A Year of J.D. Robb

[Christine]

Kami wrote: "Your comment of Eve taking advantage of Roarke's equipment makes me laugh. Hee Hee. "equipment" "


Good one! This alone should help keep a smile on my face today.

[Dee]

there is a line in one of the later books, where she threatens to draft a memo to his executives telling them all about the frilly underwear he wears...

[Christine]

And another reason to smile all day: Roarke in frilly undies!

With all the power and money that man has, in my book he can wear whatever he wants. Although I still love it from (I think) the second book when he realizes that he and Eve's lovemaking had been caught on a surveillance camera and he was embarrassed about it and Eve picked on him. Or when she almost had him convinced that they wanted him to do a duet with Mavis. Nice to see that Mr Cool Calm and Collected does have a very human side.

[~Leslie~]

I have not been able to read this at all this weekend :={ But y'all are making me nervous. I read all kinds of UF and paranormal but I really dislike any horror or satanic themes and I absolutely never see scary movies! I am subbing today, but hopefully I will get some time to read this afternoon.

[Kami]

I don't think it is too scary. Kind of creepy. But horror movies and satanic themes don't really bother me too much. Voodoo freaks me out though. I was 11 when I saw the Serpent and the Rainbow, scared me half to death.

I am on page 184 of Ceremony in Death. Hope to have it done today. I agree with Roarke and Eve's lovemaking being a bit excessive. Also, it was sad how much Eve betrayed Feeney. She didn't have a choice since she is so by the book and under orders, though her by the book isn't so stringent when it comes to Roarke. Though she was freaking out when she saw that he had an illegal weapon. She threatened to arrest him. (Having thought of Roarke in handcuffs. Hmmm)

Another thing I am kind of having problems with this book is the abrupt change in POV. Like in a paragraph there can be more than one person's thoughts. Kind of jarring.

So far I am not liking this one as well as the others. This is probably going to be a three star for me.

[Susan (susayq ~)]

I'm almost done with this and I have to say I'm not at all happy with Eve at the moment.

[Christine]

I think Peabody is what saved this one for me. Roarke was too horny, Eve was too...Eve. Feeney was a jerk, even if it was somewhat justified. But Peabody brought a lot of humor and I really liked it when she called Eve out on going to hard on the suspect that we all new was innocent.

And, I also liked the little moment when Eve came home and Summerset saw how sad she was and called Roarke for her. They may still be rude to one another face-to-face, but clearly he's grown to care for Eve.


But I still had a big issue with the ending, so I can't wait for other folks to finish it so I can see what you all think.

[Susan (susayq ~)]

I just finished it! I didn't care for Eve at all in this one.

As for the ending, Christine, if you're referring to what I think you are, I'm a upset about that as well.

As for Roarke's horniness, I said he reminded me of an 18 year old boy in my review ;)

[Kami]

I am almost done. I am on page 292 with one more chapter to go and I have to say that Eve was a total Beeoch in this book. I hated how she treated Peabody and Chas during his questioning.

[Kami]

Now I'm finished and I found this one really disappointing. Three stars from me. The rosebud on Eve's butt was funny and I do like Peabody a lot. Once again Lieutenant Dallas gets her man.

[Christine]

Here's what got to me. I'll hide to for those who haven't gotten there yet. (view spoiler)[At the end of the book, it looks like Eve is ready to cover up that Jaime killed Alban. Really?! This from the woman who was ready to turn herself in as a murderer and give up her badge when she remembered being 8 years old and killing, in self defense, the man who had brutalized her for years. She's ready to walk into her commanders office and turn herself in over that, but is going to cover for Jaime? And it's not even as though what Jaime did could be excused as a crime of passion that occurred in the heat of the moment. He purposely tracked Eve for days, then in cold blood picked up a knife and killed an unconscious man. It seemed rather premeditated to me. I get that he's only 16, he's distraught over the deaths of his grandfather and sister. But he's also a smart kid who was able to almost bypass Roarke's security. Who was able to put a tracking/listening device on Eve's car. He seemed to be thinking pretty clearly at those times. And I actually kind of liked the kid up until then. I'm curious to see if there is follow up on this in the next book. (hide spoiler)]

It's bothers me that Eve is all about upholding the law and her code of ethics, until it's more convenient for her to blur the line or outright break the law.

I really liked most of this book. It started out with Eve and Peabody cracking jokes and showing lighter sides. But somewhere along the way the sense of humor was lost and Eve started doing some stuff I really didn't like. Although, there was that one scene where I think it was Isis said to Eve that she wanted Chas to be guilty because of who his father is, and Eve responded that actually she wanted him to be innocent for that very reason. That was a telling moment. She wanted him to be innocent and when it looked like he might actually be guilty, she over-reacted. Like with Jesse in the last book, she let her personal feelings and issues with her past color the way she does her job. It also echoed the theme from the last book of Eve wondering is the monster that was her father had passed some of those traits on to her. The sins of the father....

[Christine]

And here's another thing that just jumped out at me. Probably because I just finished The Hunger Games. I noticed how most of the population is eating soy dogs, and soy burgers, and drinking "fake" coffee. It's only the filthy rich like Roarke that get real read meat, real coffee, real sugar. How depressing is that? But at least we can all still get our tubes of Pepsi. There's a statement on society there, if I had the energy to think about it.

[Susan (susayq ~)]

Christine, I totally agree with your frustration with Eve. Everything you said in that spoiler was exactly what I was thinking. How could she be ok with what happened? It seems like a complete 180 on her personality.

[~Leslie~]

Okay, ended up buying it today and now I need to read and catch up because y'all are driving me crazy talking about it and I don't know what y'all are talking about!!

[Kami]

I was thinking that too Christine, why would she act in that way like she did at the end of the story (see spoiler) when she is always so by the book? Like her betrayal of Feeney. Like the way she tore in to Chas. Like how she threatened to arrest Roarke because he had an illegal weapon. And I agree it was premeditated.

[Christine]

I'm hoping there is some follow up on that ending in the next book. I think someone mentioned that Jamie does show up in a few of the other books, so maybe there will be a satisfactory resolution in a later book?

Someone in another thread also told me that in a future book we get to meet Peabody's father. Now that I can wait to read.

[Dee]

yep, you get the meet peabody's family, and Jamie comes back...Feeny continues to play a major role in the books as well

[~Leslie~]

Okay, finally finished it and now I know what everyone is talking about. I think she did what she did at the end because she is a protector at heart and he is a child. So she just instinctively protected him.
I liked this story. I liked the fact that we saw more of Eve's soft side. I liked that she got so upset about Feeney. I also liked that Peabody tried to tell her that it the answer's were too easy. Her instincts were right. The cop part of Eve was wrong and it took the part of her that is becoming more vulnerable and human to see some other possibility.
My only problem with it was the ending - it felt a little rushed and too quickly resolved.

[Christine]

I get her wanting to protect him, but I'm not sure insulating him from the consequences of his actions is the best way to do that. He killed that man in cold blood, after the man was down and out, and the police were on hand to take him into custody. The kid already seemed pretty brash with the way he attempted to break into Roarke and Eve's estate and was very unapologetic about it. So does Eve covering up for what he did just reinforce his idea that he's so smart he can get away with whatever he wants?

Eve and Roarke both have murder in there pasts, but they were both serious victims of their circumstances and what they did could be seen as a matter of survival in the worlds they lived in at the time. But Jamie is a smart kid from a good family and as far as we know has had a good life. If everyone went out seeking revenge with impunity, where would we be? That's the whole point of a law enforcement agency, like the one Eve works for. They are to be the ones to handle criminal matters so that we don't become a society of vigilantes who can take out whomever we "think" the bad guy is. Who we think is guilty, may be innocent.
I'm not saying that I necessarily think Jamie should go to jail as a hardened criminal by any means, but there should be some sort of consequences that he has to face. I'm withholding final judgement on what she did until we see if there is follow up on this in another book.

I also agree with you that the ending seemed rather rushed. Maybe if it had been fleshed out a little more and there had been a little more conversation about Jamie I wouldn't be so disturbed by that part of the story.

[Kami]

I agree with Christine, it seems out of character for Eve especially when she wanted to turn herself in for killing her father who she killed out of self defense. Jamie killed an unconscious man.

[Christine]

You know, I'm still thinking about this one. I have three sons and I got to thinking, if I were in Eve's position and one of my sons had done what Jamie did, my first instinct would be to do exactly what Eve did and cover for them. I'm just guessing the my motherly protectiveness might translate into Eve's protectiveness of a child. But despite my first instinct, I would then have to reconcile myself with the reality of what the child had done. There would have to be consequences. At the same time, our legal system is not perfect, and I can see hesitating to turn them over to the authorities. I wouldn't want to see them tried as an adult or have them locked up for years because of one really bad choice. But, then I would have to wonder, was this just one really bad choice because of their emotional involvement in the situation, or does this reflect a total disregard for human life? There would have to be follow up of some sort to evaluate the child and determine if he is a potential danger to society or not.
On an emotional level, I think I now get why Eve did what she did. But I still hope to see some follow up on this issue in the next book. I probably had the hardest time not immediately picking up the next book after reading this one, because of the way this one ended. Well, only a few weeks to go....

[Christine]

It's Vengeance in Death time this month! Only two weeks to go.

[Kami]

Yay!

[Susan (susayq ~)]

2 days! Is anyone else excited to get back to this?

[~Leslie~]

I'm ready. I managed to get this one at the library early. Sitting on my nook waiting for me!

[Christine]

I'm ready! I really need to see some follow up on the ending of the last one.


I like the new profile pict, Susan!

[Susan (susayq ~)]

Thanks, Christine!

[Dee]

i'm a bit ahead of you guys, but i'm planning on starting Portrait in Death on my commute home this pm

[Susan (susayq ~)]

I started reading this morning and I've got to say, I'm jealous on behalf of Eve LOL Y'all will know what I'm talking about when you get there. Thank heavens she admits her jealousy a little later. I wondered how she was dealing. I couldn't have done it as well.

[Christine]

Well, now I'm intrigued. I finished two other great reads earlier today, so I can finally start this one this evening. I'm looking forward to getting my Roarke fix. I mean my Eve and Roarke fix. And I'm still waiting for Peabody to find someone who doesn't turn out to be a bad guy!

[Dee]

trust me when I say she does ;)

[Susan (susayq ~)]

Does Peabody end up with McNab? We get to see more of him and all his piercings, don't we?

[Dee]

but that might spoil it... ;)

[~Leslie~]

I'm about to start this now! So excited.

[Susan (susayq ~)]

Dee wrote: "but that might spoil it... ;)"

ARGGHHH! That doesn't tell me anything ROFLOL

[Dee]

well, in Portrait in Death (book 18 i think), (view spoiler)[peabody and mcnabb are moving in together and peabody loves torturing eve with details of their sex life...its almost as entertaining as the Eve/Somerset conversations (hide spoiler)]

[Susan (susayq ~)]

WOOHOO!!! Sorry, should I have not cheered like that? LOL

[Dee]

and that is all the spoilers you are going to get from me ;)

[Kami]

I am on page 126. And once again someone close to Eve is implicated in a murder. Eve now has to save Summerset and Roarke. Haven't pegged the real murderer yet. There doesn't seem to be someone just hanging out in the wings yet. Except for McNab, who with the comments here seems to be a reoccurring character. So it isn't him.

[Kami]

Eve and She-Body are hot on the case!

[Christine]

I'm on page 121. I haven't figure out whodunit yet, but (view spoiler)[I find it rather suspicious that Summerset's "date" lives in the same building as the first victim and she conveniently confused the day of their date. (hide spoiler)]

And I love Roarke, but this business of him barely touching Eve and she immediately orgasms is really over the top. I mean, every time?

And I think Eve really hit the nail on the head with why Summerset has such an issue with her. Although, in the last two books it really seemed like he was warming to her (behind her back, of course), but in this one it's like he's back to square one with her.

[Susan (susayq ~)]

I really hated what happened with Eve and Summerset in this book. I did think they had been warming up to each other and this puts such a huge strain on their relationship.

[~Leslie~]

"And I love Roarke, but this business of him barely touching Eve and she immediately orgasms is really over the top. I mean, every time?"

Don't you think that this is a really great talent to have, however!!! LOL. Though it could come at really inconvenient times.

And I'm only on page 54 and I'm already upset at the tone that Summerset takes with Eve.

[Susan (susayq ~)]

Leslie wrote: ""And I love Roarke, but this business of him barely touching Eve and she immediately orgasms is really over the top. I mean, every time?"

Don't you think that this is a really great talent to have..."

HAHAHA It would be a great talent to have, but only with Roarke ;)

[Christine]

Leslie wrote: ""And I love Roarke, but this business of him barely touching Eve and she immediately orgasms is really over the top. I mean, every time?"

Don't you think that this is a really great talent to have, however!!! LOL."



*sigh* I'm just jealous. Filthy rich, sexy gorgeous husband with the....hands....of a magician.

[Christine]

"She-body"?! LOL! This just registered with me!

[Kami]

I am on page 175 and I got to the point that Susan was referring to with Eve being jealous of Jennie. Kind of selfish of Eve, in my opinion.

McNab calls Peabody, She-Body. Apparently that will be her nickname for future books in this series.

[Kami]

Page 196 and Mira makes a comment that suggests you have something there in your spoiler, Christine.

[Susan (susayq ~)]

I'll admit that I was totally clueless as to who it was lol

[Christine]

Kami wrote: "Page 196 and Mira makes a comment that suggests you have something there in your spoiler, Christine."


I knew it! I knew that seemed a suspicious!


I really want to get back to this book. But the kids have karate practice tonight (and my rather nonathletic husband has signed up for the adult class, which I can't wait to see) so I don't know how much reading I'll get done tonight.