The Witness

By: Nora Roberts

Narrated by: Julia Whelan

Length: 16 hrs and 19 mins

Publisher's summary

In her stunning 200th novel, #1 New York Times bestselling author Nora Roberts proves why no one is better when it comes to flawlessly fusing high-stakes suspense with red-hot romance" (Booklist, starred review).

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.

©2012 by Nora Roberts. (P)2012 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.

Roberts version of Dragon Tattoo protagonist

Since the "Girl With The Dragon Tattoo",strong intelligent tech/geek women have been the female protagonist do jour.... I guess it's no surprise that Roberts has her own entry...in the form of Lizzy ( aka Abagail), a young woman with Mensa level intelligence who, as a teen,accidentally connects with the Russian mob, goes into witness protection, escapes the bad guys and is on the run from everyone for a decade.` etc etc etc.

This same type of woman shows up in "The Informationist ",( Audibles listeners choice award) and "The Breach" a sci-fi trilogy with similar female lead. Each of these 4 female protagonists is quite similar, they all have amazing computer programming and hacking abilities, are Chuck Norris with martial arts and Jack Reacher with knowledge of firepower . I wonder how many more versions of this clone will appear in novels to come......
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The plot and character development are much improved over what Roberts has been phoning in the past several years--I've been picking them up at the used book store and have read just one book of the last 2 trilogy series due to negative reviews and personal experience with the initial book. I'm pleased that she put more effort into this book.

Roberts knows her readers, and knows what they want so even though this lead character is slightly different than her usual-still her writing remains the same. This time it's a more w take charge female protagonist and equally strong male protagonist who wants to take care of his little woman and bad guys who have chased after Lizzy (Abagail) since she was 17.

And while loyal readers will enjoy the better quality over the past couple of works, still this is a definite rip off of the Dragon Tattoo (minus the tattoo) main character. Still the writing is tight and crisp and plot is not quite predictable. It held my interest more than the last 2 trilogies did and worth the credit for those of us who appreciate Roberts when she's writing well.

Julia Whelan gives a very nice reading of the novel, bringing it to life and doing a good job of male characters voices...not overly dramatic or soapy.

All in all an above average listen to typical Roberts writing and plot.

Outstanding!

This book is quite a step up from Nora's last couple of trilogies and is worthy of her reputation. The story is original, the characters are well-developed and likable, and its nicely balanced with humor and heat. The narrator would not have been my first choice (Susan Ericksen would have rocked it!) but she did an adequate enough job that it didn't detract from the enjoyment of the story. Thanks, Nora, for giving the people (your fans) what they want!

Loved it!

What made the experience of listening to The Witness the most enjoyable?

I so enjoyed having murder, mobsters and a love story combined. Packed full of enjoyable moments.

What did you like best about this story?

I like how intelligent Liz is. It's refreshing how her character is portrayed.

Any additional comments?

Its a great listen from start to ending. In my opinion its well worth a credit. I happened to get it on sale and that was even better.

Junk Food for the mind

Nora Roberts fans will enjoy this audio. While it was far from original or in any way great literature, it kept my interest and was a quick and entertaining listen. The plot was rather unbelievable but that is Ms. Roberts forte. You must suspend reality while listening to her books. I enjoy listening while I walk or exercise and it helps to pass the time. It's entertainment without substance! Sometimes you just need "junk food literature".

Awesome!!!!

I have been reading Nora Roberts for years, and will even re-read some of her books. This is one of the better one's that she has wrote. I liked the reader as well. She was great. I just finished this and it was very hard to put it down. I kept staying up way past my bed time to continue listening. Thanks Nora for another good one, I will enjoy re-reading.

Tracey

4 ½ stars. I smiled many times.

At the end my feeling was: not a wow, but very fulfilling.

I’ve read 13 books by Nora Roberts. I was averaging 3 ½ stars for her books written in the 1990s. But then I gave 4 ½ stars to Angels Fall (2006) and now to this (published 2012). Is she getting better? I’m surprised. Too many authors seem to tire out or write repeats of the same stuff after a while. Not Ms. Roberts. Maybe I’ve been picking the wrong books to read. But now, I’m going to look for more.

The best part was “the characters.” I was sooo drawn to Liz/Abigail. A favorite trope for me is a smart woman, who overcomes odds, and is not a helpless victim. I loved her vulnerabilities and her strengths. I liked reading about her, thinking about her, and listening to her. I pictured the author losing herself in the character Liz, to come up with such fitting dialogue. Brooks was so fun. He was oblivious to her walls. He just kept pursuing her, chipping away at her walls.

This story has wonderful relationship development. It has good guys doing smart things to outwit bad guys. Bad guys do smart things too. I like that the author did not use stupidity. Instead the author had a character’s personality with weaknesses cause conflict, not just doing something stupid.

The narrator Julia Whelan was very good.

Genre: romantic suspense

What a great read!

What did you love best about The Witness?

The depth of the character Abigail

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

The plot was excellent in the way there was several stories entwined.

What about Julia Whelan???s performance did you like?

Julia had a wonderful grasp of each character and it showed in her creation of each unique voice

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The part where Brooks shot Elizabeth

Any additional comments?

I have read Nora Roberts for years but this book, I feel is one of her best. he character of Elizabeth/Abigail was so complicated and so loveable you can't help but want to adopt her.

Wonderful!!

Where does The Witness rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This audiobooks ranks in the top tier of audiobooks I have listened to over the years. I planned to listen to this book over several days and finished it in one day because I could the storyline and performance were outstanding.

What did you like best about this story?

The characterizations of Elizabeth/Abigail. She seems so real.

Which scene was your favorite?

The scene in which Abigail decided to tell the chief of police her story. He was so patient and very human.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I laughed out loud at the scene when the chief surprised Abigail when she was asleep on the sofa and she awoke and punched him. Their entire conversation afterwards was so funny.

Any additional comments?

This was my first time listening too an audiobook narrated by Julia Whelan and was a little reticent because I LOVE Ann Flosnik. Julia was fantastic and I look forward to hearing more of her.

Much Better Than Expected

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I'm not a huge Nora Roberts fan as much of her stuff blends together for me. This was an interesting story. Glad it didn't go down the road I thought it might.

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

It really did and like I said, glad it went down a different road than the one I expected.

Which scene was your favorite?

I really felt I could "see" her home nestled in the woods. Tough to say one scene. I liked the protagonist, Abigail.

Any additional comments?

Fun listen

suspenseful all the way!

This was a great book! The story and the narrator were both top rate. The Russian mob is not what one thinks as described in this book. Worth reading...more than a love story....more than a mystery!