Fantasy in Death (In Death, #30)

by J D Robb

They were best friends, driven by one shared vision - to rule the world of virtual reality games. Cill, hard-edged and beautiful, Var and Benny, brains and business acumen, and Bart, the genius behind the idea. Their newest invention, developed to transport the player into a fantastical virtual world, is just about to be launched. Then, suddenly, Bart is found brutally killed, defeated by their own game. Their close-knit group is torn apart. Who could have engineered a virtual death with such devastating consequences? Even Eve Dallas, New York City's most cunning investigator, is hard-pressed for an answer. But as she digs deeper, peeling back layers of secrets, revenge and misplaced allegiances, she realises with growing dread the depth of the killer's master plan. And she knows his game is far from over...

• ISBN10: 0399156240
• ISBN13: 9780399156243
• Publish Date: 23 February 2010 (first published 21 January 2010)
• Publish Status: Remaindered
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: G.P. Putnam's Sons
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 368
• Language: English

Reviews

[nitzan_schwarz]

To read this review and more check out my blog Afterwords!

So, I suppose it's no surprise to anyone that I love this series, considering this is the 30th book in the series. Granted, I haven't read all the previous ones, but I have read... what, twenty? Clearly; I'm a fan.

But some mysteries hit me harder than others, and this is one of those cases.

I know exactly what caused my fierce reaction; the theme of friendship. You see, I am a very loyal friend, and I have friends who I would die for... and I know they would die for me. Dramatic, maybe, but also fundamentally true.

The friendship in this book reminded me of that. The friends reacted so strongly to Bart's death that I prayed none of them did it. I wanted Eve to be wrong, just this once. For the killer to be someone unrelated; not one of these friends that Bart loved, and trusted, and cherished. Not one of these friends that appeared so ravaged by his death.

Their pain broke my heart, but the notion that one of them actually did it crushed the pieces into dust.

So... yeah. FANTASY IN DEATH was such a hard, painful read for me. It made my stomach churn and my anxiety level rise. It took me longer to read because I was honestly scared to read who'd done it.

The only pleasant part of this novel was Eve, Roarke, and the wonderful supporting cast. I have no idea how Robb does it, but these people are still as compelling 30 books later as they were in the first one. And they are "people", not just characters on paper. They are as real as you and me. The only difference is that they are fictional. I know that sounds contrary but just.. just think about it. You know what I mean.

Anyways, how come this series hasn't been adapted for a tv series yet?? Some of the longest running shows are detective shows with romance undertones like Castle, The Mentalist, and Bones--this would be perfect for that.


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Original Unedited Thoughts
Sigh.

As a book, this is great. As always, Eve and Roarke and the gang are as compelling 30 books in as they were in the first. But this one also broke my heart into little pieces. I hate cases like this. Cases where the crime was done by someone you loved, and trusted, and cherished. Those kick me right in the gut. I didn't want it to be true! Yet.. it was. It sucked.

[Berls]

This was a fun one! As a video game fan, I really enjoyed the futuristic play with video games for one. But there was also the element of -- was this really a murder? I spent most the book wondering if Eve was going to find a culprit or a technological error. And I wondered how in the hell she'd figure it out. OF course she did and yeah, it was good!

[mitabird]

3.5 stars