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Sacred Sins: D.C. Detectives, Book 1
Unavailable
Sacred Sins: D.C. Detectives, Book 1
Unavailable
Sacred Sins: D.C. Detectives, Book 1
Audiobook (abridged)5 hours

Sacred Sins: D.C. Detectives, Book 1

Written by Nora Roberts

Narrated by Carolyn McCormick

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

3.5/5

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Currently unavailable

Currently unavailable

About this audiobook

Combining explosive suspense with sensual passion, the bestselling author of Carnal Innocence and The Reef turns up the heat in this classic tale, available for the first time in hardcover-the sizzling story of a man and woman on the trail of a demented killer...  and on the verge of surrendering to a dangerous love.

In the last lazy days of summer, the merciless two-week heat wave is the biggest story in Washington, D.C. But the weather is finally knocked off the front pages when a young woman is found strangled to death-a priest's white silk amice pulled taut around her throat. Pinned near the scarf is a note that simply reads her sins are forgiven her.  It is a chilling crime, made even more terrifying when it is followed by a second murder...  and then a third.  Suddenly every headline is devoted to the killer the press has dubbed "the Priest."

The slayings have piqued the interest of Dr. Tess Court, a top-notch psychiatrist dedicated to treating the problems of the human mind.

And when the police make little headway in solving the crimes, Tess is reluctantly thrust into the very heart of the investigation.  Called in to create a detailed psychological profile of the murderer, she comes up with a disturbing and frightening portrait of a twisted soul who believes he is not murdering-but ministering.

Detective Ben Paris doesn't give a damn about the killer's soul or his psyche, and he makes it clear that he thinks calling in a psychiatrist is on a par with ringing up a psychic hot line.

What he can't dismiss so readily is his immediate and irresistible attraction to Tess. Tall, dark, and good-looking, Ben has a reputation with women that is legendary, and with good reason.  But the coolly elegant Tess doesn't react to Ben like any other woman he's ever known-and he finds the challenge enticing.  Now, as the two are thrown together in a perilous quest to stop a serial killer, the flame of white-hot passion flares.  But someone else has his eyes on the beautiful blond doctor...  someone who dreams of saving her and cleansing her soul with his special brand of absolution.  And while Tess is confident she can help him, Ben can only pray that when the madman strikes, he'll be able to stop him before it's too late....

LanguageEnglish
Release dateJul 5, 2000
ISBN9780553753295
Unavailable
Sacred Sins: D.C. Detectives, Book 1
Author

Nora Roberts

Nora Roberts is the bestselling author of more than two hundred romance novels. She was the first author to be inducted into the Romance Writers of America Hall of Fame. Since her first bestseller in 1991, Nora’s books have spent more than two hundred weeks in the number one spot on the New York Times bestseller list. There are more than five hundred million copies of her books in print, published in over thirty-four countries.

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Reviews for Sacred Sins

Rating: 3.550247939698492 out of 5 stars
3.5/5

199 ratings10 reviews

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  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Mostly, I consider Nora Roberts to be the master of the Romantic Thriller genre. Her characters are always REAL people to me, and the situations they find themselves in are plausably realistic or even plausably supernatural. That being said, I'm afraid that I have this opinion because I've apparently read her later work. Now that I'm reading her stuff from the early 80's... well, the potential is obviously there, but she hadn't yet come into her own.This is very true in Sacred Sins. From Amazon: Dr. Tess Court is a successful psychiatrist who is guilted by her senator grandfather into advising on a serial murder case. Detective Ben Paris hasn't much respect for shrinks after his brother's unsuccessful treatment for post-war depression. However, forces align to put these two together and things turn hot and heavy. As they work to uncover the murderer's motives, Tess and Ben realize that she is both the killer's next likely victim and his best hope for a savior. The things I like about her later books are somewhat absent here. Tess is a stereotypical romance heroine - tiny, cute, compassionate, all-around feminine. (Contrast with Roz, a character from the In the Garden trilogy, who's strong and sharp and always has dirt under her fingernails.) Tess is contrasted against Ben, a stereotypical romance hero -- big, buff, macho, meat-and-potatoes protective man. I just... never bought it. I never bought the sparks between them, and their action in bed was more like yowling cats than passionate lovers. Don't get me wrong, the story was fantastic. But that's the thing I always about NR -- her plots are more important than the romance. It's really great, in the later paranormal series, when the romance you think is totally separate BECOMES the plot. (Like the Key trilogy). I'm noticing that I keep drifting away from this book when I write, and I think that's because that's how I felt when I read it. It was WORK to read this one all the way through. It got to a point that I honestly didn't CARE who the serial killer was, and I almost hoped he killed Tess.For a diehard NR fan, this is a must-read, if only to show how much NR has improved over the years. If you like horror thriller romance, give it a shot. Otherwise.....don't bother.Plot: 4 starsCharacters: 1.5 starsWriting: 4 stars (knocked down from 5 due to some really incessant slogging)Rereadability: 1 star (will be donating to the paperback store soon)Enjoyability: 2 starsOverall: 2.5 stars.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I really like Nora Roberts when she writes as J.D. Robb but I have found some of her others tend to drag a little. The story was good but the characters, with the exception of Ben Paris seem to lack character.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    A psychiatrist Dr. Tess Court and a Dectective Ben Paris jion forcess to hunt down a serial killer that is killing women. I really like this story.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    Oh dear. This was my first Nora Roberts book and it will be my last. I found the plot rather thin, the characters had no depth and the budding romance rather cringeworthy. The details regarding police work and psychology were rather thin on the ground- this was a poorly researched book. All in all, it was very tedious and I am surprised Nora Roberts sells so many books!
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Tess's bleeding heart-ness made me want to *smack* her upside the head. I suspect, though, that Nora just didn't get the balance quite right for me--I think she took it for granted that we'd realize Tess cared about the victims, but it wasn't that evident to me.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    An older Nora Roberts story and it shows. There's promise of what comes later lurking but it's not quite obvious yet. She's still writing within the strictures of romantic fiction with a side order of thriller but the romance is very much to the fore and the characters fall into the Romance cliches.There's a serial killer and Dr Tess Court, a psychiatrist, and Detective Ben Paris join forces to hunt him, finding love and danger along the way. The thriller kept me reading and amused even when the romance sometimes got in the way of the thriller plot moving forward.I enjoyed it.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Beautiful vending and not that revealing at all that the actual killer is the police.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Nora Roberts is brilliant. I have read many of her books and now I get to listen to them. I wold love to talk to her. How dose she do it I mean her stories no matter love or mysteries even witches. she gets the heart beat of the story so realistic that before you know it your there. I love that now this app allows me to afford to hear more of her books.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Nora Roberts does a seamless job of blending an intriguing mystery with just the right amount of romance
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    This is one of Roberts' less recent works, probably re-packaged and re-published after she got more prolific. I always enjoy her writing, but I had a difficult time buying the chemistry in this one. Rich, but not snobby, psychiatrist Dr. Tess Court is asked by her senator grandfather to consult with the police on a serial killer. Ben Paris is the police detective who falls for her. Tess cares a little bit more about her clients than is probably healthy (professional boundaries, anyone?) and even wants to treat the killer once he is caught. Ben's pretty high-handed in his treatment of Tess, but considering the publication date, that's not too out of the ordinary. What really irritated me was the ending. The killer was completely implausible. Quite a disappointment from a usually very reliable author. Fortunately, this book is followed by Brazen Virtue, which I really enjoyed as Ben's partner Ed (not a typical romance hero type) gets to star in his own tale.