Not one of my favorites. First third was really slow.

This comment isn't about this particular book, as I'm still listening to it, but about the series in general.

These books are guilty pleasure types for me. I know the narration will be great, I know what to expect from the different characters, and I know there will be 1-3 mysteries to solve. I know what to expect from Eve, Rourke, Peabody, etc .... and that some stories will have character development, but not loads, and I don't expect Eve to get all baby-happy. This is what I like about these books. The audio version of a good Law & Order episode. Some of the characters will be annoying, there will be some repetition, but that's what I've come to expect from these books. I've listened to them all - all the regular books, I don't do the in between the numbers - and will continue to listen.

Some reviewers I've read have commented that they're stale, that they want to see something mix up, that they want to see Eve get pregnant. I don't. I am so tired of authors bowing down to the regular schedule of making the lead character pregnant and her whole life changing, etc, and since I don't expect Eve to follow this progression, I"m happy with this series.

Changing things up? IDK, maybe. Maybe Eve could head up the Guarda in Ireland, and they could all relocate. Maybe Peabody and McNabb will get married - I could see it happening. A big wedding to-do for Eve to stress over and a dead guest. But, honestly, if this series continues on for another 47+ books with just more of the same, I'm ok with that. And my library doesn't have these as audios, so I actually buy these audios. So Robb is making money off me! I think the only two things that would make me stop this series is if Eve got pregnant or if Susan Ericksen stopped narrating. Like the Kinsey Milhone series, the narrator has become the voice of these characters. No one else - not even Jim Dale or Stephen Fry! - could take her place.

I know what to expect from these characters, this series. These are the book version of comfort food for me. These book, and Agatha Christie, maybe a few Stephen King. And I'm happy about that.

Exactly what I've come to expect from Eve Dallas - mystery, suspense, the thrill of the hunt, the sorrowful weight of every death that she carries, every family she needs to find justice for. Oh, and the Oscars are still a thing, even after the Urban Wars. So there's that.

Eve's soft spot for Bella, Mavis and Leonardo's daughter, is a miraculous thing, given where this series of books began. I don't think she would have had the patience or capacity for such a thing before Roarke began the assault on her walls and fought to win her heart. I just love that she could interpret the picture Bella drew, and how the toddler calls her 'Das'. So adorable!

Love the characters, love the stories, love the interaction between Eve and Roarke, especially at the end when he became her 'Peabody' for a day.

It took me a lot longer to get through this one then it normally does, but that was no fault of the story. Between migraines and sick kids, it just seemed to take forever to be able to finish this book. I really enjoyed the mystery and the usual goodness that is Eve and Roarke.

I think for the most part the mystery aspect of the book was good. For once you couldn't figure out who done it until the very end. It also made sense why Roarke was involved with this one. However, the nonsense with the Oscars and Eve somehow being able to beat down a former military guy who kept himself in shape by saying her training with the master is what helped her made me irritated and also laugh. Oh wait, I have to laugh again cause Roarke with one punch was able to knock him out cold.

"Leverage in Death" is book #47 in the "In Death" series by JD Robb. It's been a few weeks since the events in the last book. And now apparently it has to be February/March since the Icove Case that Nadine adapted into a screenplay is now up for Oscars. "Leverage" starts off with a man, Paul Rogan, who walks into a conference room and blows himself and others up. At first it seems that Rogan had to be a disgruntled employee, however, Eve and the rest of her squad quickly find out that someone forced Rogan to do it, under duress. When Eve starts pulling back the layers on this case, another one pops up with a fear that even more people out there are going to be harmed in order for the perpetrators to make a killing by those who are harmed/killed.

Okay, here comes praise time. I really did like how leverage in the Stock Market, playing the margins, etc. came into play here. It made sense for Roarke to be the consultant on this one since Eve knows nothing about the Stock Market or how leverage comes into play. I also loved though that Baxter knew about the Stock Market enough that he was able to provide some interesting points too.

The perpetrators on this one were not easily picked out while reading. There are a lot of suspects in this one and a lot of characters. We get enough information about everyone involved that you are going to have some type of feeling towards these people. Also thank you for once not having vulnerable women raped. It felt like every book in this series lately has had that aspect of that included, and I didn't miss it one bit.

I also loved the what if aspect of this case. What if you were told your family was going to die if you didn't do something horrific in turn. Could you, would you do it? I loved that Eve and Roarke had that conversation.

We get to immerse ourselves more into the world of the e-geeks and I loved that Feeny calls all of his people boys. I cracked up at Callender giving him grief over that.

And it was nice to see Baxter and Trueheart more in this one too. Baxter even gets to be alongside Eve when she goes into the box to interrogate the suspects.

And for once the fight didn't work my nerves on this one. FYI, I was totally on Roarke's side on that one.

Now here comes what annoyed me/took me out of the book.

So even though we have some people hell-bent on blowing people up, we can't forget for a second that Peabody and McNabb deserve to go to the Oscars for reasons and then we have a whole stupid subplot about them still being allowed to go though the perpetrators were not caught. At least we didn't have Peabody acting like an ass like she did during "Kindred in Death" when she kept talking about how an active murderer who was raping people needed to be dealt with and arrested prior to Charles and Louise's wedding otherwise true love would die.

Speaking of Charles and Louise, they are barely in these books anymore. We have a throwaway line how one of the crime scenes is near their place.

The whole thing with the Oscars was maddening enough, but now Robb is setting it up that we are now going to be hearing about the next movie in the series soon since Nadine wrote a great manuscript and I maybe rolled my eyes a million times. And then somehow Mavis was up for an Oscars for Best Song and this is the first time it was mentioned. I really wish that Robb had never included that whole movie into her books and now it seems like we are being told there's at least two more coming out.

I also can't get over how Eve can beat a male suspect who outweighs her and is taller than her in hand to hand. I would rather forget that Roarke bought her sessions with the master and all that.

Mira continues to just be there to be Eve's Greek chorus. If she's not actually going to be doing profiles that disagree with Eve and or Eve being wrong once in a while, I have no idea why she is even used.

Looks like Nora got her footing back after switching publishers as this latest release was better than the last two.

This latest installment had a fresh and interesting storyline and cute moments between Eve and Roarke. I was happy to have the little flare up between them as it seems its been too long in paradise between the two but I wish it had more depth to it and wasn’t so easily over. I hope the next release has some new developments for the characters because things have been too safe for everyone.

As always, great reads. Too fast, I can never make them last long enough.