Review: The Witness by Nora Roberts (audio)

The Witness by Nora Roberts

Read by Julia Whelan

Brilliance Audio

April 2012

Length: 16 hours 30 minutes

Source: Library

Elizabeth Fitch’s short-lived teenage rebellion began with L’Oreal
Pure Black, a pair of scissors, and a fake ID. It ended in blood…

Daughter of a cold,
controlling mother and an anonymous donor, studious, obedient Elizabeth
finally let loose one night, drinking too much at a nightclub and
allowing a strange man’s seductive Russian accent to lure her to a house
on Lake Shore Drive. The events that followed changed her life forever. 

Twelve years later, the woman now known as Abigail Lowery lives alone
on the outskirts of a small town in the Ozarks. A freelance programmer,
she works at home designing sophisticated security systems. Her own
security is supplemented by a fierce dog and an assortment of firearms.
She keeps to herself, saying little, revealing nothing. 

Unfortunately,
that seems to be the quickest way to get attention in a tiny southern
town. 

The mystery of Abigail Lowery intrigues local police chief Brooks
Gleason, on both a personal and a professional level. Her sharp, logical
mind, her secretive nature, her unromantic viewpoints leave him
fascinated but frustrated. He suspects that Abigail needs protection
from something, even if he doesn’t know what – and that her elaborate
defenses hide a story that must be revealed. 

Accustomed to two-bit
troublemakers, Gleason is about to walk into the sights of very powerful
and dangerous men. And Abigail Lowery, who has built a life based on
security and self-control, is at risk of losing both.

My thoughts: I really enjoy Nora Roberts’ romantic suspense books and felt she knocked it out of the park with this one! Listening to it, I got so involved in the storyline that I had a hard time thinking about anything else when I wasn’t listening.

The pace of this book was all over the place. It was fast with a lot of tension in the beginning as we met young Elizabeth, but then when the book moved ahead in time, it slowed down, only to pick up again a bit later. There were a few twists and turns throughout the book and while you pretty much are able to predict how some things will turn out, it’s more about the journey. Nora Roberts is able to take us on a great journey in this book, especially with the romance that develops between Abbie and Brooks. 

When Abbie moves to the small town in the Ozarks, she keeps to herself. She mainly has everything delivered to her house, but occasionally runs into town. Brooks has seen her from afar and knows there’s more to her than meets the eye. As he gets to know her, he seems to fight an inner battle with himself. The cop in him realizes from the start that she’s hiding something, but the man in him just wants to break through her tough exterior and love her.

I loved the character of Abbie. She clearly is not a sociable human being – she has trouble doing small talk and is extremely literal. She actually reminds me of Temperance Brennan from the tv show, Bones. I think it’s all the literalness that makes her quite endearing. I loved her interactions with both Brooks and his mother – who is quite pushy, in my opinion. She does exactly what she wants when she wants, but lucky for her it works in her favor most of the time! I also loved Abbie’s dog, Bert. A dog-lover myself, I love reading about the special bonds between dogs and their owners. I found it fascinating that Abbie was able to not only learn so many different languages herself, but to teach Bert different commands in all the languages.

Audio thoughts: I though Julia Whelan did a great job with this narration. Having to read for a teenage girl and then transition to the young woman is no easy feat, and yet she was able to make it work without going over the top. There are quite a few characters in this book and each was given their own distinct voice and Julia handled the Russian accent quite well, in my opinion. This is the first time I’ve listened to Julia Whelan and I will certainly be checking to see what else she narrates.

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