The Big Dangerous Ground Re-Read!

[Josh]

Loretta wrote: "I checked back in my Amazon purchases. I read H&M in late January 2012, but I was reading the Dangerous Ground series by Valentine's Day. I don't remember how I chose the order to read. I just knew..."

I WILL NEVER LIVE DOWN THAT CLOWN COVER.

:-D

[Johanna]

Calathea wrote: "Given that this is a Josh Lanyon book/series, do you think we are given incomplete information by the characters' flawed POV?"

Yes. Absolutely. And that's one of the reasons I love Josh's books so much. I like my characters unreliable. And stubborn. :-D

[KC]

Calathea wrote: "...characters' flawed POV?"

It's great when characters feel like real people, and getting to know these characters as their lives unfold. Learning something about them, forming an opinion, then getting that opinion challenged, and adjusting, taking in the new information, and so on. It makes them feel more real. It takes quite a while to really get to know someone, and get to really like them and care about them, a balance of things, both good and not so good, since no one's perfect. And sometimes a certain kind of feeling accumulates, but then the characters talk eventually, and things are out in the open, and we can move on to their next adventure, both the car-chase kind and the emotional kind.
But i think in general, i like a mix of predictability and unpredictability in characters. I need to know i can count on certain characteristics, while taking into account that they are independent creatures, after all. As it were.

[Johanna]

KC wrote: "Calathea wrote: "...characters' flawed POV?"

It's great when characters feel like real people, and getting to know these characters as their lives unfold. Learning something about them, forming an..."

So well said, KC! Yes, yes, yes. :-)

[Johanna]

I've been listening to Old Poison today. That birthday present Will gives Tay -- awwww! And the card. Adorable. :-)

[Johanna]

What other memorable Old Poison moments have stuck with you guys?

[Teal]

Johanna wrote: "What other memorable Old Poison moments have stuck with you guys?"

The most memorable for me is when Taylor's kidnappers are talking about mutilating him -- and he's afraid not just for himself, but for how that will affect Will.

[Karen]

I finally finished reading/listening to Dangerous Ground today (started and then back-burnered due to home projects and Numb3rs marathon).

I came back to an idea I had about how the stories in this series are like television episodes (possibly due to a Numb3rs overdose). I can almost imagine the placement of commercial breaks. And that DG ending is classic Lanyon, and also quite a bit like best kind of television mystery/police procedurals — ending "Dangerous Ground" with "solid ground." Well, not as solid as the guys may think. :)

I'm going to follow along with book-by-book comments, probably going back to cite rather than forward. It's been awhile since I've read this series and I've read 4 and 5 a lot fewer times than 1-3.

[Kirsten]

I hardly remembered anything from my first read of Old Poison, except the part with Will driving back and forth from the Valley to San Diego to work with David Bradley. I remember marveling at the travel time-- because I think Josh severely underestimated that commute. =P

[Jordan]

As a new dog owner, I kept worrying about the dog and whether someone was taking care of him at times when Will was gone and Riley didn't get a mention. Lol.

[Karen]

Mymymble wrote: "Karen wrote: "I finally finished reading/listening to Dangerous Ground today (started and then back-burnered due to home projects and Numb3rs marathon).

I came back to an idea I had..."

Yeah, that was a perfect Josh touch (and TV moment). :)

[K.]

Jordan wrote: "As a new dog owner, I kept worrying about the dog and whether someone was taking care of him at times when Will was gone and Riley didn't get a mention. Lol."

Another reason to dislike Will. Bad dog owner...taking a dog, while knowing that he is likely going to be sent to somewhere away from home because of his job! That's not OK. People abbandoning their pets is definetly something that I seriously dislike.

Thanks for pointing out more Will's flaws... :D

[Trio]

Will Fan *shakes fist*

[Linda ~ they got the mustard out! ~]

Trio wrote: "Will Fan *shakes fist*"

*shakes fists too* Leave Will alone!

[KC]

But Will doesn't abandon the dog, nor is he planning to. And people move around for jobs and take their pets with them all the time. So being upset with him for something he's unlikely to do seems a bit unfair to poor Will...

[Jordan]

lol, I wasn't thinking necessarily of him leaving Riley to go to Paris. Though if he's going to be gone so long, why not take the dog with him? I would have tried to, I think.

But, during Old Poison, he spends a night away, and later on he's rushing to Taylor's aid late at night... it's the littler things. I honestly think it worked out fine. But there were a few moments where my brain went "hey! the dog! What happened with the dog? oh, I guess Riley was taken care of." lol.

[Linda ~ they got the mustard out! ~]

Dogs can be left alone, or Will would never be able to go to work. ;)

[Jordan]

Yes, but not all day and then all night as well.

[Jordan]

Ok, just finished up the Paris vacation/assignment. I had no problems the way a lot of you seemed to, though the ending with Will not talking about the job offer for Taylor did surprise and irk me a bit.

Otherwise, the only thing that bothered me was the bickering in the beginning, but that's only because stuff like that makes me uncomfortable and wanting to leave the room. Which can't happen when the argument follows me in my headphones. Lol. This probably just means Josh did a stellar job with them. :-)

[Johanna]

Teal wrote: "Johanna wrote: "What other memorable Old Poison moments have stuck with you guys?"

The most memorable for me is when Taylor's kidnappers are talking about mutilating him -- and he's afraid not jus..."

Oh, yes. That's certainly memorable.

[Johanna]

Karen wrote: "I came back to an idea I had about how the stories in this series are like television episodes (possibly due to a Numb3rs overdose). I can almost imagine the placement of commercial breaks."

LOL about the commercial breaks! :-D

[Johanna]

Karen wrote: "I'm going to follow along with book-by-book comments, probably going back to cite rather than forward. It's been awhile since I've read this series and I've read 4 and 5 a lot fewer times than 1-3."

Either these are fast to listen to or I've been doing a lot of gardening lately, but I already finished Blood Heat today and now I feel like I have to pace myself, because otherwise I forget what I want to say here!

[Johanna]

Mymymble wrote: "The murder of Varga, in the Halloween Jamie Lee Curtis walking through suburbia opening credits way. I can only think of one other book affected me similarly. It was a Stephen King (possibly Mr Mer..."

Somehow I had totally managed to forget what happened to Varga in the end!

[Johanna]

What I really like about Will is the fact that he's the voice of reason in this relationship. When Taylor, on the other hand, is more impulsive.

[Johanna]

Also, I thought that Will's encounters with Bradley were so well written in Old Poison. It was easy to understand Will's feelings about/for Bradley. To think that they had just started to become a real couple when Taylor was shot (the first time). And how it could have been really good between them if things had gone differently. I see Bradley as an easy, solid, secure and safe option for Will. Maybe the outcome of Bradley and Will's relationship wouldn't be better or worse than Taylor and Will's, just different.

I mean, do you guys ever ponder these things? How your life could be profoundly different if something along the way would have gone differently?

[Jordan]

Johanna wrote: "Mymymble wrote: "The murder of Varga, in the Halloween Jamie Lee Curtis walking through suburbia opening credits way. I can only think of one other book affected me similarly. It was a Stephen King..."

You too?! I was sure she was going to survive. Oiy, I've forgotten so much!

[Jordan]

Johanna wrote: "What I really like about Will is the fact that he's the voice of reason in this relationship. When Taylor, on the other hand, is more impulsive."

Until the end of book four though. Then I think Taylor becomes the voice of reason, at least for a bit.

[Johanna]

Jordan wrote: "Johanna wrote: "What I really like about Will is the fact that he's the voice of reason in this relationship. When Taylor, on the other hand, is more impulsive."

Until the end of book four though...."

Cool insight! I'm looking forward to this! :-)

[Jordan]

Johanna wrote: "Also, I thought that Will's encounters with Bradley were so well written in Old Poison. It was easy to understand Will's feelings about/for Bradley. To think that they had just started to become a ..."

I've sorta been thinking about this since finishing book four last night. Yeah, I do like Bradley, and feel kinda bad for him.

lol, I might be Team Bradley in all this.

[Johanna]

Mymymble wrote: "Although the more I heard from David the duller I found him, not as a written character but as an alternative partner for Will.
Reading your comment I thought about Jane Austen. So many of her heroines fall in love with the safe choice: Darcy, Bingham, Knightly. Only the young Ann Elliot doesn't and my, that turns out wrong. Maybe that's part of Austin's enduring appeal."

This is such an interesting observation! I never realized that about Jane Austen characters. How intriguing.

You're sending me to bed with a lot to ponder on, Mymymble. Thank you! :-)

[Johanna]

Jordan wrote: "lol, I might be Team Bradley in all this."

Ha! :-D

[Teal]

Mymymble wrote: "I thought about Jane Austen. So many of her heroines fall in love with the safe choice: Darcy, Bingham, Knightly. Only the young Ann Elliot doesn't and my, that turns out wrong...."

Ha! My favorite (and only) Austen fantasy is having Fanny Price give in to the pressure to marry Henry Crawford... and then fall in love with him. Instead, boringly proper Fanny ends up with boringly safe Edmund and that's why I don't like Mansfield Park!

[Teal]

Jordan wrote: "lol, I might be Team Bradley in all this..."

Wait a second, I object to the very concept of a Team Bradley!!! :D

[Jordan]

You guys are making me very glad Ive never read Jane Austen. Lol.

As for David... someone's gotta stick up for the guy. Might as well be me. At least for now. Yeah, in OP he did get on my nerves a bit. He was the one that wanted to kiss Will knowing Will was with Taylor. And that's a huge no-no in my book.

I do agree that he's too "tame" for Will though. But he'll find the right guy... eventually.

[Trio]

Johanna wrote: "Also, I thought that Will's encounters with Bradley were so well written in Old Poison. It was easy to understand Will's feelings about/for Bradley. To think that they had just started to become a ..."

absolutely! I agree Will and David would have been a good couple together. I love how they interacted and could definitely see why they were attracted to each other. (but I'm really glad he ended up with Taylor)

[Jordan]

No worries about spoilering Austen. It's been a matter of principle that I shan't ever do it, even if, or maybe because, most of the world is in love with her works and they don't sound like something I'd like.

Though I admit to being surprised in college when I actually enjoyed Bronte's Jane Eyre. I'm still not going to read Austen. :-P

[Teal]

Mymymble wrote: "Fanny was a twit as far as I remember! If it ended your way I might re-read it! Fanfic from you, Teal..."

Oh, I've thought of writing it. But the ending would be just the beginning for my fanfic... Let's just say my version would include a lot more hot sex than the original. ;)

[Karen]

Johanna wrote: "Either these are fast to listen to or I've been doing a lot of gardening lately,t..."

The audiobooks are short, compared to a lot of what we read or listen to. Dangerous Ground is a few minutes over 3 hours. Old Poison is about 3.5 hours, and Blood Heat is a few minutes under 3 hours. That still means you've been doing quite a bit of gardening. :)

I finished reading/listening to Old Poison tonight, and have a few thoughts to share.

One is being again amazed at how much story Josh packs into these novellas. I've read a lot of books this summer, and realize how spoiled I've become by Josh's skill of keeping even complex stories on track.

Think about how a few lines of dialogue between Taylor and Varga, coupled with his thoughts about working with her, manage to create a character the reader feels something for when she's killed.

Also, this reread really reinforced Josh's skill as a writer of intimate scenes. Remember those lines from Somebody Killed His Editor? ("... that spate of wet heat and snapping energy, a fireball blazing through nerves and muscles and razing everything in its path, setting the fields of gold on fire. Summer once more.)

Well, the mid-book passage with the Taylor driving analogy is also memorable and brilliant. It starts off with:
“Let's go. Move it or lose it.” Taylor chose to move it.
And ends with:
...he looked like the kind of guy who should be going to art museums and babbling about postmodernism, but he was a hard-nosed, hard-ass cop at heart. Taylor's tenderness always took him by surprise.

[Trio]

nice Karen :-)

[Calathea]

Johanna wrote: "What I really like about Will is the fact that he's the voice of reason in this relationship. When Taylor, on the other hand, is more impulsive."

*nodnod* That's how I see him too. :-)

[Calathea]

Jordan wrote: "
lol, I might be Team Bradley in all this. "

:-D :-D
Now that's a new perspective.

[Jordan]

Calathea wrote: "Jordan wrote: "
lol, I might be Team Bradley in all this. "

:-D :-D
Now that's a new perspective."

New perspectives must come along every now and then. Otherwise we get stale... and then we start to stink. lol. :-P

[Jordan]

Karen wrote: "Johanna wrote: "Either these are fast to listen to or I've been doing a lot of gardening lately,t..."

The audiobooks are short, compared to a lot of what we read or listen to. Dangerous Ground is ..."

YES!

Those lines really are beautiful and well done!

[Josh]

Karen wrote: "So, inspired by this thread, I began re-reading Dangerous Ground last night and re-listening. I remember that Josh did a reader sampler on her blog to get feedback on a narrator for..."

That is a very interesting observation, and I would actually concur. Adrian's voice and delivery is very much suited to -- and what you would expect -- for action-adventure. Derrick's reading is very different, so he might appeal more to the readers who didn't feel Adrian quite captured what they were looking for in the books.

It's going to be very interesting hearing reader feedback on this project.

[Josh]

Karen wrote: "Calathea wrote: "While Josh is writing the next installment in the adventures of Taylor and Will (otherwise known as Blind Side), let us have a big ol' re-read of the series, shall ..."

WHAT????

Where?! Did I do that??

[Josh]

Karen wrote: "Linda ~ chock full of hoot, just a little bit of nanny ~ wrote: "Speaking of covers, I really do prefer the older covers to the new ones. The old ones had a "mood" to them. The new ones have those ..."

Yes! Because neither guy looks even remotely like I picture Will and Taylor. :-D

[Josh]

Jordan wrote: "For a long time I never got that they were wearing sunglasses. They look like sleep masks to me! Which really doesn't make much sense, but there you go."

hahahahahahahahaha

[Josh]

Calathea wrote: "Karen wrote: "Calathea wrote: "While Josh is writing the next installment in the adventures of Taylor and Will (otherwise known as Blind Side), let us have a big ol' re-read of the ..."

Oh! I thought I'd listed them wrong on Amazon or something. :-D hahaha. That's nothing!

[Josh]

Loretta wrote: "I checked back in my Amazon purchases. I read H&M in late January 2012, but I was reading the Dangerous Ground series by Valentine's Day. I don't remember how I chose the order to read. I just knew..."

LOL I will never live down that clown cover.

[Josh]

Karen wrote: "But OK... Neither! Either one would be miserable company as each would assume the other went down with the ship/plane. ;)
..."

Ha! This is the truth.