Tag: JD Robb (Page 2 of 3)

March Round Up

March 26, 2018 / Kaetrin

Monthly Mini Review

Dark in Death by JD Robb, narrated by Susan Ericksen – B- I’m still in for this series but Dark in Death was one of my least favourite books so far. In terms of romance, there wasn’t any conflict or tension between Roarke and Eve. They’re happy, having great sex and enjoying their marriage. That’s good and it’s not exactly that I get sick of it, but at the same time, I’d like a bit of conflict (with a happy resolution of course!) to shake things up a little. The main issue I had with the book however is the premise. A killer is recreating murders from a police procedural series and particularly the section where Eve is interviewing the author and talking about fan expectations and the challenges of being an author were just too meta for me. (I had a similar issue with the latest Suzanne Brockmann.) I can’t help but feel like the actual author is talking to the reader this way and even if that is only in my imagination, it makes me uncomfortable. There wasn’t really anything objectionable in what was said but I want to be immersed in the story and forget about the author altogether when I read/listen and I couldn’t here.

The other thing to mention is that a member of Eve’s squad, Jenkinson, uses a transphobic slur twice in the course of a conversation with Eve and there was zero narrative pushback on it. I do not accept that such slurs are okay in 2062 – they’re certainly not okay now. I dearly wished Eve would have told Jenkinson off about it. Continue reading

September Round Up

October 2, 2017 / Kaetrin

Monthly Mini Review

Secrets in Death by JD Robb, narrated by Susan Ericksen – B I always enjoy In Death books to one degree or another so I’d pre-ordered the audiobook and started it the day it downloaded. Secrets in Death is less gruesome than some of the other installments. Sure, Larinda Mars bleeds to death but there is no sexual violence done to her and the villain isn’t quite as twisted as some of them have been.

Susan Ericksen’s narration is always stellar in this series. Her characterisations inform my reading even in print and I hear her voice in my head, especially the Irish lilt she gives Roarke. Continue reading

February Round Up

March 1, 2017 / Kaetrin

Monthly Mini Review

Echoes in Death by JD Robb, narrated by Susan Ericksen – B+ It took me quite a while to understand the title of the latest In Death book. (In fact, Roarke had to tell me what it meant before I got it.) The “echoes” are between the murders and violent crimes Eve Dallas investigates in the book and Eve’s own violent past. (There you go KM readers. Now you don’t have to wait for Roarke to make the connection. You’re welcome.)

Eve and Roarke are driving home after a social deal where Eve wears a sparkly dress, the dreaded facial goop and skyscraper high heels. It’s the early hours of a very cold winter morning and the couple are stunned to nearly run over a naked, bloody woman wandering down the middle of the street. It turns out she was raped and beaten by the man who killed her husband and thus begins the investigation the subject of the latest In Death installment. Perhaps I’m more sensitive and the earlier books were actually just as brutal but the last few have had some pretty difficult things to read or listen to. There is sexual violence in this book and it is fairly graphically described, albeit after the fact and not in the villains POV (so that’s something). Anyway: all the trigger warnings. Continue reading

Brotherhood in Death by JD Robb

April 18, 2016 / Kaetrin

Why I read it: I love Eve and Roarke so I bought it as soon as it was available.

What it’s about: (from Goodreads) Sometimes brotherhood can be another word for conspiracy…

Dennis Mira just had two unpleasant surprises. First he learned that his cousin Edward was secretly meeting with a real estate agent about their late grandfather’s magnificent West Village brownstone, despite the promise they both made to keep it in the family. Then, when he went to the house to confront Edward about it, he got a blunt object to the back of the head.

Luckily Dennis is married to Charlotte Mira, the NYPSD’s top profiler and a good friend of Lieutenant Eve Dallas. When the two arrive on the scene, he explains that the last thing he saw was Edward in a chair, bruised and bloody. When he came to, his cousin was gone. With the mess cleaned up and the security disks removed, there’s nothing left behind but a few traces for forensics to analyze.

As a former lawyer, judge, and senator, Edward Mira mingled with the elite and crossed paths with criminals, making enemies on a regular basis. Like so many politicians, he also made some very close friends behind closed—and locked—doors. But a badge and a billionaire husband can get you into places others can’t go, and Eve intends to shine some light on the dirty deals and dark motives behind the disappearance of a powerful man, the family discord over a multimillion-dollar piece of real estate . . . and a new case that no one saw coming.

Trigger Warning: Graphic sexual violence against men and women

What worked for me (and what didn’t): I was so excited about this book because it promised to have lots of Dennis Mira and he’s been a favourite character in the series for some time, even though he’s not in it very much. I’ve always kind of wondered how the absent-mindedness works when he’s clearly so capable so much of the time. (The first time I encountered Mr. Mira in the series, I thought maybe he had a brain injury or maybe early onset Alzheimer’s or something but it became clear that neither of those things apply.) And, while Brotherhood in Death did have more of Mr. Mira in it than any of the earlier books (including a particularly touching scene between he and Eve later in the book), he still wasn’t in it all that much. Sadness!
Continue reading

Favourite audiobooks from 2015

February 17, 2016 / Kaetrin

I mentioned in this post that the audiobooks listed at AudioGals were my favourite listens where my reviews were posted there and I planned to do a post here to make up my top ten. My sense of fairness was pricked by leaving out the excellent romance audios I listened to from my own library or provided direct to me by publishers/authors. In no particular order, the other top five are:

Noble Satyr by Lucinda Brant, narrated by Alex Wyndham. My list could not have been complete without at least one Brant title. Alex Wyndham was my “find” of 2015 in terms of excellent new narrators. His work here is stellar and the story is excellent too. Georgian romances featuring rakish and mysteriously enigmatic heroes are my catnip. Continue reading

October Round Up

November 1, 2015 / Kaetrin

Monthly Mini Review

Wonderment in Death by JD Robb – B The really excellent thing about In Death novellas which are usually only sold as part of anthologies in digital/print, is that they are available separately as audiobooks and they are released at the same time as the anthology. So I don’t have to buy an anthology I don’t want to get the story. As I prefer to listen to them anyway, this is a win/win for me.

Taking place shortly after the events of Devoted in Death, Eve is called in on a rare night off to the scene of an apparent murder/suicide. The deceased brother and sister are close friends of Louise Dimatto and Louise has asked Eve to take a special look. Things cannot be as they appear; Louse is sure of it. And so is everyone else Eve speaks to actually. This is completely out of character for the apparent murderer. As Eve investigates, she finds a sociopathic psychic with a fascination for Alice in Wonderland and she has to go down the rabbithole to catch him. (I should be a blurb writer. Really. That was gold. GOLD I tell you.)