Customer Reviews

River's End

5 star:		(84)
4 star:		(55)
3 star:		(14)
2 star:		(12)
1 star:		(14)

 

 

Sam and Julie, a Hollywood couple. Their four-year-old daughter, Livvy, was in the house the night Julie was murdered. She tried to find her mother and finds her father bending over her mother's bloody body. She hides in a closet where a very nice policeman, Frank Brady, later found her. Although her mother's twin sister, Jamie, and her husband, David, wanted to have Olivia live with them, she went to live with her grandparents who run River's End, a lodge and campground on Washington state's Olympic Peninsula far from the media circus. Livvy lives in the safe environment her grandparents provided for her. Loving nature, Livvy goes to college majoring in resource science and returns to River's End to open a naturalist center that she dreamed about. Twenty years after Julie's murder, Sam Tanner's parole has continued to be denied thanks in large part to the testimony of Frank Brady and Julie's twin sister, Jamie. Stricken with a terminal cancer, Sam contacts best-selling true-crime author Noah Brady (Frank's son) to finally tell his side of the story. Noah has long been interested in the case; and, particularly in Livvy, who he has had contact with a couple of times in the past 20 years. Noah knows he will have to get all sides of the story, not just Sam's which will mean seeing Livvy again. When Noah sees Livvy, the attraction is still there but little does he know that in his quest to get her father's story, her life will be in danger for there is one person who knows the truth of what happened that night 20 years before. RIVER'S END is one of Nora Roberts best.... way to go Nora!!!

I'm sure all of you know the old saying when choosing a book to read, DON'T JUDGE A BOOK BY IT'S COVER? Well this time ignore the old saying. The illustrations on the cover of this book live up to and provide a perfect description of the book. The characters that Ms. Roberts portrays in this story seem to leap out from the pages and into the imagination of the reader. The characters are well defined and realistic. I became very involved in the story and finished the book in two days. I am a huge fan of the mystery/suspense and romantic genres and this book satisfied my urges for both genres. The only drawback to this book is the predictable and lackluster ending. I figured out who the killer was when I was halfway through the book. When Olivia faces her mother's killer, her reaction seemed unemotional and unconvincing. The well-written characters and the love story between the young couple is good enough to keep the story interesting. Nora Roberts wrote such a sexy love scene between the two young lovers that it made me want more. A definite MUST READ!

When tragedy befalls 4-year-old Livvy, her life is forever changed when her father is convicted of murdering her mother. Since they were a popular Hollywood couple, everyone is curious about her, and the press won't leave her alone. To protect her, Olivia goes to live with her grandparents who raise her as their own. They live in the quiet Pacific Northwest, running a lodge providing vacationers the chance to be up close and personal with nature. Livvy loves nature, and majors in the field hoping to open a center at the lodge. As she settles into her peaceful life at the lodge, her past comes crashing into her present when her father decides to set the record straight. He has contacted writer Noah Brady to tell his story. As Noah and Livvy rekindle their childhood friendship and explore the future, they soon discover they have to resolve the past or there may be no future.

This is a suspenseful read with well-written characters interwoven into a very sad tale. Again, NR uses her descriptive talents letting the reader feel a part of the landscape.

This was my first book of Nora Roberts I had ever read. I started my reading of it in a "Reader's Digest" book sample. I got to the bridged "first" chapter and went out and bought the entire book itself. The suspense grabs you, the romance absorbs into you, and the emotions are so real it is almost as if you were the character at the time. I have read many romance novels and the others don't even compare. Nora adds suspense emotions and humor along with the hot sexy scenes and the intimate share of lovers. I have read in other reviews that they found Olivia cold, spoiled, and cruel. But I find that she wasn't. Cold...perhaps a bit to the furnace of feelings but that changes as Noah probes into her past, in her heart, and his own. The fact that Olivia has to believe that Sam, her father, killed her mother when she was only four is sad enough to make you understand her distance and self-reliance. Noah ends up being the man of any woman's dreams and I believe he was well- developed if not overly estimated to his emotions.

All in all an excellent and touching read for those who like suspense but enjoy a few passionate kisses and tender loving to top it off.

River's End is one of the first Nora Roberts books that I read. It is also one of my favorites. The tale of mystery and love is craftily woven in the fashion that Nora Roberts does so well.

Olivia MacBride's world was shattered when, at the age of 4, a monster came and killed her mother. Her father, Sam Tanner, was later charged with the murder. Left an orphan, Olivia is taken in by her grandparents and raised at River's End in the Olympic Rain Forest. Olivia's memories of that night are vague and no one, not her grandparents or her Aunt Val and Uncle David, will tell her anything about the past. At 13, Olivia is determined to find out what happened, so she gets in touch with the kind police officer, Frank Brady, who helped her that fateful night. Frank's family, including his son Noah who is close to Olivia's age, take a vacation at River's End. This meeting spurs a life long friendship between Noah and Olivia.

As Olivia matures, so does her relationship with Noah. Until one day when Olivia's advances towards Noah are refused, causing a rift between the two. Then, a few years later, Olivia's father is released from prison and doubt begins to cloud her mind about his guilt. Olivia starts to get strange calls, flowers delivered to her, and she swears someone is watching her. Will Olivia be able to forgive Noah and let him help her? Is Sam Tanner really her mother's killer?

Of course, I won't give that away, but I will tell you that if you pay attention the clues are right there and it's not too terribly difficult to discover if Sam really is the killer or not. That discovery, however, is not the real treasure of River's End, rather, it is the relationship that develops between Olivia and Noah. It moves from childhood friendship, to a sweet young romance, to heated passion and is the reason that River's End is one of my favorite Nora Robert's novels. This type of romance is Nora Robert's forte. She gives the reader these romances without turning her novels into the trashy romance type. If you haven't read anything by Nora Roberts before, River's End is a wonderful novel to start with.

I've read quite a few of Nora Roberts's books and this was the only one on which I had the complete 'wowzer' reaction. I mean, seriously: wow. This is a book full of content, with enough dimensions to the story to keep me busy for weeks and weeks, reading and rereading it to get it all. Ms Roberts brings you into the gold and glamour of Hollywood with the same talented ease as she brings you into the green and whispers of the Olympic Rain Forest. The characters are likable, and believable, and most certainly not your average Roberts book. Livvy could be a pain in the butt as much as Noah could be a persistent annoyance. And readers will find themselves grieving for Julie MacBride along with Jamie, Rob, Val, David and Livvy herself. And there's a surprising twist at the end that will leave you reeling . . .

But it's excellent suspence fiction. Let me put it this way: I was recommended this book because the person who passed it on to me believed it was the height of romantic suspense. But I disagree. There's only enough romance in the book to add a dimension to the story. The story in and of itself is a riveting, can't-put-it-down kind of story, and for that Nora Roberts has earned well her accolades. This title represents my introduction to the world of Nora Roberts, and I find I am in good company. The author has a huge devoted following, and now I understand why. I recommend this interesting read.

I'm a Nora Roberts fan and enjoyed the book while I read it, although I did feel it tended to drag in places, especially in the overly-lengthy descriptions of the forest in the Pacific Northwest. I too had my "guess" as to who the killer was fairly early on, but it didn't diminish my enjoyment as it did for some readers -- it just made me want to find out if I was right. Noah was a very well-written character but I felt that Olivia could have been fleshed out better. Despite the tragic loss of her parents at such a young age she somehow didn't come across as all that sympathetic a character. A good book, worthwhile reading, but not one I plan to read again soon.

When I started reading River's End, it reminded me of a remake of the "O.J. Simpson" murder. It is a story centered on a little 4-year old girl who witnesses the death of her mother by her father. Years pass by and the story unravels Olivia's feelings and emotions as they develop based on this horrible tragedy. Written in the ingenious Nora Roberts style I have grown to truly enjoy, this story is both entertaining and informative as we learn quite a bit about the Olympic Rain Forest through Olivia's eyes. I guessed the villain about 1/2 way through the book but the story still held my interest as I could never be 100% sure I was correct. I would highly recommend this book to everyone.

This was the first book by Nora Roberts that I read. I found it to be very suspensful and romantic at the same time. As a reader of a lot of romance novels, I thought this one was refreshing to read. Many romance books focus on a lot of sex between the couple but this one didn't. I had previously read this other romance/mystery book and to be honest I didn't even know what the mystery was. All I read on every other page was how the couple were having sex.

Ms. Roberts did a good job of adding everything into this story: romance, mystery, and even some humor. It had me guessing who the killer was. I had a hard time believing if Sam Tanner really was the killer because of the two versions of the story he had of the night Julie was murdered. Originally I had more than one guess at who the killer was and it turned out to be my original guess. I didn't want to put this book down because because it was a real page turner with a surprising ending.

The part I liked most was how Noah fell in love with the Olivia's character and not her beauty. A lot of books have the male lead pawning and obessissing over the female lead's beauty and looks and body. Noah loved Olivia for the person she was. They made a sweet and cute couple.

I have to disagree with some of the other customer reviews I have read where they criticized Olivia's character. They said that she was cold, annoying, irriating and so and so on. Hello! she witnessed a terrible tragedy, at the age of 4 she saw her mother laying on the floor bleeding to death. I dont blame her for being the way she was. If something like that ever happened to me I'd be messed up too and confused about things. So lighten up and give Olivia a break Ok? All in all the book was very very good and I definitely plan on reading more of her books.