I still remember reading it for the first time - it was the middle of the night and I was all alone with three children in a big, empty house - reading about a house invasion was really scary, but I simply couldn't stop reading. I still love it, five stars. ( )

Survivor in Death
4 Stars

After her entire family is murdered in their beds, 9 year old Nixie Swisher is taken into protective custody while Lieutenant Eve Dallas and her team investigate. As the evidence unfolds, Eve soon comes to realize that the deaths are part of a larger agenda and that little Nixie's life is in even more danger than ever.

An enjoyable installment with an intriguing mystery and some fantastic character development.

The investigation into the Swisher family's murder is compelling, and while it is rather easy to figure out the culprit and the motivation, there are a couple of twists that catch the reader by surprise. Moreover, the showdown at the end is particularly intense, and Robb certainly knows how to write an action sequence.

Little Nixie is a resilient and adorable child whose predicament touches Eve, Roarke and Summerset on a profoundly personal level. All of their reactions to her are simultaneously heartwarming and heartbreaking.

In sum, Survivor In Death is another excellent addition to the series, which just seems to go from strength to strength. ( )

One of the best in this series. A little girl's family & friend are murdered in their beds, and the character is heart-rending. Highly recommended. ( )

The 20th In Death story begins with a home invasion that kills a man, his wife, his twelve-year-old son and the nine-year-old girl who was on a sleepover with his daughter. Nixie Swisher, his 9-year-old daughter, escapes the slaughter because she woke up in the night craving an orange fizzy and left her bed to go to the kitchen to get one.

Eve discovers her hiding in her parents shower and flashes back to her own situation right after she killed her father. Rather than let child protection services take her, Eve brings her home with her. And begins to try to find out who murdered her parents and why,

On the surface this family law lawyer and his nutritionist wife are unlikely people to be murdered brutally in their home. But looking deeper, Eve discovers that others connected to them - a judge, a social worker, a doctor - have all died relatively recently under suspicious circumstances.

She and Roarke and her team dig into the past to discover a conspiracy to get revenge.

I enjoyed the way Eve relates to Nixie and how Roarke and Summerset do too. I loved hearing Roarke's plans for their future children and how appalled Eve is to even think of becoming a parent. I loved how brave Nixie was and how she reminded Eve of herself had she had a different childhood. ( )

It has been a brutal invasion as Survivor in Death: Eve Dallas Mysteries by J.D. Robb begins. The intruders came in during the dead of night. They easily disarmed the alarm and killed everyone in the house. It is a brutal blood bath.

But they missed one child.

Nixie Swisher got up from her bed to get a drink and left her friend behind who was over on a sleepover. She was in the kitchen area when she realized very bad people were in the house. She did the only thing she could. She hid. Her friend was mistaken for her and killed along with Nixie’s entire family and the nanny.

Because she hid, she is alive, and everyone else is dead.

NYPSD Homicide Lieutenant Eve Dallas intends to keep it that way. Not only was Nixie Swisher clearly a target as others were being killed, she intends to get her some sort of justice by getting the killers. It becomes rapidly clear that is going to be easier said than done as the killers are highly skilled and are not done yet.

It is the year 2059 in this violent and fast-moving read, the city is New York, and it still takes smart cops doing the basic footwork to catch killers. It does not hurt to have some bucks and some skilled folks who are not cops either.

A fast and fun read, Survivor in Death: Eve Dallas Mysteries works pretty well. Of course, all the usual caveats regarding head hopping in point of view and other issues still apply. But, as always, the reader is soon swept away in the flow of the story and it is a very good story.

My reading copy came by way of the OverDrive/Libby app with the Dallas Public Library System.

Kevin R. Tipple ©2022 ( )