Northern Lights

By: Nora Roberts

Narrated by: Gary Littman

Length: 15 hrs and 5 mins

Publisher's summary

Let #1 New York Times bestselling author Nora Roberts fly you into Lunacy, Alaska, and into a colorful, compelling novel about two lonely souls who are searching for love and redemption...

As a Baltimore cop, Nate Burke watched his partner die on the street - and the guilt still haunts him. With nowhere else to go, he accepted the job as Chief of Police in a tiny, remote Alaskan town with the hopes of starting over. Despite the name, Lunacy provides a balm for Nate’s shattered soul - and an unexpected affair with pilot Meg Galloway warms his nights....

But other things in Lunacy are heating up. Nate suspects the killer in an unsolved murder 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, all rights reserved.

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)

one of the best

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

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.

Great story with a good (finally!) narrator

I love nearly all of NR's books because she gives you a story that moves along that also makes you smile. However this one had me glued to the car as the mystery unfolded. At first it was a bit strange to hear a man try to make female voices, but it grew on me and was much better than some of the other narrators they've used.

Great Potential But...

I loved the Alaskan setting and the potential for a great story, but Nora Roberts didn’t develop the story line or the characters convincingly. Two much romance and not enough suspense. Even the resolution didn’t hold my attention.
I found the narrator’s portrayal of some of the female voices unrealistic, even irritating. Not one of Nora Robert’s better stories.

liked the charcters,lots. of suspense,Alaska weath

liked the characters.lots of suspense,learned a lot about Alaska' s weather. I always enjoy Nora Robert's books!

Hmm..

Didn't care at all for those phone calls or radio voices! The narrator voice? Hmm it was nice most of the time, had to have volume very high in moments when he was imitating whispers, otherwise it was just blur.
Did like the book, good story.

Great read

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

Highly recommended read - Nora Roberts knows how to hold her audience thrilled and in constant expectation. The plot shifts and turns and you start suspecting everyone for being the murderer. Couldn't put it down!

OMG great book

If you could sum up Northern Lights in three words, what would they be?

Humour, suspense,romance.

What did you like best about this story?

So well written I want to go to Alaska. I could hardly stop listening for wanting to find out who the killer was and why.

It's just okay

It seemed to take forever to get to a story line,... I almost gave up on it! After it finally started it was a good story and when you think you might have it figured out, something else comes up to make you think otherwise.

I want to visit Alaska now!

After reading this book, I want to go to Alaska! Her descriptions of the areas as well as character development are detailed and interesting.

The story evolves with a mystery as well as a romantic involvement which keeps the reader interested and wanting to find out more. I was totally sucked in and couldn't stop listening.

Definitely a read you won't want to miss.