Adrien English series challenge #2: A Dangerous Thing

[Ame]

Wasn't he just surprised that this really was enough for Adrien? "Normal" sex was enough for him, he orgasmed which I think took Jake by surprise at how responsive he was.

[Rosa]

Johanna wrote: "Mymymble wrote: "Stranger Things Have Happened is like Josh doing fanfics on Josh. As well as an adventure book. I wish we were discussing that too, but we'd hit Christmas."

When [book:Stranger Th..."

I feel envious right now. That Hangout must have been epic!!! ;-)
I'm up to discuss that one anytime :-D

[Kirsten]

I have a question about the end of the mystery: At one point Adrien is stung by a wasp when he discovers Harvey's body in the cave, and scratching it triggers something in his memory, a clue to the mystery. Was that ever explained? I don't remember anyone else being stung and the only connection I can remember is that the deputy sheriff was scratching the back of his neck a few times. It made me think he was involved in the crime for a bit. I thought the idea would be that the culprit got stung too, when leaving Harvey's body. Did I miss something, was someone else stung? Was the wasp sting a clue or just a colorful detail?

[Calathea]

Kirsten wrote: "I have a question about the end of the mystery: At one point Adrien is stung by a wasp when he discovers Harvey's body in the cave, and scratching it triggers something in his memory, a clue to the..."

That was my reasoning too. But I can't remember anybody else with wasp stings. Or it was in the very beginning and I missed it (all 12 times I read the book... it is possible, though^^).

[Calathea]

Rosa wrote: "Johanna wrote: "Mymymble wrote: "Stranger Things Have Happened is like Josh doing fanfics on Josh. As well as an adventure book. I wish we were discussing that too, but we'd hit Christmas."

When [..."

Lots of beaming faces. :-)

[Linda ~ they got the mustard out! ~]

Maybe the snake bite he almost got? I don't know either.

[Jordan]

No one else got stung that I know of. I paid extra attention to that since you'd asked. I'm wondering about that memory too.

I do love the ending as Jake hugs Adrien and calls him Baby in front of Melissa, whom I never really liked. And the fact that Adrien was making deals with God just to ensure Jake survived, even if he didn't. Now that's love, even if the word wasn't mentioned. Warm fuzzies. This is why I like this particular book, and have listened to it many times. Well, this, and all the near misses they've both had. Adrien's nightmare in the hospital.... There's so much being said here without plain English being used. :-)

[Johanna]

Ame wrote: "Wasn't he just surprised that this really was enough for Adrien? "Normal" sex was enough for him, he orgasmed which I think took Jake by surprise at how responsive he was."

Elena wrote: "I actually took it quite literally, like Jake was asking if it was enough for Adrien or he needed something different in bed."

This was also my interpretation.

[Johanna]

Kirsten wrote: "I have a question about the end of the mystery: At one point Adrien is stung by a wasp when he discovers Harvey's body in the cave, and scratching it triggers something in his memory, a clue to the..."

Interesting! I never paid much attention to this (other than noticing Adrien making some kind of connection while scratching). Now I feel like I need to go back searching for that clue! I'm not sure if I should thank you for that or not, Kirsten! :-D

[Kirsten]

Johanna wrote: "Interesting! I never paid much attention to this (other than noticing Adrien making some kind of connection while scratching). Now I feel like I need to go back searching for that clue! I'm not sure if I should thank you for that or not, Kirsten! :-D..."

Heheheh. Sorry! I might go pack and see if either of the archeologists were scratching at that dinner party or any point earlier and I missed it, or it might just be one of those unsolved details.

[Kirsten]

Calathea wrote: "That was my reasoning too. But I can't remember anybody else with wasp stings. Or it was in the very beginning and I missed it (all 12 times I read the book... it is possible, though^^)...."

LOL! This is only my first reread since I discovered the series many years ago, so the details are fuzzy to me. I just remember liking Death of a Pirate King best, so I am in that group who really liked that book, but I can't remember exactly why. I am also rather fond of Lisa! :)

[Kirsten]

Jordan wrote: "No one else got stung that I know of. I paid extra attention to that since you'd asked. I'm wondering about that memory too.

I do love the ending as Jake hugs Adrien and calls him Baby in front o..."

I really like to know the thought processes that lead to solving the mystery, so this dangling thread bothers me! I may just have to live with it though. :)

[Johanna]

Kirsten wrote: "Heheheh. Sorry! I might go pack and see if either of the archeologists were scratching at that dinner party or any point earlier and I missed it, or it might just be one of those unsolved details."

Well, yeah, the dinner scene came to my mind first. Or maybe the pages where Marquez takes them around the camp?

[Josh]

Kirsten wrote: "Jordan wrote: "No one else got stung that I know of. I paid extra attention to that since you'd asked. I'm wondering about that memory too.

I do love the ending as Jake hugs Adrien and calls him ..."

It does have to do with being stung by a wasp and the realization that the killer must have been in that cave. But the exact details are now sketchy because *clears throat nervously* I don't remember that book very well. :-D

[Karen]

I think the connections are here:

“This doesn’t make sense,” Dr. Marquez said, slowly scratching what appeared to be an impressive hickey on his throat.
— excerpt from Adrien's first visit to the archeologist's camp (p. 33, Just Joshin/Kindle Edition)

I treated myself to a long soak in the claw-foot hot tub, doctored up my yellow jacket bite, which was now an unattractive red welt…
— back at the ranch after Adrien has discovered the body in the cave (p. 170, Just Joshin/Kindle Edition)

I was absently scratching the yellow jacket bite on my hand as I read this, and as I stared down at the welt, a light bulb — metaphorically speaking — went off. Granted, it was an idea that probably should have lit the echoing corridors of my empty brain before now. The first clue had been right under my eyes that very first day.
— (p. 207, Just Joshin/Kindle Edition)

[Elena]

Good work, Karen!

[Kirsten]

Karen wrote: "I think the connections are here:

“This doesn’t make sense,” Dr. Marquez said, slowly scratching what appeared to be an impressive hickey on his throat.
— excerpt from Adrien's first visit to the ..."


Aha! a light bulb — metaphorically speaking — went off. Thank you for solving that mystery, Karen!

I probably put that bit down to Dr. Marquez having an affair with one of the students, since that would be the typical plotline. Josh's more complex plotting went right over my head!

[Johanna]

Karen wrote: "I think the connections are here:

“This doesn’t make sense,” Dr. Marquez said, slowly scratching what appeared to be an impressive hickey on his throat.
— excerpt from Adrien's first visit to the ..."

Well done, Karen! Yes, that's definitely it, right there! Impressive hickey! :-D

[Calathea]

Karen wrote: "I think the connections are here:

“This doesn’t make sense,” Dr. Marquez said, slowly scratching what appeared to be an impressive hickey on his throat.
— excerpt from Adrien's first visit to the ..."

That one has eagle eyes! Wow. I never made the connection.
Thanks, Karen!

[Teal]

Karen wrote: "I think the connections are here:

“This doesn’t make sense,” Dr. Marquez said, slowly scratching what appeared to be an impressive hickey on his throat.
— excerpt from Adrien's first visit to the ..."

I thought I was reading so carefully, but I totally missed that! Thanks!

[Rosa]

Karen wrote: "I think the connections are here:

“This doesn’t make sense,” Dr. Marquez said, slowly scratching what appeared to be an impressive hickey on his throat.
— excerpt from Adrien's first visit to the ..."

OMG!! Love this!! Thank you for sharing it with us! I have re-read the series twice and I didn't do the connection. It's really amazing how the little clues are left behind :)

[Teal]

This book dealt me a couple of gut punches, the first in a devastating series of blows that just keep coming in books 3 and 4.

Specifically:

1. Adrien calls Jake at home in the early morning and hears a woman in bed with him.

Honestly, I felt this in my gut. It left me distraught, winded, agitated.

2. And this:
“So why don’t you get married?”
He said finally, “I plan to.”

Run, Adrien, you idiot! Jake couldn’t possibly be telling you any more clearly what the future holds!
~~~

More gut punches await in THYS and DOAPK... And they get increasingly brutal as the story proceeds.

So many of the books I’ve encountered with a romance plot/subplot wallow in manufactured angst and faux drama. But Josh reliably delivers the real thing in the sharpest, most economical (and most painful) way possible.

[Elena]

Teal wrote: “1. Adrien calls Jake at home in the early morning and hears a woman in bed with him.

Honestly, I felt this in my gut. It left me distraught, winded, agitated.”

I felt exactly the same way, Teal, the first time at least, it was such an eye-opener on the situation. When I re-read I know it’s coming, but it doesn’t make it any more fun.

Teal wrote: “Run, Adrien, you idiot! Jake couldn’t possibly be telling you any more clearly what the future holds!“

I said something similar earlier in this thread, but that’s kind of the point, Adrien couldn’t run. At this point it was already too late, he had left LA at the beginning of the book because he knew he had fallen in love with Jake and there was no future in it.

If you think about it, Adrien was in an awful position.
On a certain level he knew it would end in disaster, though he hoped Jake would come to accept his nature before doing something too drastic, but he was in love so every time Jake came after him he couldn’t say no.

Teal wrote: “More gut punches await in THYS and DOAPK... And they get increasingly brutal as the story proceeds.

So many of the books I’ve encountered with a romance plot/subplot wallow in manufactured angst and faux drama. But Josh reliably delivers the real thing in the sharpest, most economical (and most painful) way possible.“

Yes, Josh is on another level.
Many authors would have found an easy “out” for the pregnancy/marriage situation before Jake went through with it, but it wouldn’t have been true to Jake’s character and where he was in life at the point.
He needed to reach the bottom before he could come back up. And we needed to suffer with him and Adrien, apparently. :D

[Jordan]

Karen wrote: "I think the connections are here:

“This doesn’t make sense,” Dr. Marquez said, slowly scratching what appeared to be an impressive hickey on his throat.
— excerpt from Adrien's first visit to the ..."

RIGHT.

Oh, Karen, you're good.

I didn't put two and two together. And I had heard his comment about the clue on day one, and I didn't remember what it was.

Thanks!

[Teal]

Elena wrote: "Many authors would have found an easy “out” for the pregnancy/marriage situation before Jake went through with it, but it wouldn’t have been true to Jake’s character and where he was in life at the point.
He needed to reach the bottom before he could come back up."

At this point in the story I really wanted Adrien to bail not just for his own sake, but for Jake's. Because it was obvious there was no way Jake could end up with Adrien without being totally destroyed on the way. A bomb would be dropped on his family relationships and his career. He'd be stripped of his lifelong hopes and dreams -- stripped of everything that had mattered to him for 40 years. How could Adrien be worth that?

While I wasn't feeling any love for Jake at this point, still it was dreadful to think of the destruction awaiting him. So I wanted Adrien to run, and Jake to go live his little fake hetero life.

Lucky for for all of us I didn't get my wish, eh? :)

[Elena]

Teal wrote: "So I wanted Adrien to run, and Jake to go live his little fake hetero life."

Which he kind of did later and it ended up "destroying" him in a different, but not less painful, way.
Jake had been living what he thought he always wanted, kids excluded, for almost two years at the beginning of DoaPK and I think he was more unhappy than ever.

[Teal]

Hey, look what I found:

Kind of a drag if the last words I heard on earth were Jake's "I told you so."

It won't be the last time Adrien has that thought!

[Elena]

Mymymble wrote: Mind you, I think Jake would have found monogamy with Kate very difficult, being gay."

That's what I meant when I said his "half dream" come true was still destroying him, in a different way. He hadn't accepted a big part of himself.
Leaving aside Adrien, who was "only" the one who made Jake realize he could have a relationship with a man beyond sex, I don't think Jake would have been able to stay away from the clubs even if he and Kate didn't lose the baby.
He could have been a terrific and happy father, but the need that drove him to go to the clubs would have been still there.

[Josh]

Karen wrote: "I think the connections are here:

“This doesn’t make sense,” Dr. Marquez said, slowly scratching what appeared to be an impressive hickey on his throat.
— excerpt from Adrien's first visit to the ..."

There we go! I knew there was method in my madness.

[Josh]

Teal wrote: "This book dealt me a couple of gut punches, the first in a devastating series of blows that just keep coming in books 3 and 4.

Specifically:

1. Adrien calls Jake at home in the early morning and ..."

Thank you. I think that's a lovely compliment. :-)

[Linda ~ they got the mustard out! ~]

Finally relistening to this one one. Listened to the part about Kevin bringing See's candies to Adrien. I'd forgotten that! And Jake "I hate chocolate" eating nearly the whole box. *snerk*

Also got to the part where they're in the diner and Jake gets touchy about what he thinks is Adrien implying he's fat. It makes me wonder. Obviously, a lot of Jake's hold ups with his physical appearance are making sure he's "manly" enough to not be mistaken as gay. But I also have to wonder, since being overweight is very much not a gay stereotype but being a USDA prime beefcake is, if Jake did have weight issues when he was younger. Maybe he was on the chunky side growing up? Maybe he was feeling self-conscious about this chocolate dinner the night before.

[Johanna]

Linda ~ chock full of hoot, just a little bit of nanny ~ wrote: "Finally relistening to this one one. Listened to the part about Kevin bringing See's candies to Adrien. I'd forgotten that! And Jake "I hate chocolate" eating nearly the whole box. *snerk*"

:-D :-D :-D

[Linda ~ they got the mustard out! ~]

Listened to the part this morning about Adrien getting annoyed with the main character for his book and wondering if he can kill him off halfway through. I have to ask now if Josh has ever actually wanted to do this and with which character(s). :D