Duchess Nicole's Reviews > The Witness

While this book took a loooong time to get set up, even the setup part was really good. Elizabeth rebels against her robot Mom (she's not really a robot, but the lady doesn't hug, wear color, or do anything without a schedule) when she's sixteen. That's what teenagers do, and even though Liz is a bit of a mini-robot, she's still a teenager girl who wants to live her own life, not the one her 'mother' picks for her.

This one decision leads to the witnessing of a horrible crime committed by a crime family with far-reaching influence. So Liz has to rely on her brilliant mind to hide herself from not only the bad guys, but the good guys as well.

Fast forward over a decade, and Abigail Lowry is a practical hermit, living in self imposed solitude in her cabin near a small town in the middle of nowhere. She just wants to be left alone with her genius self, hiding from the world behind her ridiculously modern security system and faithful guard dog, Bert. (It IS Nora Roberts, you know there has to be a dog) Not only is she still in hiding, but she's so socially inept that just her oddity gets tongues wagging whenever she goes to the supermarket. Small towns are not a good place to hide, Abigail!!

She quickly catches the eye of the local police chief, Brooks Gleason. Their relationship builds slowly, and what a sweet couple they turn out to be! Brooks is so patient with Abigail. He thinks her oddities are cute; in fact, I do believe her rigidity and need for order was a turn on for the sexy, laid back chief! Bert the dog was an endearing character in his own right, and just reiterates how the loyalty and love shown by our canine family members is one fabulous gift from God. Want unconditional love? Screw a boyfriend/husband. Get a dog!

The suspense is offset by the love story between Brooks and Abigail and I just loved it! The only thing that I didn't love is the abrupt ending frequently mentioned by other reviewers. The bad guy's comeuppance is alluded to, but after reading this very long book, I needed more of an eff you that what I got. These guys are organized crime, doing atrocious things....they needed at least a few more pages of detailed revenge taken out on them.

Again, we got another gem from the master who is Nora Roberts! I'm the biggest cliche in the reading world when I say she is one of my favorite authors, but the lady is flat out talented, and turns them out like none other. This was her 200th book, folks! Crazy.