As if recovering from heart surgery beneath the gaze of his over-protective family wasn’t exasperating enough, someone keeps trying to break into A...
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reviews
Oct 05, 2011
Mel
rated it: 
The Dark Tide is the final book in the Adrien English Mysteries by Josh Lanyon and I'm so sad it's over. But I have to say: I'm glad Lanyon stopped the story where he did. Eventhough I'd like to see much more of Adrien and the people in his life, it's better to leave us wanting more.
This book had the same ingredients as Lanyon's other stories: good, engaging, witty writing with humor and heart. It wasn't my favorite in the series though, but the rating (4,5 stars) is more based on t More...
This book had the same ingredients as Lanyon's other stories: good, engaging, witty writing with humor and heart. It wasn't my favorite in the series though, but the rating (4,5 stars) is more based on t More...
33 comments
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(9 people liked it)
Dec 07, 2011
Lauraadriana
rated it: 
Can a book emotionally torture you while you are loving every word? Yes it can...Like the first four I loved this fifth book in the Adrien English series. My first thought as I read the last line was..."Please someone tell me he is writing a sixth one".
In this book, two years have gone by since we first met Adrien and Jake. Jake has come out of the closet, filed for divorce and left the police force. He wants Adrien, but Adrien has just had heart surgery and is unsure of w More...
In this book, two years have gone by since we first met Adrien and Jake. Jake has come out of the closet, filed for divorce and left the police force. He wants Adrien, but Adrien has just had heart surgery and is unsure of w More...
18 comments
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(6 people liked it)
Oct 04, 2011
Tara
rated it:
When a series is this good you want it to end before it starts to suck and you want it to continue forever because you love it. This is the 5th story in the Adrien English series and finally I felt like the things that needed to be said were said, at least between Adrien & Jake. I see such potential for stories about them, and maybe that's the way it should be left. However, after a dedicated search I found a post from Josh Lanyon himself that says that maybe, tentatively and Adrien with an
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0 comments
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(3 people liked it)
Aug 08, 2011
Trix
rated it:
Wow, what an ending!
Let's get the bad things out of the way: the reason why I rated this only 4 stars was because the case was too convoluted and it was hard working my way through the list of possible suspects to try and determine the real culprit. Don't get me wrong, that should be a good trait in a mystery book but in this particular case, it bugged me. That and the up and downs in Adrien and Jake's relationship.
Maybe I was too focused on Jake and Adrien to try to make More...
Let's get the bad things out of the way: the reason why I rated this only 4 stars was because the case was too convoluted and it was hard working my way through the list of possible suspects to try and determine the real culprit. Don't get me wrong, that should be a good trait in a mystery book but in this particular case, it bugged me. That and the up and downs in Adrien and Jake's relationship.
Maybe I was too focused on Jake and Adrien to try to make More...
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(1 person liked it)
Jan 14, 2012
Lou
rated it:
The best thing about Lanyon's books in general is the consistent tautness of the prose. There are no lulls and slow spots, and it'll sweep you along. The dialogs crackle with the electricity of all things unsaid.
The protagonists of the Adrien English mysteries, Adrien and Jake are immensely addictive. Their push-and-pull dynamic is the backbone of all five books. Naturally, there's a lot of emotional business, but Lanyon handles it without falling into sentimentality. While every bo More...
The protagonists of the Adrien English mysteries, Adrien and Jake are immensely addictive. Their push-and-pull dynamic is the backbone of all five books. Naturally, there's a lot of emotional business, but Lanyon handles it without falling into sentimentality. While every bo More...
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(1 person liked it)
Jan 23, 2012
Japina
rated it:
This is my first goodreads review write-up, and I normally wouldn't even bother to write one but this series prompted me to do so. I've never in my life blitzed through a story so much as the last 2 in this series, to find out what happened with Adrien and Jake (so this review kind of pertains to the whole series, which is a definite 5 stars for me).
<spoiler>When I found out about Paul and the freaking five-year affair, I felt physically sick and so damn mad, and I wanted to ta More...
<spoiler>When I found out about Paul and the freaking five-year affair, I felt physically sick and so damn mad, and I wanted to ta More...
Jan 02, 2012
Jennifer
rated it:
Ok, last book in the series and it was really good. I was outdone and angry after reading book 4. This book helped me get over it.
I'm not gonna say that Jake redeemed himself in the end. I feel like he did a lot of really stupid, selfish things. I understand some about why he did them, but I couldn't forgive him as easily as Adrien did. I will say, that if I had been able to get his POV, I would probably be more sympathetic and understanding. Seeing Jake only through Adrien's sometimes More...
I'm not gonna say that Jake redeemed himself in the end. I feel like he did a lot of really stupid, selfish things. I understand some about why he did them, but I couldn't forgive him as easily as Adrien did. I will say, that if I had been able to get his POV, I would probably be more sympathetic and understanding. Seeing Jake only through Adrien's sometimes More...
5 comments
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(2 people liked it)
Apr 07, 2011
ALPHAreader
rated it:
This is the last book in Josh Lanyon’s ‘Adrien English’ series (*tear*).
A lot has changed since the events of ‘Death of a Pirate King’. It’s only been five weeks in the series timeline, but Adrien is recovering from open-heart surgery and Jake Riordan has retired from the force and come out of the closet. Jake has made it obvious that he wants a relationship with Adrien now that everything is out in the open – but Adrien is still recovering from the war wounds Jake inflicted two years More...
A lot has changed since the events of ‘Death of a Pirate King’. It’s only been five weeks in the series timeline, but Adrien is recovering from open-heart surgery and Jake Riordan has retired from the force and come out of the closet. Jake has made it obvious that he wants a relationship with Adrien now that everything is out in the open – but Adrien is still recovering from the war wounds Jake inflicted two years More...
10 comments
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(4 people liked it)
Nov 28, 2010
Indigene
rated it:
Myth has it that Adrien’s art deco period building houses more than his bookstore and flat in the form of an unsolved mystery - the disappearance of 1950s jazz musician Jay Stevens. But myth becomes stark reality when construction workers find a skeleton beneath the floorboards during the renovation of Adrien’s bookstore, and all evidence points to the fact that these remains are those of Jay Stevens and that he was murdered some fifty years ago. To further complicate matters, someone has been t
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0 comments
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(3 people liked it)
Oct 20, 2010
Lightreads
rated it:
We all have our coping mechanisms. For the past week, mine entailed total submersion in the scary scary world of published gay romance. I am just starting to emerge again, and for the first time in five years, I’m not going to review everything I read. I’m not sure I remember everything I read.
I remember this series. Just a few degrees off from cozy mysteries about a bookstore owner who sometimes solves crime, with occasional steamy gay interludes. I’ve been reading on autopilot, lik More...
I remember this series. Just a few degrees off from cozy mysteries about a bookstore owner who sometimes solves crime, with occasional steamy gay interludes. I’ve been reading on autopilot, lik More...
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(10 people liked it)
Apr 26, 2010
P.A.
rated it:
This was a wonderful, and sad, end to the Adrien English story. I have loved each of these books and watched them improve with each addition. Adrien is a strong character who falls in love with an even stronger man, Jake Riordan, a deeply closeted cop who falls hard for Adrien but hates every minute of it. He fights hard to keep his secrets over the 4 books and the struggle is a realistic one, perhaps more realistic than many cops coming out of the closet books are. In the same way Adrien is mor
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(4 people liked it)
Dec 29, 2009
thelastaerie
rated it:
Maybe Lanyon could write another non-fiction book on "how to wrap up a successful series", because this is how it should be done. Nicely wrapped up, but still leaving readers wanting for more, leaving on a high note. The relationship story arc of the series has always been the centre point and fans won't be disappointed with this final book - lots of relationship/romance in it, but as always, Lanyon wovens the mystery plot smartly into it, the relationship and the mystery plot develo
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0 comments
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(2 people liked it)
Dec 22, 2009
Jenre
rated it:
The Dark Tide picks up a few weeks after the end of The Death of a Pirate King. Adrien is recovering from a combined bullet removal/heart surgery and is pleased to get back to some normalcy, whilst also frustrated at the weakness he still feels. When a fifty year old skeleton is discovered during the renovations to his bookshop, Adrien becomes convinced it is linked to a series of recent attempted break-ins. He calls on Jake, who now runs a PI business to find out who is trying to get into hi
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(10 people liked it)
Jan 10, 2011
J. Rosemary
rated it:
This is the most satisfying series finale I've ever read. Adrien and Jake have both grown up, and they're ready (if not entirely willing) to confront their past and maybe the possibility of a shared future.
Adrien is on an emotional roller-coaster after his heart surgery; he's stunned that he might live a normal lifespan after all, and he's not sure what he wants at this point. Jake is dealing with the fallout from coming out of the closet, his failed marriage, and his abrupt resignatio More...
Adrien is on an emotional roller-coaster after his heart surgery; he's stunned that he might live a normal lifespan after all, and he's not sure what he wants at this point. Jake is dealing with the fallout from coming out of the closet, his failed marriage, and his abrupt resignatio More...
0 comments
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(1 person liked it)
Jan 02, 2010
Tiffany
rated it:
It is 3:40am and here I am typing away on my laptop writing a review for a series I just finished reading. I should have packed it up and called it a night as the girls will no doubt be pestering me for breakfast bright and early, but the last book of the Adrien English series was so perfect, so sigh worthy that I absolutely had to get my thoughts out before I could fall asleep.
I started this series not knowing what to expect. It came highly recommended by Smexybooks and she has never stee More...
I started this series not knowing what to expect. It came highly recommended by Smexybooks and she has never stee More...
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(2 people liked it)
Nov 01, 2011
Librarian
rated it:
I love this series. And I'm really, really not a fan of murder mysteries for various reasons. But I love the way Josh Lanyon paces the relationship between Adrien and Jake between the five books, and I love the supporting characters and the way the reader can see how Adrien's ability to let people into his life changes through the series. Makes it worth putting up with all the dead bodies and "oh, no, Adrien, don't be so reckless...AGAIN".
In some ways I think Jake reminds m More...
In some ways I think Jake reminds m More...
May 30, 2011
Bee
rated it:
The perfect ending of a wonderful series. This fifth and final book in the series ties all loose ends together; plotlines and characters all come full circle. It provides a intriguing final adventure for Adrien and Jake and gives the reader a satisfying end.
Three weeks have passed since the last book and Adrien is slowly recovering from the events. Everyone around him is babying him and the feeling of having to depend on everyone else is slowly driving him insane, his family means wel More...
Three weeks have passed since the last book and Adrien is slowly recovering from the events. Everyone around him is babying him and the feeling of having to depend on everyone else is slowly driving him insane, his family means wel More...
Apr 15, 2011
John
rated it:
Delightful, actually. The film-noir atmosphere of the novel is something I enjoy steeping in, and here it's subtly well done. In some respects another body so soon after the conclusion of the previous story took a little suspended belief, yet twenty pages later I didn't give it a second thought. It's a little like realizing that your mother had successfully camouflaged the spinach and you'd swallowed it without complaint.
But, two things set The Dark Tide apart from the pack for me. More...
But, two things set The Dark Tide apart from the pack for me. More...
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(3 people liked it)
Feb 05, 2012
Ashley
rated it:
It's been a while since I devoured a series like I did this one, and I thought it was wonderful. Lanyon has a knack for creating multi-layered and complex characters, and even the side characters have depth and experience character growth. But the greatest part of this series for me is the relationship between Adrien and Jake, which we get to see through all its ups and downs over the course of five books (so far). It's really beautifully-executed. Well done without being overwrought. As far as
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Dec 27, 2009
Mandi
rated it:
The fifth and final book of the Adrien English Mystery Series *SOB*. It is always hard when a series ends for me, especially one so beloved as this one. It was exciting to read the final book to see where Adrien and Jake end up, and to reflect on their journey in the series and Josh Lanyon gave them a goodbye that they much deserved.
I picked up Fatal Shadows, the first book in this series, on a whim one day. It is only 150 pages and I read it all in one sitting. I still remember read More...
I picked up Fatal Shadows, the first book in this series, on a whim one day. It is only 150 pages and I read it all in one sitting. I still remember read More...
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(6 people liked it)
Aug 10, 2011
Angel
rated it:
Ah, well. All good things must come to an end. As always, I loved visiting with Adrien and Jake for a snippet of their lives.
You'd think that a decades old mystery, one where most of the principles should be dead or geriatrics by now, would be safe for Adrien to go poking into. Not so, of course, with a motley crew of old rivalries and love affairs gone wrong attached to his bookstore's skeleton under the floorboards.
I thoroughly enjoyed the set up of what, at first, app More...
You'd think that a decades old mystery, one where most of the principles should be dead or geriatrics by now, would be safe for Adrien to go poking into. Not so, of course, with a motley crew of old rivalries and love affairs gone wrong attached to his bookstore's skeleton under the floorboards.
I thoroughly enjoyed the set up of what, at first, app More...
2 comments
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(1 person liked it)
Jan 13, 2011
Beanbag
rated it:
I'm giving this a five although the ending almost lost it a star. The series as a whole is so wonderful, though, I had to round it up.
Why didn't I like the ending? Because this is, apparently, the last book of the series. It ends very abruptly and leaves a lot hanging that I'd like to know about. In fact, there was one huge thing that I thought definitely needed to be dealt with but the book was over.
As a romance reader, I need my epilogue or my Chapter of Contentedness. More...
Why didn't I like the ending? Because this is, apparently, the last book of the series. It ends very abruptly and leaves a lot hanging that I'd like to know about. In fact, there was one huge thing that I thought definitely needed to be dealt with but the book was over.
As a romance reader, I need my epilogue or my Chapter of Contentedness. More...
4 comments
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(3 people liked it)
May 20, 2010
Lisa
rated it:
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
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(5 people liked it)
May 11, 2011
Kez
rated it:
I'm both relieved and saddened that this appears to be the last book in the Adrien English series. Relieved because I can tell myself that finally I get my happily-ever-after and Adrien and Jake have reached the point where they are able to have a mature adult relationship in which they admit their love for each other to themselves and to the wider world. I'm sad because it means no more of Adrien's snarky humour and fabulous dramatic gestures. Of course this does leave Lanyon free to create
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Feb 13, 2011
Graceful-Hippo
rated it:
When Adrien finds a decades-old corpse boarded up under his floor, he just can't bring himself to leave it for the police to solve alone. So he turns to Jake, who's out of the closet now and working as a P.I. For the first time, it seems like these two have a chance to build a lasting relationship. But only if they can come to terms with their past.
Adrien and Jake track down witnesses in this cold case, keeping me guessing until the end. At the same time, they try to figure out wher More...
Adrien and Jake track down witnesses in this cold case, keeping me guessing until the end. At the same time, they try to figure out wher More...
Feb 05, 2012
Kade
rated it:
Holy sh*t! I SUCK at reviews but my emotional response to this book/series is too overwhelming not to come sing the praise. I just read thru this entire series over the weekend and I have to say the final scene in this book where Adrien grieves for Jake's self-tortured life was one of the most powerful endings to a series I've read and above and beyond what I could have asked for. It's like after a long LONG and heartbreaking journey they found home and it fell into place. It wasn't pretty, it w
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Dec 20, 2011
Alli
rated it:
I started this book last evening, read until I couldn't keep my eyes open, woke in the middle of the night thinking about it, then got up @ 530am so I could finish. An AWESOME series.
JL, if you're listening: I'd love to see a glimpse of Adrien & Jake's life together, against all objections, fully out as a couple & in love. Just one more book...:D
JL, if you're listening: I'd love to see a glimpse of Adrien & Jake's life together, against all objections, fully out as a couple & in love. Just one more book...:D
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Apr 15, 2011
Endless
rated it:
Firstly, i really need to get this out of the way - i am pampered! And Josh Lanyon's writing did that. It's taken me a while before i could pick up another mm romance to read... Your writing is commendable Mr. Lanyon, kudos! I've had to give quite a bit of a break in between books to able to completely savor this last installment of the Adrien English series.
This entire series has been a very bitter sweet journey for me. The mysteries in book #3 and #4 did not hold my interest...i am More...
This entire series has been a very bitter sweet journey for me. The mysteries in book #3 and #4 did not hold my interest...i am More...
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(3 people liked it)
Jun 07, 2010
Nikki
rated it:
I loved this book so much. Don't read it without having read the rest of the series, because it won't pack the right emotional punch. When you have read the whole series, it's awesome -- achey and breaky and then patching you up. The mystery itself definitely took a back seat to watching Adrien's recovery, and Jake's new life, and even Adrien's family. It all works out perfectly -- as perfectly as it can, anyway.
The mystery itself is nothing to sniff at -- I cared about this one, too More...
The mystery itself is nothing to sniff at -- I cared about this one, too More...
Jan 21, 2012
Sandra
rated it:
I love this fucking series, could NOT put it down! This is one of those times where I want more more MORE, but at the same time I'm relieved the series is over because I can get on with my life and the knowledge that my beloved characters have lived happily ever after. Although it ended well I would definitely have appreciated an epilogue, maybe of the Christmas in London since it was mentioned a few times <spoiler>because I would have loved the chance to see a little of the "After"
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