research whether what he was told was true or a scam...But there were two people in his life who refused him privacy when they saw his demeanor... Eve... And...Summerset, his present House Manager but also the only man he had ever really known as a Father... But, in this case, Summerset knew more about Roarke's early life than did Eve. So it was to Summerset Roarke turned to once he had planned what he'd have to do...Search out the family of the woman who possibly had been his mother... He'd have to travel to Ireland! Of course, Roarke had been back to Dublin several times since he had left a good friend there... and so a phone call or two was made and Summerset arranged his travel team to get him straight into a part of Ireland he'd never been... to the County of Clare... and directly to the farmland still worked by the woman's family... There he met the twin of his supposed mother... And she looked into the same face of his father who, she believed, had murdered her sister...And, oh yeah, her brother, Ned, had tried to find his sister and had been badly beaten for doing so, having to return home without his sister and son...Having been told the whole story of that time, would Roarke risk going to meet that family who had been hurt so much by his murderous father???The trauma of that time affected Roarke and those around him so much, espcially while he refused to even talk about what was bothering him, that I found that entire stroryline was the highlight of the book. You see, the Death Series is extremely character-driven given the backgrounds of the two main characters. Two individuals who were so traumatized in their early lives that it affected and brought about the two strong, special individuals who were merged in order to become a solid duo able to meet the horrors of the world that still exists in "our" future...If you don't read any other book, I highly recommended that you select this book to see what happens when a major trauma hits Roarke's life!!!But what I recommend if you are able, is to start from the first book and continue to read... The characters drive whatever book you are reading; the characters are a wild and wonderful set of people that add much to the books! Memorable! Unique! Great Mysteries!GABixlerReviews

Many people believe the camera steals your soul. I was very much reminded of this while reading this book. As usual excellent read

I don’t read these in order so happy to finally read about Roarke’s family. Murder by a madman complicates the meeting and revelations of new found relations.

It doesn't matter what order I read them or what the story is about, each and every story with Eve Dallas and Rourke is a powerful story. This story is one I actually do not remember reading. In this story, Rourke discovers that Meg was not actually his mother. His mother's name was actually Sioban (I am almost certain I have not remembered his mother's name, correctly) and not only that, he has an entire family in Ireland, starting with his mother's twin sister. Meanwhile Eve is struggling to find a killer of two entirely too young and intelligent people and stopping the killer from taking yet another. The answers are hard won, but the due diligence of all the officers involved finally locates the killer and none too soon!. I highly recommend this story and the rest of the series.