Title: The Witness
Written By: Nora Roberts
About Nora Roberts (Few lines from the book) –
Nora
Roberts is the number one New York
Times bestseller of more than 200 novels. With over 450 million copies of
her books in print, she is indisputably one of the most celebrated and popular
writers in the world. She has achieved numerous top five bestsellers in the UK,
including number one for Savour the
Moment and The Witness, and is a Sunday Times hardback bestseller writing
as J.D Robb.
ISBN: 978-0749955212
Cover Price: Rs. 350.00
Rating: 4/5
Something about the book (from the book’s cover):
Abigail Lowery has a dark and
terrifying secret. Aged just sixteen, she witnessed a shocking mafia murder.
Narrowly escaping with her life, she was forced to leave her old identity –
even her real name – behind for good.
Fifteen years later Abigail is
still hiding from the world – a semi- recluse in the quiet, rural town of
Bickford, Arkansas. She has convinced herself that this is all she needs:
peace, safety ... and her faithful guard dog Bret.
But Brooks Gleason, the local chief
of police, has other ideas. Abigail intrigues him – and he’d like nothing
better than to break through the walls she has built around herself. His
persistence and determination to uncover the truth is unsettling, exciting –
and dangerous. One way or another, it will change both their lives forever.
Now for my View:
A
well plotted thriller backed by subtle romance that’s The Witness in my view. I had heard a lot about Nora Roberts but never really had gotten
around to reading any of her works up until The
Witness. And trust me, the moment I began reading the book I realized why
she is one of the most celebrated authors in the world.
The book begins in the summer of
2000 when a sixteen year old Elizabeth Fitch was taken into witness protection
for being the sole witness in murders committed by members of the Russian
mafia. Her testimony was vital, capable of bringing down key figures in the
Mafia Family. But things changed drastically on the night of her seventeenth
birthday, when some of her protectors turned side in an attempt to kill her,
silence her forever. But she ran, far and away, a scared yet genius teenager years
ahead of her age. And some years down the line, she became Abigail Lowery
living in the rural town of Bickford, cut off from everyone and everything
except her dog, Bret.
The fact that she never socialized,
always ordered online except for occasional visits to the market, lived alone, always
paid in cash and held licenses for several weapons spiked the interest of the
locals, particularly the local chief of Police, Brooks Gleason. He felt drawn towards
her to unearth the mystery. His persistence and relentless attitude annoyed
Abilgail but it was hard for her to push him away. Perhaps there was more to his
pushiness than just curiosity. Perhaps Brooks was attracted to Abigail and so was
she to him. But her past stood in between them. After being on the run for
years, living under assumed identities and never trusting another soul, she had
become awkward at social interactions and relationships. With Brooks the
balance that she had carefully attained in her life began to dwindle. What
happened next?
What happened when they came together?
Or, did they come together at all? Was Abigail able to confide in Brooks and
did Brooks believe her? And what about the Russian Mafia who even after years hadn’t
given up on their pursuit of Elizabeth? Would they catch up to her? Well if I
tell you the answers to all these questions, I’d be taking the fun out of your
experience of reading The Witness and
I wouldn’t want to do that, would I?
The strength of The Witness is its plot. I felt that the
plot had been woven and the book written with immense patience. I know it’s a
strange observation to make considering every good book needs the author to
possess that quality. But that is exactly what I felt. The way she had woven
the plot and the characters, the situations, all of it really, seemed to have
been done with precision and never for a moment did I feel rushed. Nora Roberts made each page of the book
worth my time. From the murders, the run, the chase and the hiding, everything
was perceived superbly. And then the emergence of Abigail few years down the
line, her lifestyle, what she did for a living, all of it was exciting to read.
The emergence of Brooks into the plot and every turn, every event thereafter moved
the story forward and I just kept being won over each time I turned a page.
The character of Elizabeth or Abigail, the way she spoke
or thought, the way she reacted to situations and her social awkwardness, was
another forte of the book. I found her a little like Temperance Brennan of Bones and
that made the book an even better read for me.
The way Nora Roberts maneuvered this tale made me edgy. I found myself
always on the lookout for the Russian Mafia
ending up at Abigail’s doorstep. Infact, so excellent was the build up and
writing, the entire tale basically, that even I began looking at each character
skeptically just as Abigail!
If at all I have to put a finger on
to something that didn’t work for me in the book, I’d have to say the ease with
which Brooks and Abigail fell for each other. But it’s not so much of what didn’t
work, but just a passing thought that never really stopped the flow of the
tale. All in all, it’s a minor hitch that could very easily be ignored.
It’s a great Nora Robert’s book. For the entire duration that I had been reading
this book, never for a moment did I want to put it down. As clichéd as it gets,
I must add that this book was truly un-put-down-able!
This is truly not one of the books that
you would read a little at a time. The union of the characters with the plot
made this an excellent read, one I would recommend to one and all!
***
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