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When Catarina "Reena" Hale was eleven years old, she watched with her family--father Gib, mother Bianca, sister Francesca, sister Isabella, and brother Xander--as their family business, Sirico's, burned to the ground. The case came to a swift conclusion, when the father of a boy who had attempted to assault Reena is picked up for arson. The family rebuilds their business, their family ties stay strong, and their love and respect in the neighborhood grows. We fast-forward to Reena in college, where she's finally decided to lose her virginity to Josh, a fellow student who yearns to be a writer. After her sister Bella's dream wedding, Reena has sex with her boyfriend, returns home, and later discovers that Josh has died during a horrific apartment fire--after supposedly falling asleep in bed with a lit cigarette. Again, fast-forward. Reena is still in training to become an arson investigator, her life-long dream. She's a member of the police force, has worked actual fires with her fellow firefighters, and now needs to finish her training. A firefighter she was thinking of dating dies in an apparent robbery, shot and left in his burning truck. Still farther into the future, Reena is a full-fledged arson investigator, and tragedy finds her once again. Only days after earning her gold shield, Luke, a boyfriend whose marriage proposal she turned down, has his Mercedes burned sky-high, and of course Reena is the main suspect. After she's cleared, she's only more determined than ever to make fire her job--to find out who sets it, and why, and to bring the perpetrators to justice. Then she meets Bowen "Bo" Goodnight, her new next-door-neighbor, and feelings and emotions get jumbled up with the fires that seem to dog her every step. Because someone has made her their vendetta, and will stop at nothing to make sure that his own brand of justice is served. I loved BLUE SMOKE! Although it took me four days to read, weighing in at 437 pages and spanning twenty years, the book is a wonderful mix of engaging family saga, taut police/arson procedural, and down and out thriller. I don't agree with the other reviewers who said this book was "horror" or that Ms. Roberts delved too deeply into the mind of the killer--most romantic suspense (and this is definitely one of those books) these days go more into the who, how, and why and less on the fluff. I commend Ms. Roberts for another winning story, one which I was sad to see end. I loved reading about the Hale family and their extended relations, and I'm sure you'll be as enthralled by them as I was. **I have to also say that BLUE SMOKE reads a lot like Nora Robert's alter-ego, J.D. Robb, in a lot of instances. Some of the short sentences, rapid-pace dialogue, and out-loud ruminating are reminiscent of Eve Dallas, but that only adds to the allure of BLUE SMOKE, instead of taking away from it. Kudos on another winner!Read full review
I enjoy Nora Roberts fiction that is less about cops and uniforms, so this novel wasn't my favorite. I prefer Roberts' works along the lines of "Irish Born", and "Villa". I passed the book along to my friend, also a Roberts fan, who liked the fast paced action and drama. With "Blue Smoke", I tired of the constant references to the big, congenial, always-there-for-you Italian family. The protagonist, Reena, wore on my nerves with her "I'm going to do it all myself, my way" attitude. This was the most sexually graphic and violent Roberts work I've read. The antagonist (won't spoil!) was disturbingly creepy. I'm giving this book a "good" rating due to the quality of the story development, even though it wasn't so enjoyable to me. I read for relaxation!
I have become a recent devotee of Nora Roberts as an author. I really enjoyed "Blue Smoke". I thought the manner it was written, by taking Reena from her experience with fire as a child, through the impact it had on the rest of her life. I respect the amount of research the Nora must have to do to really develop her story lines properly. I enjoy a story, but I enjoy a story that is written with the facts associated with the environment the story is taken in, more. Making sure that consistancy is maintained, full character development, keeping facts straight, e. i., doing the research to make sure that technical references are...right on the money, and that final little plot twish that catches you from behind...each and every time. I have over 100 of her books, many I haven't read yet, but I wouldn't take $100.00 for any one of them. I think that reading is one thing, but having them available to re-read is definately in my future.Read full review
I love Nora Roberts as an author. She has never written a book I did not like. Each of her books and series are entirely different. You never know what you are going to get. I read every new book she comes out with as soon as I can. This book about smoke, fire and fire fighters and inspectors was an eye opener in many ways. It gives a reader a very good idea of the strees and danger of firefighting and what the inspectors have to go through. She weaves a story about this particular Italian family that makes you cry, laugh, and worry about them as the book unfolds. I did not want to put the book down until I found out what was going to happen on the next page. Excellent from the first page until the last. Very exciting book. CTT
I'm absolutely in love with Nora Roberts and her writing style. All of her novels are intriguing, sexy, and emotional. The characters are always loveable and normally remind you of somebody in your own life so that it pulls you in even further. This book, to me, was no exception. The only thing I wasn't particularly in love with was the progression style of writing. Don't get me wrong: This book is amazing. However, after a few chapters in the beginning Roberts switches years by stating 6 years has passed. Then is goes from 2000 to 2004 to 2008. She always lets you know, but I wasn't too much of a fan of the constant time changing.
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