Customer Reviews

The Clouds Roll Away (Raleigh Harmon)

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(25)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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.

"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.

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

Ahh, Raleigh is back home in Richmond, but she's not out of the hot water yet. Forced to pick up the slack due to sick co-workers in other areas of the FBI office, she finds more connections than she thought possible to her initial case.

The Clouds Roll Away was another one of those Sibella Giorello books I couldn't put down. And I had the sheer pleasure of actually reading this book around Christmas, considering it was set around Christmas for Raleigh too. When the final reveal of our monstrous villain came about I was a bit stunned. Didn't see that one coming, but that's what makes a great suspense book for me. I don't want to figure it out before the author lets me.

The ending is a literal action-packed-kick-butt-Yay-Raleigh ending you won't forget.

This was my first time reading a book by Sibella Giorello. Most Christian fiction is more along the romance line. This is a wonderful mystery with a great Christian undertone.

I haven't picked up a true suspense book since my Mary Higgins Clark high school days. I always found suspense books that fit under the "inspirational/Christian" heading to be too predictable or sugar coated. Sometimes a girl just wants a gritty book to scare a few years off her life. This is probably why I loved this book so much-it doesn't hold back the reality of investigating gruesome crimes or go with the obvious storyline. The Clouds Roll Away will have you guessing "who'dunnit" right up to the end as villains become the heroes and the heroes become the villains.

Sibella has penned a story with incredible depth and insight into the characters and the social and racial stratas that still permeate the American south. The setting is small town Virginia, a place where old money hierarchies are alive and well and the first thing that speaks to a person is the colour of your skin. Sibella's writing is evocative and draws immediate emotional responses from her readers. The words flowed over the page like art and, even though this was a thriller that was at times gory, I was taken with the beauty of her prose. This story is very fast paced and continually building tension to the breaking point.

This genre is not for everybody, but if you like thrillers and suspense and love insightful writing, then I recommend this book to you.

Rating: 9.5/10
**review copy supplied by Litfuse**

First reviewed here: [...]

First of all, I would like to extend a heartfelt "Thank you" to Sibella Giorello and her publisher for sending me a copy of "The Clouds Roll Away" to review for them. I am truly grateful for this generosity. I really appreciate the time, effort and expense it takes to make a reviewer copy available to me.

"The Clouds Roll Away" is my first exposure to author Sibella Giorello, but it certainly will not be my last. The reader opens the first page of this novel with the highly suspenseful story already in full motion. Raleigh Harmon is a forensic geologist returning home to Richmond, Virginia only to find herself investigating the Ku Klux Klan-esque burning of a cross on the estate of a celebrity.

Raleigh's investigation reveals lots of resentful neighbors who want to see the beauty of the southern plantation and its way of life preserved. In the midst of this horrible crime, Raleigh's personal life also leaves much to be desired, revealing dysfunctional relationships with her mother and a former beau. This thought-provoking mystery will have the reader turning pages late into the night as the powerful prose, like a glass of cool iced tea on a hot summer night, teases the senses and sensibilities. This third installment in the Raleigh Harmon series is a solid stand-alone read. But this character is so enjoyable, I highly recommend checking out the first two books in this series. I know I will.

THE CLOUDS ROLL AWAY
By Sibella Giorello
ISBN 978-1-59554-534-3
Thomas Nelson

At first glance, it does not seem like much of an assignment. A cross is burned in the back yard of a hip-hop mogul who has bought a plantation in Richmond, Virginia. The FBI and Agent Raleigh Harmon are brought in to expedite the investigation of the event. The assignment was intended as part of a hodge-podge of dull cases given to Agent Harmon by her boss, who is trying to run her out of the FBI one way or the other.

It is not long before the investigation of the "hate crime" of the plantation renamed "Rapland" becomes a bigger case than anyone expects. Other crimes happen at Rapland and in the area which accelerate the investigation, and the risk Raleigh Harmon must face both to her career and to her safety and well-being increase as well.

At the same time Agent Harmon is involved in working the case at Rapland, she is involved in a task force working on urban crime in Richmond, which also eventually presents threats to her career and her safety.

In addition to her normal work challenges, Raleigh Harmon must navigate her investigation through social circles of the Richmond elite that she has grown up in and known all her life. This creates many challenges, as the people she must interview are also the people she goes to church with, and who attend parties and social functions with her and her family.

The Clouds Roll Away is a wonderfully written book. Even though it is written by a faith based publisher, it could easily be successful in a mainstream market. It is a page-turner of a crime-novel, and could easily be made into a movie or a pilot for a television series. It is that good. In a world where guys like me have to suffer through Christian novels about Amish women and supernatural thrillers designed to manipulate readers toward a fearful faithfulness, The Clouds Roll Away is a breath of fresh air, and one will eagerly pass on to friends.
Most readers will enjoy relating to Raleigh Harmon the person. She is a high-society woman that likes blue-collar work. She can afford to wine and dine at fine restaurants, but instead chooses Hardees and Burger King for most of her meals. She is smart and earthy, strong and sweet. And once the reader finishes The Clouds Roll Away, they may well seek out the other books in the Raleigh Harmon series.

Giorello has a way of combing excellent character development, breath-taking suspense, and weaving several strands of stories together seamlessly. The result is a novel that should have a wide audience, and a growing fan base for a very talented writer.

Rating: 4 star
Faith Element: Low to Medium
Credits: This book was given to me by the Litfuse Group via Thomas Nelson in exchange for an honest review.

For me this was more like 3.5 stars but closer to three than four, so that's why I gave it three. Interestingly enough, I read through chapter 7 of The Stones Cry Out and never had the desire to pick it up again, so I didn't. But then I'd read some positive things about this author's work and saw some nominations for awards and thought maybe I missed something. So I agreed to do a blog tour for this book.

I did finish The Clouds Roll Away because I agreed to post a review for the tour, or I probably wouldn't have finished this book. The writing style seemed kind of choppy to me and sometimes spiritual reflection seemed to come out of the sky. It was nice that I read it around Christmas since that was the time period for the majority of the story, but at the same time the continual references to phrases in well-known Christmas songs and hymns annoyed me. Why not just say mom was listening to Silent Night? Or O Holy Night? Most people know the lyrics anyway, so quoting partial phrases didn't make sense to me. Even non-Christians know those songs.

Anyway, I did find some aspects of the FBI theme compelling and it was kinda cool how various seemingly unrelated elements pulled together toward the end. At the same time, I found some of the details a bit gruesome (like people's faces being blown off and then described further than that) and so I got some unpleasant visuals of bloated dead bodies and such. I was scared for her when she kept dealing with the crack house. But other than that, I would have to say if I never read another book by Sibella I wouldn't be sad about it. She just doesn't write the type of stories I enjoy reading. If she had gotten a little deeper into her relationship with her mother or with Demott, then I would have enjoyed the story more. It just seemed too superficial to me and other than worrying about Raleigh on occasion, I didn't connect much with the characters in the story.

On the positive end, I did feel like I knew Raleigh better by book's end, so that was good, but if I hadn't been doing the tour I probably would've stopped reading it about halfway through when the part about finding the dead guys in the water came up, because it grossed me out so much. At that point I still felt like I barely knew Raleigh. It could be one of those situations where reading prior novels in the series would have given me an entirely different perspective.

I did find it interesting that a white author had written so many negative things into this storyline that were racial stereotypes for both white and black folks, and the author hasn't been criticized. Then again, this story was set in the old south, so racial tension has pretty much been a deep thread in Virginia history for centuries, so it fit the storyline. Did this book inspire me? Not really. But it might inspire someone else. The author definitely knows how to weave a compelling, if not a bit gruesome and complex suspense/crime mystery. That was well done.

In book three in the Raleigh Harmon series, Raleigh's father was killed some years before this novel starts, and his death weighs heavily on the family. The loss may be what has brought on some level of mental illness to her mother.

Presently, FBI agent Raleigh Harmon is working out of her hometown Richmond, Virginia office to be closer to her mother. Her boss makes it clear she's not welcome there. Having been given 2 unsolved cases, one a hate crime and the other a drug operation to work on, she's committed to solving them. What seems simple soon becomes highly complicated.

The interesting characters and the engrossing storyline will keep you turning the pages.