J.D. Robb discussion

I have been picking up copies of MP3 cd's of the In Death books lately and found them very affordable. I have some versions from Audible too but sometimes these CD versions are less expensive and you can get two books for the price of one or 3 of the novellas as a set. I have been collecting them over the last couple of years so when I do a re-read I don't have to borrow the CD's from the library, especially when some of them are no longer available locally. I guess that may be due to budgetary reasons since a set of audio cd's are quite pricey.

Anyway, it was fun to get 5 of these MP3 cd's as Christmas presents. I have two more coming so that will give me all the In Death books up to #34 and few others after that. Just thought I would let others know if they are in the same situation. Cheers!

p.s. I know it can be a pain to have to rip the cd's to put them on your player to listen but once it is done then you have them and the cd's are a good backup in case you lose your copies or get your computer stolen (which happened to me in the past) or a new one.

I had been purchasing the In Death series for my Kindle for a while and had gotten up to Portrait in Death when I noticed that I could purchase the Audible version at a reduced price because I owned the Kindle version. I tried it and began reading my Kindle as I was listening to the audio. I immediately fell in love with the narrator! I decided to go back to the first book and purchase the audio and reread the first party t of the series in this fashion. I have been enjoying this method immensely! The audio makes me slow my reading speed and I find I pick up more details. I have just caught up to where I was when I was just reading my Kindle and plan to continue purchasing the audio and Kindle versions!

I love the audio and kindle ebook too

Congrats Karen & Martha on finding affordable audio options for the series.

I was lucky. A few years ago, when Amazon purchased Audible, I purchase almost all the In Death e-books for 1.99 + 2.00 for the audio. I can't remember how many were available at that time but it was more than 25.

Martha wrote: "I had been purchasing the In Death series for my Kindle for a while and had gotten up to Portrait in Death when I noticed that I could purchase the Audible version at a reduced price because I owne..."

I LOVE the Audible (audio) books. I had read all the books (either kindle or paperback via the library) up until what was published a few years ago. When I found the audiobooks, I was instantly converted. I've listened to them all several times. The narrator adds so much to the story, and even when i read them, I hear the voices in my head. I hope Susan Erickson continues to read ALL of them. I preorder them in advanced now. So glad that you guys enjoy them as much as I do! :)

Martha, I love the idea of reading and listening at the same time. Unfortunately, for me, the first half of my books (17 or so + anthologies) are in papaerback (about 8-9) and hardcover. I love a book in my hands, but I finally broke down and bought a kindle because I ran out of book shelf space (wall to wall) and the hubby wasn't to keen on covering another wall. Most of my purchases (pre-kindle) were through Barnes and Noble and a few gifted, so don't think they'd qualify for the discounted audible. Might look into the CD version for the early ones...

Martha wrote: "I had been purchasing the In Death series for my Kindle for a while and had gotten up to Portrait in Death when I noticed that I could purchase the Audible version at a reduced price because I owne..."

Martha, how interesting to read while listening! My dad has mentioned he does this sometimes, but I have never tried it. I do tend to listen while driving, so I will refrain at those times. :) I did find that listening helped me slow down and catch so many more details than reading (though I tend to read too fast in general).

Hannah - Yes I would not recommend this method while driving!!😊 I also found that the narrator makes a difference. I have tried this method with some of the other series I read but have not yet found one that I use it as consistently as the In Death series! She is just so good!

Susan Ericksen makes this series come alive, I can't imagine anyone else narrating these stories. I started from the beginning with the audio and continue to love it.
It is nice to hear how everyone has their own way of reading and enjoying the series.

Don't get me wrong, I love Susan Ericksen as the narrator of the books, but I've been trying to get Nora to be aware of another audiobook company called GraphicAudio: A Movie in Your Mind.

They do a lot of dramatized editions of many well-known authors and unknown authors, with narration, voice acting, movie-like sound effects. You take a listen to GraphicAudio, you'll never listen to another single-narrator again.

They have works written by William Johnstone, Jon Land, Brandon Sanderson, Charlaine Harris, Adam Rakunas, Alex Archer and even had audiobooks featuring Marvel Comics and DC Comics if you want something for the kids. And I think the In Death series would be a great addition to GraphicAudio and would give it the closest thing to a movie without an actual movie.

If any of you need info, look up graphicaudio.net

I enjoy multiple narrators on certain stories (the fantasy series Redwall comes to mind) but it always is jarring when they change members of the cast. That is the one downside of this format and the day Susan Ericksen stops that will be hard too. Guess I am not sure I want them to tamper with it, it works just fine as is IMHO.

Karen wrote: "I enjoy multiple narrators on certain stories (the fantasy series Redwall comes to mind) but it always is jarring when they change members of the cast. That is the one downside of this format and t..."

If you're talking about not wanting Nora to change from single narrator to dramatization, I know Brandon Sanderson and Charlaine Harris still distribute their books in the single narration format, that way it'd be an option for listeners who just want that format, so it is possible that Nora can do the same thing if she wants to.

I can see why they would want Nora - her books are consistently a sure thing in sales. But, I enjoy Susan Ericksen's performances and the talent she brings to the In Death Books - she's spot on in developing the characters and brings them to life.

Seth wrote: "Karen wrote: "I enjoy multiple narrators on certain stories (the fantasy series Redwall comes to mind) but it always is jarring when they change members of the cast. That is the one downside of thi..."

I would only support the dramatization if they continued to make the single narration formats. (I act like I would have a say in this....) I look Susan Ericksen, and it would be hard to go to a dramatization of a series that I've invested 45+ books of Ericksen's version of characters. But I would love to hear dramatization of her other books. (Well, let's be honest, if they publish any of the In Death, I'd probably try that format no matter what.... just because it would be In Death. But it would be a tough hurdle since I'm so attached to the current format.)

Hannah wrote: I would only support the dramatization if they continued to make the single narration formats. (I act like I would have a say in this....) I look Susan Ericksen, and it would be hard to go to a dramatization of a series that I've invested 45+ books of Ericksen's version of characters. But I would love to hear dramatization of her other books. (Well, let's be honest, if they publish any of the In Death, I'd probably try that format no matter what.... just because it would be In Death. But it would be a tough hurdle since I'm so attached to the current format.)

Well if you want to know something interesting, I listen to a few books from GraphicAudio and sometimes the narrator will also voice either the main character or one of the side characters in the story. Like they have a few Batman titles in their catalog and the narrator (Richard Rohan) is also the voice of Batman and his Batman voice is a combination of Christian Bale and Kevin Conroy. So Susan Ericksen can actually do the same thing if offered. But for the record, and this is just my opinion, if they do go that route I hope that she doesn't voice Eve, I rather that role either go to Colleen Delaney or Karen Novak. I think Ericksen's voice would be better suited for either Mira or Nadine.

Sharon wrote: "I was lucky. A few years ago, when Amazon purchased Audible, I purchase almost all the In Death e-books for 1.99 + 2.00 for the audio. I can't remember how many were available at that time but it w..."
I've bought a number of In Death from Audible over the last 7 years, always get them on sale price. Have been able to check most of them out at my local libraries when I started the series 8 years ago but now a lot of them are gone so I have been stocking up so I don't have to skip over ones I don't have.

I am listening to the In Death series for the first time. I started reading it but once I listened to a book, I loved Susan Ericksen's narration. I have a subscription to Scribd and there are a lot of the ID books on there in audio. Otherwise, I purchase the kindle/audio version.

Karen ♐ wrote: "I am listening to the In Death series for the first time. I started reading it but once I listened to a book, I loved Susan Ericksen's narration. I have a subscription to Scribd and there are a lot..."

Karen - I agree - Susan Ericksen is incredible. It's amazing that she maintains everyone's 'voice' over the 40 something books.
And - thank you for mentioning "Scribd". I'd not heard of it before, but once I looked it up I was hooked!

Does anyone know why these books aren't available on the Overdrive Library System?

Anita wrote: "Does anyone know why these books aren't available on the Overdrive Library System?"

Here's what I found:

Overdrive no longer carries the audios as I mentioned - due to contracts with publishers that had changed. However, they do carry the ebooks, and hoopla I believe carries at least some of the audiobooks. Library, by library determines which items they actually have patrons get access to - they don't automatically get everything. So, request from your library audio versions of the in death books and see if they can get some of them at least. -- Penni

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Karen ♐ wrote: "I am listening to the In Death series for the first time. I started reading it but once I listened to a book, I loved Susan Ericksen's narration. I have a subscription to Scribd and there are a lot..."

I'm also listening to the series for the first time and recently completed Strangers in Death (#26).

I love Susan Ericksen's narration as well. *smile*

I bought the first seven or eight audibooks when they were on sale through Amazon/Whispersync, so I've been listening to the series right from the start. I also was able to borrow some of the CD's from the library and appreciated that, but they didn't have the entire series available via audiobook.

Upon learning that Scribd.com offered the majority (if not all) the In Death audiobooks via their subscription service, I decided that was definitely the way to go for me too.

https://www.scribd.com/author/2427961...

I still buy them when they're on sale, but this allows me to keep going with the series in the way I totally enjoy (via audiobook) -- with ease and without breaking the bank! ;D

I find I'm usually allowed to borrow a certain amount of her audiobooks per month before I get the message that I'll have to wait until the following month. That being said, Scribd is unlimited for the most part, and there are always lots of other ebook and audiobook options to choose from. So I feel my monthly subscription fee is reasonable and worthwhile.

Anita wrote: "Does anyone know why these books aren't available on the Overdrive Library System?"

I agree with what Renégade posted. Penguin removed all of the audiobooks years ago. Now that Nora has switched publishers, I noticed that the new books can be purchased by libraries in audio format. That’s great news.

Jonetta wrote: "I agree with what Renégade posted. Penguin removed all of the audiobooks years ago. Now that Nora has switched publishers, I noticed that the new books can be purchased by libraries in audio format. That’s great news."

That's definitely great news :)

Renégade ♥ wrote: "Anita wrote: "Does anyone know why these books aren't available on the Overdrive Library System?"

Here's what I found:

Overdrive no longer carries the audios as I mentioned - due to contracts wit..."

Thank you Renegade for the link to a very interesting discussion. The fact that the In Death Series audiobooks are not available through the Overdrive service, which the majority of libraries use, is really a problem and a disservice to the public.

Anita wrote: "Thank you Renegade for the link to a very interesting discussion. The fact that the In Death Series audiobooks are not available through the Overdrive service, which the majority of libraries use, is really a problem and a disservice to the public. "

You're welcome :)

Hopefully that situation will change sooner than later -- especially now that, as Jonetta mentioned, Nora has switched publishers and the audio format has become available for libraries to purchase.

🤞

Sadly this is the publishers call, they can remove it or restrict it if they think it hurts their bottom line. It is the same reason libraries are limited on e-books, the publishers charge them more for an e-book and can only check it out to a certain number of patrons before they must pay another fee to continue offering it in their catalog.

If there is a new publisher then they may decide to be more generous, let's hope so.

Karen, the new publisher already has. The audio versions are on Overdrive.

My library system, City of Los Angeles, only has Connections in Death as an audio book.

Yeah my library uses Hoopla and they don't even have Ebooks, but I mostly use Hoopla for comic books as opposed to shelling out 10 to 20 dollars on Amazon for them.

Anita wrote: "My library system, City of Los Angeles, only has Connections in Death as an audio book."

It’s the first and only one. They should be there going forward.

The two libraries I use only have 3 e-audio books in the series, they are on Recorded Books not Overdrive. There are still a number of audio CD's still available for checkout but there are some gaps now, so that is why I started buying the MP3 CDs.

Jonetta wrote: "Anita wrote: "My library system, City of Los Angeles, only has Connections in Death as an audio book."

It’s the first and only one. They should be there going forward."

I sure hope you are right.

I love the audio books, Susan does such a great job at giving the characters life. I don't see how I could read the books without the audio. Since there are so many, I just get them on my kindle with the audio.

Arlene, that is exactly what I do! I started reading the books just on my Kindle. When I got to Portrait I decided to try the audiobook along with my Kindle. I loved it so much that I had to go back and restart the series reading along with the audio. I just recently got back to Portrait and am now continuing on with both Kindle and audio!

I don't read the books in print anymore. As soon as the Audible copy comes out, there goes my credit! I just love the audiobooks. They are so much better than just reading. It is a performance not a reading. There are very few books that I prefer the audiobook to the actual book, but this is one.

I have just picked up my first audio CD from my library. I can not wait to start to listen to it given all the rave reviews here.

You are in for a treat, the audio books are great, enjoy!

You are, Joanne! I don't even read these in print anymore.

FYI: I just moved this post from Let’s Talk to here as it seemed more appropriate

I came across a post on FB about an ID podcast. I had absolutely no idea this existed. The post was specifically about an interview with Susan Erickson. If you haven’t heard it, it is really worth your time. Here is the link

https://podcastindeath.com/contact/?f...


The actual podcast appears at the bottom of the page ( if I copied it correctly).

Dawn, what a fantastic find! I’m going to add the site link to the In Death Wired folder. This looks like fun.

Dawn wrote: "FYI: I just moved this post from Let’s Talk to here as it seemed more appropriate

I came across a post on FB about an ID podcast. I had absolutely no idea this existed. The post was specifically ..."

Yay! Thanks, Dawn!

Oh good. I thought for sure ya’ll knew about it and I had just missed it all. The interview with Susan is fantastic. I now have to listen to the rest of their episodes

Dawn wrote: "FYI: I just moved this post from Let’s Talk to here as it seemed more appropriate

I came across a post on FB about an ID podcast. I had absolutely no idea this existed. The post was specifically ..."

WOW - I had no idea there was an ID podcast. What a hoot. It's really great. Thanks so much for sharing the news.

Dawn wrote: "Oh good. I thought for sure ya’ll knew about it and I had just missed it all. The interview with Susan is fantastic. I now have to listen to the rest of their episodes"

No, I’d never heard of it! Thanks again for the discovery. I’ll be checking some of the episodes out later.

I am listening to episode 2 now, episode 1 is just an introduction. They found a reader who has never read the series and plan to do a discussion with her after each book, going through the series. I absolutely love them...warning they are very frank.

I subscribed also! I am in just about the same spot as you are Dawn. I am really enjoying it! The women who are moderating are very knowledgeable about the characters, the books and Nora. I am looking forward to listening to all the episodes!

They are. One of them started In Death Wiki, which was a site I relied on until I found this group and sometimes even after lol.

Thanks for the information. I enjoyed what I had time to listen to. I'm going back for more.

Thanks for the find, Dawn! I'm not usually a podcaster, but I will definitely make an exception for this one. I am thinking of starting the series again, and I think it would be fun to listen to the podcasts as I go.