Avsnitt
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In this episode of “Podcast in Death,” we review “Calculated in Death.” This is a book that is, according to Tara, a nice “palette cleanser” after the intensity of “Delusion in Death.” While Tara really enjoyed this book, AJ felt this one was kind of “meh,” where the case is concerned. But we all agree that there are so many really good moments in this book, including:
The really dumb Candida and her white panther cub and her fancy water harvested from the snowmelt in the AndesGalahad getting pissed at Eve because he smelled the white panther cub on herThe suspect throwing a baby at Eve, and Eve making that really excellent catchBaxter telling Eve that Trueheart is ready for his Detective exam, and she agreesThe mother they question who’s son is refusing to take a nap, and Eve tells him it’s either a nap or jail saying, “There’s no ice cream in jail, no toys in jail, no cartoons on screen in jail. There’s just jail.”Peabody’s undercover operation as “Dolly” who works as an exotic dancer at the “Kitty Kat.”All these scenes and more make this book a really great read!
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This episode comes with a visual guide…kind of. To get the full enjoyment out of this episode, please see the following link:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/rLy6K83r5YCqDCz57
Several weeks ago, AJ got bored and decided to use a character generator plug in for ChatGPT to see if she could generate AI generated images of the “In Death” characters.
There have been other “In Death” fans have done images of “In Death” characters before, most notably Katt who, on Instagram is “zyeine_art” and he highly suggest you check her account out.
But the difference between that and what AJ decided to do is that for Katt and all the other artists who have created “In Death” images, they put their own vision of what the character looks like into their artwork. What AJ wanted to do was just put the descriptions from the books and nothing else. The object here was to get images that would be as close to the descriptions in the books as possible.
So in this episode, we talk about creating these images and the reactions they got on our Facebook page. Again, make sure you check out our photo album for all of these images to get the maximum enjoyment out of this episode.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/rLy6K83r5YCqDCz57
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Saknas det avsnitt?
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This week, we are reviewing the reviews of “Delusion in Death,” and there were so many bad reviews of this one, especially three 1-Star reviews all from men. The first one is especially bad when this man says: “One of THE MOST PAINFUL BOOKS in all of eternity…The story – depressing. The character – disgusting. The author – revolting.”
The next 1-Star review says: “Everyone that exists in this book are smug pricks,” and the one after that says: “cannot survive outside the readership of a police community, far less outside the United States of America.” (Who’s going to tell him that this book was a best seller not only in the U.S., but all around the world.)
There was also one reviewer who didn’t like this book because they thought the plot was too close to the James Bond movie: “A View to a Kill.” Spoiler Alert: It’s not. At ALL.
Other comments include:
“just tired of hearing about them ad nauseum. If I were Roarke, I think I’d check out.”“I couldn’t get past the second chapter.”“The futuristic setting is nothing but a gimmick: ‘Links and Blinks and Rinky-Dinks…”“What I am finding distasteful is that she is more and more adding God’s name in vain and the F bomb.”“It started going downhill when you switched to hardcover”“Adult comic book – – bad”By contrast, there were some very thoughtful good reviews on this book too.
“I suddenly started shipping Nadine & Kyung. I don’t know why, I just did.”“Spending time with Eve and Roarke always puts my in my happy place!”“Even if you don’t want to be seen with a romance, I swear pick it up on Kindle or Audible and try one! You’ll be hooked!”“I would recommend the series and plan to keep reading it for now. It is still entertaining which is what really counts.”“A Must Read!”“I am lovin’ it !!!”“Damn good story!” -
In this episode our good friend and Spreadsheet enthusiast, Dana joins us to talk about her “March Madness” game she created for our Facebook group. Essentially, she created a “bracket,” which is what they use for “March Madness” basketball. She took most of the books (she left out a few novellas) and had the books compete against each other until we finally found a “winner.” Some of the results were surprising and interesting.
After that, we find out that DANA was our Mystery Rap Lyric Writer!
So we surprise her with an AI version of her song as a rap song! We play the song for you in this episode, so if you want to sing along, Here are the lyrics:
It’s 2061 in the NYC.
There’s still murder and the killers try to flee.
The homicide division will bring them to a stop,
led by a bad bitch LT who’s the top murder cop.
Dallas has rank in the NYPSD.
She’s not interested in you taking a plea.
Confessions in the box are what she demands,
a bullpen of damn good cops she’s proud to command.
Peabody’s her partner, a free-ager yet sturdy,
dependable and true, but not yet 30.
She’s got a nice rack and obsessed with her ass.
Lose pants, lose pants. She chants with a gasp.
Jenkinsons the DS, known for his blinding ties.
Their colors and patterns will sear your eyes.
He has a way with words that may leave you struck.
Ring that fucker’s bell, motherfucking fuckers fuck.
The DS teams up with Reineke, his partner is do or die.
Reineke has the crazy socks to go with Jenkinsons tie.
Sitting at his desk, he often whistles off key,
and when he’s on a diet, it’s a veggie hash and a tea.
Baxter is the horn dog with the model looks.
Dallas teamed him up with one of her rooks.
Slick in stylish suits, he is quite the flirt.
He’s first in line when Nadine brings dessert.
Trueheart and Baxter are quite the pair.
One is seasoned, the other is square.
He’s shy, blushes, and raises his hand.
But good as gold, his partner would add.
There are two Carmichael’s, a he and a she.
She has the shield and is unflappable as can be.
She’s got the pipes and loves to sing.
She also bets with her partner, that’s their thing.
Santiago is on the losing end of those bets.
Cowboy hat on his head, he ponders and regrets.
As the new guy, he wants acceptance and danger.
In New York, it’s the Mets, Knicks, Giants, Rollers, and Rangers.
At Cop Central, when Dallas and Peabody are running hot,
Baxter and Trueheart join in and take off like a shot.
Jenkinson and Reinecke won’t be far behind.
Carmichael and Santiago fall in a line.
They have each other’s back anytime, anyplace
With thin shield on, it matters not what they face.
You strike at one, you strike at them all.
They will stand side by side, ready to brawl.
No matter your race, creed, or sexual orientation,
they don’t even care about your political affiliation.
This motto for the bullpen hangs overhead.
We protect and serve because you could get dead.
Even if you were an asshole
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Welcome to our 200th Episode!
As with our 100th episode, we are giving you some highlights from the last 200 episodes! This includes highlights from all of our guests including Allison Brennan, Theresa Carle Sanders, Intentionally Bookish, Emily and Heidi from “Romancing the Shelf,” Adam from “Basic Snitches,” and of course, St. Susan of Ericksen, Patron Saint of Audiobooks!
Then we give you some highlights from our “Podvella” episode including:
Don’t Google “roarke pink panties”Eve and Roarke are Registered at TargetAlexa: Can cats have pancakes?AJ hates Father LopezNo RegertsSex WorkThe gift room in Roarke’s MansionOther Highlights include some favorite moments from when we Reviewed: Treachery, Salvation, Encore, Possession, Desperation, New York to Dallas and more, including:
Eat Your BoobiesYou’re not awake enough, Asshat!You need more gym time, EveRoarke is even attractive to dead womenYou need to wash that, EveCall me Dr. Chaos!!Julian is a Dummy Dumb DumbNever Gonna Get ItScary Roarke LiteWe end with Highlights from We Review the Reviews including:
It’s an episode of “Scooby Doo”There are NO JETPACKS!Off more men!HardasseryYOU get one or two stars!!There was a fucking swordfight!What a weird ass book!Unpleasantly Shrill, Abusive and UninformedThat’s enough for the anal -
In this episode, we will be reviewing “Delusion in Death,” which is a book that all three of us haven’t read for years, probably because it’s such a hard read. But, it’s such a good book!
First, we talk about theme. Deciding on the theme for this book was difficult, because it could be so many things, but we finally setting on the theme of “Choices.” So much of what happens in this book happen because of the choices that the characters have made. You can see this theme when Eve had her nightmare where she inserted Dr. Mira into the dream, and at the end of it, “dream” Dr. Mira tells Eve: “Out of terrible times, perhaps more than ordinary ones, heroes and villains spring. Sometimes there’s little difference between them but a choice, and the choice made defines them. Look at the choices.”
There is a lot of growth in this book for Eve, one of the indicators of this is the dream, and how, after the dream was over, instead of feeling scared/sad/vulnerable, she felt happy and energized. And horny. This is also the book where Eve finally tells Peabody about what happened in Dallas (“New York to Dallas”). It’s a really amazing scene between Eve and Peabody, probably one of the best Eve/Peabody scenes in the entire series.
There’s also a bit of growth from both Eve and Roarke when they’re forced to accept an HSO agent into the group investigating this crime, and they both not only come to terms with that, but make their peace with it and the HSO agent, Teasdale, is actually a good person and a valuable part of the team.
There’s also a really great scene where Eve takes Roarke with her to interview a few of the witnesses, and Eve tells Roarke that she wants him to be “Scary Roarke Lite.” Roarke is thrilled with this role that Eve has given him and just really kills it. Again, another one of the best scenes in the series.
Overall, as we said, it’s a really great book, and we hope you all enjoyed it as much as we did.
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In today’s episode, we re-visit the “Fan Casting” topic and give you our fan casting choices for some of the Villians in the “in Death” series.
Some of the villains we Fan Cast in this episode include:
Gerald DeBlass
Derrick Rockman
Jake Casto
Liam Calhoun
Julianna Dunne
Magdelana Purcell
Renee Oberman
William Garnett
Isaac McQueen
Willow Mackie
Lorcan Cobbe
In some cases, we were very conventional in our picks, in others…well…just hear us out.
Make sure you listen to the Podcast Business section, because we have a LOT to talk about there, and will we finally learn the identity of the listener who wrote our Bullpen Rap?
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Hey, Everyone!
In this week’s episode, we look at the reviews of “Random in Death,” so, if you haven’t read that book yet, you may want to skip this episode.
For the rest of you, hold on to your hats and glasses, because this is going to be a wild ride!
As we have already said on our last episode, the common theme among all of these reviews is that people HATED all of the slang as in:
“…the focus on teen slang is sooo boomer.”“It is distracting, a good mystery but silly with the slang.”“I also needed whomever wrote this to chill on the hip terminology…”dooser” is not plausible in any universe.”“JD Robb is to making up future slang as Stephen King is to making up past slang. If either has ever met a teenager I’d be shocked.”But, that’s not all: Some of these reviewers HATE Peabody:
“Peabodys character acts like an immature teen”“Peabody was annoying again in this one.”Good reviews for this one include:
“The detective team is top notch. There are obvious friendships and respect for partners.”“This book was compelling from beginning to end.”“… it was like listening to a story from an old friend. I loved it! Susan Ericksen does an excellent job with the narration…”This was a fun episode to record, and we hope you all enjoy it!
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In this episode, we talk about one of the things about this series that 1-Star reviewers most like to complain about: “In Death” Slang Words! Especially with the last book, “Random in Death,” where there were several teenaged victims and witnesses that use a lot of “Future Slang.”
Most of the bad reviews for that book talk about this future slang and how it’s just silly. But then we take a look at the slang words that are being used by “GenZ” right now, and they are just as silly, so is it really THAT unrealistic? We don’t think so.
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In this week’s episode, we discuss the latest J.D. Robb Title: “Random in Death.” So, if you haven’t read the book yet, you might want to skip this episode so you don’t get spoiled.
We’ve decided that for this book, the theme is: Dreams! Not necessarily the dreams you have when you’re asleep, but your dreams and aspirations of what you truly want for yourself.
This is a really hard book to read because the victims are all young and still have so many dreams for themselves and their future. But also because the killer himself is a garbage human and the method is really horrible. When Eve has to do any of the notifications, the parent’s reactions are just heartbreaking.
Roarke is very active in this case, and while Eve is cool with that, Tara really disliked how much Roarke is involved this time. AJ doesn’t have a problem with Roarke being very involved in most aspects of this case, but she does have a problem with Roarke being so involved that he gives his private number to a teenaged girl.
We spend a lot of time talking about all the Future Slang that Nora has put into this book, we assume because all of the victims and most of the witnesses are teenagers, and why wouldn’t they have a ton of their own slang phrases that they use?There’s also a really nice scene with Eve and Roarke stopping by “The Great House Project” and spending the evening with their circle of friends.
We get an update on the building that Eve had Roarke buy for her, the building where Teeg the Dick lived and had his club. Now that Teeg has been kicked out, and the renovations have begun, Roarke asks Eve to think about a new name for the new club that they will be putting in there. After contemplating the name “Teeg is an Asshole,” Eve settles on “Off Duty.”
This book also rehashes the money argument from an earlier book. This time, Eve gives Roarke more of an explanation in that because she no longer has to keep meticulous track of all her money now, she has found that she forgets to get cash when she needs it. That in turn makes her feel dumb, and when Roarke gives her money because she forgot, she feels even more dumb. They compromise, and we hope that’s the end of that argument.
This is a long episode, but we had a lot to say about this book, and we hope you enjoy it!
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Hey Everyone!
On this week’s episode, we have a really interesting conversation based on a suggestion by listener Michelle Kenyon about the Myers-Briggs personality type system. We first explain the background and purpose of Myers-Briggs for those who are unfamiliar. We had both previously taken the test for ourselves and discovered that: AJ is an INTP, while Tara’s type has changed from ISFJ to INFP. We discuss the characteristics of our respective types and how they relate to our own personalities.
Then we take the test for Eve, and based on our answers, we find that Eve’s personality type is ISTJ, also known as the Logistician. ISTJs are practical, fact-minded individuals who value stability and predictability. But what we found most interesting is one of the suggested careers for ISTJs is: Law enforcement!
It was a really great conversation and I think you’ll enjoy listening to it!
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Here we are again with another “We Review the Reviews” episode! This time we review the reviews of “Celebrity in Death.”
We’ve had a lot of one-star reviewers complaining about how cell phones in Eve’s world are now called “Links,” and people can’t seem to get over that. They also can’t get over Peabody calling Eve “Sir.”
We have one reviewer giving us what we want in a review: several reasons why they gave the book a 1 Star, BUT… all the reasons are dumb and wrong.
Other gems from this episode include:
(Nora is) weakening her rep with this junk!it was all jumping in the sack, lather, rinse, repeat.it felt like I was reading an excerpt from Leave it to Beaver…What is this ridiculous obsession with dressing Eve in designer clothes?On the other hand, there are some really great reviews including:
I will never tire of this series. Nope. Never.I thought it was crazy fascinating! Lots of curve balls.The dialogue doesn’t miss a beat.Susan Eriksen brings all the “feels” to the heart.Just so that you have the visuals for one of the 4 Star reviews that we talked about:
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In this episode of the show, AJ and Tara discuss what we know so far about Roarke’s Mansion! There are a TON of rooms in this house, and how many and what kind of rooms can be a bit confusing. It’s a bit like the Winchester Mystery House. Is it going to be an endless construction project until the day Roarke dies? We may never know.
Anyway… we chose to discuss a specific topic due to a recent conversation on our Facebook page. The discussion was about whether Roarke would build a Media Room similar to the one he saw in Roundtree’s house in “Celebrity in Death.” The discussion continued in the most recent book, “Random in Death.” Additionally, we debated whether Eve would even want a large media room. Interestingly, according to the Wiki page about Roarke’s Mansion, he already has a “Video Room” (mentioned in “Loyalty in Death”), a “Family Media Room,” a “Main Media Room” (mentioned in “Imitation in Death”), and a “Game Room” with several video screens. This is where Mavis and Nixie watched Mavis’ new video.
We start out discussing exactly where it would be located, and how that area, which at the moment contains apartments and a parking garage, would suddenly become one property for one man. Our theory, as with a lot of things in this series, is: Urban Wars.There are several floors in this house, so using the Wiki as a guide, we go floor by floor and discuss all the rooms on each. One thing we learned, or just decided was cannon, is that practically every room has a hidden bar somewhere, and a terrace. This includes the “Gift Room,” where we have decided, there is also a “Tasting Room,” in case you want to taste any of the liquors available as gifts before you give it.
There are so many more details on the Wiki page, and we go over most of them in this episode.
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On this episode of Podcast in Death, we review a really fun installment in this series: “Celebrity in Death”! This is a book about “wants” and the extreme measures people will take to get the things that they want.
For this book, Eve and Peabody get to tour the set of “The Icove Agenda” and meet fake Eve (Marlo Durn) and fake Peabody (K.T. Harris). Marlo, even though she’s an Oscar winning actress, fangirls over Eve. Peabody has a slightly worse experience, because “Fake Peabody” is a garbage human.
Later that evening, they attend a dinner with the cast of the movie and all their real-life counterparts. Marlo more than fangirls over Roarke, Mavis gets to cuss for the first time in a long time, and Mr Mira has mismatched socks. Because, as we said, K.T. Harris is a garbage human, she ends up dead, and Eve and Peabody start the investigation. The evidence starts to point to “Fake Roarke,” Julian Cross, but since he’s a “Dummy Dumb Dumb” (as Tara puts it), there’s no way that he could have done it.
There are some really great scenes in this book, including the scene where McNab asks Peabody if she would like him to propose someday, Roarke giving Eve her magic coat, then refusing to test it by stunning her, Eve asking Feeney to watch a spycam video of Marlo and Matthew…and then the video turning into a porn movie that mortifies them both.
Also some really great banter here, including Peabody wondering if there’s perhaps a video of Fake Peabody having sex with Fake Roarke. Also, Peabody being pissed off when she finds out K.T. had nicknamed her “Pleasebody.” Whitney makes a joke about how this murder investigation might turn into another “damned vid” which horrifies Eve. But, Peabody thinks it might be fun to watch a vid where someone playing her is investigating the murder of someone playing her.
Overall, we are MUCH happier with this book than we were with “Chaos” because Fuck Chaos!
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If you’ve ever wanted to hear us agree with the majority of the reviews of an “In Death” book… even the 1 star reviews, this is the episode to listen to!
It’s no secret that none of us are crazy about “Chaos in Death,” but, even though we do agree with most of the reviews, there are still some reviewers who are pretentious assholes, so we do call those people out.
Like the person who said: “This book feels like it was written by one of my elementary students.” That person is a pretentious asshole.
But, what we do agree with is:
Pretty hokey story lineWeird. Weird & weirdInteresting story, but not a favouriteInterestingly, we do have several reviews from people who genuinely liked this book. Like:
This was simple, yet enjoyable Jekyll and Hyde type story made better by Roarke, Eve and Peabody too.It was Fun, fun, fun.…absolute insanity and I loved it.I listened to the audio and was delighted by Susan Ericksen’s performance – as usual!It was a fun episode, and we hope you like it too!
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In this episode of the show, we talk about both Nadine and Jake!
We start out talking about Nadine and how important she is for the series and among Eve’s circle of friends. We also talk about some of our favorite early scenes with Nadine where she and Eve were just developing a friendship.
We then pivot to Jake, Avenue A and Jake’s relationship with Nadine.
When talking about what we know about Avenue A, we accidentally discover a YANNI!
During our “Podcast Business” segment, we talk about the upcoming 200th episode, and are still asking for your input as to favorite moments from episodes 101 to 199.
We also talk about our upcoming 4th Anniversary, and what we might talk about with Susan Ericksen if we can book her again. Last Anniversary, she gave us an assignment: To write an “In Death” musical. We haven’t, but we might have some ideas about how that could be achieved.
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Fun fact: We recorded this episode on Jen’s birthday! So what did we decide to record on her birthday? A review of her least favorite “In Death” book!!
“Chaos in Death” was originally part of the “Unquiet” anthology, and we are sure was supposed to be just a fun little homage to the book “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.” But, for us, it didn’t quite land, because she decided to make “Dr. Chaos” turn into an actual monster, which isn’t something that we could get behind because it seems a bit ridiculous.
Mostly, Jen hates this book because, being a medical professional, she knows you can’t change your entire appearance (skin color, eye color, facial contortions) with a serum.
There’s also not a lot going on in Eve and Roarke’s life, so nothing for us to get very excited about there, either.
But regardless, there are some fun moments and great dialogue in this book, and it’s still “somewhat entertaining.”
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In this episode, we start out discussing feedback from listener Cindy regarding Review the Reviews. We address concerns about our approach to negative reviews, and in doing so, we recognize the importance of respectful disagreement and the need to give people with different opinions more respect. But we also discuss the purpose of Review the Reviews and how it provides an opportunity to explore different perspectives on the books. We acknowledge that not everyone will enjoy our show and recommend other podcasts if this show is not for you.
After the discussion of this email, we continue with your regularly scheduled We Review the Reviews episode. So many people who are so angry with this book for some reason. Including some people who say:
Reads as though written by someone stupid.OMG, a cell phone is now a ‘link? We have seen the future people.…heavy, bleak, depressing, charged with intense emotional pain and without entertainment valueI am sick of the hypocrisy of EveDallas palely loiters in the slough of despond…Why Is Nora Angry?(Roarke) NEVER CALLS HER BABY!And for the good…
Best of the series for me.I raged, I cried, I laughed and cried some more. I absolutely LOVE Roarke and Eve. One of the best couples I’ve ever read and I’ve read plenty.I LOVED EVERY FUCKING MINUTE OF THIS BOOK!!Susan Eriksen – narrator extraordinaire….I bow down to your genius.Also, we talk about the word scramble on the inside of the dust cover for “Payback in Death.” For those of you who don’t have the hardcover of this book, I created a PDF for you to download and print out so you can solve the word puzzle yourself:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/9pklh0u679x6ea1/Desperation_Word_Scramble.pdf?dl=0
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Because we didn’t plan at all for episodes this Holiday Season, this week, you get an episode that was very hastily put together. BUT, it’s still at least somewhat entertaining!
This week we went through some Reddit threads about the “In Death” series, and we discuss them. It’s kind of like a “We Review the Reviews” and kind of not.
Still, Enjoy!
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Hello, Everyone!
Because this holiday season has been so weird for all of the hosts at “Podcast in Death,” we didn’t plan well when it comes to preparing episodes. So, when AJ realized there was no episode for this week, she and Tara got together VERY late at night and recorded this VERY entertaining episode where we figure out Feeney’s Enneagram!
Before we do that though, AJ has a bit of a rant about a pet peeve of her that involves not regularly updating author websites.
After that, we take the Enneagram test for Feeney, and we weren’t really surprised at the outcome.
Hopefully, if you, the listeners aren’t surprised either, you will still be entertained, even though we yawn through the whole thing.
Let us know what you think about our answers to the questions, and the conclusion that we come to regarding Feeney’s Enneagram type.
- Visa fler
