Customer Reviews

Birthright

5 star:		(58)
4 star:		(33)
3 star:		(14)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I love Nora Roberts work and I am always amazed by the quality to the number of books she cranks out a year. I really have to say she has out done herself this year as I think this was one of her best books yet. I also felt this way about her last "In Death " installment to her mystery series written as J. D. Robb. This book was a thriller all the way though, turning the pages and not wanting to put the book down.

In a mall around Christmas time a mother rushes to her three year old son who is scared of Santa. She turns back and her three month old daughter is gone! 28 years later this mother is watching TV and she sees her daughter. DR Callie Dunbrook, who is an archeologist on a site in Maryland where this child had been taken years ago. This mother Suzanne Cullen contacts Callie and Callie knows this woman is grasping at straws because she is not adopted.

Well, Callie who snoops around, she is a digger now, finds out she was adopted. Her parents promise she was adopted in good faith. Callie is determined to get to the bottom of this black market baby stealing for everybody's peace of mind. Callie's ex husband is assigned to the same dig and he backs her all the way. But there are people who do not want Callie digging around and will even kill to stop her.

This book was very creatively written, a true Nora Roberts romantic suspense thriller. Where innocent people was tangled up in this drama and even killed along the way. This was a book you could not put down for a minute. You do not want to miss this one. I really think it was one of her best!!

Nora Roberts' prolific generation of novels has run the gamut from witchcraft on the New England coast to futuristic mysteries sizzling with attraction. Her latest endeavor carries uniqueness all its own, with its crafty combination of suspense and sensual romance.

Archaeologist Callie Dunbrook's current assignment is to supervise a dig at an Antietam Creek, Maryland construction site. Finding human remains over five thousand years old, Callie needs more help at the site. When that help comes in the form of her sexy ex-husband Jake, Callie is furious with her supervisor, even as she continues to fight her attraction for Jake. While locals are angry at their loss of employment with the construction halted, seemingly innocuous pranks turn into murderous "accidents". Coinciding with the archeological find is the claim by local businesswomen Suzanne Cullen, that Callie is really her long-lost daughter, stolen as an infant.

Tough, beautiful, and brilliant, Callie is the epitome of a strong female lead character. Her romantic sparring with Jake creates a sexual tension that keeps an even pace with the mystery, as Callie discovers that the accidents at the site may be related to her unearthing of her past including an illegal adoption ring. Earthy, compelling characters are the driving forces behind this mystery/romance, entrancing the reader from the get go, in a package that is quite possibly Ms. Roberts' best effort to date...

Callie Dunbrook is an acclaimed archaeologist at the top of her game, but one appearance on television changes her life forever. While working on a historic dig in Maryland, she discovers she was kidnapped when she was an infant and raised by another family. As she struggles to deal with her new family ties, the sudden appearance of her anthropologist ex-husband Jake Graystone, she also has to try to find out who is sabotaging the site.

I really enjoyed this book! It is now one of my favorites. I have been on geology digs, so I really liked the setting of this story. There was good rapport and chemistry between Jake and Callie. They made a very likeable couple. The secondary characters were also an important part of the story. The biological family Suzanne, Jay, and Doug were well written.

While taking her 3-year-old son to visit Santa Claus, Suzanne Cullen's three-month old daughter is snatched from her stroller. Suzanne never recovers from this shattering loss and the rest of her family suffers in numerous ways. Twenty-nine years later, archaeologist Callie Dunbrook is called in to investigate the discovery of a 5,000 year old civilization found buried in Suzanne's hometown. Can Callie be the kidnapped baby Suzanne has never stopped searching for? Can the young woman reared in an upperclass Boston home face the possiblity that she has another family, that the only family she has ever known has lied to her and could even be baby thieves? When Callie Dunbrook begins to uncover her past she uncovers truths which reveal the sordid side of the medical profession and human nature. Meanwhile, her mission of uncovering truths about the buried civilization throws her into contact with her unforgettable ex-husband Jacob Graystone. Their fiery and passionate feelings for each other let Nora Roberts take you to the depths of the lusty romance that has made her beloved by millions of readers.

Callie unearths many deceptions and sorrows as she struggles to reconstruct the incident that changed her life. Assisting her is beautiful lawyer Lana Campbell, a young widow with a fascinating attraction to Callie's brother. Two torrid romances and one heart-stopping suspense story make this an exciting book from its poignant opening to its final shocking discovery.

I was almost ready to stop reading Nora Roberts, because it felt as though her plots were getting tired, and so many of her heros were jerks (at least according to me). Imagine my surprise when I read "Birthright," an interesting story that weaves together plot threads of Callie Dunbrook discovering a new identity with the very interesting archeological dig, while rekindling her relationship with her very sexy ex-husband, Jacob. The story is interesting, and the characters well-developed - I particularly liked the episode where Lana has a bad day, instead of being as perfect as so many of Nora Robert's heroines are. The major attraction of the book for me, though, was watching Callie and Jake attempt to get beyond their problems and established patterns and really work on their relationship. That really sold me.

I'm giving this four stars rather than five, because the ending was rushed and the climax UNBELIEVABLY contrived, but, other than that, I really enjoyed this book. I hope she writes more like it.

This is the best Nora Roberts has done in a very long time. Not that anything she writes is bad, but this one is simply classic Nora, along the lines of "Sanctuary" and others of her best works.

Simply put (there are lots of satisfying plot lines to sort out), feisty and beautiful Callie Dunbrook, a thirty-something archaeologist, begins work on what promises to be one of the decade's major finds--smack in the middle of the Civil War town of Antietam Creek--and discovers much more than bones and artifacts. A shocking truth about her past, combined with the equally shocking appearance at the dig of her ex-husband, anthropologist Jake Graystone, has her in a turmoil.

As Callie and Jake struggle to work together without letting their equally hot tempers explode in the stifling heat, the mystery of Callie's past threatens to surround and destroy everything they are working for and everything they are. And they are only two of a group of equally engrossing people, both on the dig and off.

Absolutely first-rate Nora, and the perfect beach book. Buy it and give yourself a real summer treat.

Nora Robert's books are always winners, I am never disappointed with her stories or the caliber of her writing and this book is no exception. I am amazed how she can keep writing new and exciting stories.

Years ago, a baby girl was stolen/kidnapped from the local mall during christmas- leaving a devestated mother, brother. Now, Callie Dunbrook is an archeologist who is digging a site with her ex husband. Suzanne sees Callie and immediately knows it is her kidnapped daughter- she contacts Callie, but callie know she is mistaken, she is not adopted!
Of course, she is mistaken and Callie ( with the help of her ex husband, Jake) begins to uncover the mystery of her life. However, this immediately puts her life in danger as there are others who do not want this illegal baby scheme exposed.
A nice subplot to this is Doug- Callie's natural brother whose life was turned around by his baby sisters disappearance. His love story is a great subplot in this book.

All in all, a great book if you like mysterys, suspence, romance and intrigue- this book has it all.

I was quick to complain over Roberts' "Three Fates" book, so I owe her enthusiastic praise for her latest, "Birthright." Roberts is at her best with this story that mingles the discovery of the remains of an ancient civilization in rural Maryland with the heroine's shocking discovery of her true identity. There's history mixed with murder, mystery, love, sex and the question of what makes us who we are. I couldn't put this book down. I loved Callie, she's a tough and tender mix of brains and beauty with a quick wit. Jake Graystone, the love of her life, is a hero any romance reader would admire. The secondary love story is well developed and fun to follow. While there is never any doubt of the outcome between the pairs of lovers, there is a good mystery that twists and turns to the very end. Thank you, Nora Roberts, for a great read.

As someone who has enjoyed many of Nora Robert's works in the past, I found myself disappointed with the audio version of Birthright. I found the Narrator's voice to be extremely irritating and just did NOT work work for this reader. The voice she uses for Callie, sounds like she smokes six packs a day, and the hero (especially Graystone), sounds like a hick with laryngitis. Awful.

The plotline, had potential, but it didn't live up to it. I was quite interested in the archaeological dig, and the community of archaeological workers, but this plotline got buried quickly under the subplot over Callie's identity. For me Callie's long-suffering mother reliving the pain of her baby's abduction over and over was quite maudlin, had me wanting to hit the fast forward button. I know it is callous of me, but I simply DID NOT CARE about Callie's origins, or what had happened to Callie 30 years ago. What I wanted to read was romance. NOW.

Callie and Graystone's 'relationship' was unsuspensful, unless you like 'bedhopping and 'big misunderstanding' subplots. Graystone had potential, but the constant bickering between this couple left me cold. (There is nothing sexy or attractive of listening to two people bicker and torture each other). I also felt, that Callie as a major character of supposed intelligence acted rather stupid half the time. An example: Callie ran into the woods after a bad guy, armed with a can of 'bug spray' *groan*.

The other romantic character Lana, I actually liked. She was oodles more mature than Callie, and handled her affairs in a professional way. Her love interest Doug, however had zero personality. This character could easily been left out. Perhaps this novel would've been more interesting if the romance had been between Lana and Graystone?

Overall, I guess I found this book a disappointment. It had potential, but got bogged down with mindless melodrama over Callie's origins, and a senseless secondary romance and endless, endless whining and hand-wringing.

Rating: Average, but poor narration loses it a star.

I can't believe I'm writing a less than stellar review of any Nora Roberts book, but this one just didn't work for me. I adore NR & all of her books - trilogies, magic, mysteries, etc. and was excited to read "Birthright", however, less than halfway through I was totally annoyed with the book. The main characters were so unlikeable, particulary the woman (why is rude & nasty loveable in some of NR's books?) & the storyline just bounced around too much. I found myself, for the first time w/a NR book, skimming through some of the pages.
Now that being said, I am enjoying NR's newest trilogy (I've just started the 2nd book) and never find these magical storylines boring - different strokes for different folks I guess.