More summer brain candy

Ok, I admit it...I really love these books...yes, ROMANTIC SUSPENSE...or whatever you want to call it.  I can't wait for the twice-yearly dose of Eve Dallas goodness to hit my local library.  So, how, you may ask, can a bacon eating, testosterone laden, grouchy historian read anything labeled ROMANTIC...well, sit back son, and I will tell you.

First, to be honest, the plot of these books is pretty formulaic, but that's okay.  I haven't read a really great plot twist in these books since the whole ICOVE story line.  It goes like this...bad guy commits murder, Eve Dallas gets case, Eve Dallas solves case, bad guy gets justice...the end.  Pretty basic right...that's the basis of any crime thriller.  SO what sets these books apart?

Well, in my opinion, the mixture of sci-fi, thriller, and chick lit is all done in masterful balance so that none of the genres dominate the story, but all fit together to create a believable world of 2060 that I wouldn't mind living in, even though it isn't all that far apart from today's society.  Little tidbit here, Nora Roberts (AKA JD Robb) is a big lib gun control proponent...so in Eve's world there is a "Gun Ban"...nope none of that pesky 2nd Amendment to worry about...and yet people still get murdered in gruesome ways.  An unconscious acknowledgment that human nature doesn't really change...guns or no guns...if someone wants to kill someone out of rage, greed, lust, or whatever...it's still gonna happen.  Shoot, in one of her recent books Eve even had to investigate an act of 21st century mass murder using a WMD....hmmm.

But I digress.  What makes these books work...and work so well for over THIRTY titles are three things:

1. The secondary characters--Nora does the best secondary characters I have ever read...Peabody, McNabb, Mavis, and even Trina are all marvelous inhabitants of Eve and Roarke's world.  It is almost comical to watch big, bad Eve Dallas reduced to a quivering puddle at the thought of a Trina makeover.  But these characters are endearing and so important to the narrative of the series.
2. The witty banter.  I really envy Nora's ability to write dialogue, especially the witty repartee between Eve and Roarke.  Absolutely great...the by-play between Eve and Peabody is also fabulous...I can hear it in my head when I read...like the greatest cop buddy TV (or vid) shows of old.
3. The enduring story lines...the background of Eve and Roark's upbringing (or lack thereof) cuts across all these books and gives a great depth to the characters.  Although to the average person, even me, it seems like Eve and Roarke had especially HARD upbringings, Nora weaves them into the overall narrative of the series that it doesn't come across as cliched.  The struggle Eve has to overcome her fear about human relationships (ohh, am I talking about relationships?) has been fascinating to watch over the years.  

So, that's about it...nothing tricky here, just straightforward good writing and sticking to what works.  Can't argue with that...or if you do, Eve will just stun and cuff you.....

Yes, I wrote that...but what were you thinking?

My one wish...a SUPERBUNDLE of Eve Dallas for Kindle...who has room for 30+ books?  Might take up the space where my 13 volume set of Confederate Military History sits...can't have that....