The Mountains Bow Down by Sibella Giorella Litfuse Blog Tour and cruise giveaway

Paperback: 384 pages

Publisher: Thomas Nelson; 1 edition (March 1, 2011)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 1595545352

ISBN-13: 978-1595545350

About the book:

Everything's going to work out. Time away always makes things better . . .

That's what FBI Special Agent Raleigh Harmon believes as she boards a cruise to Alaska. A land of mountains and gems and minerals, the Last Frontier is a dream destination for this forensic geologist who's hoping to leave behind a hectic work schedule and an engagement drained of romance.

But when a passenger goes missing and winds up dead, Raleigh's vacation suddenly gets lost at sea. The ship's security chief tries to rule the death a suicide, but Raleigh's forensics background points to a much darker conclusion: Somewhere onboard, a ruthless murderer walks free.

Engulfed by one of her toughest cases yet, Raleigh requests assistance from the FBI and receives her nemesis-handsome Special Agent Jack Stephanson. As the cruise ship sails through the Inside Passage, Raleigh has five days to solve a high-profile murder, provide consultation for a movie filming onboard, and figure out her increasingly complicated feelings for Jack-who might not be as arrogant as she originally thought.

And that's only her work life. Family offers even more challenges. Joined on the cruise by her mother and aunt, Raleigh watches helplessly as disturbing rifts splinter her family.

Like the scenery that surrounds the cruise ship, Raleigh discovers a mystery so daunting that even the mountains might bow down before it.

My take on this book:

When an Alaskan cruise ship finds one of their passengers hanging over the top rail,  the security chief for the cruise line wants to rule it a suicide  but Special Agent Raleigh Harmon thinks otherwise. Raleigh is on an Alaskan cruise,planning on taking a vacation so that she can get some perspective about her upcoming nuptials to fiance DeMott Fielding, her high school sweetheart that she agreed to marry six months ago. Along for the vacation   is her mentally unstable mother, her Aunt Charlotte, who actually provided the free tickets for the cruise and her aunts wacky friend clairvoyant Claire. Less that sixty hours into her vacation she finds herself immersed in what appears to be a murder.  

The victim is the wife of a famous movie star, so its going to be a high profile case, and since Raleigh only has five days to figure out who the killer is she decides to ask the FBI to send someone out to help and they send Jack Stephenson. Will they be able to catch a killer?

This book started out very slow for me, but persistence paid off, and it finally started picking up momentum for me about the time Jack showed up on the scene. Raleigh is a somewhat complicated character  who is dealing with family issues while also having second thoughts about getting married. While I neither liked or disliked her character I think perhaps I might have better understood where she was coming from had I read the other books in the series. I liked the mystery aspect of the story,because it was something that wasn't easily figured out.

After starting this book I realized it is the fourth book in a series, and while this book can be read as a stand alone work, I think I would have enjoyed it more had I read the other three first, just so that I would have been up to speed on some of the things referenced to in this story. Overall a good book, that held my attention once it grabbed it, and I am sure I will pick up the next in the series just to see where the storyline goes.

If you would like to follow along on this blog tour and read more reviews click here!

If you would like to purchase a copy of The Mountains Bow Down click here.


Check out the first three stories in the Raleigh Harmon Series: click on the book covers to go to Amazon.com.
    





Start the series fresh with this great deal! Pick up a copy of Book 1 for your Kindle or Nook for only $2.99! The Stones Roll Away is the critically acclaimed award winner that kicked off the Raleigh Harmon series. Click here to purchase a copy for your kindle. Or if you have a nook you can check it out here!

About the author:

Sibella Giorello grew up in Alaska and majored in geology at Mount Holyoke College. After riding a motorcycle across the country, she worked as a features writer for the Richmond Times-Dispatch. Her stories have won state and national awards, including two nominations for the Pulitzer Prize. She now lives in Washington state with her husband and sons. Find out more about Sibella and her other books at her website. http://www.sibellagiorello.com/






Sibella’s celebrating the release of The Mountains Bow Down with a blog tour, a Cruise prize pack worth over $500 and a Facebook Party! Don't miss a minute of the fun.

One Grand Prize winner will receive:

• A $500 gift certificate toward the cruise of their choice from Vacations To Go.
• The entire set of the Raleigh Harmon series.

To enter click one of the icons below. Then tell your friends. And enter soon - the giveaway ends on 4/1! The winner will be announced at Sibella’s Raleigh Harmon Book Club Party on FB April 5th, 2011! Don’t miss the fun – prizes, books and gab!

About the Facebook Party: Join Sibella and fans of the Raleigh Harmon series on April 5th at 5:00 pm PST (6 MST, 7 CST & 8 EST) for a Facebook Book Club Party. Sibella will be giving away some fun prizes, testing your trivia skills and hosting a book chat about the Raleigh Harmon books. Have questions you'd like to chat about - leave them on the Event page.