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A Secret Rage  By  cover art

A Secret Rage

By: Charlaine Harris
Narrated by: Johanna Parker
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Publisher's summary

Former New York City model Nickie Callahan is looking forward to the easy life when she moves to the sleepy college town of Knolls, Tennessee. But the women of Knolls are not safe. And as Nickie gets swept up in a string of brutally violent crimes, she must take matters of justice into her own hands.

©1984 Charlaine Harris Schulz (P)2010 Recorded Books, LLC

What listeners say about A Secret Rage

Average customer ratings
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  • 4 out of 5 stars
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Trademark Charlaine Harris

There is something about the way Charlaine Harris develops the character, and Johanna Parker's delivery, that quickly endears the character to the reader. No wonder, then, that when the drama and the tragedy unfold, you cannot help but empathize with the heroine. It pierced my soul.

My only complaint is that this was never made into a series. Oh, and the references to Jane Austen were a welcome touch!

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27 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Brave, unflinching, confrontation of rape

Charlaine Harris wrote " A Secret Rage" back in the mid-80's, long before she became famous for her mysteries and her vampire series.

It can be read as a short, well-constructed mystery that keeps the reader guessing while giving an insight into life in a small college town in the South, but it is much more than that.

At its core, " A Secret Rage" is a hard hitting, unflinching look at what rape is, what it does to the people it is inflicted on and to the people around them.

The rape scene is brutal and vivid without being exploitative. The descriptions of the impact of the rape, of the rage it produces, of the scars it leaves, of the bravery needed to face it and the love needed to respond to it are emotionally hard hitting because they feel authentic and unfiltered.

This is a novel with an agenda: no woman deserves to be raped and no rapist should be allowed to go unpunished.

It is also a story about how women can help and support each other or how they can inflict more pain through shame and blame.

Recorded Books produced "A Secret Rage" as part of the "Southern Voices" series. Johanna Parker's performance brings these voices to life and anchors the story in an authentic setting that makes it harder for the reader to distance themselves from the story.

This is not a light read. If you aren't in tears, if your rage isn't stirred, if your revulsion is not awakened, then you weren't listening to the same book I was.

Much as I love the Sookie Stackhous books (so much better than the TV series) and the Harper Connelly books, I think this is the book of hers that I will remember the longest.

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25 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Not up to her other work

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

If you want to read everything written by Charlaine Harris then go for it. But it is not as charming and engrossing as her Sookie Stackhouse or Harper Connelly series, which are the only other books by her I have read. I couldn't put those down while I had to push to finish listening to this one.

Has A Secret Rage turned you off from other books in this genre?

Not at all.

What about Johanna Parker’s performance did you like?

She was fine, the material was not.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

No

Any additional comments?

I'll keep reading Ms. Harris, but not her earlier works.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

A SECRET RAGE

THIS BOOK MUST BE AN EARLY DRAFT FOR CHARLAINE HARRIS -
IT DRAGGED AND WAS SLOW IN KEY AREAS IN THE BOOK WHEN IT SHOULD HAVE POPPED OUT WITH EXCITMENT. IT LACKED WOW.
Q KOSMIDES

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Love Charlaine!

I enjoyed the book and do not think Charlaine Harris could write a book that I did not enjoy. However, it is not as strong a story as Sookie Series or Harper Connelly Series.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

Just OK

Not in the same league as the Sookie Stackhouse novels

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Double standards

I liked that the author showed how the women needed to become empowered by taking their power back from the assailant in order to get over their rapes & beatings. The author did an excellent job of showing how this was something that the men were quite uncomfortable with.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

More emotional than I was ready for

Warning: very descriptive rape scene.

I love Charlaine Harris. I’m working my way through all the books she has written. Finished the series and now doing the early stand alone. I spent a lot of this book crying while listening. I think it brought up some trauma I wasn’t ready for.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Powerful story

Narration was perfect.
There were moments so vividly told that I didn’t think I could continue the story. Few writers make me gasp.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Good story

Very good story, moved at a good pace, well written and not the usual. Extraordinary narration.

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