The Witness
by Nora Roberts
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"Daughter of a cold, controlling mother and an anonymous donor, studious, obedient Elizabeth Fitch 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 show more 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. He suspects that Abigail needs protection from something. Gleason is about to walk into the sights of very powerful and dangerous men. And Abigail, who has built a life based on security and self-control, is at risk of losing both."--Jacket p. [2]. show lessTags
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I'm a hot and cold fan of Nora Roberts: it's a love/hate relationship. But The Witness, IMHO, stands out as one of her best works.
Expecting it to be a traditional romance, I was perplexed when the first several chapters of the book describe the adventures of a 16 year old girl. Roberts - a YA? But no. This was the author's ingenious way of giving us the crucial backstory on the main character so we can fully understand her when we flash forward twelve years.
Abigail Dowery lives a self-imposed, cloistered life in a remote town in the Ozark mountains, with security cameras riddling her property, firearms in every drawer and cupboard, and a really big dog. A mystery to the local townsfolk, she remains aloof until police chief Brooks show more Gleason, who likes to solve mysteriesÃÃand problems, starts making himself an uninvited guest at Abigail's house. Brooks won't stop until he's figured her out. Abigail tries to resist, but she's not only a recluse with a secret, but she's also a very human woman. One who finds the attraction between her and Brooks irresistible.
Combining an espionage with a classic romance, Roberts does an outstanding job of bringing together two most unlikely characters into the love story of the century. I listened to it on Audible, and the narrator, Julia Whelan, did an outstanding job of telling the story and capturing the nuances of each character's personality. I highly recommend The Witness, and wonder when the film industry will wake up and realize it would make an awesome movie. show less
Expecting it to be a traditional romance, I was perplexed when the first several chapters of the book describe the adventures of a 16 year old girl. Roberts - a YA? But no. This was the author's ingenious way of giving us the crucial backstory on the main character so we can fully understand her when we flash forward twelve years.
Abigail Dowery lives a self-imposed, cloistered life in a remote town in the Ozark mountains, with security cameras riddling her property, firearms in every drawer and cupboard, and a really big dog. A mystery to the local townsfolk, she remains aloof until police chief Brooks show more Gleason, who likes to solve mysteriesÃÃand problems, starts making himself an uninvited guest at Abigail's house. Brooks won't stop until he's figured her out. Abigail tries to resist, but she's not only a recluse with a secret, but she's also a very human woman. One who finds the attraction between her and Brooks irresistible.
Combining an espionage with a classic romance, Roberts does an outstanding job of bringing together two most unlikely characters into the love story of the century. I listened to it on Audible, and the narrator, Julia Whelan, did an outstanding job of telling the story and capturing the nuances of each character's personality. I highly recommend The Witness, and wonder when the film industry will wake up and realize it would make an awesome movie. show less
This one kept me up late reading and delayed my errands the next day too because I couldn't put it down until I reached the very satisfying ending. I fell in love with both the hero and the heroine. Abigail is making a life for herself in a small town in to Ozarks. She has been on the run since she was seventeen years old and has survived by being ready to move on at a moment's notice and by keeping to herself.
Brooks is the Chief of Police in the town where he grew up. He returned home from years as a police detective in Little Rock when his family needed him. He is determined to protect and to serve and is an integral part of the town. He is fascinated with Abigail and is determined to work his way into her life because everything show more about her tells him she is on the run from something.
Abigail is a genius who has very little social experience. She reminds me a lot of the television portrayal of Dr. Temperance Brennan on the television show Bones. She has no social filters. She is logical and blunt. She wants to make a life for herself in this town and stop running. But to do that she will have to bring down a powerful Russian mafia family that wants her dead because she witnessed a murder.
Another plot line in this one concerns a purely local bad seed of a teenage boy and the rich father who is willing to pull strings and dispense bribes to keep his darling out of trouble. This situation parallels Abigail's larger problem but puts Brooks and Abigail in more immediate danger.
One of the strengths of this story is the strong family that has nurtured Brooks. By watching his interactions with his family, Abigail is learning what family is like. She was raised by a mother who had her almost like a science experiment and who controlled her life completely. Abigail has never known love because her mother is a cold, selfish woman who abandoned her when she wouldn't follow her mother's directives.
I loved this story and can't recommend it enough to fans of romantic suspense. show less
Brooks is the Chief of Police in the town where he grew up. He returned home from years as a police detective in Little Rock when his family needed him. He is determined to protect and to serve and is an integral part of the town. He is fascinated with Abigail and is determined to work his way into her life because everything show more about her tells him she is on the run from something.
Abigail is a genius who has very little social experience. She reminds me a lot of the television portrayal of Dr. Temperance Brennan on the television show Bones. She has no social filters. She is logical and blunt. She wants to make a life for herself in this town and stop running. But to do that she will have to bring down a powerful Russian mafia family that wants her dead because she witnessed a murder.
Another plot line in this one concerns a purely local bad seed of a teenage boy and the rich father who is willing to pull strings and dispense bribes to keep his darling out of trouble. This situation parallels Abigail's larger problem but puts Brooks and Abigail in more immediate danger.
One of the strengths of this story is the strong family that has nurtured Brooks. By watching his interactions with his family, Abigail is learning what family is like. She was raised by a mother who had her almost like a science experiment and who controlled her life completely. Abigail has never known love because her mother is a cold, selfish woman who abandoned her when she wouldn't follow her mother's directives.
I loved this story and can't recommend it enough to fans of romantic suspense. show less
Oh. My. Goodness.
This was my first Nora Roberts. Of course, I have seen the name everywhere but I had never picked up one of the books before. I am so glad I started with this one! It had a strong female lead (by strong I mean strong presence, well written, and just as complicated and vulnerable as anyone) and an intriguing plot. This isn't the sort of action book that has something happening every page, though it will still keep you engaged and wondering where the next threat is coming from.
Roberts seems to have a knack for fleshing out every character and making them feel real, even the dogs that featured in this story. They are all treated with great respect. It's hard to explain exactly how I felt reading it, but it was almost like show more I was there with Abigail the whole way through.
Definitely a must read if you like a slow-burn, mafia/espionage story with a fantastic ending! No spoilers, but I almost shed a tear. show less
This was my first Nora Roberts. Of course, I have seen the name everywhere but I had never picked up one of the books before. I am so glad I started with this one! It had a strong female lead (by strong I mean strong presence, well written, and just as complicated and vulnerable as anyone) and an intriguing plot. This isn't the sort of action book that has something happening every page, though it will still keep you engaged and wondering where the next threat is coming from.
Roberts seems to have a knack for fleshing out every character and making them feel real, even the dogs that featured in this story. They are all treated with great respect. It's hard to explain exactly how I felt reading it, but it was almost like show more I was there with Abigail the whole way through.
Definitely a must read if you like a slow-burn, mafia/espionage story with a fantastic ending! No spoilers, but I almost shed a tear. show less
I was not impressed with Nora's last romantic suspense, Chasing Fire. There was too much smoke jumping and not enough romance. I am so very glad to say that Nora is back on top with The Witness. There was the perfect blend of romance and suspense to keep me enthralled and unable to put this book down.
Do you watch Bones or The Big Bang Theory? You know Dr. Brennan and Sheldon Cooper's characters? Well Elizabeth is similar to those characters. Her mother is a doctor and she was like her experiment. Her father was a sperm donor and her mother controlled every aspect of her life to raise the perfect specimen. She's 16 and going to Harvard pre-med. She eats a controlled diet, her clothes are picked out for her. Elizabeth lives inside a show more little box and there is no way to get out of it. But one afternoon after her mother changes Elizabeth's summer plans, she rebels. She goes to the mall! She buys non-sanctioned clothes. And she runs into a fellow student, a girl who embraces Elizabeth's new found freedom and runs with it. The girls eventually decide to check out a hot club even though they're not legal. And what happens after that changes Elizabeth's life.
Now 12 years later, Elizabeth is Abigail Lowery, a computer security expert who can work from anywhere. Anywhere is her well-fortified cabin in Bickford, Arkansas, in the Ozark Mountains. She keeps to herself, only going to town to get supplies. And in a small town, there's nothing that catches the locals' interest more than a mystery. And Abigail is very mysterious. And chief of police Brooks Gleason likes to solve puzzles and he sees Abigail as one big puzzle. Using his blend of charm and nosiness, Brooks (and later his mother) oozes his way into Abigail's life. He quickly realizes that Abigail's secrets go very deep and into dangerous territory. And Brooks is falling very hard for the mysterious woman who lives in the mountains with a big mastiff and an even bigger hoard of weapons. What is she hiding from?
I loved Abigail. She's so analytical but underneath that she's craving love. Her mother was one cold fish and Abigail is not used to human interaction. After the events of that one night, her isolation was a necessity to remain alive but she still can't help letting Brooks in when he starts coming around. Aside from Abigail's vulnerability, I genuinely liked her character. She's funny in her own way and worried about social interactions (even googling BBQ etiquette). She was endearing. She was this great blend of kick-ass and vulnerable. I fell for it and so did Brooks.
Brooks was another character to love. He is originally from Bickford but worked in Little Rock for ten years. He's back now as the chief of police. I like how the town came to life through his eyes. I also liked his mother. But Brooks was a charmer and he's a very smart man. He accepts Abigail for who she is and he doesn't push her past what she's comfortable with. He does push a bit at the beginning, but only to get his foot in the door of Abigail's defenses. The following passage is a good example of their early encounters:
A lot of the humor in the book came through Abigail and Brooks' interactions.
Earlier I said this book had a good blend of the romantic and the suspenseful. But for me, I'm not the biggest fan of romantic suspense so you'll find that there isn't a lot of suspense. Or that it's not in your face. In the beginning, the suspense is knowing a young Elizabeth is going to have something bad happen to her. A 16 year old girl hanging out with a little bit older friend going to a club and drinking. I was worried when I saw where the book was going. Then when it comes to Abigail - we know that the villains from her youth are still looking for her. So I'm worried that they're going to find her. I'm not going to give anything away but just note that the suspense doesn't happen to Abigail, it happens in our mind, and that's more frightening because we can come up with some pretty freaky scenarios. Roberts did an excellent job of not letting the suspense take over Abigail's story but having it build in our minds.
I don't feel like I'm doing this book justice because I just want to gush about how much I loved it. I hope I did a good enough job to get you intrigued and hopefully get you picking up this book. I received a review copy from Netgalley but this is a book I want in print on my shelves so I can go through it at my leisure. I can't wait to read it again. I highly recommend the Witness. 4.5 out of 5 show less
Do you watch Bones or The Big Bang Theory? You know Dr. Brennan and Sheldon Cooper's characters? Well Elizabeth is similar to those characters. Her mother is a doctor and she was like her experiment. Her father was a sperm donor and her mother controlled every aspect of her life to raise the perfect specimen. She's 16 and going to Harvard pre-med. She eats a controlled diet, her clothes are picked out for her. Elizabeth lives inside a show more little box and there is no way to get out of it. But one afternoon after her mother changes Elizabeth's summer plans, she rebels. She goes to the mall! She buys non-sanctioned clothes. And she runs into a fellow student, a girl who embraces Elizabeth's new found freedom and runs with it. The girls eventually decide to check out a hot club even though they're not legal. And what happens after that changes Elizabeth's life.
Now 12 years later, Elizabeth is Abigail Lowery, a computer security expert who can work from anywhere. Anywhere is her well-fortified cabin in Bickford, Arkansas, in the Ozark Mountains. She keeps to herself, only going to town to get supplies. And in a small town, there's nothing that catches the locals' interest more than a mystery. And Abigail is very mysterious. And chief of police Brooks Gleason likes to solve puzzles and he sees Abigail as one big puzzle. Using his blend of charm and nosiness, Brooks (and later his mother) oozes his way into Abigail's life. He quickly realizes that Abigail's secrets go very deep and into dangerous territory. And Brooks is falling very hard for the mysterious woman who lives in the mountains with a big mastiff and an even bigger hoard of weapons. What is she hiding from?
I loved Abigail. She's so analytical but underneath that she's craving love. Her mother was one cold fish and Abigail is not used to human interaction. After the events of that one night, her isolation was a necessity to remain alive but she still can't help letting Brooks in when he starts coming around. Aside from Abigail's vulnerability, I genuinely liked her character. She's funny in her own way and worried about social interactions (even googling BBQ etiquette). She was endearing. She was this great blend of kick-ass and vulnerable. I fell for it and so did Brooks.
She stood, the big dog at the heel of her knee-high black boots. She wore jeans, a black leather jacket, and a gun on her hip.
He decided not to overthink the fact that everything about her at that precise moment struck him as grab-your-balls sexy.
It just was-right down to the edgy annoyance on her face.
Brooks was another character to love. He is originally from Bickford but worked in Little Rock for ten years. He's back now as the chief of police. I like how the town came to life through his eyes. I also liked his mother. But Brooks was a charmer and he's a very smart man. He accepts Abigail for who she is and he doesn't push her past what she's comfortable with. He does push a bit at the beginning, but only to get his foot in the door of Abigail's defenses. The following passage is a good example of their early encounters:
"Why do you ask so many questions? Why do you keep coming here, with your wine and your pie? What is wrong with you people? What are you grinning at?"
A lot of the humor in the book came through Abigail and Brooks' interactions.
Earlier I said this book had a good blend of the romantic and the suspenseful. But for me, I'm not the biggest fan of romantic suspense so you'll find that there isn't a lot of suspense. Or that it's not in your face. In the beginning, the suspense is knowing a young Elizabeth is going to have something bad happen to her. A 16 year old girl hanging out with a little bit older friend going to a club and drinking. I was worried when I saw where the book was going. Then when it comes to Abigail - we know that the villains from her youth are still looking for her. So I'm worried that they're going to find her. I'm not going to give anything away but just note that the suspense doesn't happen to Abigail, it happens in our mind, and that's more frightening because we can come up with some pretty freaky scenarios. Roberts did an excellent job of not letting the suspense take over Abigail's story but having it build in our minds.
I don't feel like I'm doing this book justice because I just want to gush about how much I loved it. I hope I did a good enough job to get you intrigued and hopefully get you picking up this book. I received a review copy from Netgalley but this is a book I want in print on my shelves so I can go through it at my leisure. I can't wait to read it again. I highly recommend the Witness. 4.5 out of 5 show less
I was not impressed with Nora's last romantic suspense, Chasing Fire. There was too much smoke jumping and not enough romance. I am so very glad to say that Nora is back on top with The Witness. There was the perfect blend of romance and suspense to keep me enthralled and unable to put this book down.
Do you watch Bones or The Big Bang Theory? You know Dr. Brennan and Sheldon Cooper's characters? Well Elizabeth is similar to those characters. Her mother is a doctor and she was like her experiment. Her father was a sperm donor and her mother controlled every aspect of her life to raise the perfect specimen. She's 16 and going to Harvard pre-med. She eats a controlled diet, her clothes are picked out for her. Elizabeth lives inside a show more little box and there is no way to get out of it. But one afternoon after her mother changes Elizabeth's summer plans, she rebels. She goes to the mall! She buys non-sanctioned clothes. And she runs into a fellow student, a girl who embraces Elizabeth's new found freedom and runs with it. The girls eventually decide to check out a hot club even though they're not legal. And what happens after that changes Elizabeth's life.
Now 12 years later, Elizabeth is Abigail Lowery, a computer security expert who can work from anywhere. Anywhere is her well-fortified cabin in Bickford, Arkansas, in the Ozark Mountains. She keeps to herself, only going to town to get supplies. And in a small town, there's nothing that catches the locals' interest more than a mystery. And Abigail is very mysterious. And chief of police Brooks Gleason likes to solve puzzles and he sees Abigail as one big puzzle. Using his blend of charm and nosiness, Brooks (and later his mother) oozes his way into Abigail's life. He quickly realizes that Abigail's secrets go very deep and into dangerous territory. And Brooks is falling very hard for the mysterious woman who lives in the mountains with a big mastiff and an even bigger hoard of weapons. What is she hiding from?
I loved Abigail. She's so analytical but underneath that she's craving love. Her mother was one cold fish and Abigail is not used to human interaction. After the events of that one night, her isolation was a necessity to remain alive but she still can't help letting Brooks in when he starts coming around. Aside from Abigail's vulnerability, I genuinely liked her character. She's funny in her own way and worried about social interactions (even googling BBQ etiquette). She was endearing. She was this great blend of kick-ass and vulnerable. I fell for it and so did Brooks.
Brooks was another character to love. He is originally from Bickford but worked in Little Rock for ten years. He's back now as the chief of police. I like how the town came to life through his eyes. I also liked his mother. But Brooks was a charmer and he's a very smart man. He accepts Abigail for who she is and he doesn't push her past what she's comfortable with. He does push a bit at the beginning, but only to get his foot in the door of Abigail's defenses. The following passage is a good example of their early encounters:
A lot of the humor in the book came through Abigail and Brooks' interactions.
Earlier I said this book had a good blend of the romantic and the suspenseful. But for me, I'm not the biggest fan of romantic suspense so you'll find that there isn't a lot of suspense. Or that it's not in your face. In the beginning, the suspense is knowing a young Elizabeth is going to have something bad happen to her. A 16 year old girl hanging out with a little bit older friend going to a club and drinking. I was worried when I saw where the book was going. Then when it comes to Abigail - we know that the villains from her youth are still looking for her. So I'm worried that they're going to find her. I'm not going to give anything away but just note that the suspense doesn't happen to Abigail, it happens in our mind, and that's more frightening because we can come up with some pretty freaky scenarios. Roberts did an excellent job of not letting the suspense take over Abigail's story but having it build in our minds.
I don't feel like I'm doing this book justice because I just want to gush about how much I loved it. I hope I did a good enough job to get you intrigued and hopefully get you picking up this book. I received a review copy from Netgalley but this is a book I want in print on my shelves so I can go through it at my leisure. I can't wait to read it again. I highly recommend the Witness. 4.5 out of 5 show less
Do you watch Bones or The Big Bang Theory? You know Dr. Brennan and Sheldon Cooper's characters? Well Elizabeth is similar to those characters. Her mother is a doctor and she was like her experiment. Her father was a sperm donor and her mother controlled every aspect of her life to raise the perfect specimen. She's 16 and going to Harvard pre-med. She eats a controlled diet, her clothes are picked out for her. Elizabeth lives inside a show more little box and there is no way to get out of it. But one afternoon after her mother changes Elizabeth's summer plans, she rebels. She goes to the mall! She buys non-sanctioned clothes. And she runs into a fellow student, a girl who embraces Elizabeth's new found freedom and runs with it. The girls eventually decide to check out a hot club even though they're not legal. And what happens after that changes Elizabeth's life.
Now 12 years later, Elizabeth is Abigail Lowery, a computer security expert who can work from anywhere. Anywhere is her well-fortified cabin in Bickford, Arkansas, in the Ozark Mountains. She keeps to herself, only going to town to get supplies. And in a small town, there's nothing that catches the locals' interest more than a mystery. And Abigail is very mysterious. And chief of police Brooks Gleason likes to solve puzzles and he sees Abigail as one big puzzle. Using his blend of charm and nosiness, Brooks (and later his mother) oozes his way into Abigail's life. He quickly realizes that Abigail's secrets go very deep and into dangerous territory. And Brooks is falling very hard for the mysterious woman who lives in the mountains with a big mastiff and an even bigger hoard of weapons. What is she hiding from?
I loved Abigail. She's so analytical but underneath that she's craving love. Her mother was one cold fish and Abigail is not used to human interaction. After the events of that one night, her isolation was a necessity to remain alive but she still can't help letting Brooks in when he starts coming around. Aside from Abigail's vulnerability, I genuinely liked her character. She's funny in her own way and worried about social interactions (even googling BBQ etiquette). She was endearing. She was this great blend of kick-ass and vulnerable. I fell for it and so did Brooks.
She stood, the big dog at the heel of her knee-high black boots. She wore jeans, a black leather jacket, and a gun on her hip.
He decided not to overthink the fact that everything about her at that precise moment struck him as grab-your-balls sexy.
It just was-right down to the edgy annoyance on her face.
Brooks was another character to love. He is originally from Bickford but worked in Little Rock for ten years. He's back now as the chief of police. I like how the town came to life through his eyes. I also liked his mother. But Brooks was a charmer and he's a very smart man. He accepts Abigail for who she is and he doesn't push her past what she's comfortable with. He does push a bit at the beginning, but only to get his foot in the door of Abigail's defenses. The following passage is a good example of their early encounters:
"Why do you ask so many questions? Why do you keep coming here, with your wine and your pie? What is wrong with you people? What are you grinning at?"
A lot of the humor in the book came through Abigail and Brooks' interactions.
Earlier I said this book had a good blend of the romantic and the suspenseful. But for me, I'm not the biggest fan of romantic suspense so you'll find that there isn't a lot of suspense. Or that it's not in your face. In the beginning, the suspense is knowing a young Elizabeth is going to have something bad happen to her. A 16 year old girl hanging out with a little bit older friend going to a club and drinking. I was worried when I saw where the book was going. Then when it comes to Abigail - we know that the villains from her youth are still looking for her. So I'm worried that they're going to find her. I'm not going to give anything away but just note that the suspense doesn't happen to Abigail, it happens in our mind, and that's more frightening because we can come up with some pretty freaky scenarios. Roberts did an excellent job of not letting the suspense take over Abigail's story but having it build in our minds.
I don't feel like I'm doing this book justice because I just want to gush about how much I loved it. I hope I did a good enough job to get you intrigued and hopefully get you picking up this book. I received a review copy from Netgalley but this is a book I want in print on my shelves so I can go through it at my leisure. I can't wait to read it again. I highly recommend the Witness. 4.5 out of 5 show less
reviewed for ARRA Posted on ARRA blog on 18 April 2012.Elizabeth Fitch is 16. She has led a very sheltered life, controlled completely by her mother. She is a genius and has already started Harvard Medical School, following in her mother’s footsteps, on her mother’s orders. But, Elizabeth doesn’t want to be a doctor. In fact, she’s decided she doesn’t want to follow her mother’s instructions anymore on just about everything. She wants to wear cool clothes and have girlfriends to go shopping with at the mall. She wants to study cyber-crime and join the FBI. When her mother leaves her alone at home to attend a medical conference, Elizabeth decides it’s time to act. Her small rebellion – going to the mall to buy some new show more clothes, cutting and dying her hair and meeting up with a former school colleague, Julie Masters, is to have far-reaching consequences however.Elizabeth and Julie go to a nightclub using fake ID’s which Elizabeth has cooked up at home using her mad computer skills. The nightclub is owned by Russian Mafia family the Volkovs and there, Julie and Elizabeth meet Ilya Volkov and his cousin Alex Gurevich. Julie and Alex hit it off and Ilya gives Elizabeth her first kiss. They plan to move the party to Alex’s house. Although uncertain, Elizabeth wants to do something daring and she is smitten with Ilya, so she agrees. At the last minute however, Ilya is called away and she is left the odd one out at Alex and Elizabeth’s party.Alex has been a naughty boy and when Volkov enforcer Yakov Korotkii executes both him and Julie (as collateral damage) Elizabeth is a witness.She escapes, calls the police and is placed in protective custody where she meets some sympathetic US Marshalls who are taken with Elizabeth’s poise, intelligence and little-girl-lost air – Elizabeth’s mother is cold and unloving and these US Marshalls become a kind of family. However, things go very wrong (and here I’m going to get vague about the plot to avoid spoilers) and Elizabeth ends up running, but this time, on her own.The book then picks up nearly 12 years later in Bickford, Arkansas, a small artsy town in the Ozarks. Brooks Gleason grew up there, went away to spent some time in the Little Rock PD and returned 6 months earlier to be Bickford’s Chief of Police. Brooks is an easy going charmer – he tends to get his way using patience and his agreeable nature to win people over to his point of view, but he’s also smart, kind, generous, good looking and a darn good cop. He’s also got the hots for Abigail Lowery, a solitary woman who moved to Bickford about a year earlier and who works from home as a freelance security consultant. Abigail keeps to herself and stays mostly on her just-out-of-town property with her Bull Mastiff, Bert. She’s pretty and Brooks is smitten and his cop instincts and natural curiosity are also engaged when he notices she carries a gun everywhere and has excellent security. He works out pretty quickly that Abigail is hiding from something or someone and this rouses his protective instincts too. He decides it’s time to get to know Abigail better.Abigail is lost when it comes to Brooks. She’s never met anyone like him. He’s friendly, gentle and impossibly persistent. She finds herself, much to her surprise, not only letting him into her house, but sharing food with the man. “All right. You can have the pie and the wine. But I won’t have sex with you.”“Now you hurt my feelings.”“No, I haven’t.” Deciding to make her position clear, she started for the house. “I like sex.”“See there, we just keep finding common ground. If this keeps up, we’ll be best friends inside a week,”“If I wanted friends, I’d join a book club.”Loosening up, he thought, delighted with the sarcasm. “I like to read, which is another check mark on common ground. But we were talking about sex.”Before she can really get a handle on things, she’s in a relationship with him and learning about trust and love and, through Brooks and his own family and strong ties to the town, about family and belonging and home, all things she’s never had before. All things Brooks is determined she will have from now on, with him.Of course, Abigail is Elizabeth – that’s not going to surprise anyone – and the rest of the story is about how Abigail eventually comes to trust Brooks, as he uses his gentle, patient form of persistence to soothe and cajole her secrets out of her:- “You’ve got a lot of secrets behind your eyes, and a hell of a lot of weight on your shoulders. I’m going to keep believing that one day you’re going to share those secrets and that weight with me, and we’ll figure out the rest once you do.”and how they, together, come up with a way to set the past to rights and make it as safe as possible for her to live a normal life and stay in Bickford happily ever after. It helps that Abigail is crazy smart and that she has become a talented cyber-wiz – with skills including hacking into the FBI, US Marshall and the Volkov’s computer networks. Between those and Brooks cop skills and instincts, they come up with a plan.I can’t really say anymore without giving out big spoilers. In fact, I felt a bit funny about saying as much as I did about the beginning because I had the joy of going into it pretty much blind. I knew the story was about a Federal witness but that was about it. But as the events I mention at the start all occur within the first 100 pages, strictly, they aren’t spoilers and really, I have to tell you something about the story now don’t I? The book is over 480 pages long, so there is plenty of time to set up the characters and the relationship between Abigail and Brooks. It was lovely to read such a substantial book and sink into the easy writing style of classic Nora Roberts. The style is easy, the content is interesting and the characters are smart, funny and sexy. Abigail is socially stunted and there is a lot of humour in how she says things – literal, technical and factual - and Brooks’ gentle teasing of her, but she is never unsympathetic or a caricature. Brooks is a wonderful hero and I think I fell a bit in love with him myself. I admit I was a little worried by about the ¾ mark though. What if the author had painted herself into a corner? The bad guys were really bad – they had plenty of money, persistence, a grudge and moles in many law enforcement agencies – just how was Abigail going to get out of this? Sometimes romantic suspense stories just collapse at the end under the weight of the convoluted plots and the big resolve is some kind of Deus ex Machina or, just improbable and disappointing. But not this one. Sure, there is a degree of disbelief one has to employ to read almost any fiction, but, within the context of this story, the resolution was entirely believable and logical, as well as slick and smart. I very much enjoyed the way Abigail and Brooks worked together to solve the problem at hand – Brooks didn’t just take over, and they discussed plans before taking action. They were careful and sensible and took considered and necessary risks rather than foolish ones. I did have a couple of niggles – even with Brooks’ affable charm, Abigail does let him into her house pretty quickly. Once he was in, the development of the relationship was entirely believable but given her history, I thought that maybe Abigail would hold him off a little longer. The other thing was right near the end where I would have liked a little more detail about one step in the process. I can’t say more without giving too much away. I can say that I suspect it was left out because it was probably a repeat of some of the same strategies Abigail and Brooks had already used in the plan but I was enjoying the story so much I wanted to know everything. However, they are very small niggles in what was otherwise a riveting and delightful read.I think this is Nora Roberts at her amazing best. If you like Nora Roberts, if you like romantic suspense, if you like a well written book with an excellent story and wonderful characters – this book is for you. show less
Elizabeth Fitch's highly controlled teenage life suddenly falls apart on the day she witnesses a brutal murder and runs to the police for protection. When that also falls apart she runs again, spending the next 12 years on the run. Now as a solitary computer security analyst living on the fringes of a small Ozark community she begins to think of settling in one place. But this change caused by her developing relationship with Brooks Gleason, town sheriff, his family and a town that wants to get to know her forces her to make some tough decisions about her past. This story had a great mix of action and humor. Abigail (aka Liz) is a genius, who led a programmed and now reclusive life. Her interactions with various characters is often show more humorous, not over the top geek humor, but fraught with awkward situations. But her powers of logic and finding solutions to difficult problems are amazing. Though you need to suspend belief in believing all of this could work out, it is a fun, exciting journey. Highly recommended. show less
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Nora Roberts was born in Silver Spring, Maryland on October 10, 1950. Her first book, Irish Thoroughbred, was published in 1981. Since then, she has written more than 200 novels. She writes romances under her own name including Montana Sky, Blue Smoke, Carolina Moon, The Search, Chasing Fire, The Witness, The Perfect Hope, Inner Harbor, Dark show more Witch, Shadow Spell, The Collector, The Villa, The Liar, The Obsession, and Shelter in Place. She writes crime novels under the pseudonym of J. D. Robb including the In Death series. She has been given the Romance Writers of America Lifetime Achievement Award and has been inducted into their Hall of Fame. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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- Original title
- The Witness
- Original publication date
- 2012-04-17
- People/Characters
- Elizabeth Fitch; Abigail Lowery; Brooks Gleason; Bert; Susan L. Fitch; Julie Masters (show all 14); Alex Gurevich; Ilya Kolkov; Deputy Marshall John Barrow; Deputy Marshall Theresa "Terry" Norton; Deputy Marshall Bill Cosgrove; Deputy Marshall Steve Keegan; Special Agent Elise Garrison; Captain Joseph Anson
- Important places
- Chicago, Illinois, USA; Bickford, Arkansas, USA; Little Rock, Arkansas, USA; USA; Arkansas, USA; Illinois, USA (show all 7); Cook County, Illinois, USA
- First words
- Elizabeth Fitch's short-lived teenage rebellion began with L'Oreal Pure Black, a pair of scissors and a fake ID.
- Original language
- English
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- 2,269
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- 8,799
- Reviews
- 87
- Rating
- (3.98)
- Languages
- 11 — Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, French, German, Italian, Latvian, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish
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- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 75
- ASINs
- 16