Noah’s Rainy Day by Sandra Brannan is the 4th book on the Liv Bergen mystery series. Liv has completed training at Quantico and is now an FBI Agent. She is immediately tossed into a case with Streeter Pierce, her lover Jack Linwood, and her bloodhound Beulah. She finds herself in a race against time to find a 5-year-old who went missing from Denver International Airport. Meanwhile her nephew Noah Hogarty, who has severe cerebral palsy, is convinced that there is something going in with the quiet new girl across the street. When no clear way to communicate his suspicions, he decides to take matters into his own hands…because that’s what his aunt would do.
I am always excited to read Mrs. Brannan’s books, and this definitely didn’t disappoint. There is a lot of action and mystery throughout the story and, as always, it keeps you literally glued to the story. I couldn’t put it down. There was a bit of a change in writing style for this one. Normally, only Liv is presented in first-person. For this book, Noah is also presented in first-person as well, and it works wonderfully. His characterization is spot on & powerful. It’s heart-breaking when he thinks about his physical condition & the impact is has on his family.
Also, we see the return of the crazy/unrealized love triangle between Liv, Streeter & Jack. Now that Liv has hooked up with Jack, Streeter is bursting with jealously but manages for the most part to keep a lid on it. However, we get a lot of new information on Jack…and it’s not exactly good. I don’t normally write spoilers in my reviews, but there is no way to review this without talking about it. So you have been warned! So…here it is: Jacks is very possibly a Dexter Morgan!!!
From what we know so far, Jack was married and had a son. The son was kidnapped and murdered, and eventually his marriage fell apart from this. When he first shows up in the book, he lies to everyone about where he had been, including Liv. Up to this point, she doesn’t know about his past. He eventually tells her, and she’s put off a bit since he lied to her. At the end of the book, he is the last person in the room with Fletcher at the jail, and Fletcher is found dead of an apparent suicide…yet he had nothing on him when he was placed in the cell. So, did he have help or did he just get a bad frisk? Of course, no one suspects Jack, since he’s a trusted agent. Sort of makes you wonder… Does he go around killing criminals as a way to deal with the death of his son? Mrs. Brannan said in her interview yesterday that she plans on “baring Jack’s soul” in later novels so we will just have to wait and see.
Overall, Mrs. Brannan has dished out another spectacular novel, and I highly recommend it. You definitely need to read it and then join in on the Jack debate. While I’m waiting fo rhte next book to come out, I’m going to see if I can’t my writer’s group into the draw for proof reading it. Noah’s Rainy Day releases September 3rd and is available for pre-order on Amazon. You can find info about all of Mrs. Brannan books at her website, as well as Goodreads, Facebook & Twitter.
I received an ARC copy of the book to help facilitate my review. This review was writing for the Noah’s Rainy Day Blog Tour.
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