Northern Lights

By: Nora Roberts

Narrated by: Gary Littman

Length: 15 hrs and 5 mins

Publisher's Summary

The town of Lunacy, Alaska, was Nate Burke's last chance. As a Baltimore cop, he'd watched his partner die on the street - and the guilt still haunts him. With nowhere else to go, he accepts the job as chief of police in this tiny, remote Alaskan town. Aside from sorting out a run-in between a couple of motor vehicles and a moose, he finds his first few weeks on the job are relatively quiet. But just as he wonders whether this has been all a big mistake, an unexpected kiss on New Year's Eve under the brilliant Northern Lights of the Alaskan sky lifts his spirits and convinces him to stay just a little longer.

Meg Galloway, born and raised in Lunacy, is used to being alone. She was a young girl when her father disappeared, and she has learned to be independent, flying her small plane, living on the outskirts of town with just her huskies for company. After her New Year's kiss with the chief of police, she allows herself to give in to passion - while remaining determined to keep things as simple as possible. But there's something about Nate's sad eyes that gets under her skin and warms her frozen heart.

And now, things in Lunacy are heating up. Years ago, on one of the majestic mountains shadowing the town, a crime occurred that is unsolved to this day - and Nate suspects that a killer still walks the snowy streets. His investigation will unearth the secrets and suspicions that lurk beneath the placid surface, as well as bring out the big-city survival instincts that made him a cop in the first place. And his discovery will threaten the new life - and the new love - that he has finally found for himself.

©2004 Nora Roberts (P)2004 Brilliance Audio

Critic Reviews

"[A] richly textured novel that captures the intimacy of smalltown police work, the prickliness of the pioneer spirit and the paradox of a setting at once intimate and expansive." (Publishers Weekly)

"Roberts's latest hit novel could not be performed better." (AudioFile) 

Really Really Good

While one could say that most books in the romance genre following the same basic format--it's the back story that makes a book interesting or not and gives it its uniqueness. This back story is definitely interesting & unique. I really like the Alaskan setting & the suspense was intriguing. I'd picked out every character in the story (at one point or another) to be the villian before it was finally revealed. The narrator did a good job with the exception of the mayor's voice. The mayor is an older woman with a foghorn laugh--the narrator kinda over acted her part. But other than that (which is very tolerable) he did an excellent job. Overall I enjoyed the book & performance & would recommend it all the way around.

31 people found this helpful

Good mystery, some romance to go with it

Feel good ending, enjoyable escape.

I read the paperback several years ago and gave it 4 stars. I recently did the Audiobook and for some unknown reason, I enjoyed it more. Don’t know why. It was a good escape - kept my interest all the way through.

AUDIOBOOK NARRATOR:
Gary Littman did a fine job.

STORY BRIEF:
Nate was a cop in Baltimore. His partner was killed on the job. Nate felt responsible and was sad, withdrawn and depressed for months. He left Baltimore to become police chief of a small town in Alaska, hoping to further lose himself. He meets Meg who is a fiercely independent bush pilot, flying people and supplies around Alaska. She has more masculine traits than feminine and is the initiator of casual sex. Some mountain climbers discover a dead body with an axe in his chest. The body has been sitting in a cave on the mountain for 16 years. Nate’s cop instincts awaken as he investigates. The murderer starts doing things to stop the investigation.

REVIEWER’S OPINION:
It was a long book and a little slow at first. But the last half made it worthwhile. It was an interesting group of characters. I enjoyed watching what life was like for a small town police chief, breaking up fights, taking care of drunks, dealing with teenage orneriness. Nate was a good man, taking care of his town. But when murder happened, he turned back into the tough, Baltimore cop - investigating and protecting. Solving the murder and his relationship with Meg brought him back to life.

I would have liked a little more understanding of the motivation for the murder. The love story between Nate and Meg could have used more relationship development. It started with Meg wanting casual sex and later they sort of realized they were in love. It was ok but could have used a little more sizzle. I enjoyed the Alaskan lights in the sky, the beautiful wilderness, and the lifestyle.

DATA:
Narrative mode: 3rd person. Story length: 635 pages. Swearing language: strong. Sexual language: mild. Number of sex scenes: 4. Total number of sex scene pages: 10. Setting: 1988, 2004 and 2005 Alaska. Copyright: 2004. Genre: romantic mystery.

16 people found this helpful

Makes you want to see Alaska for yourself

This is one of my favorite Nora Roberts love/mystery stories. I first bought is in cassette but eventually wore those out and had to buy it digitally. The main character and his supporting cast are colorful, deep and they use their brains for thinking, not just to wear extra warm headgear for the cold.

If you are looking for a book that you can listen to anywhere - this is it. There is humor, life, death, murder, conspiracy, and a crazy tow-truck driver. I would love to see this have a sequel so I could hear more about the Lunitics and their steadfast Chief of Police!

The descriptions of the town and the surrounding land and mountains is so detailed, that you often feel you are their watching the Northern Lights with the characters.

41 people found this helpful

Not my favorite Nora Roberts book

I love Nora Roberts books. Things I know: I will get an interesting, suspenseful mystery. I will get a romance. I’ll get interesting characters and fun scenery.
Even though this book was full of all these things I love about Roberts books, I just didn’t feel the romance or why they were even into each other. The ending made it okay and the mystery was good.
The narrator was okay as he had a lot of voices to do but his “Meg” drove me crazy and he sounded like he was the television guy from the Twilight Zone show a few times. His main characters was good and I didn’t even mind the smokers voice of the mayor- it made me actually like that character!!!

5 people found this helpful

Couldn’t get into it

I liked the characters and the plot, but I couldn’t get into it and wasn’t able to finish due to the narration. His voice for the women characters was awful, like nails on a chalkboard. If you want to give this book a go, I’d recommend just reading it.

10 people found this helpful

great story

This story had all the elements that I enjoy. A great read with romance,mystery,humor and believable characters it you have ever been to Alaska. I would recommend it to anyone.

18 people found this helpful

one of the best

This and Montana sky is some of Nora Roberts best work. Great story, reader did a great job !

18 people found this helpful

The balance between murder and romance

I'm happy to report that I've finally joined the throngs of Norah Robert fans. Ok, I'm still not an avid fan, but I did like the book, and that's good enough for me.
After decades of feeling like a pariah and thinking: Is this it?, this novel finally made me think: Ok, I think I get it. Kinda.
Certainly a good listen. Well. Let's get to it, shall we?

Premise:
So, this guy, Nate, an ex cop, is pretty depressed after an incident in which his partner got killed. So he quits his job and moves to Alaska. ...Ok.
So he gets there and becomes chief of police in this town called Lunacy. (Lunacy, get it? The townspeople are pretty weird and they are called Lunatics. Mrs Roberts seems to have an excellent although not very subtle sense of humor. It's funny, though, isn't it? Lunatics? LOL).
Nate meets and falls in love with this awesome bush pilot woman Meg. Then a body is discovered on a mountain. The rest of the plot circles around this murder. Who'd done it?! :-O

The excitement in this books comes mainly from the murder, and the search for the killer. The love between Meg and Nate seems almost placid. Maybe I'm getting mellow in my old age, but I liked that. Nice, kinda calm love. No real drama there.
Very pleasant.
While on the one hand, the pace seemed slow and nothing much happened with regards to Meg and Nate, on the other hand, the abundance of Lunatic (lol) characters made me feel as if a lot was going on in the overall story. I need to confess, though that most of the characters (including the main characters) seemed a bit 'flat' to me. Take Nate for example, although he was supposed to be tormented, I wasn't really convinced. The scenes in which his depression was discussed, seemed spaced out and didn't seem to tie into the whole.

All in all, I liked the book. It wasn't spectacular, but certainly a solid suspense/ romance novel. If you're looking for a novel with a romance/ murder plot. This one's as good as any and better than quite a few. Nice descriptions of the surroundings are included. I would say the romance aspect was pleasantly there, but the murder investigative side of it was more prevalent.

The narrator has a very nice voice, by the way. My only problem, and that's one of my pet peeves, so please indulge me, is that male narrators sometimes tend to 'overdo' female voices or intonations. I found that mr. Littman's (narrator) rendition of Meg (and of her mother) sometimes tended a bit towards a caricaturization.

9 people found this helpful

The characters are caricatures of adults. Painful.

The narrator does a fine job with the different characters. The issue is that Meg is deeply, deeply unlikeable. She seems like she is supposed to be a "strong" female but comes across as anything but and is incapable of learning from experience, empathizing with others or generally being kind on even the lowest of levels. And why does nate want to continually run into this wall to receive so little in return? He's just as difficult to handle as Meg. I have listened to something like 11 hours and I truly cannot stand another minute. I will be listening to some Stephen King to lighten the mood after this.

2 people found this helpful

Best of Nora Roberts...

Great story with very well written characters and a wonderful discription of the beauty of Alaska. This and Montana Sky are absolutly my favorites!!!

8 people found this helpful

excellent audio experience

This is one of the better audiobooks that I have listen too.
The story told from a male main character, which is not common for a Nora Roberts book and Gary Littan handles all the characters parts brillantly each sound expressing the character personality and carry you easily though the story.

This is certainly an audio which I gladly listen to over and over again

9 people found this helpful

Northern nights lovely narration by sexy American.

I read the book several years ago and thought I would like to hear it again. I was very pleased with the narrators voice.He takes the parts of the different characters very well and the book is much funnier than I remember and I'm sure that is due to hearing the book spoken in an appropriate accent for the setting rather than a welsh accent (in my head).Really enjoying it.

5 people found this helpful

please...

Any additional comments?

...give me Lunacy, Nate and a room, please, I really liked him. Nora Roberts did a good job, the book made me smile from time to time, for exemple Nate in the small airplane on his way to Lunacy.

3 people found this helpful

Good

What about Gary Littman’s performance did you like?

I enjoyed Gary's voice he was good at changing between characters and pretty soothing overall

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes, an intriguing mystery!

Any additional comments?

I actually stumbled across this by chance via youtube, was looking for Philip Pullman's Northern Lights but found this!
I gave it a listen and liked it so much I bought it!

3 people found this helpful

this was perfect!

I want to go to Alaska now!

I narrator did all the voices so well that I knew exactly who was speaking before he said!

The story kept me guessing till the end!

2 people found this helpful

A reasonable story made better by very good narrator

Gary Littman, narrator does an excellent job in making the characters come to life. Unlike others I've listened to he manages so many different voices that you don't get confused which character is talking. I had a little issue with the ending of the story itself in that it was a little weak hence the 4* for that. The narrator made this book better!

1 person found this helpful

hugely enjoyable

Set in Alaska, this is a well crafted novel with a great cast of characters made even better by a great performance. A shining example of how a brilliant narration can really add to a story which was already good.

1 person found this helpful

NORTHEN LIGHTS

What made the experience of listening to Northern Lights the most enjoyable?

THE WHOLE STORY WAS GREAT

Who was your favorite character and why?

I THINK THAT ALL THE CHARACTERS WERE GOOD AND NO ONE STOOD OUT AS ALL STOOD OUT

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

NO I SPREAD IT ACROSS A COUPLE OF DAYS

1 person found this helpful

Excellent story very well narrated

Set in Alaska this story revolves around two central characters both flawed and scarred by their previous experiences. Megan is a bush pilot who lives outside the town of Lunacy with her two dogs and her interactions with and increasing attraction to the chief of police form one of the main strands in the story. The story is gripping and I did not guess the relevant identity until close to the end. The life of a small town in Alaska is beautifully evoked and the narration is a pleasure. Highly recommended.

1 person found this helpful

Sorry not for me

I have read many Nora Roberts books and have some audiobooks too but for whatever reason, I just can’t get into this one. The narrator, Gary Littman, is the best part about it, he is very good and makes it easy to differentiate between the characters but I have lost attention while listening so many times and have realised the plot doesn’t grip me enough to keep going. It’s going back I’m afraid. I think I need to try something completely different, maybe revisit Harry Potter read by Stephen Fry, they have been in my library for a while and give Nora a break. Sorry !