Angels Fall (Hardcover)

by Nora Roberts (Author)
Key Phrases: sage flats, next ticket, Angel's Fist, Reece Gilmore, Deena Black (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Roberts's latest novel of romantic suspense is a cunningly calibrated portrait of a young chef's recovery from violent trauma. While driving in the Grand Tetons, displaced Bostonian Reece Gilmore stops in the small town of Angel's Fist, near Jackson Hole, Wyo., and considers the "Cook Wanted" sign in Joanie's, a local diner. Still rattled by a shooting spree at her Boston restaurant that left her wounded and the only survivor among 12 co-workers, Reece is easily spooked, as noted by her plainspoken new boss, Joanie, and the locals who frequent the restaurant. Among them is a wary, unattached mystery novelist, Brody. Indeed, when Reece claims to have witnessed a murder while hiking along Snake River, few except Brody are inclined to believe the skittish new resident: Sheriff Rick Mardson hasn't found any clear evidence of a woman struck down near the river; Doc Wallace is suspicious of Reece's fragile mental state; and Joanie isn't about to cut Reece any slack while running a busy kitchen. Roberts cleverly casts suspicions on the locals while developing the romance between the two feisty protagonists. A slow-burn start combusts in a satisfying denouement; Roberts's legions of fans will be enthralled. (July)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
After suffering a horrific shock, Reece Gilmore is slowly starting to put her life back together. Leaving her home in Boston, Reece travels around the country, but when she arrives in Angel's Fist, Wyoming, her car refuses to go any further. Planning on staying only until she earns enough money to fix her car, Reece takes a job as a cook in the Angel Food Cafe. Then, as she gets to know her new boss, her co-workers, and the other residents of the little town, including Brody, an annoyingly stubborn yet mysteriously sexy writer, she starts to believe that for the first time in a very long time, she may have found a place she might actually want to call home. Reece's hard-won happiness and sense of security is threatened, however, when she becomes not only the sole witness to a murder but also the next target of the killer, who is determined to drive her crazy. Once again, the best-selling, prolific, and endlessly imaginative Roberts deftly imbues a deliciously subtle sense of menace into a chilling and thrilling plot, thus creating yet another of her many irresistible and terrifically satisfying novels of romantic suspense. John Charles
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 448 pages
• Publisher: G. P. Putnam's Sons; Later Printing edition (July 11, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0399153721
• ISBN-13: 978-0399153723
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.8 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (163 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #220,983 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A HIGH CALIBER ROMANCE THRILLER, July 17, 2006

By	Gail Cooke (TX, USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)

This review is from: Angels Fall (Audio CD)

Angels Fall is one more romance/thriller by an acknowledged master of the genre, Nora Roberts. This story of a woman striving to overcome a traumatic past is expertly read by Joyce Bean who captures readers by vocally embodying the fears and challenges experienced by the protagonist. No over the top drama for this reader, only a pitch perfect, authentic performance.

Reece Gilmore is literally hanging on with her fingernails. She witnessed brutal killings in the Boston diner where she worked and was wounded herself. Realizing the state she was in she sought help as a patient in a psychiatric hospital. Eventually, she felt well enough to leave and our story takes place primarily in Angel's Fist, Wyoming where she has sought peace and hopefully a stabilized mental condition, free of nightmares and panic attacks.

Once settled in, she hikes up into the mountains and surveys the beautiful surroundings with her binoculars. What she sees is not beautiful at all - it is a couple struggling on the opposite bank of the Snake River. The man has the woman in a stranglehold, and Reece is sure he is killing her.

However, once she reaches another person on the trail, Brody, and asks for help, they return to the scene she described and find absolutely nothing. She knows what she saw, but with her history who will believe her?

Recommended listening.

- Gail Cooke

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Angels Fall, March 3, 2008

By	Kelly "Reviewer for The Sinfully Sensuous" (Littleton, Colorado) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Angels Fall (Paperback)

Reece Gilmore was a chef in Boston where she was the only survivor of a brutal slaying at her restaurant. After therapy and hospitalization, Reece takes to the road in search of peace. Still suffering some of the aftereffects of her horrendous attack, she is hoping that Angel's Fist will provider her some relief from the panic attacks and fear that have taken over her life.

She settles into the small town working as a cook in the local diner, but while hiking Reece sees a murder take place. She is certain of what she has seen, and the only one that will believe her is a popular author Brody. Brody believes Reece, but has also been informed of her past. He sees some of her unusual behavior, but sticks with his gut instinct that she is telling the truth.

Not many can describe a setting like NR. I can picture it very clearly when I read her books. Reece is not your typical main character. She has issues and at times is very fragile. I liked the characters, and the secondary characters were also very well done.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Flawed, May 11, 2007

By	Roger Long "longrush" (Port Clinton, OH USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

While I enjoyed the book for its setting and atmosphere, the flaws of plot were striking. And, alas, they are carryovers from her other works. Consider the following:

(1) One can flip through the pages of any unread Nora Roberts book and come to the first sizzling sex scene without any difficulty. This scene is exactly the same place, every time--on rails. While I find this concrete formula annoying, apparently it works for most readers. Roberts sells more books than almost anyone and is on Time's list of the 100 most influential people. The somewhat campy descriptions of bedroom bombastics notwithstanding. I just wish she'd vary the placement and the language a little. Make that a whole lot.

(2) The heroine of "Angels Fall" is flummoxed by malicious tricks played on her, often within her apartment over the diner while she is away. These tricks happen over and over again, without anyone setting a simple trap for the perp. Of course, that would make the book a lot shorter. No one even puts scotch tape on the door, flour on the floor, a bear trap, someome to watch the stairs, etc. The characters aren't dumb. The hero is a best selling mystery writer. But no one thinks to take precautions of any sort. In addition, there are just too many of these malicious tricks, presumably to fill out the pages.

(3) Lastly, there oughtta be a law against the villain holding a gun on his victims and explaining in fine detail (several pages) just what he did and how. If I were the villain and had my pursuers in the crosshairs, I'd zap them right now and get the heck out of there. And so would any self-respecting villain with an ounce of sense. This old, stale device should be retired forever. The denouement of "Angels Fall" would have been much more effective without the explanations. Readers are capable of filling in a few blanks.

So why did I give this three stars? Just for the atmosphere, for the Tetons, for the town, the lake, the diner, the townspeople, the food. No one is better than Nora Roberts at creating the background for a novel. I just wish she'd get serious about the plots and become a novelist who would be remembered.