Leafing Through Pages - Remember When (In Death # 17.25)
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For review of all books in the In Death series, go here.
Stars: 5 / 5
Recommendation: A futuristic urban fantasy mystery thriller throwing the readers into a world that they understand as well as can envision what it would be like; and at the same time keeping it grounded to the world they know so they get hooked. A robbery turned treasure hunt spanning five decades provides the reader interesting thriller despite the murders and the absolute cruelty of the killer with no remorse or emotion.
Remember When is the third novella in the long running In Death Series by J. D. Robb, the alter ego of the famous American romance novelist Nora Roberts, first published in September of 2003. We continue to pursue Lieutenant Eve Dallas juggling her role as a Homicide Lieutenant and also being a wife to the Irish Billionaire Roarke. This is a two part novella that crosses two worlds between Nora Roberts and J. D. Robb.
The stories in the In Death Series are set in mid-21st century New York City, New York in United States, featuring NYPSD (New York Police and Security Department) Lieutenant Eve Dallas and her husband Roarke, an Irish billionaire, CEO of Roarke Industries, and one of the richest man in the world. First started in 1995, as of April 2024, 58 books have been written in this series. The first book begins in the year 2058 and showcases that technology completely dominates the world, yet Robb has her main characters still believe in human impulses, passion and emotions that are key to solving every single case she comes across or in her relationships with her husband and people. They complete their first year of their marriage in Reunion in Death (#14)
This is a two part novella that crosses two fictional worlds created by Nora Roberts and J. D. Robb. The first part is just "Part One" in the original book, but later released as Hot Rocks in 2010 is written by Nora Roberts. Takes place three weeks after Easter in 2003. Laine Tavish, owner of antiques store Remember When in Angel's Gap, Maryland, is visited by her long lost uncle with a cryptic message before being killed in front of her store. Her past is coming to haunt her and she has to rely on the help of a stranger, Max Gannon, to find out why someone was chasing her and who was it, even though she has no trust in Max.
The second part is just "Part Two" in the original book, but later released as Big Jack in 2010 as 17.5 in In Death Series written by J. D. Robb. We are taken into the future to 2059, which picks up where Laine and Max's story ends, albeit in the life of Samantha Gannon, grand daughter of Laine and Max. Someone is again hunting Samantha to follow the trail of hidden treasure that was not completely revealed in Part One, and will do anything including murder to get hold of them. A third generation story continues the tale that started in one world of this author and culminates in the other world by her alter ego.
Nora has her heroine Laine use an old apothecary chest as a jewelry case. I never knew who had done that before. And recently I had done the exact same thing to expand my jewelry storage. :)
I read Hot Rocks a while ago but while I re-read it, not a single scene comes back to my mind nor the characters. I do know I have the book, since I checked my library. Wonder how I forgot reading about this when its such a interesting and exciting one.
In Part Two we get back to our favorite characters from the In Death Series. And the comradery between Eve and Peabody begins. We are in September of 2059 now - a good 64 years ahead for when the series began in 1995 - and begins a few days after the incidents in Imitation in Death (#17).
Incidentally Robb has her character Samantha as an author who publishes a book on her grandparents story and titles it Hot Rocks - This is the story from Part One and when it was republished, Nora Roberts published it with the same name in 2010. Samantha is also writing a follow-up focusing on her great-grandfather and titled Big Jack. Not sure if her plot covers Part Two, but Robb released her novella in 2010 with the same name.
I was hoping to see more of Max and Laine in the second part of the book but they are seen only towards the end of the book although mentioned through out.
Eve and Peabody are finding their balance as partners as opposed to Superior - Aide relationship. It's interesting to see their growth. Peabody is also trying to find her foot as a Detective experimenting everyday different ways to make herself positioned.
Thankfully I love books written by both Nora Roberts and her alter ego J. D. Robb. However if you don’t like one version, you can still read them individually and get a full story. I would however recommend to read both since there is a thread that carries through and begs for you to find the conclusion of that thread.
I had another level of confusion though. Having never knew about the omnibus, Remember When, I had read only Hot Rocks or Part One a long time ago; and was blissfully unaware of Part Two or Big Jack. Although Hot Rocks was in itself a complete book, after reading Big Jack I felt that I missed out on finding the conclusion in my original reads. I am sure many readers found that happening.
Robb continues to show us futuristic world in the various concepts and technology that may have been unimaginable in 1995, but are much more acceptable and some available now in 2024. And perhaps in a few years we might see more of her imagination in the series come to life. Check the Spoiler Alerts below for some of them that I identified and grouped them.
Incidentally most of the futuristic world and technology innovations that the book gives the reader, Robb had mentioned them to have begin since 2023. When this book was written in 1995, 2023 was 28 years ahead. However, I have started reading them in 2023 so for me some of the concepts seem very real or close to real for the way our world is heading now.
A futuristic urban fantasy mystery thriller throwing the readers into a world that they understand as well as can envision what it would be like; and at the same time keeping it grounded to the world they know so they get hooked. A robbery turned treasure hunt spanning five decades provides the reader interesting thriller despite the murders and the absolute cruelty of the killer with no remorse or emotion.
Spoiler Alerts:
1. Plot Reveals:
a. Characters from Part One:
i. Main - Elaine "Laine" Tavish (previously O'Hara), William "Willy" Young; Father Jack O'Hara, Mother Marilyn, step-father Robert Tavish; Henry, her dog; Maxfield "Max" Gannon, has a mother Marlene, a brother Luke and sister, and 2 nephews and a niece out of them; Max and Laine get married, have a son and a daughter, a grand daughter Samantha Gannon
ii. Others - Twins Darla Price Davis and Carla Price Goehn; Vince Burger, Angel's Gap's Chief of Police and his wife Jenny, pregnant; Angie, waitress and parttime worker at the antiques store; Alex Crew - has wife Judith and son Westley, both estranged; Sergeant McCoy; Officer Russ;
iii. Interesting to note that the names of the mothers of Laine and Max are very similar - Marilyn and Marlene.
iv. Samantha Gannon - Mother, Father, A brother and a sister
b. Futuristic technology and concepts for the time the book is set in (2058) which Robb imagined in 1995:
i. For Security and Tools: Police Sensors and Porta-sensors; Seal It for hands and feet instead of gloves and shoe covers; laser weapons instead of guns and has ability to adjust it's power making it deadly yet less messier than a gun; Compuguard, a software to detect unregistered and illegal equipment; Force Fields and Security Shields; Sensor Bugs, to keep all food establishments in-check; Anti-mugging Spray; Detox Bowls and Radiant Heats used by ME's office; Space Traffic Control who control interplanetary traffic.
ii. Buildings and Landmarks / Travel: Multihabitation Buildings; Graves for loved ones is for rich; Flash Transport for interplanetary travel; minichopper by Roarke's company; EZ Tram and other airstreams, air transport service; medi-copters and ambu-jets; Air/Land Sports Streamer by Roarke industries; Traffic Hovercraft controlling air traffic; Land, Sea and Sky traffic; Rapid Cabs similar to yellow cabs;
iii. Electronics and gadgets: Body Driers / Drying Tubes; Automatic and voice controlled electronics, appliances and lights; AutoChef, like a vending machine that makes fresh food on order; Droids / Drones / all Robots of all kinds - working for humans in all walks of life, and even pets; Virtual Reality headphones; Moving Maps, People Glides and Glide-Carts ease a shoppers life; PPCs - Portable Palm Computers; Laser-faxes, holograms, holocards and holographs; send-receive units and tele-links; Gear to help fight gravity off-planet, like gravity boots; Rain Shields; SCAN-EYE, a security system for home buildings; Mood Screens; scan-cams; viewing discs like DVDs; palm-sized computer with holofunction; Identi-Pad for creating images for a forensic sketch artist; Privacy Screens on windows; Elevators went up and across; music on Sound Sticks;
iv. Money, Food, Sports and Health Related: Real food like coffee and meat is premium due to depletion of rain forests; twenty four hour facial cosmetics that wont smudge; Recycling is a must; Soda and Beer come in recyclable tubes; Rehydrated food is commonly used such as irradiated powdered eggs or soy burgers; Medicines such as Sober-Up for being sober after a drunk night, Alert All to keep one alert and bright; Suturing Wand that would mend ripped flesh without any trace left; Cash is called credits and they are not paper money; human organs synthetically manufactured; anticancer vaccines; surgical freeze-coat to stop the flow of blood; Arena Ball Game, a new kind of game; skins casts as opposed to plaster casts;
v. Global incidents that changed the course of the world to what Robb imagined - Population Adjustment Theory (Two Parents one Child); The Revisited Period (a new period for artists post whatever wars the world went thru); Genetic Engineering and in Vitro repairs; Urban Wars changed the world; Gun Ban introduced in 2022-2023; Depletion of Rain Forests.
c. Laine decides to never have Cabernet again based on her horrific experience with Crew.
d. Summerset goes on a recuperation vacation for 10-days as his injuries from previous plot, Imitation in Death, aren't completely healed yet.
e. Office Yancy introduced in Portrait in Death (#16) is promoted to Detective in this book. This must have happened some-where off-page.
f. Roarke promises to buy some of the diamonds to Eve that are finally found in the conclusion - a quarter of a 28 million dollar loot is finally found.
2. Sub Plots:
a. Law Enforcement: Commander Jack Whitney, Eve's commanding officer, and his wife Anna, daughter Linda, son Steven; Chief Harrison Tibble, Chief of NYPSD; Prosecuting Attorney, Jonathan Heartly; Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Carla Rollins; Chief Tech Dickie Berenski aka Dickhead; Detective Crouch; Dr. Morris, Chief Medical Examiner; ME Duluc; ME Foster; Detective Marion Burns; Lieutenant Medavoy from anti-crime; Detective Brinkleman with 4-1; Detective Darlymple; ; Detective David Baxter; Captain Desevres at one six-two; Detective Don Webster, IAB Officer; Detective Cartwright; Detective Zeno; FBI Special Agent Karen Stowe; Lieutenant Marks; FBI Assistant Director Sooner; Captain Hayes on 128 Precinct; Interplanetary Law Enforcement (ILE); Darcia Angelo, Chief of Olympus Police; Mayor Steven Peachtree; Sweepers - Lobar, Beaver, Tweeser (head sweeper); Officers - Carter, Carmichael, Miller, Frohickie, Troy Trueheart and his mother Pauline (he is being trained by Baxter), Clark, Rinsky, Briggs, Lopkre, Beth Ricky; Morgue Staff - Chambers, Rochinsky, Herbert Fienstein, Feeno; Tomjohn Lewis from Maintenance; Media Liaison Lee Chang; Yancy Ident-artist
b. Close friends and family of Eve and her husband Roarke: Lawrence Charles Summerset, Roarke's valet and butler; Mavis Freestone, Eve's friend and her boyfriend Leonardo, the fashion designer, pregnant since Purity in Death (#15), four months now, due in February; Galahad, their cat; Detective Third Grade Delia Peabody, partner to Eve as of Imitation in Death (#17) (has two brothers - Zeke and another one - and a sister; mother Phoebe and father Sam); Captain Ryan Feeney, Eve's ex-partner and head of Electronics Detectives Division (EDD) and his wife Sheila; Dr. Charlotte Mira, behavioral psychiatrist, has a Wiccan daughter Gillian living in New Orleans has three kids (Lana, ???) and a husband, Callie and Bryce (???), son Anthony & his wife Deborah with a new born Matthew James Mira, husband Dennis; Nadine Furst, Channel 75's reporter; Detective Ian McNab, from EDD, in relationship with Peabody and sign a lease to live together in Imitation in Death (#17); Charles Monroe, an LC; Dr. Louise Anne Dimatto, doctor at the Canal Street Clinic and is dating Charles; Jamie Lingstrom from Ceremony in Death and Feeney's God child
c. Other characters frequently appear: Roarke's family - dead father Patrick Michael Roarke, dead mother Siobahn Margaret Mary Brody, step-mother Meg; Eve's family - dead father Rick and mother Stella (Not sure dead or alive); Siobhan's family - father Colin Brody and mother Patricia Carney Brody, brothers Edward "Ned" married to Mary Katherine with four childre and Fergus married to Meghan, twin sister Sinead and her husband Robbie with three children; Caro, Roarke's personal assistant; Ariel, Roarke's office person; Loreen, Roarke's receptionist; Larinda Mars, Channel 75's reporter for Social Information; Wilson Buckley aka Crack, a street dealer and runs the Down and Dirty Club in the East End; Biff, a fabric expert; Trina, hair stylist; Dr. Engrave, leader in horticulture; Dr. Ambrose, at Midtown Rehabilitation Center for Substance Addicts; Dr. Ward, on the Olympus Resort; Spirit Quest owners - Isis Paige and Charles "Chas" Forte; Cassandra, a palmist; Kevin, an abused child, along with his cat Dopey get adopted by Richard DeBlass and Elizabeth Barrister - characters from the very first book Naked In Death; Carmine, owner of Gametown; Ratso, a weasel; Rue McLean, manager at Purgatory, Roarke's establishment; Milo Horndecker; Dr. Stiles, works for Allegany; PA Spence taking care of Summerset in this plot; Moira O'Bannion, head crisis counsellor of Dochas; Dirk Hastings, an image artist / photographer; Brian Kelly, Roarke's childhood friend; Quinton Post, a reporter;
d. Off planet locations: Silas I; Silas Three; Taurus I - Alpha Colony; Taurus II; Taurus Three; Taurus Five; Refini; Arts Colony on Mars; Penal Station Omega; FreeStar One; Star 50; Stellar Five; Starlight Station; Eden Colony; Vegas II; Terra Colony; Olympus Resort, owned by Roarke, completed in Interlude in Death; Regis III; Regis Six; NASA Two; Space Station Delta; Travis II; Attica Two; Station Utopia; Rembrandt Station; Alfa Six; Planet Disney; Optima II; Nexus Station; Rexal facility for Mental Defectives; Flora; Planet Disney;
e. Wilson McRae, an ex-detective with CPSD in Chicago is introduced in Conspiracy In Death. He has a wife who is very pregnant with their second child, and they have a 5-yr old son, Will. Will he come back in future books?
f. Someone is stealing candy bars from Eve's desk at Cop Central. Wonder who that is?
g. Miranda rights are revised in this series. We don’t get to see the actual revision though.
h. From Immortal in Death #3: A new sect - Members of the Pure Sect - devotional and similar to monks. Perhaps we will come across them in future?
i. From Ceremony in Death #5: Isis mentions that she had met Roarke in another life and another time; and that he had saved her life. Roarke kind of gets a vague memory but that doesn’t complete to fruition to see if he remembers too. May be in another book Robb considers this as a focal point?
j. From Conspiracy in Death #8: Hans Vandervahen, one of the accused, is never caught at the end of the book. Will he surface again?
k. From Judgement in Death #11: Max Edward Ricker, Roarke's archenemy, vows revenge against Roarke and Eve. Wonder if he would surface again in a future book.
l. From Betrayal in Death #12:
i. Dominick J. Naples and his son Dominick II escape at the end of the book. See in another book?
ii. FBI Special Agent Karen Stowe mentions that she owes Eve a favor on account Eve handing her collar to him. Will she be back?
m. From Seduction in Death #13: Detective Matthew Renfrew from one-twenty-eight precinct has issues with Eve and he thinks she is an IAB mole. This is stemming from the time when Eve unravels the conspiracy and fraud at one-twenty-eight and unearthing corrupt cops in the 11th book Judgement in Death. Will he become a problem for Eve in future?
n. From Reunion in Death #14: As fun joke, Roarke names their fictional kids as Carlos Junior, Robbie, Anna and Alice. If ever they have kids, does Robb have them naming any one of these? I wonder.
o. From Portrait in Death #16:
i. Roarke's birth mother Siobahn Brody, is abused by his father Patrick; and murdered.
ii. It is also revealed that Patrick Roarke was killed by Summerset which Roarke was never aware of.
p. From Imitation in Death #17:
i. Eve muses about VR for pets and thinks Roarke might jump at that idea.
ii. Eve has visions from her past about her mother and learns that she was as cruel and if not more than her father too.
iii. Marlene Cox, a survivor of a brutal attack by the serial killer, and her family seem to be the kind of characters that we could potentially see them in future books. Perhaps!
q. From Secrets in Death # 45:
i. Garnet has a daughter Miranda; shows interest in Morris.
ii. Nadine is looking for an admin; Eve has someone in her mind. A past character surfaces perhaps!
3. Grammatical / Character / Plot / Geographical / Historical / Mythological Errors:
a. On 165, line 2, the name of the town is called Angel Gap instead of Angel's Gap.
b. On Pg. 207, Line 9 from bottom, it should be "...caught a flicker…"
c. On Pg. 251, Line 14, shouldn’t it be "…botched the job by…"
d. Several times in the plot, Robb misses mentioning the St. Jude's medal, a silver medallion that Roarke gifts eve in Reunion in Death (#14), which Eve wears along with her Diamond Pendant Necklace (Giant's Tear) on the same chain.