| Publisher | Piatkus |
|---|---|
| Date Published | 21 January 2024 |
| ISBN-10 | 0349430306 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-0349430300 |
| Format | paperback |
| Pages | 464 |
| Price | £ 9.99 |
Desperation in Death
by
Lt Eve Dallas investigates The Academy, where young girls are trained for their future lives as slaves.
Review
Two 13-year-old girls, Mina and Dorian, escape from The Academy, an operation that kidnaps dozens of young girls and trains them for their future lives as slaves to mega-rich owners. Their captors chase them, and Mina ends up dead, dumped in Battery Park and covered in Dorian’s blood.
As Dorian has a police record for shoplifting, she is identified from her DNA, but Lt Eve Dallas of the NYPSD, in charge of the murder investigation, realises that the blood was planted on Mina, and Dorian is a witness, not a suspect in the killing. The police just need to find her as she is their only lead in the case.
Through her friend Mavis Freestone, Dallas locates the girl and uncovers an international network of people trafficking and slavery. She must close the case before an imminent auction of young girls to the highest bidders.
The theme of this story – people trafficking and the exploitation of vulnerable girls – has been explored in various ways in several previous books in the series. Dallas, who was abused as a young child, is profoundly aware of the plight of vulnerable youngsters in the city. The story also highlights the contrasting experiences of the ‘haves’ and the ‘have nots’, children from comfortable, caring homes and those with nothing or where nobody cares.
As ever, Robb has produced a page-turner that kept me enthralled from start to finish. The only point where I found the story less than credible was the speed and ease with which Dorian was found. In a city of several million people, it seems just a little too convenient that a girl on the run happens to find a place in a ‘home’ organised by a friend of Dallas’s best friend. Yes, finding her quickly kept the story flowing, but at least a day or so of looking for the girl would have been easier to swallow. That one point aside, with all that one sees on the news about people trafficking and modern slavery, this story was all too easy to believe.
As Dorian has a police record for shoplifting, she is identified from her DNA, but Lt Eve Dallas of the NYPSD, in charge of the murder investigation, realises that the blood was planted on Mina, and Dorian is a witness, not a suspect in the killing. The police just need to find her as she is their only lead in the case.
Through her friend Mavis Freestone, Dallas locates the girl and uncovers an international network of people trafficking and slavery. She must close the case before an imminent auction of young girls to the highest bidders.
Desperation in Death is the 55th book in the series following the life of Lt Eve Dallas. Set in 2060s New York, the police procedures are recognisable, although there is even more reliance on computers than today, and guns have been banned. The police carry stun guns instead. Dallas’s billionaire husband, Roarke, takes a delight in exploiting skills acquired in his shady past to assist in her investigations as a ‘civilian consultant’, and as usual is instrumental in solving the case.
As ever, Robb has produced a page-turner that kept me enthralled from start to finish. The only point where I found the story less than credible was the speed and ease with which Dorian was found. In a city of several million people, it seems just a little too convenient that a girl on the run happens to find a place in a ‘home’ organised by a friend of Dallas’s best friend. Yes, finding her quickly kept the story flowing, but at least a day or so of looking for the girl would have been easier to swallow. That one point aside, with all that one sees on the news about people trafficking and modern slavery, this story was all too easy to believe.
Reviewed 21 January 2024 by Sylvia Wilson
