J.D. Robb discussion

Are you ready for Leverage in Death? It's next up in our In Death series buddy read. We plan to open discussion on Oct. 8th. We hope you plan to be there!

Lieutenant Eve Dallas puzzles over a bizarre suicide bombing in a Wall St. office building in the latest in the #1 New York Times bestselling series…

For the airline executives finalizing a merger that would make news in the business world, the nine a.m. meeting would be a major milestone. But after marketing VP Paul Rogan walked into the plush conference room, strapped with explosives, the headlines told of death and destruction instead. The NYPSD’s Eve Dallas confirms that Rogan was cruelly coerced by two masked men holding his family hostage. His motive was saving his wife and daughter―but what was the motive of the masked men?

Despite the chaos and bad publicity, blowing up one meeting isn’t going to put the brakes on the merger. All it’s accomplished is shattering a lot of innocent lives. Now, with the help of her billionaire husband Roarke, Eve must untangle the reason for an inexplicable act of terror, look at suspects inside and outside both corporations, and determine whether the root of this crime lies in simple sabotage, or something far more complex and twisted.

I'm in. This is my least favorite In Death book. Maybe a second read will help me figure it out a little.

I'm ready.

I am ready to rumble!

I am in

lol Loving the excitement! I'm ready too.

This is now a spoiler zone! Feel free to openly discussing Leverage in Death.

I'm still reading, but I'll be back soon.

Just finished it yesterday.

You have to get to the end Sandra

so many good stories in this one. I really loved when Peabody got all hyper because of the expresso and the boost and how it effected Eve. How she kept punching Peabody in the shoulder and that Peabody did not even know she put lipstick on when she was all hyped up. Of course the awards ceremony is front and center and I like that Roarke does not pressure Eve to attend. He knows how she hates these things and would love just to be at home eating very buttery popcorn with her in their own house. I really liked the scene when Roarke not thinking went to eat the popcorn and nearly chocked on all the butter then had to stop himself from subconsciously grabbing another hand full.

You are right the story had many great sub story. I love Eve and Bella scenes. I love the fact I that have the second read I stroll could not. By say when Eve know who the kill was.

so realistic when Eve has the nightmare about roarke and she is screaming and he can't get her to wake up. it's terrifying

I can't wait to see what happens with the candy thief.

I enjoyed all the personal parts to this story. Like Susan & Cookie mentioned the banter among the various recurring characters is fabulous.

I always love the Roarke & Eve time.

Peabody buzzed is funny and annoys the heck out of Eve.

Eve allowing Peabody to go to the Oscars. How it fulfills a dream.

Summerset talking to Eve about not telling Roarke what she figured out about him killing Patrick Roarke. I love how she forgives him because it made it possible for her to find Roarke.

Watching the Oscar ceremony. Eve knows she will never escape her notoriety.

I did have a problem with the way the murders are committed. I understand loving one's family, but the willingness to kill twelve people you know and respect didn't resonate with me.

There had to be a way to avoid so many killed at one time. Even with eyes on him, there had to be a way to get a message to call the police or something.

At least Wayne did warn his friends by yelling at them. There were people murder including his friend's nephew, but he limited the impact. Rogan allowed the maximum kill. It made me angry.

Michelle wrote: "I can't wait to see what happens with the candy thief."

Me too! lol

"How do you live with a man such as me?" - Roarke's words after Eve struggles with accepting his word about standing up for an old friend. Then the shower scene with Roarke...he's truly hurt.
So - how far have they come from the earlier days when it comes to disagreements or giving total trust without question? Or have they regressed? How about Eve? Justified?

I feel a lot of the time Eve is not justified in her treatment of Roarke. For me it seems that its her way of thinking and that's it. Roarke is always the one to come around eventually. In the earlier days of their relationship this argument would have been a lot worse so in my opinion I believe they still have a lot of trust issues to work out but are slowly getting there

You're right Susan they have made progress. And yes it might appear that Roarke is always having to compromise. But I honestly don't think that happened here.

I feel that Roarke and Eve were on opposite sides, yes. But honestly she is a cop. And it had nothing to do with her trusting Roarke. She does, wholeheartedly. Roarke has a past and this is someone that he hadn't had any dealings with for a decade. Yes it appears this person is going legit. It appears he might be out of that life. But why should Eve allow Roarke to go question him. To keep it off the books etc. I understand Roarke and why he would want to do this. To me it just felt he got upset rather quickly.

For me this falls in that category of when we ask should Eve have used the unregistered. I might be alone in this but I don't think this was a big thing. This is them being a couple working through something. You can't really say anyone is right or wrong. Both has cause and both have to talk to the either about it.

I look at Eve and Roarke's relationship differently. I see Eve has changed a lot because it was necessary to have Roarke in her life. Roarke is more flexible; his changes came when Summerset took him in and showed him love and trust. Eve never had that. Her mentor, Feeney, is a straight and narrow guy.

It isn't a trust issue as much as it is Roarke's ability to see the other side. Eve usually jumps on Roarke when she is stressing because she can't stop the murderer. At the time of this argument, Liam Donnelly was her major lead. If it isn't him, she is back to square one waiting for the next mass murder.

Readers often forget that Roarke did let a friend go in the past and both Roarke and Summerset justified the decision to Eve. They had no way of knowing that Mick would return to help them.

Yes I agree with Michelle, Eve doesn’t have A trust issue she has a cop
issues and they trust nobody

Oohh. Great points! I'm going to give this more thought.

Sharon wrote: "I look at Eve and Roarke's relationship differently. I see Eve has changed a lot because it was necessary to have Roarke in her life. Roarke is more flexible; his changes came when Summerset took h..."


Great point. She did have to change for so many reason. And Roarke was the major reason for that change. But I don't think it was to keep Roarke in her life. She had to change because she was insular and very close to burn out. She had no real friends besides Mavis. Everything was about work, work, work. She was not a well balanced person. Roarke was the catalus for the change but not the sole reason for it.

Eve has changed a lot - no doubt. And I think Roarke has changed also...he was in the process when he met Eve and that sealed the deal for him imo. I do think Eve has trust issues, but they no longer rule her life. She's opened and expanded her circle and while it may rotate around her cop life and Roarke, it also includes several friends now. I can see both sides in this one. But whether she meant to in this case or not, I do believe it hurt Roarke. I think that comes across clear in the shower scene.

So - how did this case play for you?

Sandra you are right. Him saying "how do you live with a man such as me" said a lot. I still don't know where that came from it felt like such a low blow yet a truth he was working through.

I wonder if this is part of the theme of the book : leverage. I'll admit that I usual get a clearer sense of how the title fit with the story. Here I didn't.

How did the case play for me?
I struggled. I think for me personally anything in economic or business work my brain just switches off. I read all the stuff and I just can't compute or something. My brain was thinking I'm going to struggle with this. The other aspects of the case? Meh. 😏 This was a case that just didn't grab me and therefore I couldn't/didnt really form an opinion. Overall it was interesting but just didn't engage me

Michelle wrote: "Sandra you are right. Him saying "how do you live with a man such as me" said a lot. I still don't know where that came from it felt like such a low blow yet a truth he was working through.

I won..."

That's what got me...Roarke's words. I thought "Wow!" This really got to him.

Anyone with thoughts on how the title Leverage plays into the book?

Sandra ~ ♥ Cross My Heart ♥ wrote: "Michelle wrote: "Sandra you are right. Him saying "how do you live with a man such as me" said a lot. I still don't know where that came from it felt like such a low blow yet a truth he was working..."

Right?!
This felt like more. More what I don't know. I mean the previous two books had nothing but them enjoying the house without summerset there. Them settling into a sort of normal for them. Yes I'm still wondering why Roark is getting more and more involved with the cases. It's like he has to at this point.

Michelle wrote: "Sharon wrote: "I look at Eve and Roarke's relationship differently. I see Eve has changed a lot because it was necessary to have Roarke in her life. Roarke is more flexible; his changes came when S..."

In a way it was to have Roarke in her life. Things changed for her at work after Roarke. The politics of their relationship sparked the change. Eve had to decide what was most important to her. It was her decision that she needed the job, but if a promotion never came she was happy with her life the way it was as Roarke took top billing with the job second. Many times when she argues with Roarke, she tells him she can deal with anything as long as he is with her. That was a big step for Eve.

You are right that only having the job was burning Eve out. With Roarke in her life she learned how to open up to more people. As her circle expands, her mental health improves.

I agree that Roarke was hurt but so was Eve. When they argue or not together physically or emotionally her nightmares are more vivid.

Talking about nightmares. She had a big one in this. That was a difficult scene.

As I said in an earlier post, I didn't care for the mass murders the way it is depicted here. I don't feel that Robb made the case for these two lunatics to control intelligent people the way they did.

With the first murder, I thought write something under the desk then let the assistant know. He didn't have a problem giving him an atta boy. He could have said I dropped my notes check under my desk.

Walk to the bathroom before going into the meeting to give him time to call the police. Stand on the other side of the room to minimize the impact of the bomb. It didn't work for me.

Michelle wrote: "Talking about nightmares. She had a big one in this. That was a difficult scene."

Yes. That made me hurt for her.

Sandra ~ ♥ Cross My Heart ♥ wrote: "Anyone with thoughts on how the title Leverage plays into the book?"

I found this in the dictionary
" Leverage is the ability to influence situations or people so that you can control what happens"

Thanks Phrynne. That makes sense with the case. I'll have to give it some thought...

Phrynne wrote: "Sandra ~ ♥ Cross My Heart ♥ wrote: "Anyone with thoughts on how the title Leverage plays into the book?"

I found this in the dictionary
" Leverage is the ability to influence situations or people..."

Well it definitely applies to this story.

Phrynne wrote: "Sandra ~ ♥ Cross My Heart ♥ wrote: "Anyone with thoughts on how the title Leverage plays into the book?"

I found this in the dictionary
" Leverage is the ability to influence situations or people..."

Yes! Thanks, Phrynne.

Finally got to this one. I remember thinking throughout this book, what if someone had made me do something like this to save my family. Very interesting.

I love the character development in this series. How Eve and Roarke are getting closer with each book. I loved how Peabody was so high and how it affected her personality. And Bella with Eve...she's just so cute. And Eve is softening toward her.

I really enjoyed this one.

The character development is what keeps me coming back to this series. Glad you enjoyed this, too, Karen!

Yes! I love how the characters are developed and how she weaves older characters from earlier books into her current books, like Jamie Lindstrom!

I'm with you. Robb does some of the best character development in a long running series. I love when she brings back old characters too. It is fun to get updates on where they are and see how they interact with Eve and Roarke.