COPYRIGHT: 2006SETTING: Contemporary
TYPE: Romantic suspense
PAGES: 488
SERIES: No
REASON FOR READING: Love Nora. And read good things about it from Rosario, AAR, and others.
SUMMARY: [from the publisher]
Reece Gilmore has come a long way to see the stunning view below her. As the sole survivor of a brutal crime back East, she has been on the run, desperately fighting the nightmares and panic attacks that haunt her. Reece settles in Angel's Fist, Wyoming-temporarily, at least-and takes a job at a local diner. And now she's hiked this mountain all by herself. It was glorious, she thought, as she peered through her binoculars at the Snake River churning below.
Then Reece saw the man and woman on the opposite bank. Arguing. Fighting. And suddenly, the man was on top of the woman, his hands around her throat . . .
Enjoying a moment of solitude a bit farther down the trail is a gruff loner named Brody. But by the time Reece reaches him and brings him to the scene, the pair has vanished. When authorities comb the area where she saw the attack, they find nothing. No signs of struggle. No freshly turned earth. Not even a tire track.
And no one in Angel's Fist seems to believe her. After all, she's a newcomer in town, with a reputation for being jumpy and jittery-maybe even a little fragile. Maybe it's time to run again, to move on . . .
Reece Gilmore knows there's a killer in Angel's Fist, even if Brody, despite his seeming impatience and desire to keep her at arm's length, is the only one willing to believe her. When a series of menacing events makes it clear that someone wants her out of the way, Reece must put her trust in Brody-and herself-to find out if there is a killer in Angel's Fist before it's too late.
THOUGHTS/OPINION:
Normally, I cringe at the thought of reading a book that's close to 500 pages. Only the great Nora Roberts can keep me turning the pages so quickly that the end snuck up on me before I knew it. AF was a terrifically engrossing read and I loved it.
Reece is the only survivor of a bloody massacre at the restaurant where she worked as a chef in Boston. She witnessed some of her fellow co-workers being murdered before her eyes and is still suffering nightmares and panic attacks, what you would call PTSD. When she eventually ends up in the small town of Angels Fist, Wyoming, she seemed like such a fragile person and she doubts whether she will ever recover and be normal again. She gets a job as a cook in the local diner and rents the apartment upstairs and seems to be settling in. While out hiking in the nearby mountains she witnesses a murder. Reece runs back down the trail straight into Brody, a mystery writer and the local recluse. Brody helps her report it to the police, but the sheriff can find no evidence that a crime had been committed there. Brody ends up being the only person in town who believes her. At about this point I had my suspicions on who committed the crime and it turned out... I was right!
Brody was an appealing character in a strange way and not Nora's typical hero. He was very sarcastic and brash with Reece with very little sympathy for her. But he was exactly the type of person Reece needed to make her climb out of the obsessive compulsive hole she had been digging for herself and fight back. Instead of dishing out the 'poor victim' gentle sympathy, Brody was gruff with a dry sense of humor and their dialog was laugh out loud funny. Brody is very attracted to her but was not looking for a permanent relationship. He had no clue he had fallen in love with her until it was way too late.
After the murder strange things start to happen to Reece and she immediately thinks she's having memory lapses and is losing her sanity but Brody believes her implicitly and forces her to believe in herself. Their love affair becomes extremely hot and was another great part of the story. The scenery was stunning and beautifully described (no, Cindy, not lush) and I makes me want to visit the Grand Tetons some day. This book reminded me a little of Northern Lights but I liked this one a little bit more. The lively dialog, hot love scenes and beautiful setting made AF a great read.
GRADE: A
9 comments:
Renee this was on of my faves of 2006. For me it brought me full circle why I love NR. A great book. Don't ruin it by even looking at the movie with Heather Locklear. I only watched bits out of curiosity and I don't know who in their right mind thought HL was right for Reece, but whoever they are they are just wrong!
Glad you enjoyed AF Renee! I thought the book was very good also :D One of the best of NR in the past few years. I like Reece's strength and Brody, although not the typical/perfect hero, was what she needed.
Rosie: I wish I had read this sooner so I could have voted for it in the AAR reader poll. I have not heard good things about that movie. What a shame cuz this book was so good.
Nath: I totally agree. One of her best. I got this HC from the library but I'm going to need my own PB copy to reread.
Not lush huh? That would definitely be a plus - I have been waiting for this in paperback. I haven't read a Roberts in years so I'm hoping this one gets me back on track!
Cindys
AF reminded me of Northern Lights too. I guess it was the small-town, quirky characters thing.
I like pretty much all NRs but this one was especially good. :)
I love Nora :) She's my absolute favourite author bar none, in romance and otherwise (well classical is Jane Austen).
I agree with you that Brody was the typical hero that Nora focuses on and it was a good change. I find that the female protagonists she has been writing lately have been a bit, for a better word, butch. Have you found that? Maybe it's just me. *shrugs* Not that there's anything wrong with butch ;)
Cindy: The PB should be out the end of May. It's definitely worth giving it a try. And of course, I want to know what you think.
Jennie: Yeah, it was that small town, quirky character thing. NR is a very consistent author, isn't she?
Alie: Butch? Hmm, I hadn't thought about that but you could be right.
AF one of my favorites from last year. Northern Lights is one of my favorites from the year before--it's also the first romance my husband ever read and liked. According to him "she writes real men".
Tara: According to him "she writes real men". I always suspected that but it's hard for women to judge that kind of thing. It's good to get feedback from a guy. :)
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