Purity in Death (In Death Series #15) »

One of the most prolific and popular writers in the world, Nora Roberts (who also writes as her edgier alter-ego J. D. Robb) publishes multiple books a year. Not that it s enough for her fans, who tear through her unconventional romances. With her trademark mix of fantasy, mystery, and romance, Roberts has created her own genre -- and romance fans are grateful for it!

Louie Cogburn had spent three days holed up in his apartment, staring at his computer screen. His pounding headache was unbearable - like spikes drilling into his brain. And it was getting worse. Finally, when someone knocked at his door, Louie picked up a baseball bat, opened the door, and started swinging...

The first cop on the scene fired his stunner twice and Louie died instantly. Detective Eve Dallas has taken over the investigation, but there's nothing to explain the man's sudden rage or death. The only clue is a bizarre message left on his computer screen: Absolute Purity Achieved.

And when a second man dies under nearly identical circumstances, Dallas starts racking her brain for answers and for courage to face the impossible...that this might be a computer virus able to spread from machine to man...

Publishers Weekly

"A sick computer can and does infect other computers, but not its operator," claims Roarke, dreamboat husband of New York's hotshot futuristic cop, Lieutenant Eve Dallas, in the 15th installment in Robb's `Death' series (after Reunion in Death). Roarke's theory is put to the test when pedophiles and drug dealers begin dying from a computer-generated virus that literally blows the mind of its victims. It doesn't take long for Eve to figure out that a vigilante terrorist organization with superior tech knowledge is meting out its own form of justice the group even leaves the message "absolute purity achieved" on victims' computer screens. Pinpointing the group is more of a challenge. Suspects could be anyone from members of the justice system to formerly abused children, the latter of which strikes a personal and painful nerve in Eve, who was abused as a child. Readers familiar with Eve's history and the sea of characters brought over from her previous books will be more comfortable than first- timers attempting to wade through this sluggish installment. Despite Robb's smooth-as-glass prose, her latest isn't likely to win new converts to the series. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.