What possesses a person to move to a remote, desolate and environmentally dangerous locale such as Lunacy, Alaska? One need look no further than the name of the town where Northern Lights is set to gain a hint. Residents of Lunacy even refer to themselves as "Lunatics." In truth, they would live nowhere else.
This novel covers one winter and one spring, with flashbacks to events that occurred 16 years earlier that return to both plague and haunt the people who live there. Frozen rivers, death-defying mountains, avalanches and caves of ice all figure into a tale that only a novelist as talented as Roberts could weave so skillfully that listeners will not want to leave this work before reaching its satisfying conclusion.
Residents of Lunacy take enormous pride in their developing town. It is by their invitation that Baltimore policeman Nate Burke moves to become their first chief of police in the town’s new police department. Town members are torn between their desire for progress and clinging to often negative ideas about accepting "Outsiders" into their midst.
Nate, too, is a torn man. A divorced man with few family ties, Nate signs on for the job in faraway Alaska after losing his best friend and partner in an on-the-job police shoot-out. Nate secretly blames himself for the death of his friend and is haunted by survivor guilt. His one hope is that he can find some semblance of life in Lunacy.
Nate finds much more than a new life. He runs headlong into a mystery which soon turns into uncovering a murder that happened years ago. He also encounters two unforgettable females, one who makes her designs on him known from the moment she lays eyes on him and her daughter, who does exactly the opposite. Both women are fiercely independent, and both will figure into Nate’s future in this ravishingly beautiful dark land of ice with nighttime lights the likes of which he has never before seen.
The best-selling author of more than 200 novels, Nora Roberts lives in rural Maryland, where she crafts books that enthrall readers throughout the globe with their exotic settings, rich characterization and plots that keep readers and listeners guessing right up until the last page is turned.
McDaniel College awarded Roberts an honorary Doctor of Letters degree in 2006.
"Northern Lights" is available in audiobook format and can be downloaded so fans can listen to it while on long automobile trips or in shorter sessions as they go through their daily lives. This digital download provides listeners with over 15 hours of listening enjoyment, thanks in no small part to the wonderful narration provided by Gary Littman.
"I'm a big fan of any Nora Roberts book, especially her romantic suspense novels. Yes, you have the standard hunky man with the uniquely beautifuly or scrappy heroine in each of them, but what I like about Roberts' books is that she gives them depth. In this outing, Meg, the Alaskan pilot, is smart, resilient and can take care of herself. She's no simpy, weepy female waiting to be rescued. The new police chief is also strong in his own right, though he has a history that he's trying to come to terms with. They mesh nicely together as they try to figure out connections between current murders and one that occurred long ago (Meg's dad). Read this book for several hours of escapist pleasure reading."
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Julie (4 out of 5 stars)