Absolute Write ~ Book Review Blog Chain

Absolute Write is running two blogs chains this month, so I have dipped my toes into another new venture and joined both.  In the book review blog chain each member picks a book we enjoy, and offer a detailed review on our blogs.
Members of the Absolute Write Blog Chain --->
Collectonian - http://collectonian.livejournal.com/
Lost Wanderer - http://www.lostwanderer5.blogspot.com/
DavidZahir - http://zahirblue.blogspot.com/
RavenCorinnCarluk - http://www.ravencorrinncarluk.blogspot.com/
were before me, and I am followed by
Forbidden Snowflake - http://alleslinks.com/
veinglory - http://thefleam.blogspot.com/


Today I am reviewing one of my all time favourites, ~ Northern Lights by Nora Roberts.
I have the paperback which contains 535 pages, published by Piatkus (http://www.piatkus.co.uk/)
I have the unabridged audio version, read by Gary Littman.
And on New Year night I recorded the film version from the TV.
Did I say Northern Lights is one of my all time favourites? LOL

In this electrifying romantic suspense, Nora Roberts takes her hero, Nate Burke and plants him in Lunacy, Alaska, and gives him the job of chief of police. This suits Nate down to the ground as he’s haunted by the failure of his marriage and loss of his partner in a shootout in a dark ally in Baltimore. All he’s looking for is survival and time to come to terms with his losses in this out-of-the-way law-abiding small town.


What he does not expect is to meet his fate in the form of loner bush pilot, Meg Galloway. Nor does he expect to be confronted with a sixteen year old murder to solve. Suddenly the sleepy township is full of dark secrets, a spate of new murders, and more suspects than he’s had hot dinners, and the reader enjoys pitting their wits against the author to see if they can discover the muderer before Nora is ready to reveal all.


As always Nora plants plenty of clues along the way, but it is not until near the end of the book that the culprit is revealed. Her secondary characters all have vital roles to play and as ever Nora brings out the idiosyncrasies in each one including the mountain called No Name.


Not everyone enjoys ‘head-hopping’, but Nora’s skill, in moving fluently from one character to another, adds pace and intimacy to her books.


If you want a book that will occupy you for hours and keep you guessing until the end, you will enjoy this book.


When you’ve read the book it can be hard to come to terms with another’s interpretation of your perception of a story. In the audio version of Northern Lights, Gary Littman, added, rather than detracted from my enjoyment.


Sadly, I cannot say the same about the film. The screen writer has taken the story, squeezed the life out of it, picked up a few of the last gasps that still survived, changed the integrity of the characters, butchered the story and offered 90 minutes of dissatisfaction, disappointment, and discontent that you actually sat through the whole film in the vain hope it would redeem itself. The actors had no chance to bring the original characters to life, so their familiarity and personal success had no chance of redeeming the hatchet job done on an incredible story. This was all the more disappointing because I loved the first four film interpretations of her books.


So, if you decide to go out and buy Northern Lights make sure you buy the book whether paperback, hardback or the audio version.