Fantasy Buddy Reads discussion
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Framed In Death
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Iron Man, In Death Series, Buddy Read Challenge [Next Release: #61 Framed in Death -- September 2nd, 2025]
Omnibus with books 4 and 5 arrived, but still waiting for books 2 and 3... Fingers crossed will have them soon.
Nirkatze wrote: "Almost done with book 1, and reading through folks comments!But OMG I was not expecting all the graphicness. Graphic sex. Graphic violence. Graphic PEDOPHILIA. That was hard to listen through.
I..."
Yeah that first books was particularly rough....
I read #3 and 4 basically in a row last week.. #3 when she remembers things was super tough to read...I think I pretty much guessed who the baddies were about halfway through each book. The characters are definitely the best part about these though. And definitely in the I <3 Peabody club!
Tonari no Emily wrote: "I've noticed British English usually pronounces all the silent letters in French loan words... Valet, marquis.. etc.And I think I might have learned forte from British-English speaker......"
Good note, that. I'm sure I've never heard "forte" pronounced just "fort" in my corner of the world either...
Started book 4 last night--running 2 books behind--but hoping to go straight through #4-6 and get caught up! Enjoying book 4 so far--it's actually been a bit of a breath of fresh air. I feel like with reading Lightbringer and just trying out Half Share I've been saturated with stories of guys staring at breasts and insecure women... and while In Death has it's 90s problems sexism wise, Eve & Peabody doing their competent cop thing is really relaxing. I've started fast forwarding through the sex scenes though. I am so done with sex scenes. Give me some fade to black romances please.
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I really like Peabody (her Halloween outfit made me smile).
Summerset:[spoilers removed]"
They never quite get along... but it's a conceit they both play to... Dallas likes being snippy with Summerset... and Summerset likes acting butlery...
Choko wrote: "Started Book#4... The hunny moon sure seemed nice:) This is what a hunny moon should be. Never seeing the outside of the room:)...."LOL I didn't even realize they'd gone anywhere at first, honestly--and did they go to an actual moon for their honeymoon? 'Cuz that would be funny. I missed exactly where, except that it is off planet and a resort.
Book 4, Opening Scene--(view spoiler)
Nirkatze wrote: "Tonari no Emily wrote: "I've noticed British English usually pronounces all the silent letters in French loan words... Valet, marquis.. etc.And I think I might have learned forte from British-Engl..."
At least if you listen at high speeds-- I'm managing 2.7 for these-- the sex scenes are over quickly! lol
Mod
And I think I might have learned forte ..."
that makes it sound like Benny Hill, lol...
Timelord Iain wrote: "that makes it sound like Benny Hill, lol..."LOL!!
I miss that show!
Timelord Iain wrote: "You might want to check it out, honestly... it keeps track of characters, chapter plot summaries of the books, and what they call YANNIs (Yet Another Notable/Nonsensical/Noticeable Nora Inconsistan..."wow... If I were her and this was real life, I would be exhausted. I am only assuming that her life will be threatened in some way each book. I mean to say I can't believe those first two books are just spanning a few months.
Timelord Iain wrote: "This is the Iron Man, In Death Series, Buddy Read Challenge... envisioned by Choko, named by Iain...The Iron Man Triathlon is 142 miles of swimming, biking, and running... and this is going to ..."
Also great intro. You reeled me in!
Also, I have not used chirp before so I started a membership but i honestly can't see myself spending $40.00 on an audiobook. Hopefully some of these go on sale soon?
Timelord Iain wrote: "I don't think you've even gotten to the [spoilers removed] yet..."Yikes. Wow JD Robb wrote a different breed of villain in this book. I honestly struggled with understanding how (view spoiler)
JL, Robb is not pulling any punches in this series. The name is In Death and she justifies it every book... I myself have a hard time with the crimes often, because they are just difficult to digest for regular human beings... I am very grateful that she does some humor and awkwardness in between, because otherwise it would have been too hard to read...
I think the shock of the first book makes the others look tamer in comparison!
Nirkatze, about the drug, the one in the previous book contained Zeus as a component, but was not only it... Zeus gives the users a feeling of invincibility, extra strength, sex drive, and when they are on it for a long time, light sensitivity to a point where they can't stand it... I am sure there are other side effects, but I can't think of them all at the moment...The hunny moon was on a space station, but it would have been totally appropriate to have been on a moon:))))
Nyssa, I think you are right. She went in hard for the first crime, and she does let off for the books immediately after...You finished book #6? You are on top of it:)))
Choko wrote: "Nyssa, I think you are right. She went in hard for the first crime, and she does let off for the books immediately after...You finished book #6? You are on top of it:)))"
No, I haven't finished yet. For some reason, GR automatically marks my books as read if I switch titles on my Kindle. It drives me nuts!!
I should be finished with it no later than Monday, though.
Choko, soon! Today or tomorrow probably :)
I have completed book #6.Vengeance in Death - Another good installment of the In Death series. The main difference from the previous books is that (view spoiler) I hope this means Summerset and Eve will get along better now - but I'm not holding my breath. 5 Stars
Whoo y'all are flying through! @Emily--2.7! The fastest I can manage on anything yet is 1.6... y'all are superhuman!@Choko--thank you for the Zeus rundown--I knew I'd heard of it!
Mod
Book 4--I can't seem to find the comment, but someone had mentioned something about Study in Scarlet, maybe in a spoiler tag. Am seeing that, but also drawing ties to Sword Art Online, where (view spoiler)--and it's Season 2, Gun Grave Online, when (view spoiler)About 50% through, in Chapter 13--I'm having the same feelings as Choko & Nyssa--suspect #1 & #2, but I think they're working together.... (view spoiler)
Timelord Iain wrote: "Thought you were talking about A Study in Scarlet Women, for a second..."Hah! Well, same origin.
Has anyone else noticed how often the descriptor "liquid gold" is used in different forms? And how Roarke and Eve are always eating steak?
She definitely has her favorite details she uses in all the books. I think she is using those as a touchstone. We are reading all the books at once, so we really don't need those, but if a person reads them in publication time, it might feel grounding in Eve's world...
Choko wrote: "I think she is using those as a touchstone. We are reading all the books at once, so we really don't need those, but if a person reads them in publication time, it might feel grounding in Eve's world..."That is a great point, Choko!
Even with the books being released every six months (give or take), a point of reference might be appreciated by those who had/have to wait between books.
Exactly! I remember that was a big help when I read them back in the day:)
So... I might or might not have finished book 4, read all of book 5, and be halfway through book 6 just in the past day.... XD I'm almost caught up! Just gotta do comments...I'm really enjoying how each is very much like a cop drama episode. #5 was the Halloween episode, #4 was the Sherlock Holmes episode, #6 is looking to be the Past-Comes-Back-To-Bite-You-In-The-Ass episode... lots of good basics.
Though in #6, there was a point when Eve & Roarke are discussing Eye for an Eye, and Roarke says it's from the Bible, as old as man--and I'm like no! But that's originally Code of Hammurabi--and I think that's older than the bible parts... Ancient Sumer and all that... isn't it? Written on a 4000 year old stone stele.
Mod
Hah! Well, same origin.
Has anyone else noticed how often the descriptor "liquid go..."
The author definitely has alot of phrases they like to use... for all Nora Roberts insists she writes all the books herself, I wonder if she has ghostwriters and writing partners like James Patterson... and that ghostwriter is given a list of things to include in the story, to make them feel like they're written by the same person...
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I'm really enjoying h..."
That's how I read the series originally... 40 audiobooks in 2-3 months...
We'll see how you do, now that you're caught up...
Some people read the next entry on Friday (I think that's how it's scheduled)... I tend to read them on Monday/Tuesday... as a result, I think I screwed up the timing on the Book Club entries into the spreadsheet, since I copied from my 2023 spreadsheet...
I was taking the week literally (Sunday to Saturday).
Mod
There's 1 week early and 2 weeks late leeway for competition points...
Haha! Nirkatze, I completely understand! I feel like binging them too, mostly because they are so readable! I was just reading this other series that Iain had started, and it is not really bad, but I was thinking there is so much filler! For short books, they could be half as long, just because half of it is unnecessary filler... There is no such thing here with the In Death series. It is quick even when emotional internal dialogue is going on, to the point, but still conveys the needed feelings in the reader. I love it!
Iain, I hear your theory, but I am hoping it's not true... It just doesn't feel like one of those collaborations...
Mod
Right?... the plots are pretty lacking (in Black Hat Bureau)... I liked Hailey Edwards' Necromancy series, but my interest in her works has kinda gone downhill as I tried the Necromancy epilogue book, the spinoff series, the Bayou Born series, and now the Black Hat Bureau... she churns out books fast, and ends up with mediocre books, I think... but they're free on Hoopla and easy mindless reads...
Choko wrote: "Haha! Nirkatze, I completely understand! I feel like binging them too, mostly because they are so readable! I was just reading this other series that Iain had started, and it is not really bad, but..."LOL I don't know if I'm binging or just trying really hard to catch up... Like Iain says, we'll see how I do from here on... plus, lots of paperwork here before winter break, so I'm burning through a lot of audio trying not to go stir crazy...
Book 6--2nd victim, first suspect (view spoiler)
#6--thinking this one feels less like a "guess who" episode and more like a race episode...Also almost wouldn't mind seeing McNabb hit on Peabody some more... it's amusing...
I am starting Holiday In Death.I'm probably going to take a little break after this one.
I pushed aside a few December reads and overbooked January.
So... I'm waiting for library and books 2 and 7... Books 3,4,5 and 6 are already with me :)
Nyssa, you go girl!!!Monika, I am sure you will catch up no problem:)))
I will be here for book #6 later today:)
Are we up to #7 then?I finished #6 last night! I should have known better than to think that maybe there'd be a book where we haven't met the bad guy yet. I should just start keeping track of all new characters introduced in each book...
Mod
I finished #6 last night! I should have known better than to think that maybe there'd be a book where we haven't met the bad guy yet. I should just start keeping track of all..."
That's what I started doing, around book 4...
And Nyssa is a week ahead...
TY for that! Now that I'm caught up, I want to try to keep pace... like a proper Iron Man it is...
Mod
That's mostly what I have to say about book 6... except I thought McNab didn't appear until the next book... he's gonna become a commonly recurring character...
Timelord Iain wrote: "#6: Sometimes, I think characters make decisions because they allow scenes to happen the author wants to happen, rather that what makes sense as an intelligent cop?... like, this book REALLY wanted..."I have similar feelings each time Eve & Summerset clash--it feels like Polka, one step forward, two steps back. A little off-balancing, when each book they're back to reset 0 and I thought they had made progress...
Timelord Iain wrote: "And Nyssa is a week ahead..."Reading Holiday in Death fits the season. Plus, I had to borrow the omnibus from the library to read Vengeance in Death, so I might as well take advantage of it.
Question: Is it me, or does the Eve/Peabody duo feel off in this one? I'm five chapters in, and Eve feels dismissive toward Peabody. Eve's abruptness/harshness is rubbing me the wrong way.
Timelord Iain wrote: "#6: Sometimes, I think characters make decisions because they allow scenes to happen the author wants to happen, rather that what makes sense as an intelligent cop?... like, this book REALLY wanted..."Nirkatze wrote: "Timelord Iain wrote: "#6: Sometimes, I think characters make decisions because they allow scenes to happen the author wants to happen, rather that what makes sense as an intelligent cop?... like, t..."
I agree with both of you!!
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)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
J.D. Robb (other topics)Stephen King (other topics)
Michael Buckley (other topics)
J.D. Robb (other topics)
I've noticed British English usually pronounces all the silent letters in French loan words... Valet, marquis.. etc.
And I think I might have learned forte from British-English speaker...