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    Fantasy in Death
    Fantasy in Death
    Fantasy in Death
    Audiobook12 hours

    Fantasy in Death

    Written by J. D. Robb

    Narrated by Susan Ericksen

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Bart Minnock, founder of the computer gaming giant U-Play, enters his private room, and eagerly can’t wait to lose himself in an imaginary world, to take on the role of a sword-wielding warrior king, in his company’s latest top-secret project, Fantastical.

    The next morning, he is found in the same locked room, in a pool of blood, his head separated from his body. It is the most puzzling case Lieutenant Eve Dallas has ever faced, and it is not a game....

    She is having as much trouble figuring out how Bart Minnock was murdered as determining who did the murdering. The victim’s girlfriend seems sincerely grief-stricken, and his quirky but brilliant partners at U-Play appear shocked as well. No one seems to have had a problem with the enthusiastic, high-spirited millionaire.

    Of course, success can attract jealousy, and gaming, like any business, has its fierce rivalries and dirty tricks—as Eve’s husband, Roarke, one of U-Play’s competitors, knows well. But Minnock was not naive, and he knew how to fight back in the real world as well as the virtual one.

    Eve and her team are about to enter the next level of police work, in a world where fantasy is the ultimate seduction—and the price of defeat is death.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBrilliance Audio
    Release dateFeb 23, 2010
    ISBN9781423383727
    Fantasy in Death
    Author

    J. D. Robb

    J.D. Robb is the pseudonym for #1 New York Times bestselling author Nora Roberts. She is the author of over two hundred novels, including the futuristic suspense In Death series. There are more than five hundred million copies of her books in print.

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    Reviews for Fantasy in Death

    4/5

    711 ratings32 reviews

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    • 5/5
      Well reading this book brought out the level that human being can and will go just to destroy each other. The problem with this is that it was done with technology and gaming systems.

      Only to come to the realization that the individual that is behind the killing is nothing but a coward and one who could not accept that his dream was not part of their partnership. He break the cod of friendship, trust, and honor. Yet he did not see that in the long run he was a user and killer.
    • 3/5
      Fantasy in Death
      3.5 Stars

      Eve and her team investigate the death by decapitation of an up and coming video game developer. The only problem is that he was apparently alone in his locked holo-room at the time of his murder.

      J.D. Robb's In Death books are a lot of fun. The cases are interesting; the characters are compelling (especially Eve Dallas and her sexy billionaire husband, Roarke), and the dialogue is fantastic. Unfortunately, this particular installment fell flat mainly due to the overabundance of cyberspeak and the ultimate resolution, which is exceedingly far-fetched and unconvincing even for the futuristic setting of the series.

      Better luck with the next one.
    • 4/5
      I definitely like the books but I have to say sometimes the description of the Aesthetics are ridiculous! I realize some of the Aesthetics are supposed to be such as mcnabb's outfits but constantly pairing red with silver is tacky it was one thing if that's what she was doing but she's trying to make it elegant also redoing their bedroom with walls of soft gray and bedding of bronze has to be the ugliest thing I've ever heard of. Nora you're a great writer but your sense of style is garbage
    • 4/5
      A twisted mind has created a lethal holo-game. Luckily for New York Eve and Roarke are lethal in and out of fantasy.

      Much of the investigation was steeped in gamer culture with a trip to Comi Con. I loved Eve’s comment on Peabody at Con:
      “It may be you’ve confused undercover with under covered.”
    • 5/5
      This was a slower book than normal.The mystery was single minded,but the end brought me to tears
    • 3/5
      An interesting effort of a non-science fiction author trying some science fiction. Ultimately it is a variation of the locked room mystery and only a so-so version of one. Just because the author sets the story in the near future they feel like they can just invent tech without worrying about any ramifications. It is an OK effort but and a fun read if you can turn your brain off, but not great.
    • 5/5
      When gaming entrepreneur Bart Minnock meets a gruesome end, Eve Dallas learns that virtual reality gaming can be truly evil.The thirtieth book in the In Death series offers readers a variant on the locked room mystery with enough twists and turns to keep everyone guessing until the final reveal. With well-defined, likable characters and a strong sense of place, the In Death narratives have a strong foundation on which to build.The snarky banter between Eve and Peabody is one of the highlights of this series. It’s a staple of the In Death books; here it is particularly fun-filled . . . and effective. The dynamic between the two characters helps to keep the series fresh and interesting. Along with the policing, readers will appreciate the ever-evolving relationship between Eve and Roarke. “Fantasy in Death” works as a stand-alone for readers new to the series; In Death fans will find much to appreciate here as the intriguing mystery unfolds, placing a beloved character in dire jeopardy.Highly recommended.
    • 4/5
      Lively entry in this long-standing and fine series. The 2060 patois, especially when "shebody" and her nerdy boyfriend converse gets a little wearing. However, this revisionist take on the classic locked room mystery is well worth reading. Or, listening as I did to this very good narration, by Susan Ericksen.
    • 5/5
      A bright young man is brought down in his prime. He's the face of a very popular gaming society, one Eve's husband Roarke admires and competes against. But who among his friends wants him dead? And why? That's the job for Eve Dallas to find out, and soon before the culprit strikes another friend down.
    • 4/5
      Another great entry in the series. This one is a futuristic locked-room mystery. The victim (Bart) was locked in his holo-room played a video game when he was decapitated. Bart was a partner with three friends in a successful video-game company. My only quibble with this book is that the solution to the mystery was revealed to the reader in the very first pages, but it took 3/4 of the book before the cops figured it out. Not the killer mind you, just the way it was executed. One of the highlights of this book was Eve and Roarke attending the book launch party of Nadine's new book.
    • 5/5
      The room was locked, no one had entered with the victim or after him but the game is played and he is dead. Lt. Eve Dallas has the mystery of her career on her capable hands. This was without a doubt one of the best books in this series thus far. I highly recommend this one.
    • 3/5
      JD Robb, one of my guilty pleasures. Her stories don't require much thought, but they do keep my interest even if they are chick-lit.

      I knew from the first instance of crime-scene investigation how the crime was committed. The only trouble was the motive and who did it. I enjoyed the interaction of all the characters and the expressed emotions. I enjoy the author's vision of the future - soy pups and tubes of Pepsi. It is interesting to see how Roark and Dallas are growing and learning to leave their past behind.
    • 4/5
      Good installment in the In Death series. Not one of my favorites but it is interesting to see how Roberts ' future world fits with our own, In this one, the furure world doesn't seem as far out as it does in some of the books. Her characters are all here, some of them in small roles.
    • 4/5
      Especially fun for geeks with loads of gaming references and a touch of Star Wars. There's also some good growth between Roarke and Eve on a working level. I really enjoyed this addition to the series.
    • 3/5
      A pleasant escape on a Sunday afternoon with Eve & Rourke, et al. This time Eve is investigating a death caused by a virtual reality game with not enough virtual and a little too much reality. Of course all the usual members of the team are there to help and the steamy relationship between Eve and Rourke is still going strong. As much as I enjoy the story itself and, of course, the steam between Eve and Rourke I find the growing relationship and wordplay between Eve and Peabody to be the most fun in the books. Nothing outstanding, nothing different, just another good read for fans of the “in Death” series.
    • 4/5
      The last few In Death books have kind of been off for me. It isn't that I didn't enjoy then, it's just that I didn't enjoy them as much as I expected to given the previous 5 billion books in the series. I went into this book with some trepidation because of that.

      I really enjoyed Eve's case. A young entrepreneur is found decapitated inside his locked holo room. Security indicates he was the only one inside at the room, and in fact his whole apartment. Investigation shows the weapon to be a broadsword. Eve knows it takes two to murder..one to do the killing and one to day. So where does the murder fit in?

      Some cases are better developed than others, and some are just more interesting to me personally. I'm not sure if this falls into the former, but it definitely falls into the latter. I was truly interested in seeing Eve puzzle her way through the case. It wasn't long before I figured out who the killer was - it generally doesn't take me long - but that wasn't the appeal of this case anyway. It wasn't the who, but the why and the how.
    • 5/5
      A good mystery - Eve learns a little more about being a friend, the characters around the murder victim ring true.

      Roberts as Robb keeps me reading, after 30 books and a few novellas about these characters because she really does suck you into the people, and both the immediate story and the slow long arc of all the lives of the characters over the last two plus years of book time.

      The particulars of the "locked room" mystery are played with but mostly it's all the friends we've gotten to know. (Some interesting bits on chosen family here, by the way.)
    • 3/5
      Can someone really say that a plot felt formulaic when it is the THIRTIETH book in a series? I don’t really think so. *facepalm* Okay, well we’re back with badass Lieutenant Eve Dallas and her Irish billionaire stud of a husband, Roarke. This time, Dallas and Peabody are doing their thang in the homicide-detecting world and the victim in one of the founders of a video game design company. Normally, Nora Roberts/JD Robb is rather informative about the occupations of her characters and we get tons of fun factoids about those jobs. (I’d like to give a shoutout to Nora for instilling me with knowledge about such random jobs as glass-blowing, breeding horses, winemaking, flipping property and drawing comics.) Though I’m sure other readers have felt this in other works during her prolific writing career, I felt like she was a little out of her element in the video game world. I’m no expert, but I’ve played hundreds of hours of video games and this whole element in the books was just…blah.


      I’ve been a fan of this series from the get-go and I’m definitely going to continue but one thing that is driving me a little batty is when the hell is Eve gonna get knocked up? I know Eve Dallas is not a typical character and Roarke’s and her pasts do not lend themselves to raising a child, (at least in their minds) but it is killing me.



      Also, as an aside, I love the side characters as much as I love Eve and Roarke these days. Why not just call it a wash and start an offshoot with Peabody as the protag? Or maybe Trueheart? I'm getting sick of reading about Eve and Roarke and their "perfect connection" and Roarke being more tech-savvy than every hacker (yeah, right) and richer than every human.

      OMG, maybe in the next one Roarke will lose all of his money and they will have to live on Dallas' income. Or wait, maybe they'll have octuplets. Maybe Roarke could have amnesia like Eric in the Sookie books and they'd have to rediscover their love...or Eve could mess up at work and Peabody could be lead detective. The possibilities are endless. Since I'm getting behind and the next one is already released, I'll just read on...but I bet it will just be more of the same:-/
    • 4/5
      Fantasy in Death is an interesting take on the death-by-gaming plot that has previously been done by a couple of fantasy and science fiction authors, most notably in Niven and Barnes' Dream Park series. I doubt that most of Robb's readers will be familiar with the other books, as they're probably coming from the romance world (crossing over from her Nora Roberts titles) instead of the science fiction genre. What hit me the most, though, was nostalgia for the dot com boom. The portrayal of the hot start-up company with its open, cheerful offices full of tech toys and energy, well-paid employees on fire with ideas and enthusiasm happily burning the midnight oil to work on exciting projects—I remember those days! Okay, the technology wasn't as advanced as the stuff in the book, but I can relate.I always enjoy the portrayal of Dallas and Roarke's relationship as a mature partnership. It is a bit clich&ecuted at this point that every case has some aspect that justifies bringing in Roarke as a civilian consultant, but it's part of the formula. The sex is somewhat paint by numbers by now, too, but as prolific as Robb/Roberts is, I'm wondering if she has templates for different series and she has her own Stratemeyer Syndicate-type operation going on somewhere. (I've never read anything but the Eve Dallas books, so please take that as the joke it's meant to be!)I was a little disappointed in the reveal, as I felt that the bad guy was too obvious. I won't say more, as I don't want to give anything away. I'll probably continue reading the series, but I'm past feeling an urgent need to grab them as soon as they come out, and this definitely isn't one of the few series that I could re-read and enjoy.
    • 3/5
      This is the first of the 'in death' series that I have read and it fairs well as a stand alone story. Its not a book I would rave about however I did enjoy it and read it rather quickly once I got into it. Its always good when a murder mystery doesn't have a really obvious conclusion and I believe the author achieved this.
    • 2/5
      I hadn't read any of this series before and I found it hard going and slow with little progression in the first half of the book and I almost gave up on it. The sci-fi elements, whilst opening up the possibilities for more outlandish murder MOs, actually created a detatchment from the characters. I'm a fan of both crime and sci-fi and maybe I stepped in at the wrong point in the series, but I just wasn't as engaged with the story as I had been hoping.
    • 4/5
      A locked room mystery. Bart Minnock is one of four owners of a very successful computer gaming company. He brings home a new game to try out and winds up dead, in his locked holo-room. Detective Eve Dallas has to come up with a how, why and who. The how is relatively obvious from the out, particularly to the reader but the who kept me guessing until the book was nearly finished and the author did surprise me by setting up one of the other four for obviousness as the murderer and then proving beyond most doubt (look, I am a very suspicious person) that it wasn't them.These stories aren't just about the mystery, they're about the recurring characters. Nadine's book about Icove is out and the launch party is part of the story. Rourke and Dallas are still dealing with some issues and there isn't as much sex as you regularly get in the series.I enjoyed this, not as much as some of the others in the series but it still kept me reading and kept me wondering.
    • 2/5
      Oh, please! I think a holo program wrote this one.
    • 4/5
      Another good murder mystery that Lt Eve Dallas and her team have to solve. This time though I had figured out the method by which the murder victim was killed before I was a third through the book, but what I couldn't figure out was who did it and why.
    • 2/5
      Fantasy in Death is the latest in J. D. Robb's series of science fiction police procedurals. They're usually pretty decent light reads, but this one was rather disappointing. She uses one of the more unrealistic parts of her world's technology, the holodeck, and breaks one of the cardinal rules of science fiction mysteries by having the killer use a weapon impossible by the upfront rules of the universe. Since the readers get to see part of the murder at the start of the book, watching Eve Dallas flounder around for half the book trying to figure out how-done-it, running around with theories that contradict what the reader knows, is just no fun. At least the who-done-it isn't bad.
    • 4/5
      J.D. Robb's Eve Dallas mysteries are one of my guilty pleasures, and this is one of her best, in my opinion. The mystery is clever, and the relationship between Dallas and Rourke is more low-key, avoiding the melodrama that sometimes slows these novels down. The lower "heat" rating of this book may be a consequence, but I didn't miss the decrease in steamy scenes. Robb keeps things moving along nicely, but I was able to get a good night's sleep in the middle of the book. Good for my health, so I'm happy, but I have to admit I had figured this one out as soon as the death occurred, which cut down on the suspense. I don't know if everyone will know what happened so quickly, but for once we really have much better information to work with than the police and Rourke.
    • 4/5
      When one of the industry's top gamers turns up dead, murdered in gruesome fashion while alone in his one private holodeck, Eve catches the case. No suspects and no holes in the vic's security make finding out who-dun-it a challenge, even for a crack detective and her team.A bit predictable, but still an enjoyable read - at this point, she's gonna solve the case, so read it for the dialogue, the character interaction, and the escape. It's fun if you're in the mood for something light.
    • 4/5
      Although I alwasy enjoy JD Robb books - I enjoyed this one more than her recent books. Not sure exactly why - I think it was the whole hologram part -but I had a hard time putting the book down.
    • 4/5
      Actually, I was a little disappointed in this outing. Probably because I figured it out so quickly. I figured out who the bad guy was and how he/she did it fairly early on in the book. I've never been able to do that with one of her books before.
    • 5/5
      I'm constantly amazed that even after 25+ books, Nora Roberts (aka JD Robb) still manages to come up with fresh story lines for these mysteries! In this installment, we have her take on the "locked room" mystery. The victim is killed inside a highly secured room playing a game - so how did the killer get in and out unseen? The series is set in the future, but that is usually low key in terms of the stories themselves. Here, the future setting becomes more prominent as technology is key to the crime. The victim is a game designer, but in the future that means holorooms (just like the holodeck in Star Trek!) and the game he died while playing is critical to Eve's investigation. The last couple of books minimized the roles of the supporting characters a lot. That trend is reversed here. Since technology is front and center, Roarke takes an even bigger role in the action than in previous mysteries and we get more of McNab and Feeney as well. McNab and Peabody even go undercover at a gaming convention! There is a lot of humor, but also some unexpected, but necessary, tension between Eve and Roarke. Their fairy tale marriage could easily become boring, but Robb keeps it real by having them argue, get angry and say hurtful things - then have hot make-up sex. The romance is still a strong factor in the series, but has never overshadowed the mysteries.Overall, another satisfying read and strong entry to the series. I am grateful Nora is so prolific - even twice a year isn't enough for me. Can't wait for the next book!