Holiday in Death

The year is 2058. Guns are banned and medical science has learned how to prolong life to well beyond the century mark. And man has yet to stop killing man. At Cop Central, it's Lieutenant Eve Dallas's job to stand up for the dead. So begins the seventh riveting installment in Robb's (aka Nora Roberts) futuristic romantic suspense series (following Vengeance in Death). With Christmas only weeks away, Eve is stressing out trying to find the right gift for her new husband, Rourke, who ""not only had everything, but owned most of the plants and factories that made it."" More to her concern is the latest serial killer who is using ""The Twelve Days of Christmas"" as a theme for his heinous rape and murder spree. The case touches Eve on a personal level, and while flash-backs from her abusive childhood are flinchingly repetitious, it defines Eve's gritty, hard-boiled character and validates her obsessive determination to bring down the killer any way she can. (June)