Fantasy Buddy Reads discussion
This topic is about
Framed In Death
Book Clubs!
>
Iron Man, In Death Series, Buddy Read Challenge [Next Release: #61 Framed in Death -- September 2nd, 2025]
Mod
Choko wants to track Bad Guys, and I want to track introductions of characters, a bit, so that's what this has become.
Book 1: Naked in Death
Introduced: (view spoiler)
Baddies: (view spoiler)
Hmmmm... That's a lots of books!!! LOL! I'll try my hardest to find at least few of them :)
Mod
Hahaha! That sounds great!!! I will be here with bells on:))))
I bet I'll be on the bottom of this leaderboard of yours Iain hahahahaha!
Thanks for this, Iain!I've bought a five book starter book with books 1-4 and 7(?), so once I've picked up copies of 5 and 6 I'm committed to it for this year, at least! If I enjoy those books, I guess I'm in it for the long haul.
Mod
Re-reading that comment about how quickly these books get published, I wonder if this could become some sort of 'never-ending series'; every time you get to the last book, another one is published...
Mod
If you only read 1 book a month, it'll take 55 months to read the current books, and 9 more books will have come out, which will add another 9 months, and 2 books will have come out (because we're only 4 months right now from the next release, and that would be 64 months... books generally come out in February and September)...
So, we're looking at 66 months to read all the books monthly, meaning you'll finally be caught up in May 2028... yea...
Our goal is one book every week, we could get down to one every two weeks, but they are such quick reads, I don't think anyone would need more time per book at all.... As Iain said, the first book is really just an introduction, but starting books 2-3, things start being established as a series and you would get a better idea if it is something you might like or not...
I'm going to keep trying to find these--libraries have some copies, and many are popular enough that holds keep popping up... I have 1-4 on Audible, but would rather not commit to the next 50 there. Any recommendations on where to find these without breaking the bank?
Maybe Chirp has some deals. Some cheap audio books on there
I just checked that and put a few on my wishlist... I'll keep an eye on it too. Right now they're $40 a book! >.<
Yikes!!! Way too expensive. My Libby app for library has the first 4 on audio and most on kindle. I’m ready to Go!!!!
I tapped out after #39 in 2014, but I used to reread the entire series each time a new one was published. I still have the first 25 or so in paperback.However, I have been planning to reread the first three for a while - they are my favourites along with #24 Innocent in Death.
It is an incredible series that is well crafted as incidental characters are gradually become major side characters as the series progresses. It is however explicitily descriptive of the crime scenes themselves.
I always enjoy side characters that become majors--one of my favs is Butters in Dresden...
Nirkatze wrote: "I just checked that and put a few on my wishlist... I'll keep an eye on it too. Right now they're $40 a book! >.<"Which is totally a rip-off in any circumstance, but especially because the first Naked in Death was published in 1996!!
Loriidae wrote: "Nirkatze wrote: "I just checked that and put a few on my wishlist... I'll keep an eye on it too. Right now they're $40 a book! >.Which is totally a rip-off in any circumstance, but especially bec..."
That is really steep. I think I might have to avoid the short stories for the same reason - I've only seen them available on various audible formats and they seem kind of expensive.
Well, in good news, our local library book sale is this weekend and I just got back home with two bags of books--one of which is entirely In Death books. $1-3/ea not bad, eh?
Nirkatze wrote: "Well, in good news, our local library book sale is this weekend and I just got back home with two bags of books--one of which is entirely In Death books. $1-3/ea not bad, eh?"Excellent !!!
I am curious about this series. I can not manage one weekly, though, as I am committed to other buddy/group reads and series.I'm torn. Libby has the first one, but there is a 4-week wait, and Amazon has the Kindle version for $1.99.
Lucky you @Nirkatze :) I checked all charity shops in town and found honest far. Some are in libraries around county, but I already have 6 books from library, so will wait until read at least one of them LOL before ask them for more :)
Just finished my previous read, so I might start a few hours early. It's not cheating...not really... :)
I finished book 1 last week if I’m honest. 😂😂 was gonna wait to chat about until others started. Had a few come avail a library and didn’t want to lose em.
Hahaha! Not cheating, all is fair in this read:)))
Mod
The number of books is just so daunting! There's no way I can keep up with non-audio, and I really don't want to commit spending that much on audible... But my library has 1-3 and the last few. Where all the middle books???
I found a bunch on ThriftBooks.com for like $3-$5 a piece. My library has most on audio for Libby but missing a few that I might get there.
Went into the local bookstore today and saw this hardcover on the 'New releases' shelves:
What have we done?! It never ends!! :D
Joking aside, I'm going to see what I think of the first few books before I commit to any more; even secondhand, books cost too much and take up too much shelf space for me to decide to splurge on such a long series if it's just not gripping me.
There's no shame in ditching a series if it's not working for you. So many books, so little time...
Hahaha! You are not kidding:))) And no shame at all!
Mod
What have we done?! It never ends!! :D
Joking aside, I'm going..."
The initial story arc "kinda ends" at book 33... the one book in the series that breaks from the In Death title format... it's called New York to Dallas, and deals with alot of lingering plot elements to do with Eve Dallas' backstory... there's a fair bit of closure and healing in the books following that, for awhile...
Mod
I'm a big fan of Susan Ericksen's narration of the series, even when other things start to grate on me, over time... but apparently she started narrating the series around books 13-16, and went back and did 1-12 later... so she doesn't have her character voices in the original recordings of those books... Audible or somebody paid her to go back and redo those 4 books in 2013, but if you're checking them out from the library or something, you might get the old versions... and they're not great... characters blend together without the distinctive voices, in conversations...
Mod
Story starts fast... (view spoiler)
These books are going to have sex scenes in them, almost from the beginning (can't remember honestly, and the first one hasn't happened yet)... you can try to skip them if you want (harder on audio), but there's usually a break in the case immediately afterwards...
Eve's dreams: (view spoiler)
I also started and just rapped up Ch. 4 . The crime scenes are always so graphic! It doesn't bother me, just every time catches me off guard...The best thing about having poor memory is that although I have read this book back in the day, I have absolutely no recollection about who might the killer be and what are his/her motives. Right now I don't trust her grandfather and his aid at all, but this might be a misdirection. We all know who it is not, because of the series...
I love how optimistic about our technological development JDR is. She thinks that in 70 years we would have developed free acting human - looking bots, flying cars and would have outlawed guns... Ha! But I will accept it as an alternative world:)
Dallas is likable straight away. We just met Feeny and Mavis, and both of them are really solid characters already. I thought Charles, the companion, was a bit forward and brazen, but I guess it comes with the territory. Rourke, well, he knows how to make a woman happy - the secret is always coffee and chocolate!
Can't wait to see how things shake up!
Iain, about how much JDR thought 3.8 billion would buy you... Yeah, she undershot it by a lot! I would have gone with Trillion, but then his backstory wouldn't make sense... I am interested to know if she ever enlarges that wealth number...
Mod
the wealth hasn't expanded numerically much... it's just not really brought up anymore, I think... not enough time has passed, since the series is like 3 years and counting...
Considering how much he owns, I think crazy wealth expansion is to be expected... he should totally have trillions or quadrillions...
Re:suspects: I actually think I remember who did it... (view spoiler)
That is my number one suspect at this point...
Hahaha! The laser weapons became a police standard in 2023:) I wonder if that could still happen next year:)Roark is a bit more pushy and forceful than I would have liked... I guess JDR is trying to show him as unable to maintain his control, because of how unsettling she is to him... Still too pushy. Totally dates the book back to the 90's:) I still don't mind, just noting...
Mod
Roark is a bit more pushy and forceful than I would have liked... I guess JDR is trying..."
We already have Jewish Space Lasers ;)
I'm sure laser guns are right around the corner...
I checked every shop around, no luck... will do through library probably with most of them. Have 2 short ones on my kindle and book 54 - Abandoned in Death (good price on kindle at the moment)...
Mod
Relationship: (view spoiler)
I'm kinda tempted to jump right into book 2, since it introduces more of the main characters I like, but that's a bad habit to start...
Yeah, let's not burn ourselves out. A book a week is a good tempo. They are such fast reads though... I am only up to Ch. 15 and I didn't realize we met Mira and Nadine in the first book! Wow! And yes, it totally seems like she wants to establish the romantic relationship at the beginning of the series so it doesn't act as a distraction from the mysteries to follow... Also, you can see that this being the first book in a planned series, it is trying to figure out its pacing and looking for its voice. It still does a good job of it, I just think it gets better as we go...
Mod
I am only up to Ch. 15 and I didn't realize we met Mira and Nadine in the first book! Wow! An..."
Mira, Nadine, Charles, the owner of that Seedy Bar...
I forgot to answer on the Jewish Space Lasers... Hahaha! That woman is so insane!!! I can't believe they reelected her! But what can I say, I guess the best place for conspiracy theorists with paranoid tendencies is in Congress:)))
I've got about 100 more pages to read, so will probably finish it tomorrow. I'm enjoying it more than I thought I would. I'm finding Roarke rather annoying, though; his continual assertion that things will pan out a certain way apparently simply because that's what he wants is getting on my nerves. Sure, I get Eve fancies him too, but a bit more of her pushing back and the two of them coming to a comfortable arrangement would've sat better with me.
And I was envisioning the laser weapon as a super-strong taser.
Shaitarn, I think the laser is exactly that. It has several settings, only one of them is deadly. So yeah, kind of like a taser...
Mod
The barebones of the Eve/Roarke dynamic are here, tho (if a bit too pushy)... no-nonsense cop, reformed bad boy billionaire with all the fun tools to cut corners in investigations... lots of functional expensive gifts over time, like a fully stocked AutoChef, better vehicle, matching clothing, constant supply of gloves...
And all the friends and side characters move on up in the world, like Mavis and Charles (view spoiler)...
Fantasy Buddy Reads
Books mentioned in this topic
Bonded in Death (other topics)Bonded in Death (other topics)
Passions in Death (other topics)
Passions in Death (other topics)
Passions in Death (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
J.D. Robb (other topics)Stephen King (other topics)
Michael Buckley (other topics)
J.D. Robb (other topics)
The Iron Man Triathlon is 142 miles of swimming, biking, and running... and this is going to feel like 142 miles of reading... the In Death series is a Romantic Suspence / Sci-fi Mystery series by JD Robb, pseudonym of author Nora Roberts, set in 2058 NYC with varying levels of advanced technology (the series started releasing in 1995, so pagers were still a thing in the early books). There are 55 novels and 11 short stories in this series, and once releases every 6 months, so expect there to be 57-58 novels by the time you finish, even if you stick to reading one a week for the next year...
Let's visualize that:
This is in no way in order... I just posted them in the order listed in the add book/author popup, which I think is sorted by number of ratings/reviews?... so it should be mostly in order, and the short stories/anthologies will be near the end, as they're always less popular... the anthologies should make it easier to read the short stories, if you choose to... I like the short stories, they add a fairytale/fantasy theme that the main series avoids...
The plans for this Buddy Read / Challenge, are to read at your own pace, but with 2 loose plans to read weekly and monthly, since some people want to get through this series in less than 6 years... as fast as this series publishes, you kinda need to commit or decide they're not your thing... if you commit, the series has a tight timeline (about 3 years across 55 books, so far) with lots of growing character connections and development of side characters...
All that said, HAVE FUN!!!
(I'll try to keep the title updated over time, with which book the weekly and monthly Buddy Readers are currently on)... everything starts November 14th...
EDIT: The edited thread title is just going to be appended to track which week/book the weekly readers are on... monthly readers will make about 1/4 the progress, so just divide the week by 4 and round down... and if anyone is faster/slower, they can still feel free to jump in and comment... maybe even people that have started the series and want to jump in in the middle can, too (but you won't be a true IRON MAN :D )