4.5 stars. This was a great addition to the series. I did find Roarke and especially Sommerset to be completely insufferable in this book. Both of them made a lot of stupid decisions.

I hope we start getting some plots where everything doesn't revolve around Roarke or that he owns everything. I know these were started in the 90s but I hope we start seeing some diversity as well.

As is always my issue with these books, J.D. Robb manages to write a police procedural that ignores many police procedures. It is still a weird mix between cozy and procedural, more thriller-esque, but lays a reliable read. This time around the mystery was a bit boring for me. I have never been a fan of the psycho killers driven by religion, mainly because I feel them to be overplayed in dramatic scenarios. They're more like 1% of killers but somehow we see them in literature and theatrical works more often than the people with one shot murders. I don't like how Eve never truly faced issues with the department for supposedly being so close to the main suspect. It would have been nice to see a plot where she is pulled and has to work solely with Roarke, or we see thing falling apart as she loses her edge. Instead it's the same cookie cutter plot where baddie has it out for Roarke and he manages to fix everything for Eve with secret technology. I've resigned to accept that most of the plot points deal with Roark, as there is apparently more to draw on from his past and properties, but exploring Eve and her past, or giving her more than a one dimensional past, would be nice. Anyways, my rant over, it was a good addition to the series, and I am curious to see more diverse characters and hopefully a different plot in the next installment.