Human in Death offers a sustained and subtle inquiry into J. D. Robb’s In Death books as novels of ideas—texts which invite their readers to think about love, desire, and romantic relationships. Kecia Ali demonstrates that these are thoughtful books, part of a genre that deserves and rewards our serious attention. This is a groundbreaking contribution to the study of mass-market fiction, the ethics of reading, and the emerging field of popular romance studies.
~Eric Murphy Selinger, President, International Association for the Study of Popular Romance
Writing in an accessible idiom, Kecia Ali displays an expansive familiarity with the popular but understudied In Death series by Nora Roberts/J.D. Robb. Human in Death contains an evenhanded examination of the ethical stances visible in protagonist Eve Dallas’ world, especially in relation to gender and sexuality, economic and bodily inequality, and personal and systemic violence. Ali’s book is at heart a concordance replete with references to incidents, dialogue, and turns of phrase that bear out Ali’s evaluation of what it means to recognize or repudiate someone’s humanity in popular fiction.
~Jayashree Kamblé, Assistant Professor of English, LaGuardia Community College
Ali's fascinating forensic account of the sociological importance of the stories where we both escape and imagine ourselves into the future is a thought-provoking and accessible read for sociologists and laypeople alike.
~Tressie McMillan Cottom, Assistant Professor of Sociology, Virginia Commonwealth University
A deeply engaging critical reflection, Ali deftly explores how fiction both shapes and reflects our complex lived realities, how fictional utopias can reiterate and justify the prejudices of the present. Under Ali's prescient analysis, J.D Robb's popular novels become a venue for an exploration of American culture, what scares and what satisfies is revealed by Ali as saying so much more.
~Rafia Zakaria, author of The Upstairs Wife: An Intimate History of Pakistan
…Ali’s book shows the rich possibilities of analysis that crime fiction offers its readers.
~Heta Pyrhönen, Clues
In each chapter, Ali displays a sure command of Robb’s oeuvre, of relevant popular romance scholarship, and of contemporary debates among readers. She avoids both dense academic jargon and fannish minutia, creating an accessible text for educated lay readers and a compelling one for scholars of popular romance fiction who do not share her encyclopedic knowledge of all 15,000 or so pages of the In Death books.
~Jessica Miller, The Journal of Popular Romance Studies / Popular Romance Project
Written both for fans of Robb’s popular fiction as well as scholars, Ali uses accessible prose to evaluate how the novelist engages with gender, race, and class in works that centre on crime and justice, but also attend to courtship and marriage. Thus, Ali argues that the central romance betweenprotagonist Eve Dallas and her love interest-turned-husband Roarke falls in line with popular feminist engagement with idealized notions of masculinity that promote dominance and virility.
~The Year's Work in English Studies
