Peggy > Recent Status Updates

Haha. Um. Interesting start.

I'm all for "psychological repercussions," but this is a little over the top. It feels like everything any character says or does has to be measured against a part trauma. I get it! Everyone is traumatized about everything all of the time.

I just noticed three of the last enforcement people are named Bishop, Pope, and Deacon. And the FMC is named Faith. So.

Adam is a dick. I hate it when cops assume guilt based on flimsy hearsay and then treat people aggressively as suspects. On what planet is this person suited to look for justice? When I see it in books, I want to punch fictional characters.

I know things will start to pull together, but so far, there are so many seemingly disparate pieces that it feels like juggling too many balls in the air. Obviously, it's normal for a crime thriller to give you little clues and make you wait, but it's also annoying when writers make so much mystery that I'm tempted to look up spoilers just so I can pay attention.

I really liked this book so far. I love the family relationships. Sometimes crime novels are so full of loneliness and conflict that nothing feels settled into the end, but so far, Karen Rose knows how to balance the sordid and the wholesome.

I like the narrator too, *except* that the way she voices the MMC makes him sound like a child instead of a 35yr old man. It's annoying me.

Gideon's boss at the FBI is incredibly reasonable, practical, and compassionate. Honestly, I've seen and read so many cop stories where the boss is demanding, unreasonable, and short-sighted that this is a breath of fresh air.

All the men who think they Know Better in this book. Including the "good guys." This doesn't happen in any of the Cold Justice books, but it's all over this one.
"Maybe I'll disable her vehicle so she can't run."
"I'll just drug her so I can put a tracker under her skin."
These are the good guys?

Hunt's boss is a fucking idiot and it makes absolutely no sense that everyone is so sure he's involved with Pip. Literally, this whole time, they all assume he's sleeping with her and completely compromised. It's ridiculous.

I'm enjoying this a lot, but I have to say that when an MC is constantly referencing a mysterious past, it distracts me from the current story. I'm so busy trying to piece those crumbs of details together that I have a hard time focusing on the extreme circumstances of the present narrative.

I despise the way Jackson thinks about Amelia. There's a similar thing happening in Hallmarked Man with Decima Mullins, but since we never get her POV, it's not a galling to see her through Strike's prejudices. And really, what he doesn't like about her is that she's messy and hysterical, not that she's unattractive. I'm so tired of hearing men's opinions about attractiveness.

So I'm halfway through the book, and although I'm very entertained (I mean it's sad, but fascinating), Jackson doesn't seem to be doing much detective work. There are several POVs, and it feels more like the reader is supposed to be the detective. I don't mind, but it's a change.

I found this recommended in a random blog post, and the writer of the blog cautioned that although it's a good series, it doesn't have the humor of other detective stories. I think we must have very different senses of humor because there are comical little things all over the place. Dark, yes, and a bit bleak, but incisive in exposing absurdities. Which might be my favorite kind of humor.

"I think he's so very handsome." She lowered her voice. "Very."
Giles looked like he'd swallowed a fly. "He's looks like the offspring of a tree and a cliff."
"Exactly," Lillias said dreamily.

I laughed so hard at this.

The banter between the MCs makes no sense to me. They're supposed to be subtly arguing for some kind of dominance, and it's all basically nonsense.
HEAs often lead me to forget things I disliked early in the book, but I'm just not feeling these two as a couple.

I can tell this book is going to break my heart the whole way through. I hate it when one of the MCs is suffering but refuses to explain to the other MC!!

Her best friend is THE WORST. She's not a good friend. I think she's supposed to be the "hard truths" bff, but she's actually terrible.

I laughed so hard at, "I don’t know if I came off like a weirdo who likes to stare at a dumpster platonically with my neighbor"
These two are so awkward, and I'm here for it.

This is really fun so far, but Ivy has already "pulled herself to get full height" about 5 times so far. I can only infer that she's a sloucher.
I'm not going to be a dickhead and count how many times this is said throughout the book, but I'm only at 12% and it was too much on the third time.
Otherwise, I'm enjoying it a lot!! Hopefully, that phrase is an anomaly annoyance.

So, this is both boring and interesting. I like seeing Rai discover the modern human world. And Poppy's impressions of him are cute. But also, it's all moving very slowly.

Wow. This is so much darker than I expected.

This has Moon's usual funny and sharp commentary. A man waiting on line in front of the MMC is described as "dressed in a business suit on a Saturday like an asshole."
But there's also something a little muddled about the POV narration. It's not a very long book, and there are only two books in the series, but we've gotten 6 perspectives so far, third person, and the romance is between only two of them.

Kathryn Moon is bonkers. As a writer of nonfiction, I'm endlessly jealous of people with brains that can create whole worlds of people and plot. I don't often wonder about the authors I read, but Moon has me baffled. I hope she has as much fun writing as I have reading her books.

The political wrangling is very stressful. Owen is very wonderful.

This is RIDICULOUSLY heartbreaking.

OK, but it's actually kind of beautiful the way they disassemble Ghost so they can put him back together brand new.

Dude. Ghost is one messed up guy. He would have been perfect for Eve 😂

Just when I start to like Eve a little, she does another horrible thing. Honestly. Her domination tactics are just plain abusive.
This actually reminds me of the gargoyle in Married to the Devil by Lillian Lark. Being emotionally unavailable is fine unless you tie someone else to you, then it's abuse. "You are mine to neglect" is just not romantic.