Sammy’s review of The Witness by Nora Roberts
Romantic Suspense published by Berkley 17 Apr 12

I love Ms. Roberts stand-alone novels. She had me with Carnal Innocence back in 2009. To be completely honest, I have never been disappointed with any book I have read by her. The Witness is the book with which I woo non-romance readers. It works every time. I mean, the die-hard no way I am not reading “that kind of book” person. I get em’ hook, line, and sinker. Then the floodgates open and I have a million texts, “What should I read next?” And a romance reader is born. I loved this book. Characterization was off the charts and I fell in love with Elizabeth. She still lingers in the back of my mind and she will always hold a special place in my reader heart.

“The barb in the arrow of childhood suffering is this: its intense loneliness, its intense ignorance.”
– Olive Schreiner,

For me, Elizabeth Fitch is along the lines of Lisbeth Salander (TGWTDT). IQ off the charts, and even though Lisbeth has to deal with her hardships, Elizabeth has her crosses to bear as well. That’s where the lines blur, yet their inner core of strength shines through, which puts them both in my top spot for female characters.

Liz’s rebellion starts at sixteen. Her mother has been dictating her life up until this point – where she goes to school, what she wears, who she sees outside of school, what she eats. She’s cold and not a mother at all. To her mom, Liz is a science project, someone she can mold and control. Elizabeth is having none of it. They have a fight, her mother is off to a convention and she expects Elizabeth to take pre-med classes with her mother’s colleague. Elizabeth doesn’t want to go, she was promised time off and her mother wants to hear none of it. Her mom walks out (her usual silent treatment) and goes on her merry way. Elizabeth hops in her mother’s car and heads to the mall to actually find herself. New clothes, shoes, makeup, hair. She wants to watch the other girls interact with each other, talk about boys. She wants all the things her mother won’t allow her to have, a normal childhood.

She meets up with Julie Masters by chance at the mall. Julie is a few years older than she is. They went to school together, and wouldn’t it be Liz’s luck Julie just broke up with her boyfriend. They get to talking about going to clubs, but Liz doesn’t have ID. The two strike a deal. Julie helps Liz buy clothes and makeup and Liz will make them the fake IDs.

Julie picks her up with a cab, and they are on their way to a happening club owned by Russian mobsters. Which Liz knows, because she’s researched the place. Her mother wants her to be a doctor, but Liz wants to work for the FBI in their cyber crimes department. I can’t stress enough that Liz has a seriously high IQ, photographic memory, and social awkwardness.  She is a fountain of facts and she’s very literal.

They have drinks, dance, and catch the eye of Alexi and Ilya. The men wine and dine them, and decide they want to go back to Alexi’s house for some ‘fun’… Ilya gets called away at the last minute, so Julie, Alexi, and Liz take off. This is where things go very, very, badly. Alexi has been stealing from Ilya’s father, He was picked up by the police, and in the world of the Mafia, you’re a big fat liability. They send in their mechanics and kill Alexi while Liz is outside regrouping from being sick from all the alcohol consumption. She watches the whole kill go down. Julie stumbles out of the bathroom while Alexi is lying on the floor dead, and they kill Julie as well. Ilya walks in and freaks out because the hit wasn’t supposed to take place until tomorrow night, knowing the girls are at the house. He also knows that Liz is somewhere on the property and she must die.

Liz gets away, calls the police, goes through the story. The FBI gets involved, they put her into protective custody and shit gets doubly bad. Ilya’s father has a far reach; which means he has police, US Marshals, and FBI in his pocket. The bad Marshals set things into motion to kill Liz, which happens to be on her seventeenth birthday. She has formed deep emotional ties to her watchers, Terry and John. They treat her like a person, truly care about her, and she gobbles it up because she has never had these emotions or ties. Marshal Keegan and Cosgrove show up to take over and ambush John and Terry, killing them both. As Marshal John Barrow lies dying, he gives Liz his back-up gun and tells her to run. Out the window she goes, and as she’s making her escape in a bad storm, the house explodes behind her.

Liz has been on the run ever since. We move on to Brooks’ part of the story, which takes us to a little town in the Ozarks. Brooks is the sheriff of the town, and he is intrigued with the newcomer who stays to herself. He noses around a bit, like any good cop, and forms a relationship with Liz, who is now going by the name Abigail. This is where the story goes from fantastic to blow me away. This book is all about character. The ending is absolutely fantastic. I thought it was going to go one way and Ms. Roberts blew me away with the outcome. I’ve read a lot of Nora Roberts/J.D. Robb books over the years, but this book is by far one of her best books, period.

Grade:A+

Summary:

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.

Twelve years later, the woman now known as Abigail Lowery lives alone on the outskirts of a small town in the Ozarks. A freelance security systems designer, her own protection 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 and her sharp mind, secretive nature and unromantic viewpoint intrigues local police chief Brooks Gleason, on both a personal and professional level. And while he suspects that Abigail needs protection from something, Gleason is accustomed to two-bit troublemakers, not the powerful and dangerous men who are about to have him in their sights.

And Abigail Lowery, who has built a life based on security and self-control, is at risk of losing both.

No excerpt available.