Envy by J.R. Ward or “Holy Crap! She did it to me again!”

Publisher: Signet

Published: 9/06/2011

Buy here

Rating: Entrée (with a lot of onions, because you will cry)











Thomas “Veck” DelVecchio, Jr doesn’t remember butchering the barely breathing mass of human flesh laying at his feet. He knows he came out here with the intent to rid the world of this pestilence but doesn’t remember the actual act. As a detective in the homicide division of the Caldwell, NY police force he is sworn to uphold the law, but sometimes the wheels of justice move too slow or just grind to a halt altogether. Veck has spent his life worrying how much of his fire, infamous serial killer, Thomas Delvecchio, Sr. he actually carried around inside of him, now it seems as if he’s following in dear old dad’s bloody footprints. Sophia Reilly surveys the scene but holds any speculation until she has more facts. As an officer with Internal Affairs, she can't make snap decisions, but her gut is telling her that something isn't adding up. Neither is aware that they are major players in a secret game of one-upsmanship between good and evil.

I should have been expecting it, I mean it's not like she's never done this before, but she completely caught me off guard. She lulls her readers into a false sense of security and then .....blammo....she drops a bombshell on them. This was the first book from J. R. Ward that I didn't read in one sitting. Oh, I loved it. It was, in my opinion the best of the Fallen Angel series so far, but lord have mercy, did it work my emotions. If I hadn't walked away from this book at one point, I would have been a sobbing mass of jello by now. So this is a spoiler free warning, go into this book with tissues at the ready, because the WARDen really ratcheted  up the angst in this book.

I loved Veck from his first appearance. He was just sooo Brotherlike, damaged but with a core of integrity that only he couldn't see, and tortured by circumstances beyond his control. I feel an innate protectiveness for damaged alphas (probably why I run a wolf rescue) and get incensed when others fail to recognize the true magnificence of what they are privileged enough to see. So, surprise, surprise..... I had issues with the heroine. Sophie ticked me off big time. She wasn't wimpy or a doormat by any means, but when an alpha predator gives you it's trust and takes you into it's circle of safety, you don't abuse it. Period!!  
And if you do, then massive groveling and penance is required. Veck is now guaranteed a get out of jail free card for the entirety of their relationship though, so maybe that's enough. I can just envision it....
"Veck, god dammit! You left the frickin toilet seat up again!"
" Hey, Sophie. Remember that time you tried to have me arrested for that murder I didn't commit?" End of argument.

There are some major developments with the Archangels that will most definitely impact the war between good and evil. Jim is getting new powers left and right and manages to pull a major fast one on Devina (heifer). If you haven't dipped into this series yet, don't wait too much longer because the action is flying fast and furious and the players are evolving at a rapid rate. This series should firmly lock J.R. Ward into the hallowed arena of one the top authors in her field. I know I'm terminally addicted to her books and don't see that changing anytime this decade.