200 and Counting!!

THE WITNESS

Nora Roberts

April 2012

Brilliance Audio, Narr. Julia Whelan

The Witness is Nora Robert's 200th novel, an amazing feat and an automatic NYT Bestseller.  Back in my Book Snob days Nora Roberts is an author that I would never read- first because they were "romances" and second because she is so prolific. "How can she write so many books and still write anything of quality?", I'd ask myself. Then a friend of mine whose judgement I respect recommended the In Death series written under Roberts' alter ego, J.D. Robb. I downloaded "Naked in Death" in audio form and was hooked! After listening my way through all the available In Death audios, I branched out into her stand alone novels and trilogies.I have to say that I am much more in tune with her later work rather than the early Harlequin Romances. She is still developing her story-telling and character skills with each new novel.

The Witness is the story of Elizabeth Fitch, daughter of a cold and controlling mother, a real "Mommie Dearest" without the physical abuse. There is no father involved in her life as Elizabeth is the product of a carefully screened sperm donor. A brilliant child, she has had every move and thought controlled. At the age of 16 she has completed a year of pre-med at Harvard and knows she does not want to be a surgeon. After her first argument with her mother she rebels, forging ID's, dying her hair and shopping for slinky dresses. She meets an acquaintance and the two girls head to a club rumored to be owned by the Russian Mob. This one rebellion changes her life forever when she witnesses a horrible crime and goes on the run for the next thirteen years.

Brooks Gleason is the Police Chief in a small resort town in the Ozarks and is fascinated by Abigail Lowery, a new area resident. She is always perfectly polite but makes no effort to be a part of the community. This is a red flag in any small Southern town where one always needs to know who your "people" are! He also notices that she is carrying a concealed gun, no crime in the Ozarks, but decidedly odd. When he goes out to her cabin to introduce himself, he finds a woman with extreme security, a very large and well-trained dog and packing a Glock on her hip. Brooks has a need to know why she is on the run and he is the personification of amiable persistence.

The story of their relationship forms the heart of the novel. Abigail finds that she must share her predicament with Brooks in order to break out of her isolation and have a normal life.She knows that she is still being pursued so this a very tall order. Abigail's use of her formidable intellect and hacking skills aid her, as well as Brooks' support. Abigail's "coming out" and her complete lack of social skills provide several welcome touches of humor.

The narration is excellent, even though I had to adjust to the very girlish sound of Julia Whelan's voice. My only quibble with The Witness is that the ending was not as full of fireworks as I had expected. It was, however, satisfying so that's just me.

Rating- 4.5 Stars