and man am i confused. im hoping the rewrite makes some things a little bit clearer. i think the most confusing thing for me, though, is "rafe"'s age. he's a lot older in the rj books, right? i mean, it would only make sense. will this be addressed in the reprint?

and man am i confused. im hoping the rewrite makes some things a little bit clearer. i think the most confusing thing for me, though, is "rafe"'s age. he's a lot older in the rj books, right? i mean, it would only make sense. will this be addressed in the reprint?

Keep in mind that "Rafe" can alter his appearance to some degree to suit whatever role he's playing. His true age is something else altogether.

Does that help at all?

and man am i confused. im hoping the rewrite makes some things a little bit clearer. i think the most confusing thing for me, though, is "rafe"'s age. he's a lot older in the rj books, right? i mean, it would only make sense. will this be addressed in the reprint?

That one niggles at me a bit too. He is 'growing up' after his rebirth in the origianl version and is a 'teenager' in it. I haven't read the updated version, in which he must be considerably older to fit the modified timeline. But it is a very minor niggle so I just go with...

Keep in mind that "Rafe" can alter his appearance to some degree to suit whatever role he's playing. His true age is something else altogether.

yeah im about halfway through right now, and i'm just imagining that he's older.

I wondered about this too, but it seems to be covered in By The Sword. After Mr. Osala "saves" Dawn at the end of Bloodline, he leaves and has been gone for awhile. I believe he is gone setting up the stuff that happens in Reprisals. At the end of By The Sword when he comes in and takes Dawn back from Hank a couple of things happen.

One is that his appearance changes while Hank is watching him and he introduces himself to Hank as Rafe.

Also, when Dawn wakes up in the limo with Mr. Osala, she thinks that he looks younger and hotter.

I wondered about this too, but it seems to be covered in By The Sword. After Mr. Osala "saves" Dawn at the end of Bloodline, he leaves and has been gone for awhile. I believe he is gone setting up the stuff that happens in Reprisals. At the end of By The Sword when he comes in and takes Dawn back from Hank a couple of things happen.

One is that his appearance changes while Hank is watching him and he introduces himself to Hank as Rafe.

Also, when Dawn wakes up in the limo with Mr. Osala, she thinks that he looks younger and hotter.

Good catch; I'd forgotten that.

Good catch; I'd forgotten that.

oh yeah, me too. dammit im going to have to reread all the rj books after i finish reprisal aren't i ...and speaking of reprisal, can i just say that this is by far the most disturbing fiction i have ever experienced? im like 3/4 the way through. gave me nightmares last night.

oh yeah, me too. dammit im going to have to reread all the rj books after i finish reprisal aren't i ...and speaking of reprisal, can i just say that this is by far the most disturbing fiction i have ever experienced? im like 3/4 the way through. gave me nightmares last night.

My wife barely spoke to me for 3 days after she read it.

My wife barely spoke to me for 3 days after she read it.

speaking of wives, (sorry bout this) i told mine not to read it. she does plan on reading the cycle and the rj novels, but i told her that i'll just tell her what she needs to know and she can skip reprisal. it's a good novel so far, just a little too disturbing for some people, i think.

(I'm being as oblique as I can to avoid spoilers her.) The scene on Christmas Eve almost didn't get written. I couldn't get the words out. I developed an aversion reaction to my keyboard. Every time I sat down I'd have to get up and walk around the room. I did not want to write that scene, did not want to hurt that character, and I especially didn't want to describe what had been done to him. But I had to. Someone was trying to crush Father Ryan, utterly destroy him, but it takes a lot to do that to a man of his inner strength and faith. About the only way to strike at him was through a character he loved. Trouble was, I'd become emotionally attached as well. Hurting him was like hurting a real person. If you'll notice, the scene is described obliquely, out of the corner of the eye. It was the best I could do, and actually it works better than a full-frontal exposure. If you let the reader's subconscious fill in the gory details, the effect can be more disturbing than a detailed description.