Desperation in Death (In Death #55)

J.D. Robb

Crime Thriller

The #1 New York Times bestselling author presents a gripping new thriller that pits homicide detective Eve Dallas against a conspiracy of exploitation and evil…

New York, 2061: The place called the Pleasure Academy is a living nightmare where abducted girls are trapped, trained for a life of abject service while their souls are slowly but surely destroyed. Dorian, a thirteen-year-old runaway who’d been imprisoned there, might never have made it out if not for her fellow inmate Mina, who’d hatched the escape plan. Mina was the more daring of the two—but they’d been equally desperate.

Unfortunately, they didn’t get away fast enough. Now Dorian is injured, terrified, and wandering the streets of New York, and Mina lies dead near the waterfront while Lt. Eve Dallas looks over the scene.

Mina’s expensive, elegant clothes and beauty products convince Dallas that she was being groomed, literally and figuratively, for sex trafficking—and that whoever is investing in this high-overhead operation expects windfall profits. Her billionaire husband, Roarke, may be able to help, considering his ties to the city’s ultra-rich. But Roarke is also worried about the effect this case is having on Dallas, as it brings a rage to the surface she can barely control. No matter what, she must keep her head clear–because above all, she is desperate for justice and to take down those who prey on and torment the innocent.

-Excerpt taken from Goodreads.

Check Goodreads to see the book’s ratings.

My Opinion

“We tell our children monsters aren’t real, but they are.”

4 out of 5 stars (4 / 5) Many young girls have been kidnapped and sent to a pleasure school to train for a life none of them want. Two become friends and hatch a plan for escape.

Wow, this was intense! The details about girls in a sex trafficking ring were a lot. Like, a lot. I had a hard time with it. I was debating setting this one aside but I gave it another try and ended up loving it.

The investigation took over the majority of the book. While there were still atrocious details, it was optimistic. You really got to know the investigators working the case. Many had personal stories that made them more committed and it left me feeling hopeful.

This book will not be for everyone. If you can handle the details, it’s well worth it. But it’ll rip you apart at the same time. It shows the beauty of humanity but also the people that ruin that. 

I’m still reeling from this one! Great read.

General content summary: F words: 20+, C word: 1, language, “intimacy lessons” in a school (with males or females, videoed, detailed), many abducted children, hanging suicide (few details), an auction to sell the girls, girls only given numbers not names, impalement (death, no details), previous physical child abuse (multiple, intense), few details of corpse (young teen), death and grief, detailed “open door” intimacy scene, previous sex trafficking (rape but no details), foster care/professional parent, story of previous young teens killed and put in a wall, POV from a man purchasing women (rules for her; possibly sharing her with others, hurting her, possibly killing her…then what he made her do with him (few details but intense and horrible), collars worn (controlling), stabbing (blood details), previous child taken, raped and killed.

Thank you to St. Martins Press for the gifted finished copy!

**As an Amazon associate I earn from qualifying purchases. 

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