mjtriplett's Full Review: Nora Roberts - Angels Fall
This review pertains to the audiobook version of Angels Fall by Nora Roberts.
Reece Gilmore was a celebrity for all the wrong reasons. Being the sole survivor of a mass murder in the restaurant out East where she worked as a chef has had her on the run for more than a year. She's learned to live with only what she can carry. When she comes across Angels Fist, a small town settled in the Grand Tetons of Wyoming, she believes she's found a place remote and quiet enough to possibly settle down.
But it seems that Reece's bad luck has followed her all the way to the middle of nowhere. She's out for a hike--just the cure for her frequent anxiety attacks--when she witnesses what she believes is a murder. But when she returns with a local, there is no evidence. Soon almost everyone in the gossipy little town of Angels Fist is making Reece feel like she's completely lost it. But she is determined, no matter what anyone thinks, not to back down and to bring justice to the woman she believes was killed on the mountains that day.
In her quest for justice, Reece finds a few more unexpected things. She begins a friendship with Joni, her boss and the owner of a popular diner in town. She engages in "girl talk" with Linda Gail, a waitress at the diner. She begins to take up her passion for cooking again and contemplates submitting a proposal for a cookbook. She finds herself falling for Brody, the rough solitary celebrity author of Angels Fist. But all these things seem small in comparison to the vision that haunts Reece's every waking moment. Who was the man she saw kill that woman on the mountain and could it be someone she is now serving food to at the Diner?
Nora Roberts delivers an unpredictable romantic thriller with Angels Fall. The audiobook is 13 CDs and approximately 15 hours of listening time, and I was on the hook until the end.
Reece Gilmore is an extremely likable heroine because, unlike so many other romantic protagonists, she has truly realistic qualities. She's determined but anxious, fearful but brave, and pretty but not "in a traditional sense," as stated by her lover, Brody, in the novel. I especially liked her in that she wasn't willing to take a lot of crap from any of the small town gossipers with which this story was filled. Brody was an appropriate male counterpart. He's another town "outsider" who just wants to make his own way through life without bothering or being bothered by anyone else. Little does he know just how much Reece will get under his skin.
The story has well developed supporting characters as well, including Joni, the owner of the Diner, Linda Gail, Reece's new girl friend, and Lo (short for Lothario), Linda Gail's love interest. Although the story is not told from their points of view, Nora Roberts does a nice job detailing their personalities through the eyes of Reece and Brody.
The audiobook is read by Joyce Bean, whom I've heard several times now performing Nora Roberts' books. She does a great job voicing the different genders so that I could tell who was talking and when. I only noticed a few times when two male characters were talking that one seemed to take on a more feminine voice and it made me wonder if Ms. Bean has a hard time differentiating between 2 male voices. No big deal, however, and it did not retract from the story at all.
This is not a deep thinking novel. It's a romantic thriller which I'm pleased to say (as it is unusual) kept me guessing until the very end. The romance is a bit cheesy, but that's to be expected from this genre. It still manages to be fun and lighthearted enough to be enjoyable. There's certainly nothing wrong with visiting a fantasy land once in awhile through my audiobooks. Beats listening to the radio through rush hour.
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