Noah's Rainy Day

Let me start out by saying how much I loved, loved Sandra's first three books, I was entranced and read them all straight through. Not only did I enjoy the books but the covers blew me away... yes, I am one of those people who has bought books just for the covers alone, hoping the "innerds" would blow me away like the covers did!
I am so blown away by this book.
Sandra Brannan remains one of my all time favorite writers, and I'm happy to recommend this whole series to you! Trust me when I say you won't be sorry you met Liv Bergen and her beautiful family.

As I read these books, I am finding that there is no detail too small to keep in mind, even from book to book. It's all about backstory. If some factoid about a character is mentioned in passing, it may well have meaning elsewhere. That is the sort of thing that makes characters into flesh and blood people.

This book is a bit different than the first three. Enough time has passed for Liv Bergen to have become a full-fledged Special Agent with the FBI, in the Denver office. She has gone from limestone quarry manager to agent in just a few months, and it changes the dynamic from amateur sleuth to professional investigator. It is now Christmas, and Sandra Brannan has expanded Liv's family story using the holiday backdrop to illustrate the ups and downs of a large and loving family. The bond that binds them all is key.

It's really hard to talk about this book without giving everything away. What I can say is that it shows how versatile Sandra Brannan is. This book is quite different from the first three in the series, yet it commands a place in the overall story.

This is a book that will make you open your heart with compassion, while, at the same time, it will make you furious. NOAH'S RAINY DAY is a book of contrasts. You will see that it is more important to measure a person by their actions and not worry about their words. It is a book about learning to communicate on an entirely different level. Sometimes communication is hard, and you have to work at it.

Sandra Brannan has dealt with two very different scenarios posing them in juxtaposition in such a way that you will never forget.

I have now read four of the six Liv Bergen mysteries, and will be starting on number five right away. This is an excellent series, and I recommend that you start with book one and read Liv Bergen's story from the beginning.

We get a bit more of Liv's family in this one, along with Liv becoming an agent! So Liv is an agent and in the process of moving so, she gets to spend some time with her nephew Noah. Noah who has cerebral palsy doesn't let that get him down. He can communicate through five finger communication and smiles. I really loved how Liv was able to understand her nephew and treated him like a normal child when she gives him a spy tool little does he know he will be capturing something that will help a case.

A child has gone missing and our old friend Agent Pierce will be on the case when Liv is asked to join in she is a bit surprised until she learns who has requested her. With the help of her bloodhound Liv will find out who kidnapped little Max but in the process, someone very close to her will be affected by this case.

I really loved Noah in this book and his ability to communicate and yes he would get frustrated but he did not let that deter from his happiness. You can tell that Liv's whole family is a loving family and they take care of each other. The author did a great job with her research on this disorder and how a person is affected.

One thing that bothered me in the book was the outhouse, for some reason I am thinking of this small space but yet the way the author described how something was put in there didn't really fit for me.

You can really see how strong minded and driven Liv is to help others even if she is hurt (it seems in every book she is hurt in some way. Poor woman needs a vacation).

I do wonder on her feelings between Agent Pierce and Linwood. Something has to happen there I just know it.

If you haven't read the other books in this series then you need to.

REVIEW: NOAH'S RAINY DAY by Sandra Brannan
(A Liv Bergen Mystery Book 4)

Liv Bergen is an extraordinary protagonist, of whom I've become extremely fond, extremely fast. Born into a mines-owning large family (Liv Is one of 7 sisters and has 2 brothers), she has always been an inveterate puzzle solver, and just can't let a mystery go. She joins the FBI almost accidentally (or is it fate?) and becomes an applauded Special Agent. This installment, like the following two novels, is a tearjerker, also stomach churning because of the plot (although the author doesn't over detail the situation). Liv' s nephew Noah, who has cerebral palsy, but a brilliant intellect and great powers of observation, is the star.

Thanks Netgalley for a copy to read and review.

Wow, great read. This book was told mostly by Noah, Liv Bergens nephew who has cerebral palsy. I found this book to be very educational when it comes to the disease Cerebral Palsy and I thought the young boy's narrative to be quite unique and refreshing. Liv is at it again, now a fully trained agent three weeks after graduation at Quantico. A small boy turns up missing and the father of the boy asks specifically for Liz Bergen. She is becoming notorious far and wide as she and Beulah fight airports and wildlife areas to locate the missing boy. I'm really enjoying this series because of the uniqueness. You don't see many mystery/thrillers with this style of writing. Five stars of entertainment!

I AM SO EMBARRASSED ... JUST NOW FINDING THIS ONE ON MY KINDLE/AMAZON. WAS NEVER READ SO NO REVIEW COMING AT THIS LATE DATE. MY SINCERE APOLOGIES.

Synopsis/blurb......

Newly minted Special Agent Liv Bergen races against time to solve a child kidnapping--which could take a fatal turn--with the help of her gifted nephew Noah

From birth, Noah Hogarty has lived with severe cerebral palsy. He is nearly blind, unable to speak, and cannot run, walk, or crawl. Yet his mind works just as well as any other twelve-year-old's--maybe even better. And Noah holds a secret dream: to become a great spy, following in the footsteps of his aunt, Liv ''Boots'' Bergen.

Now, freshly returned from training at Quantico, FBI agent Liv Bergen is thrown into her first professional case. Working side by side with veteran agent Streeter Pierce, enigmatic agent and lover Jack Linwood, and her bloodhound Beulah, Liv must race to find five-year-old Max--last seen at the Denver International Airport--before this Christmastime abduction turns deadly. Meanwhile Noah, housebound, becomes wrapped up in identifying the young face he sees watching him from his neighbor's bedroom window, but he can neither describe nor inscribe what he knows.

And his investigation may lead to Noah paying the ultimate price in fulfilling his dream.
Noah's Rainy Day (the fourth novel in Brannan's mystery series) combines classic Liv Bergen irreverence and brainpower with an unflinching look at the darkest of human motivations, all while a whirlpool of increasingly terrifying events threatens to engulf Liv and Noah both in one final rainy day.

Having recently signed up to Net Galley after receiving an invite, I was asked if I would like to have a look at Sandra Brannan’s 4th Liz Bergen book. As it has been frequently pointed out to me that there is an imbalance in the number of books I read by females, I quelled the misgivings my OCD-self felt about starting at the 4th book in the series and accepted.

My progress through the book was slightly fragmented due to a holiday in the middle of reading this via my laptop. Despite the stop/start nature, I enjoyed the tale and was interested in both the outcome and the relationships between the characters, especially Liz, Streeter and Jack.

My initial disbelief at the involvement of a “green” agent in a prominent, high profile case of child abduction was for the most part satisfied through subsequent dealings in the book with the child’s father, though a small part of me still seems a little bit incredulous that the FBI would be susceptible to pressure from a financier. Similarly the continued involvement of Liz in the hunt for missing Max and her nephew Noah, once it became apparent there was a more personal involvement seemed a wee bit of a stretch.

Minor gripes aside, the story was entertaining and held my interest. There was a curious dynamic between Liz and Streeter which was apparent, but not having reference to the previous books I’m unsure what if anything caused the slight tension. It added a little bit extra to the book in my opinion.

The other main character within the book was Liz’s nephew Noah. Noah, a 12 year old boy suffers from severe cerebral palsy and whilst the condition affects him physically, mentally he’s very switched on and aware. Personally, my knowledge of the condition is limited, but the author portrayed the boy and his family sympathetically and reminded me that physical appearances can be deceptive; you have to look beyond the “broken boy” part and acknowledge the person inside, who has feelings, abilities and intelligence. A timely and welcome reminder from the author for me, when encountering those with disabilities or medical conditions.

The plot unfolded swiftly, mirroring the point than in child abductions the first 24 hours are crucial. Interesting cast of characters, well-written, satisfactory conclusion........more than enough to off-set the couple of issues I had above.

4 from 5

As mentioned earlier, I gained access to this through the Net Galley website.

Noah's rainy day is a mystery story that is unlike any that I've read so far. The protagonist is Noah, a boy with severe cerebral palsy. He can't walk, can't talk, can't do much but think. And it's really his attention to detail and his bravery that solves this case.

Backing up a little bit, this mystery concerns a missing child called Max. Despite having a billionaire for his father, he doesn't travel by private jet, he's a five year old that travels alone. And when the minder fails to properly take care of him, he disappears. Officially, it's Noah's aunt, Liv Bergen who gets called in as part of the team handling this case. But it's Noah who finds the kid first.

What I liked about this story was, quite frankly, Noah. He has so many challenges - just trying to make himself understood is a challenge, but he does manage to get his message across. And unlike those lone wolf stories, this book was about working together. Noah's mom had to figure out what he was saying, Liv Bergen played an important role, Beulah (the dog) had a role, there were so many characters working together.

Unfortunately, because this is the fourth book in the series (and I just found out when I read it on Goodreads), because of the many characters, there is also character backstory. That I didn't really get. Mostly, it was the relationship between Liv and her boyfriend and one teammate that left me wondering "what happened?". But if you follow the series, I doubt this will be a problem for you.

All in all, this was a good read. I enjoyed reading about how Noah communicates (he and his sister have a really special bond) and the book was exciting (although the mystery wasn't very mysterious).

Disclaimer: I got a free copy of this book from the publishers via NetGalley in exchange for a free and honest review.

FBI Special agent Liv has just finished her training and has been posted to Denver where her sister lives with her family, including Noah, a boy with cerebral palsy. Liv gets assigned to a major child kidnapping case and Noah, despite his handicaps is able to play a role in helping her successfully solve the case. The book is wonderful for its portrayal of a handicapped child and how the rest of the family bands together to adjust itself to his needs.

This is the fourth in a series. Woe that I missed the previous three. Noah, a boy with severe cerebral palsy, vividly shows to the reader the sheer problems of communication for those with this condition, except for a few privileged people such as his sister who has an almost intuitive understanding of his needs . The sheer frustration of being talked about and treated unfairly without having recourse to a reply is brilliantly displayed in this lovely book which has a great story line and plenty of excitement to captive the reader. Brilliant.

Book Review: "Noah's Rainy Day" by Sandra Brannan

I was a bit uncertain when beginning this book, because I've not read any of Brannan's previous books featuring Liv Bergen. Fortunately, that wasn't a major problem because Liv is not really the primary character in this book. Instead, the book really revolves around her 12-year-old nephew, Noah, who has severe cerebral palsy. Brannan has done an amazing job with Noah - her portrayal of a highly intelligent but profoundly physically disabled child who can only communicate with his sister through a special (although very slow) system of sign language is really well done.

The book has echoes of Alfred Hitchcock's movie "Rear Window" - like the protagonist in the movie, Noah has witnessed a possible crime through a window. But Noah cannot communicate what he knows and ends up putting himself in danger to help the victim, a kidnapped child.

The book is a bit confusing, mainly because the author changes POVs repeatedly. But once you get past that, it's a nice read.

I received a free ARC of this book from Net Galley and exchange for an honest review.

You getting the book, it was hard to get into. I had a difficult time mostly because I have not read the first three books in the series. The author refers back to is that occurred in the previous books often. It made me a little bit confused.

My chief complaint in this book, was that the author sets it up so the reader knows what's going to happen. It was not as suspenseful as I would've liked it to be. I knew who the abductor of the child was from beginning.

However, I was quickly sucked into the book. I enjoyed how one of the main characters was a child who is nonverbal with cerebral palsy. His condition made it interesting to see and hear the inner workings of his brain while he was unable to communicate the frustrations that he went through.

I really like the main character live. She was a down-to-earth agent who made the novel even more intriguing. However, I could've done without the whole love triangle.

I'm afraid to say too much in this review because I want you to read it and I want you to feel the same suspense and excitement that I did. Even though I knew the abductor was from the beginning, there were other aspects of the story that had a surprise twist at the end.

I highly recommend this book and look forward to reading those that came earlier in the series.

I received a free Adobe Digital Editions copy of this book from the publisher through Netgalley, this has not compromised my ability to write an honest and critical review of the book.

16/11 - Before starting I was worried that this, being the fourth book in the series, would go over my head, as I haven't read any of the previous books. Usually, I'm a stickler for reading series in order, so I'm going completely against all I believe in when I read Noah's Rainy Day without reading In the Belly of Jonah. I've only read the prologue, so far, but already I felt the need to start writing my review, to say something about what I'd read. Noah is a twelve year old with cerebral palsy. He is an intelligent boy stuck in a prison of a body, waiting for it to betray him even further with broken bones, pain and death. The prologue is written in Noah's voice and already I'm finding it enthralling listening. To be continued...

Same day, a little while later - Three chapters in and I'm no longer worried that I'm going to have trouble reading this in the 2.5 days I have before it expires - it's that exciting. The first chapter was from the PoV of a child abductor and possible paedophile as he watched and waited for another child who needed rescuing to come along. You see he was abused by his father as a child and now he does everything in his power to rescue other children from their parents, including dressing up in security guard, janitor or park ranger uniforms in order to blend into his environment. He has done this unknown times before but something has always gone wrong and he's had to start again, 'rescue' another child and take them home with him where they'll have a better life than they could have with their 'abusive' parents. The child that he's found today, at the airport, is an unaccompanied minor being chaperoned through the airport by an airline employee. The employee is late to meet his date at one of the airport bars and lets go of the little boy's hand. He sees this and gets out his lure, a bag of MMs, which he uses to draw the boy into a nearby family-use toilet (one of those large toilets that have the sink and toilet in the same lockable room with enough space to fit a family of four with room to spare). That would be the most dreadful situation, to entrust your child to an airline employee, who is supposed to accompany your child from one parent's arms to another, only for them to be more interested in their date's anger than the child's welfare. I would be so angry (angry's not really strong enough a word, but it's the only one I can think of at the moment) at his callous behaviour that if I ever met the employee I might beat him to death with my bare hands.

The second and third chapters follow newly-minted Special Agent Liv Bergen as she attempts to train her new partner, bloodhound Beulah, to find criminals. Unfortunately, the only thing she finds during this exercise is a hungry mountain lion. It seems that Special Agent Liv needs some more training when it comes to making decisions under pressure because as soon as the mountain lion leaps at her she drops her hunting knife and big stick and makes a run for it - starting a mountain lion's favourite game, chasing down their prey. Fortunately, Liv's brother-in-law Michael is in the vicinity playing the criminal for Beulah to find and he's got a gun. Michael fires a shot that scares the cat away seconds before it can rip her spinal cord out. As she's picking herself up and Michael's asking her why the hell she decided to attempt to outrun a mountain lion Liv notices a young boy's backpack partially buried in the undergrowth and takes it back to town thinking to try to find out who it belongs to. If I'm not mistaken this is where the paedophile story intersects with hers (although I could be mistaken, maybe this is just a random find that won't mean anything to anyone for another hundred pages or so), although considering her newness to the FBI I'd be surprised if she was asked to work on a child abduction case so soon, especially not if her nephew is somehow involved (as the prologue suggests may be the case). To be continued...

The same day, another few hours later - This is great, the writing and different voices are drawing me in and at the end of every chapter I think "Oh, I'll just read this chapter and then go and do...(some random activity)" but then that chapter is so good I use the same reasoning for reading the next chapter, and on and on until suddenly I've been sitting there trying to get away from the laptop for hours. I have come across a couple of editing problems, including an embarrassing example on page 66 where the word 'waste' is used instead of 'waist' when discussing someone crossing their arms at their waist. Overall, it's mostly error free, something I've found to be the case with the NetGalley books I've read so far. NetGalley ebooks seem to be of a higher quality than the free or highly discounted Kindle books, it's always a pleasant surprise after some of the horror stories of editing and plotting I've read from friend's reviews. To be continued...

17/ 11 - It seems I was a bit premature in my praise of NetGalley ebooks' error-freeness as I'm getting awkward sentence structure, missing words and jumbled sentences that tell me the author was going to write the sentence one way and then changed her mind but neglected to go back and delete the original sentence before starting the new version. For example:

"...the tiny blue backpack with yellow puppies running and jumping and circling the fabric made me realise I had much a lot of work to do..." on page 101

and

"...an opera singer, before becoming being discovered as a model." on page 99.

If the errors, particularly the jumbled sentences (as they are the cause of much re-reading in order to understand the sentence), continue I might have to deduct half a star, which would be a real shame as this story is pretty perfect for me. We switch between the 1st person PoV of two characters, Liv and Noah, 2nd person for the occasional scenes narrated by the child abductor and 3rd person to tell the story of other featured characters, like Special Agent Streeter Pierce (such an unfortunate name, I keep thinking streaker). To be continued...

The same day, a little while later - Yes!! I'm so excited, Amazon has all the previous Liv Bergen books at only $0.97 each for Kindle. I might even pay for this one so I can have it to keep and read again after I've read the other three first. Very, very happy! I just checked Amazon on a whim, not really expecting to see the three other books from the series, and really not expecting to see them at a price I'm happy to pay for unknown ebooks on a normal day, let alone when it's a book I'm loving more than any previous ebook I've read. To be continued...

The same day, many hours later - How horrible would it be to be physically unable to say the things you want, in fact need to say? I get so frustrated on behalf of Noah that he can't communicate easily with anyone other than his nine-year-old sister (who isn't always to be trusted, according to their parents). Even when he does his best to make the necessary noises to attract his parents' attention, they just talk over him like he's a baby and doesn't warrant the same level of attention as other twelve-year-olds whos powers of speech aren't limited to grunts and groans. In general, I get frustrated by parents who don't listen to their children, take for granted that anything they say is exaggerated, involves an imaginary friend or are just plain lies. I'm sure Noah's parents don't mean to ignore him, but I do feel like they could a little more effort into learning to understand what he's saying using Emma's 5-finger-method (which is ingenious for a nine-year-old to come up with). It's like parents of a deaf child not trying to learn to sign. How can they ever hope to have a connection with Noah if all communication has to go through his younger sister, who they don't trust not to make up stuff? Oooh! I could just shake them. To be continued...

18/11 - Finally!! Liv and the rest of the FBI team have realised that Little Max's abduction had nothing to do with his parents, their money or anyone that has ever known him - it was a true 'stranger abduction' by a truly crazy man. I thought they'd never get it. Now we just have to make it through some very frustrating scenes of Noah's parents not understanding him or taking what he saw seriously enough. I can now see that there's a much bigger connection between Liv and the kidnapper than just finding a missing backpack (although I am wondering if the backpack belongs to one of the kidnapper's previous victims, who, once they made him angry enough, were 'set free' in the woods), the kidnapper actually lives next door to her sister Frances, and her husband Gabriel. I've only got 100 pages of what looks like nail-biting, speed-reading because I need to know what happens action, but it's 1:30 am and I have to get up at 8. I don't think I can pull another almost all nighter like I have been doing all week in order to get my 'about to expire' NetGalley books read before they disappear off my laptop. This is the best of the four I had to read by the 18th, but my eyes feel like they're full of sand and my bum has gone numb from sitting up in bed for the last four hours - I'm sure they're both signs that I need to go to sleep ASAP. To be continued...

19/11 - FANTASTIC!! The best ebook I've read (admittedly, I've only read about 20 due to my normal aversion to them, but still). I loved Noah, he was honest and intelligent and savvy to the ways of adults. His attitude and bravery beyond that of most adults helped me to forget that he had cerebral palsy - that he couldn't communicate with most people, couldn't physically save Little Max. The way Noah was observant of sights, smells and sounds around him made me think about what most of us observe, or don't as the case may be, on a daily basis. The little things that might be important, but because we're too busy doing stuff we don't notice them, .but I'm sure Noah would. I did continue to notice little editing/grammar errors but none as bad as the two examples I gave above, so I've only deducted 1/2 a star for that. Besides those niggly little errors this book was pretty much perfect. I found the Liv's voice completely distinct from Noah's, it didn't feel like the same person speaking just with a different name heading their chapter, I felt like I was hearing the thoughts of two completely different characters and it was great. I don't believe you have to have read the previous three books, I mean it would have been nice if I had, but it's definitely not necessary to enjoy this book. I would favourably compare this to my favourite crime writer Patricia Cornwell and I would be interested in owning the paperback set. I can't wait to read more of Brannan (I just hope they live up to the expectations set by this book), but they're not at the top of the list as I have other not-long-from-expiring NetGalley books to read first.

This book can entice you away form many other things, its a good book to get drawn away in. Noah is a beautiful gifted soul looked inside his body. His Cerebral Palsy has taken his strength and speech from all but his attentive younger sister.He can thing and reason, and if only his body would let him, he would be the smartest boy in the room...Noah's Aunt Liv  is an FBI agent looking for a small missing boy. The boy, Max, was taken from DIA airport. Its amazing the details of the airport that are in the book. And its sad that with a little luck, shoe polish, and the distracted attention of the attendant how sad that a child could be put to such risk. It is a wake up for any parent who has a small trusting child. Noah is a heroic and tragic character, that you just want to win the story.

A totally absorbing read , my first by this author, the characters are intriguing, i Intend to read more by ths author.

The prologue to Noah's Rainy Day opens with the words: "The good news is I think I broke my leg." And then Noah proceeds to tell us:

"The bad news is I don't know if anyone at school would ever believe how it happened. Or worse, I'm not sure if anyone will ever figure out how I got here."

Twelve-year old Noah leaves the reader hanging a bit in this opening, and the author, therefore, has the reader turning the first page quickly

What can I say this book will touch people on so many different levels, it is just awesome. I had a good but rough time reading it I am not sure how the author wrote it. It is a must read for the year and definite book club read, just all round awesomeness!!!!!

Meet Noah, a twelve year-old with Cerebral Palsy.

This was an unusual crime story, in that it was partly narrated by twelve year-old Noah, who suffered with Cerebral Palsy. Noah was unable to speak or move, but he was both intelligent and observant.
We know from the outset, that Noah ends up somewhere dark, smelly and cold, and curiosity about how this might happen is maintained throughout the book. We also know who has abducted the young boy known as Little Max, who was on his way across America to visit his mother for Christmas, so the novel is more of a character study than a who-done-it.

Noah's aunt, Liv Bergen, has recently been promoted to dog handler for the FBI and she is involved in the hunt for Little Max. Her bloodhound, Beulah, is an excellent search and rescue dog, who takes on a character of her own and plays an important part in the search.
Liv has a double love interest, to add a little spice to the story, and, as a reader, I found it hard to know who's affections to favour.

As book 4 of a series involving Liv Bergen, I was occasionally confused about the back-story, particularly the reference to an incident at the Hanson cabin. Some of the family relationships were also left unexplained. However, the involvement of Noah in this book made up for any omissions and I would certainly read further books centred around Noah, Liv and Beulah.

reminded me of "the curious incident......". was a good read and held my attention

This was a great read, loved the hero of the book--Noah. Using his voice in first person on many of the chapters really added so much to the plot. And I loved that someone with a disability was portrayed as a hero!! Definitely am interested in reading more books by Sandra Brannan.

This review was posted on LibraryThing, Goodreads, and Amazon. See my profile for other publicity measures I will take for this book.

I would definitely recommend Noah's Rainy Day by Sandra Brannan to other readers who believe they may find this story interesting. Not only does the plot easily hold the reader's interest for the novel's duration, this book has several other strengths to recommend it. Most notably, Brannan's characters are consistently well-developed. In particular, the titular protagonist, Noah, is absolutely charming. The novel opens with his first-person narration, and within just a few pages, his generosity and nobility of spirit are palpable. You'll root for him and his aunt Liv, whose responsibility it is to solve the central crime of the plot, all the way.

Thank you for reading my thoughts. Please be advised I read an electronic copy of this novel from NetGalley through gracious permission of the publisher.

I received a copy of this galley via NetGalley from Greenleaf Book Group. While it was provided to me at no cost, I am under no obligation to give a positive review.

When I agreed to read this, I didn’t know it was the fourth book in the series. But sometimes, it can be good to pick up a book several books into a series so you can see how polished the book is. If it’s sloppy and ugly by the fourth book, chances are you don’t want to pick up the first three.

Alright, on to the review. The main character of this series is Liv Bergen who, as of this book, is fresh out of Quantico and ready for her first assignment with faithful bloodhound Beulah by her side. And boy, does it come with a vengeance.

Little Max is flying from New York to California to spend Christmas with his mother, who is estranged from his father and certainly not on good terms with him. Max is accompanied solely by an employee of the airlines and, once the employee is distracted by an argument with his girlfriend at Denver Airport, Little Max disappears. His parents are quite the celebrities, which brings a lot of local and national media attention to the case, only adding to the pressure on the investigative team.

Agent Bergen must work along with agents Streeter Pierce and Jack Linwood, the latter her current beau. Naturally, there’s a little bit of triangle chemistry going on to provide an additional subplot.

In the midst of this storyline is my favorite character, Noah Hogarty, a twelve year-old who would love to be a spy one day. He has a terrific mind for analysis and details, enjoying when his Aunt Liv comes by to discuss cases with him. They even work small cases on their own when mysteries appear.

Noah knows what happened to Little Max and is more than willing to share that information, but he has one sizable roadblock: Noah has severe cerebral palsy. This means he is unable to communicate in an easy manner, relying on cues such as smiling for a yes answer or using the five-finger method of working through the alphabet with his sister. Consequently, Noah can only answer questions if he’s asked. But if they don’t know to ask him……..

As the story develops, the story gets too close to home for Liv, and Noah gets taken by Max’s kidnapper, placing both boys in mortal danger. Will Agent Bergen figure out the clues? Will Noah’s family pick up on the cues he’s trying to give them? Can both boys be returned safely to their respective families?

Overall, I really enjoyed the storyline, especially because of Noah, as I previously noted. As the parent of an adult with special needs, I see a lot of Noah in my older son, even though he doesn’t have CP like Noah does. Following an email exchange with the author, I now know some of the backstory which allowed her to give such detailed depth to Noah’s character, and it’s no surprise he is such a strong character.

My only beef about the book is the location of the kidnapper is just a little too convenient. Sure, it needed to be that way to move the storyline along in the direction the author wanted, but it felt a little forced. It also allowed me to figure out much of where the book was going at only 21% into the book (I read a digital edition, so I didn’t really pay attention to pages). However, none of that works as a spoiler for the story; it just weakens it somewhat.

That said, I would definitely recommend this book to others, and I have already acquired the first three books from Amazon so I can catch up on Agent Bergen’s past stories.

Rating: 5 stars (out of 5)

The fourth installment in the Liv Bergen series and this one may be my favorite!  Told through both Liv's point of view and the perpetrator who kidnapped the missing child, it was interesting to see the investigation go on while at the same time you hear the story from the kidnapper.  Another point that set this book apart from the rest in the series was the focus on Liv's family - they were key players in this book.

The big thing that really stuck out with me was the character of Noah and in particular his chapters because he was unable to physically talk, his chapters although not told in a diary form or anything felt the most real.  I loved how he was coping with cerebral palsy and how his family found creative ways to communicate with him.  I don't have much knowledge on CP, so it was especially enjoyable to read about a main character who was living with it and still having a full life.

As a side note on this series - although each book is a stand alone mystery, I would say you need to read from the beginning because there is a clear progression in the character growth of Liv and the key people in the books and although the mystery is the focus of each book, the personal side of things are enjoyable and build and grow throughout the books.  

I normally don't like to read a book in the middle of a series without previously having read its predecessors,
but I made an exception for Noah's Rainy Day because the description was so intriguing. I'm glad I broke my own rule, because I loved this book. I liked learning the story from the alternating points of view, and I was fascinated by the Hitchcock-esque concept of the child with cerebral palsy trying to communicate important information about a crime.  I look forward to reading the earlier books in the series to find out about Liv’s romantic relationships and how they evolved and to enjoy more of the author’s writing.

I plan to review and recommend the book on Bookbrowse, Goodreads and Bookreporter, as well as verbally to other readers. Thanks for the opportunity you provided me to read the book.

Noah’s Rainy Day by Sandra Brannan

Greenleaf BookGroup Press

 

 

This is the 4th book in the Liv Bergen Mystery series.  The suspense begins on page one with the prologue and continues throughout the book.

 

Liv Bergen has finally become an FBI Special Agent intrusted with the handling and training of the bloodhound,
Beulah.  Liv is back home in Colorado for Christmas with her family.  Noah, Liv’s 12-year-old nephew, has cerebral palsy. He cannot speak or walk, and has very limited eye site and use of his arms. Noah’s brain functions very well, in fact better than some of us.  His only means of communication is with smiles for “yes” and frowns for “no”.  He worships his Aunt Liv “Boots” Bergan and wants to be spy like her.  Liv gives him a secret gift of a “spy pin” that records sound.

 

Liv and Beulah’s Christmas visit is interrupted when 5-year-old Max is kidnapped from the Denver airport.  Working with veteran agent Street Pierce, enigmatic agent and lover Jack Linwood they fear the worst when no ransom demands are made.  They are on a time clock to find the boy before it is too late.

 

Meanwhile, Noah, housebound,
spends a lot of time looking out his special window to the world- a floor to ceiling window installed by his father. 
Noah’s active mind and curiosity notices everything that happens in his small world. When he sees a small child watching him from his neighbor’s window he has a mystery to solve and a spy pin to use. Noah’s “investigation” may lead down a very dark path for him and his family.

 

If the first 3 books are as good as this one, I have some serious reading to do since this is the first book in the series that I have read.  As with all good series, I did not have any problems following the story and character relationships.

 

FTC Disclaimer: This book was provided by the publisher

 

disclosure – i received an e-galley of this novel from the greenleaf book group in exchange for an honest review.

noah hogarty was born with cerebral palsy and he can’t speak or walk.
he is prone to seizures, both grand and petite mal, and he is almost completely blind. he communicates with smiles, laughter, and the help of the “five finger” game he developed with his sister. and noah wants to be a spy just like his aunt liv bergen who is an fbi agent.

right now, noah is worried about the little girl who has suddenly appeared at his creepy next door neighbor’s house. and his aunt liv is worried about the five-year-old little boy who disappeared during a brief lay-over at the denver international airport while in the care of an airline escort.

in ‘noah’s rainy day‘,
sandra brannan provides a captivating ticking-clock mystery. noah’s delight, happiness, frustration, and fear are palpable and the need to keep reading to find out what’s going to happen next is very real. the plot is well written and noah is likeable and interesting. that brannan was willing to write a novel in which her series character (liv bergen) is almost completely secondary is brave and brannan doesn’t just carry it off, she carries it off with panache.

a notable point about brannan’s writing in this novel is that she doesn’t use the “child in jeopardy” story as a simple plot point. she doesn’t place children in danger, with or without graphic detail, for the sake of the book as so many authors are wont to do lately. the children in this book are the book and their experiences make the book what it is. they are brave and curious and resilient and hopeful and heroic. even though you know it’s just a story and you know it would never happen like that in real life, you wish that it would.

how have i not heard of sandra brannan before this novel? ‘noah’s rainy day’ is the fourth in the liv bergen mystery series and i hope that it won’t be the last. of course, now i have to backtrack and read the first three but that’s a sacrifice i’m willing to make.

overall rating: four out of five stars

I really enjoyed this book, not only for its mystery setting but for the character of Noah himself.