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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Perfect Combination of Evil and Grace, February 9, 2010
This review is from: The Clouds Roll Away (Raleigh Harmon) (Paperback)
After a couple of months of exile (a disciplinary assignment to Washington), Raleigh Harmon is back in her beloved Richmond, Virginia. Though she's returned to her home town, the FBI has her on a very short leash with every move she makes scrutinized and second guessed. In this stressful environment, Raleigh is assigned a hate crime case for a celebrity musician. However, as questions start to mount and the case grows, the FBI's restrictions threaten to prevent her from finding the culprit. Is it simply a case of the KKK rising from the shadows and starting a new reign of terror or is there a new evil surfacing in Richmond. In a gripping story involving, drugs, murder, hate, and violence, The Clouds Roll Away is both mysterious and suspenseful, providing the reader with a perfect combination of evil and grace. I have really enjoyed the Raleigh Harmon series and am glad to know there are even more books to come. The Clouds Roll Away is a continuation of the series and though chronologically after The River Runs Dry, it builds more on the first book, The Stones Cry Out. Since it has been three years since that book, it was nice that Giorello included some background information for those who may not have read it or have forgotten some of the characters. There is some overlap with each of these books, but they are independent of each other and can be read in any order. Raleigh seems to have a knack of putting herself into tough situations. Bless her heart, even trying to stay out of trouble and play by the rules, she still managed to upset her manager enough to open another investigation of her actions. However, even with all the turmoil in her life, she still has the qualities that make a great character. She's got just enough sarcasm to be humorous and just enough emotion to let us know she's got a heart. Her relationship with her mother, Nadine, though bizarre is still a great part of this series. In The Clouds Roll Away, we get to see her mom try to survive Christmas. Much of her actions seem a bit strange, but what we really get to see is a woman trying to overcome grief. I love that Giorello portrays Nadine so tenderly. She and Raleigh are both Christian characters, but with Nadine we get an externalized picture of God rebuilding her life. There is nothing wrong with Christians struggling with psychological issues and I like how this aspect of her character has been included. When The Clouds Roll Away began, I thought we might be getting a second racially charged novel similar to The Stones Cry Out. While this book centers on a hate crime, we get a different view of racism. It is not simply a story of white supremacy. Instead, it encourages us to look beyond the stereotypes and preconceived notions to the heart of the person. It asks us to see at the inside, the place that cannot hide from God, rather than the nice and tidy outward presentation. Though the hate crime is always in the background, it eventually fades and other activities take center stage. With multiple crimes, subplots, and characters, Giorello eventually brings all the separate events together and creates an ending that is quite satisfying. I definitely like Raleigh in Richmond much better than in Washington. The feeling that Giorello added to this book, just from the setting was incredible. It contrasts the romanticized charm of the south with the violence of its past and simmering undertones of the present. The internal thoughts and nostalgia we pick up from Raleigh as she travels from one part of the city to the next makes us feel a part of the story. With her ability to make the city integral, Giorello adds even more life to an already outstanding novel. Needless to say, I'm a fan of this series and I look forward to the next Raleigh Harmon book currently scheduled to be published in 2011. While the main portion of The Clouds Roll Away is wrapped up, there are some open ends and I'm looking forward to seeing where those lead. It was good to reconnect with the characters from Richmond again and hopefully Raleigh will stay out of trouble so that we can visit them again soon.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Gritty Mystery for "CSI" fans, December 17, 2010
This review is from: The Clouds Roll Away (Raleigh Harmon) (Paperback)
"The Clouds Roll Away" by Sibella Giorello is a Christian/Mystery that follows , Raleigh Harmon, a Forensic geologist agent as she works to solve a civil rights issue in Richmond, Virginia. Riddled with mature content that is not suitable for those who are more discerned with their reading content, "The Clouds Roll Away" is a gritty suspense story that, though it alludes to discussion of faith, faith plays more of a small part in a mostly suspense filled story. Although I felt the first few chapters were bit slow and the characters starting out were stereotypical and two dimensional, the pace of the book quicken in the middle and held promise for "The Clouds Roll Away", but then the ending felt a little too thrown together and not needed, causing a conflict with the genre it was slated for. For the more hardcore mystery readers, "The Clouds Roll Away" is worth looking into and makes a good vacation book to read and isn't too suspenseful either, but more of a CSI type of story with forensic discussions while interplay with a tense situation with Raliegh's mother. For those with more discerning tastes about what is read, "The Clouds Roll Away" is a little too gritty, in part , due to the story capturing the roughness of the characters and the style of writing is more secular than Christian mystery, so for those who aren't accustomed or like this type of mysteries, this might be a bit too rough of a read. However if you are a fan of CSI type shows and/or books, this is a book that I would recommend if you don't mind the hint of rough situations (the character, Raleigh gets into some pretty rough stuff that will have readers sitting at the edge of their sit wondering if she will get out at all),but don't take just my word for it and find out what others have discovered about this new mystery by Sibella Giorello on the "The Clouds Roll Away" book tour.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
strong police procedural, March 22, 2010
This review is from: The Clouds Roll Away (Raleigh Harmon) (Paperback)
With her mother Nadine's mental state tottering, FBI agent Raleigh Harmon is working out of her hometown Richmond, Virginia office. However, her latest boss makes it clear that she is not wanted at this field office. Her supervisor assigns Raleigh two impossible cases to solve within a month. Each is convoluted but Raleigh gives her best starting with the burning of the Cross civil rights Federal hate crime at Rapland and her other inquiry into a drug case. As time begins to run out, Raleigh expects another transfer, but being tough she refuses to quit. Instead her forensic geologist skills soon have her investigating an even bigger crime when her two cases converge. The two Rs (Raleigh and Richmond) combine into a strong police procedural as the former depending on her faith to keep her going. She refuses to quit while working the historical mansions (owned by celebs) and the mean streets. The investigations are terrific as Raleigh is left out there by herself to fail while the evolution vs. creation argument is deftly handled. Her personal life is so smoggy from her former boyfriend, those she trusts and more so those she distrusts inside the agency, and her mom. Readers who enjoy a mentally tough female cop will want to read Raleigh's Richmond cases. Harriet Klausner
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