Book Review: Shadows in Death by J. D. Robb

Shadows in Death
Author: J. D. Robb
Series: In Death (Book 51)
Publication: St. Martin's Press (September 8, 2020)

Description: In the new novel in the #1 New York Times-bestselling series, Lt. Eve Dallas is about to walk into the shadows of her husband’s dangerous past…

While Eve examines a fresh body in Washington Square Park, her husband, Roarke, spots a man among the onlookers he’s known since his younger days on the streets of Dublin. A man who claims to be his half brother. A man who kills for a living—and who burns with hatred for him.

Eve is quick to suspect that the victim’s spouse—resentful over his wife’s affair and poised to inherit her fortune—would have happily paid an assassin to do his dirty work. Roarke is just as quick to warn her that if Lorcan Cobbe is the hitman, she needs to be careful. Law enforcement agencies worldwide have pursued this cold-hearted killer for years, to no avail. And his lazy smirk when he looked Roarke’s way indicates that he will target anyone who matters to Roarke…and is confident he’ll get away with it.

Eve is desperate to protect Roarke. Roarke is desperate to protect Eve. And together, they’re determined to find Cobbe before he finds them—even if it takes them across the Atlantic, far outside Eve’s usual jurisdiction…

My Thoughts: This mystery centers on an old enemy of Roarke's from his childhood in Dublin. It begins with the murder of a woman in a park. While Eve is investigating, Roarke spots an old enemy in the background. He knows that Lorcan Cobbe has become a paid assassin.

It doesn't take Eve long to prove that the woman's husband is guilty of hiring Cobbe to murder his wife so that he can get revenge for her daring to have an affair and so that he could inherit her substantial wealth. Eve's willing to make a deal on the sentence if the husband will turn over information on Cobbe.

The main thrust of the book is trying to track down Cobbe before he can get his revenge on Roarke by killing everyone he loves and then killing Roarke. Eve's detectives are quick to join in on the hunt because they consider Roarke to be one of their own. Also, Cobbe has a previous history of murder in New York which was never solved but which Commander Whitney and Captain Feeney worked. They both want to catch Cobbe and throw in their expertise too. 

I enjoyed all the details of the investigation to find Cobbe. I liked the strong relationship between Roarke and Eve and its contrast with the life of Cobbe. Cobbe was jealous of Roarke when they were kids and always claimed that Roarke's father was his father too and that he was the older son who should be his heir. That jealousy is leading him to make mistakes in the case Eve is investigating that will allow her to finally capture him.

I both read the Kindle version and listened to the audio version of this book. It is the first I've listened to. I thought the narrator sounded a little too old to be Eve and didn't think Roarke sounded Irish enough. Otherwise it was an engaging experience to listen to. 

Favorite Quote:

"Eve. For all my life before you, and had fate been so cruel as to deem I'd never meet you, I'd have nothing, just nothing that could compare even to this single moment."

"Where we're standing in your closet strapped with weapons?"

He laughed, cupped her face. "Yes."

"Let's go find this bastard, and make an even better moment."

I bought this one. You can buy your copy here.

Friday Memes: Shadows in Death by J. D. Robb

 Happy Friday everybody!

Book Beginnings on Friday is now hosted by Rose City Reader. The Friday 56 is hosted at Freda's Voice. Check out the links above for the rules and for the posts of the participants each week. Don’t dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST.

Beginning:

As it often did since he'd married a cop, murder interrupted more pleasant activities. Then again, Roarke supposed, the woman lying in a pool of her own blood a few steps inside the arch in Washington Square Park had a heftier complaint.

Friday 56: 

"Name of wit?"

"Roarke."

That put a small hitch in Reo's purposeful stride. "That's complicating matters. How does Roarke know a paid killer?"

"He knew him when they were kids in Dublin."

"Friends? Associates?"

"Neither. You can say the opposite."

"Slightly less complicated."

This week I am spotlighting Shadows in Death by J. D. Robb. This is the 51st book in the In Death series. Here is the description from Amazon:

In the new novel in the #1 New York Times-bestselling series, Lt. Eve Dallas is about to walk into the shadows of her husband’s dangerous past…

While Eve examines a fresh body in Washington Square Park, her husband, Roarke, spots a man among the onlookers he’s known since his younger days on the streets of Dublin. A man who claims to be his half brother. A man who kills for a living—and who burns with hatred for him.

Eve is quick to suspect that the victim’s spouse—resentful over his wife’s affair and poised to inherit her fortune—would have happily paid an assassin to do his dirty work. Roarke is just as quick to warn her that if Lorcan Cobbe is the hitman, she needs to be careful. Law enforcement agencies worldwide have pursued this cold-hearted killer for years, to no avail. And his lazy smirk when he looked Roarke’s way indicates that he will target anyone who matters to Roarke…and is confident he’ll get away with it.

Eve is desperate to protect Roarke. Roarke is desperate to protect Eve. And together, they’re determined to find Cobbe before he finds them—even if it takes them across the Atlantic, far outside Eve’s usual jurisdiction…

Audiobook: The Shadow of Saganami by David Weber

The Shadow of Saganami
Author: David Weber
Series: Honor Harrington - Saganami Island Book 1
Narrator: Jay Snyder
Publication: Audible Studios (April 2, 2009)
Length: 30 hours and 55 minutes

Description: STUDENTS OF HONOR . . .

The Star Kingdom of Manticore is once again at war with the Republic of Haven after a stunning sneak attack. The graduating class from Saganami Island, the Royal Manticoran Navy's academy, are going straight from the classroom to the blazing reality of all-out war.

Except for the midshipmen assigned to the heavy cruiser HMS Hexapuma, that is. They're being assigned to the Talbott Cluster, an out of the way backwater, far from the battle front. The most they can look forward to is the capture of the occasional pirate cruiser and the boring duty of supporting the Cluster's peaceful integration with the Star Kingdom at the freely expressed will of eighty percent of the Cluster's citizens. With a captain who may have seen too much of war and a station commander who isn't precisely noted for his brilliant and insightful command style, it isn't exactly what the students of Honor Harrington, the "Salamander," expected.

But things aren't as simple — or tranquil — as they appear. The "pirates" they encounter aren't what they seem, and the "peaceful integration" they expected turns into something very different. A powerful alliance of corrupt Solarian League bureaucrats and ruthless interstellar corporations is determined to prevent the Cluster's annexation by the Star Kingdom . . . by any means necessary. Pirates, terrorists, genetic slavers, smuggled weapons, long-standing personal hatreds, and a vicious alliance of corporate greed, bureaucratic arrogance, and a corrupt local star nation with a powerful fleet, are all coming together, and only Hexapuma, her war-weary captain, and Honor Harrington's students stand in the path.

They have only one thing to support and guide them: the tradition of Saganami. The tradition that sometimes a Queen's officer's duty is to face impossible odds . . . and die fighting.

My Thoughts: This story follows snottie Helen Zilwicki and four of her fellow snotties as they go on their first ship duties. Even though things are heating up with Haven, Helen is sent on a new ship - the Hexapuma - to the Talbot Cluster. It should be a quiet area but it was only recently within reach of Manticore as a recently discovered node of Manticore's wormhole. Hexapuma is being captained by Aivars Terekhov who has just recovered from injuries suffered in a previous battle which decimated his command. There is some question that he is able to make the tough decisions that a captain in wartime might have to make and some of the questions come from Terekhov himself. 

Many in the Talbot Cluster are afraid that their star systems will be gobbled up by Frontier Security and the Solarian League and have voted to be annexed by Manticore instead. There is a constitutional convention going on filled with its own political infighting. And some of the people who weren't in favor of the annexation are developing their own homegrown terrorist organizations to oppose the vote. We get a look at two of the terrorist organizations. Stephen Westman is on the planet of Montana and Agnes Nordbrandt is on Kornati. They are taking two radically different approaches to their protests. Nordbrandt is favoring killing lots and lots of people whereas Westman has been scrupulously careful not to kill anyone though he isn't opposed to destroying a lot of the property owned by those he considers interlopers. What these two protest organizations have in common is under-the-conter support from an agitator called Firebrand who, unknown to either of them, is an agent of Frontier Security.

I enjoyed getting to know Helen and her fellow snotties and watch them grow as potential Queen's officers. I liked seeing a new part of Weber's world which was away from Manticore. I liked reconnecting with characters from earlier in the series including Commander Ginger Lewis who is the ship's engineer which is quite a change from when we met her as a noncom engineering mate in an earlier book. And also Abigail Hearns whom we met as a young girl on Grayson who wanted to break the stereotypes of her planet and follow her idol Honor Harrington into military service. Now she's a tactical lieutenant. Many other characters from earlier books in the series also make appearances here. 

I thought this episode was a nice blend of the political infighting, the military battles and the personal stories of many of the characters. 

I bought this one. You can buy your copy here.

Audiobook: The Honor of the Queen by David Weber

The Honor of the Queen
Author: David Weber
Series: Honor Harrington Book 2
Narrator: Allyson Johnson
Publication: Audible Studios (March 4, 2009)
Length: 16 hours and 12 minutes

Description: RIGHT WOMAN, WRONG PLACE

It's hard to give peace a chance when the other side regards war as the necessary prelude to conquest, and a sneak attack as the best means to that end. That's why the Kingdom of Manticore needs allies against the so-called ""Republic"" of Haven--and the planet Grayson is just the right strategic place to make a very good ally indeed. But Her Majesty's Foreign Office had overlooked a ""minor cultural difference"" when they chose Honor Harrington to carry the flag: women on the planet Grayson are without rank or rights; Honor's very presence is an intolerable affront to every male on the planet.

At first Honor doesn't take it personally; where she comes from gender discrimination is barely a historical memory, right up there in significance to fear of the left-handed. But in time such treatment as she receives from the Graysonites does become wearing, and Honor would withdraw if she could--but then Grayson's fratricidal sister planet attacks without warning and she must stay and prevail, not just for Honor's honor, but for her sovereign's, for--THE HONOR OF THE QUEEN.

My Thoughts: Honor Harrington and her ship Fearless are on their way to Grayson as part of a diplomatic mission to sign a treaty with Grayson which will advance Grayson technologically and provide Manticore with an ally in its conflict with the Republic of Haven.

The problem is that Grayson is a place where women are definitely second class citizens. Honor's presence is an affront to all of Grayson. She deals with prejudice and intolerance as do her female officers. Because she fears her presence will hamper treaty talks, she convinces the diplomats including her old mentor Admiral Courvosier that she should escort some freighters to their next destination which will take about 11 days.

What she doesn't know is that Grayson's old enemies on Masada are getting ready to invade. And their religious fanaticism makes the Graysonites look positively liberal in comparison. Add in that the Masadans have the secret support of the Republic of Haven in the form of two ships with more power than Honor's and things get tense very quickly.

I liked the way this story told what was happening on Grayson and what was happening on the ships lent to the Masadans. The story was filled with plenty of space battles but also with character development for Honor and for the people on Grayson.

I bought this one. You can buy your copy here.

ARC Review: The Emperor's Wolves by Michelle Sagara

The Emperor's Wolves
Author: Michelle Sagara
Series: The Wolves of Elantra (Book 1)
Publication: MIRA; Original Edition (October 13, 2020)

Description: At the Emperor’s command

Multiple races carefully navigate the City of Elantra under the Dragon Emperor’s wing. His Imperial Wolves are executioners, the smallest group to serve in the Halls of Law. The populace calls them assassins.

Every wolf candidate must consent to a full examination by the Tha’alani, one of the most feared and distrusted races in Elantra for their ability to read minds. Most candidates don’t finish their job interviews.

Severn Handred, the newest potential recruit, is determined to face and pass this final test—even if by doing so he’s exposing secrets he has never shared.

When an interrogation uncovers the connections to a two-decade-old series of murders of the Tha’alani, the Wolves are commanded to hunt. Severn’s first job will be joining the chase. From the High Halls to the Tha’alani quarter, from the Oracles to the Emperor, secrets are uncovered, tensions are raised and justice just might be done…if Severn can survive.

My Thoughts: This new series beginning in the world of Elantra makes Severn Handred the main character. It also takes place about seven years before the first book in the Chronicles of Elantra. Besides giving more information about Severn, it also shows us mysteries yet to be discovered about him. 

Severn has come from the Fiefs in order to keep track of Elianne without her knowing that he is looking after her. She would be extremely unhappy if she knew of his surveillance. While watching her, he is discovered by Elluvian who is the only Barrani Wolf who thinks he would make a fine candidate for the Wolves.

There are three branches of civilian law enforcement in Elantra: the Swords deal mainly with crowd control and riots, the Hawks are the investigators, and the Wolves are the ones who carry out the Emperor's justice as his executioners.

Severn is paired with Elluvian in an investigation into the deaths of some Tha'alani who are mind readers and generally feared by the other populations in Elantra. Seeing a Barrani connection leads Elluvian and Severn into the very political Barrani court which is where some of Severn's secrets are revealed. Why does a street rat from the Fiefs have such a comprehensive knowledge of the Barrani language? Why is he familiar with some of the tests for magic? 

Severn also comes to know quite a lot about the Tha'alani during this investigation and comes to know Ybelline who will become the Tha'alani Caste Lord. She also becomes involved in the investigation that Severn is conducting because the current deaths are echoes of deaths that came about twenty years before. 

I enjoyed learning more about the Tha'alani's group memory and how some members could keep things out of it or even erase memories. This ability has a lot to do with the plot of this story. 

This is not easy fantasy. There are lots of varied races both human and immortal who each have their own complicated politics and reasons for the things they do. Severn has to try to uncover long buried secrets that someone is demonstrably willing to kill to keep.

Fans of the Chronicles of Elantra won't want to miss the excellent start to a related series. 

Favorite Quote:

In the Emperor's Empire, power was not to be the sole measure of worth. There was right, there was wrong, and laws laid out which action belonged in which category. They seemed arbitrary to Elluvian, an echo of the systems around which the Dragons and the Barrani built their societies. Right and wrong simply meant: angers the Emperor or does not anger the Emperor--the person in power. 

The Emperor, however, denied that this was the intent.

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (Oct. 12, 2020)

 It's Monday, What Are You Reading? is now hosted by Kathryn at The Book Date.

It’s Monday!  What Are You Reading is where we gather to share what we have read this past week and what we plan to read this week.  It is a great way to network with other bloggers, see some wonderful blogs, and put new titles on your reading list.

I will be combining my YA and adult reading and purchases on this one weekly roundup.

Other Than Reading... 

This was a quiet week filled with lots and lots of baseball. In between games (or innings) I listened to audiobooks or switched to reading them on my Kindle. I like being able to switch back and forth. It is nice to see how words are spelled in the mostly fantasy books I'm reading. 

My Braves have advanced to the next round of playoffs and will face a really tough opponent in the Los Angeles Dodgers. They haven't faced the Dodgers yet this year because Covid had all the teams playing regionally. Can't get much farther apart than Atlanta and Los Angeles. There will be fewer games to watch this week as the number of teams participating has been cut in half. Hopefully, I'll be able to read the ones I'm listing below.

I'm probably going to wander away from home to get a flu shot this coming week. I checked on Friday at the pharmacy where I refill my prescriptions to find that they had over 100 names on their waiting list. I think I'll try one of the pharmacies at Essentia where my doctors work to see if they can accommodate me sooner.

Read Last Week

If you can't wait until the review shows up on my blog, reviews are posted to LibraryThing and Goodreads as soon as I write them (usually right after I finish reading a book.)

• The Bodies in the Library by Marty Wingate (Mine) - This contemporary cozy is told by the middle-aged curator of a private library housing first editions of mysteries written in the 1930s. When one of a group of fan-fic authors who meet in the library is found dead, Hayley has to discover the murderer to save the library's reputation. My review will be posted on October 20.
• Cast in Courtlight by Michelle Sagara (Mine; Audiobook) - This is the second in the Epic Fantasy Chronicles of Elantra series. I combined reading and listening for this one. My review will be posted on December 8.
• Monsters Among Us by Monica Rodden (Review; Oct. 27) - This YA thriller stars a young women dealing with being raped at a college party and then dealing with the murder of a young girl she acted as babysitter/nanny for. Engaging characters and a twisty plot kept me reading! My review will be posted on October 24.

• Cast in Secret by Michelle Sagara (Mine; Audiobook) - This is the third book in the Chronicles of Elantra. I am really enjoying how the main character is growing and maturing. The series also has excellent worldbuilding. My review will be posted on December 15.
• The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes (Mine) - This YA is full of puzzles and secrets as a young woman named Avery Grambs finds out she has inherited the multi-billions of Tobias Hawthorne effectively disinheriting his two daughters and four grandsons. Lots of twists and turns and a great main character. My review will be posted on October 27.
• Cast in Fury by Michelle Sagara (Mine; Audiobook) - This is the fourth in the Chronicles of Elantra. My review will be posted on December 24.

Currently

• A Desperate Fortune by Susanna Kearsley (Mine; Audiobook) - I've only read and listened to a bit of this but am already intrigued by the story and love the accents the narrator is using. 

Next Week

• Mikoto and the Reaver Village by Forthright (Mine)
• Absence of Mercy by S. M. Goodwin (Review; Nov. 10)

• Vanishing in the Haight by Max Tomlinson (Mine)
• The Bright and Breaking Sea by Chloe Neill (Review; Nov. 17)

Reviews Posted

• A Call to Vengeance by David Weber, Timothy Zahn & Thomas Pope
• Crown of Slaves by David Weber & Eric Flint

• Silent Bite by David Rosenfelt
• Murder on Cold Street by Sherry Thomas

Want to See What I Added to My Stack Last Week?

Bought:

• Half Blood: The Complete Collection: Books 1-5 by Lauren Dawes ($.99 special)
• Alpha Temptation: Sanmere Shifters Romance Collection by Lola Gabriel ($.99 special)

• The Guinevere Deception by Kiersten White - Kindle Daily Deal
• A Desperate Fortune by Susanna Kearsley

Review:

• Hide in Place by Emilya Naymark (Feb. 9, 2021)
• The Russian Cage by Charlaine Harris (Feb. 23, 2021)
• The Sign of Death by Callie Hutton (April 13,2021)

What was your week like?

ARC Review: Silent Bite by David Rosenfelt

Silent Bite
Author: David Rosenfelt
Series: Andy Carpenter (Book 22)
Publication: Minotaur Books (October 13, 2020)

Description: Andy Carpenter and his golden retriever, Tara, are finding that all is not calm or bright in Silent Bite, the latest Christmas mystery in this heartwarming series from bestselling author David Rosenfelt.

Lawyer Andy Carpenter can finally take a breath; he’s back on dry land after a family Caribbean cruise forced on him by his wife, Laurie, to get into the Christmas spirit. Of course the family’s first stop is to the Tara Foundation, the dog rescue organization that has always been Andy’s true passion.

But when Andy arrives, his partner, Willie Miller, needs his help. Willie’s old cellmate, Tony Birch, has been arrested for murder. Andy doesn’t necessarily believe in Tony, but Willie does. And Andy believes in Willie, which is why Andy decides to take the case.

Once again David Rosenfelt puts readers in the Christmas spirit in a tale that is equal parts mystery and holiday cheer.

My Thoughts: Andy Carpenter's new case takes place during the Christmas season. An old friend of his partner Willie Miller has been accused of murder. Andy is, as always, reluctant to take the case. He likes being a mostly retired lawyer. He doesn't need the money. But he'll do anything for a friend. He isn't so sure that Tony Birch didn't commit the murder but both Willie and Tony's rescue dog Zoey have faith in him.

Tony Birch has outgrown and outlived his gang past. He served time for involuntary manslaughter after a fight that should have been considered self-defense if two of his fellow gang members, and people he considered his friends, hadn't testified against him. Now, he's the owner of his own auto repair shop.

Tony's supposed victim is one of the men who testified against him during his manslaughter trial. Adding more fuel to the investigation is that the police found the murder weapon buried in his yard and loosely covered with a handkerchief holding Tony's DNA. 

When the body of the second witness is discovered things get even grimmer. He was killed in the same manner and with the same gun as the first victim. Tony doesn't have an alibi for either of the two murders and has no idea why anyone would be trying to frame him for the crimes.

Without another suspect, Andy and his team have to dig deep into Tony's past to try to find someone who wants him convicted of the two murders. The investigations lead them into the gang landscape of New Jersey and put them in contact with Luther, the man who runs the Blood Dragons, and to the death of an eight-year-old girl who was accidentally shot during an attempted robbery which was actually Luther's gang's attempt to get payment from someone who owed him drug money.

When a number of other people who had connections to the child's death also start dying, Andy becomes more convinced that Luther is trying to clean up loose ends. And then Luther and his top lieutenants are killed too...

I really enjoyed this story. I like that it is told in the first person by Andy. I liked his sarcastic voice. I liked that he would do anything for his friends. I liked his devotion to his dog and to rescuing other dogs. 

Favorite Quote:

When a jury returns a quick verdict, I always assume it is bad news.

When they take a long time, I always assume it is bad news.

I am not the most rational person during a verdict watch.

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.