Noah's Rainy Day

Liv Bergen Mystery #4

by Sandra Brannan

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.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Thriller, Mystery Thriller, Crime, Adult

392 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2013

About the author

2010 In The Belly of Jonah
2011 Lot's Return to Sodom
2012 Widow's Might
2013 Noah's Rainy Day
2014 Solomon's Whisper
2016 Jacob's Descent
2018 Jeremiah's Revenge

Sandra Brannan has created a heart-pounding mystery thriller series around Liv Bergen, a woman who embodies the spirit of South Dakota. Much like her character Liv Bergen, Brannan has spent her career in the mining business.

Working her way up from day laborer in the company her grandfather founded to a top executive in the family business wasn't easy, as Sandra often received threads from those opposed to mining. These life experiences gave her a first-person perspective into the high-stakes scenarios of which she writes.

In response to the overwhelming success of "In the Belly of Jonah" (2010), "Lot's Return to Sodom" (2011), "Widow's Might" (2012) and "Noah's Rainy Day" (2013), "Solomon's Whisper" (2014), "Jacob's Descent" (2016), "Jeremiah's Revenge" (2018), Brannan prioritizes her time first to the librarians and booksellers for nominating her to earn ABA Indie Next List and Notables, to book clubs and fans who have described Liv Bergen as the love child of Sue Grafton's Kinsey Milhone and Lee Child's Jack Reacher, and to teachers for all the gratitude she has for their role in her success. Her books have landed on the Denver Post best-seller list and reached #1 Best of Suspense Series on Listopia in 2015, Top 10 for e-book mysteries and Top 5 for women's mysteries, earning awards for her books from Book Excellence, TopShelf Indie, Forword Reviews IndieFab, USA Book News, and even Best of Suspense 2013 from Suspense Magazine.

Named one of the top 25 most fabulous women by Black Hills Magazine, Brannan lives in Deadwood near her hometown of Rapid City, South Dakota, with her husband spending lots of time with sons and grandchildren.

If you'd like to know when Sandra will be in your area for a signing, interview or speaking event, please check her website or email sandra@sandrabrannan.com for appearances or book clubs.

Reviews

[Katy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book Info: Genre: Mystery/Thriller
Reading Level: Adult
Recommended for: fans of thrillers, mysteries, suspense novels, the series
Trigger Warnings: child abduction, pedophile, suicide, attempted murder

My Thoughts: I think being trapped in one's own head and not able to communicate must be one of the most terrifying things ever. I remember that the first time I listened to the lyrics to “One” by Metallica it gave me the shivers. Noah isn't that bad. He is able to communicate to a certain degree. But how he keeps from becoming completely frustrated, how he manages to maintain his happy disposition, is something that is truly amazing to me. Cerebral Palsy is a very challenging illness, and it's obvious the author did a lot of research on the illness and how it affects people for this book.

There are a lot of triggers in this book, but it's a really good story. Unlike the earlier book in this series, I think this one could probably be read without having read the previous books as most of the important stuff is reiterated. However, this whole series is really good and if you like mysteries and thrillers, then you'll probably like them all. Just be aware that the first three books must be read in order to have the best appreciation for them. Recommended.

Series Information: The Liv Bergen Mysteries
Book 1: In the Belly of Jonah, review linked here
Book 2: Lot's Return to Sodom, review linked here
Book 3: Widow's Might, review linked here
Book 4: Noah's Rainy Day

Disclosure: I received an e-galley from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Synopsis: 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.

[Ahtims · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not at all what the blurb promised. Felt very artificial . The story line was very weak , the characters didn't come alive in my mind. Story of a rich 5 year old kidnapped and a 12 year old with severe cerebral palsy with his intelligent 9 year old sister who aid their FBI aunt to recover the kidnapped rich kid.
Even the villain was insipid

[Brenda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was much, much better than I originally gave it credit for. I wasn't all too enthused about reading it at first. But it was the thickest book in my pile by my bed, so I thought it would be nice to get rid of some volume, so I picked this up.

And I'm so glad I did.


It's a pretty basic mystery/thriller novel. Things that seemingly have no connection actually do have a connection, Our main character is new and trying to prove they can hussle, etc. In this case, a little boy is kidnapped and the police have to try and find him before anything bad happens.

What really makes this stand out, though, is Noah. Which I really wasn't expecting to like his part. I thought the author would just use it as a gimmick; something to make her story different than all the other mystery books out there. I kind of saw it as a cop out--like she couldn't come up with an intelligent enough mystery that she needed to resort to making the protagonist someone who can't communicate. Which may still be true, but the author did such a great job it didn't feel like that.

Noah is what drove this story, more than anything else. I was always excited to read his parts of the book, way more than the others. The frustrations he had to face on a regular basis were just astounding, and I really admire having that kind of patience. I haven't had too much contact with anyone that has cerebral palsy personally; I've only read about it in sociology classes. And I've also heard of Dick and Rick Hoyt, thanks to the internet. I really enjoyed the storytelling from Noah's point of view: how he had to smile or roll his eyes to communicate, how they use the 5-finger method to communicate with him, how he used his body to communicate what his mouth couldn't. I loved that he was legitimately good at problem-solving (I worried that wouldn't be the case) and was able to put things together that others may not have. Like I said before, Noah's part really made this better than your regular run-of-the-mill mystery, and I'm glad I moved it up my "next in line" pile.


(I received this in a First Reads giveaway.)

[Mohi Uddin · Rating 3 out of 5]

A mushy romantic semi-thriller. I am not a fan of books like this. I don’t have a problem with thrillers per se, but I cannot stand books with wafer-thin plots and so bland language.
This is pure below 2-star book and would have stayed so. But, the character of Noah (the boy with cerebral palsy) was refreshing and the narration from the point-of-view of Noah was good, too. A below-2 book was catapulted to a 3-star category just because of this one character.


The lead character, Agent Liv Bergen is more of a romantic than an agent/detective. The author Sandra Brannan objectifies men in every few paragraphs. She describes their appearances in every few chapters and in every different mood. All the men were shown as versions of Greek gods and drool-worthy, which I found to be pathetic. The same person has been described multiple times in different settings.


The text was also elongated in many parts and there were many repetitions of the same events in many places. The book was deliberately made to be of 392 pages whereas a similar plot could have been very well written in less than 200 pages. The description of settings too felt confusing at times. It was hard to visualize the settings sometimes.


However, it is one of those few books which deals with the topic of cerebral palsy and makes it very human. The narration from the point-of-view of the boy brought out his imagination and creativity. He was talented and was just like any other 12-year old boy. But the world considers him to be stupid and a "vegetable".


The book will be well-loved by YA fans and new-age thriller fans. If you are one of them, you can surely go for it.

[Autumn · Rating 5 out of 5]

http://fallenoverbookreviews.blogspot...

I received this book via NetGalley to give an honest review.
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.

[Sue Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Noah's rainy day by Sandra Brannon.
Noah isn't like a normal child. He has cerebral palsy. But when his aunt Liv gives him a present she doesn't realise that when she is asked to join a case that someone close to her will be affected by this case.
This was a fantastic read. I loved Liv's character and how she was with her nephew Noah. I loved Noah's character too. I really hope there is more to come. 4*.

[Laurie Larson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Noah opens his story with, "The good news is I think I broke my leg. The bad news is I don't know if anyone at school would ever believe how it happened. Or worse, I'm not sure it anyone will ever figure out how I got here." The boy is obviously in some pretty steep trouble, but backs up his story to tell us a little about himself: he's a 40 pound 12-year-old with cerebral palsy who can't speak and is blind in one eye. He spends his days in his wheelchair or on the floor--missing nothing that goes on around him. His younger sister Emma is one of the few people who communicates overtly with him, using the "five finger method" where each digit and each knuckle represents a letter. She tracks his eyes and "reads" his spelling. The rest of the

family relies on intuition to "talk" to him.

One of his favorite people is Aunt Liv Bergen, special agent with the FBI. And her arrival on Christmas Eve to celebrate with Noah's family makes the holiday that much more special. Until, that is, she's abruptly called away as on an assignment: five-year-old Maximilian Bennett Williams III, son of a multi-millionaire and supermodel has disappeared from Denver International Airport. Liv's investigation lasts long into the night and she misses Christmas morning. Still hoping for her return before Christmas dinner, Noah and Emma play in the snow and meet a chatty little boy who's visiting "Papa", Noah's creepy next door neighbor who live alone, rarely goes out, and never has company. Hmmmmm ...

Liv works the airport with her tracking dog Beulah; we meet a whole cast of agents, officers ... and a possible love interest or two. Brannan keeps the story moving quickly as the FBI and local police try to piece together any clues that might lead them to recover little Max. Alternating narrators between Noah and Liv, Brannan lets us solve the crime as they do. And then she lets little Max narrate a chapter, and next Noah's creepy neighbor Jason Fletcher. And then Noah disappears, too.

I'm not one for detective novels (except for my much-loved Flavia DeLuce!), but this one kept me swiping my Kindle pages quickly. Although this is the fourth Liv Bergen novel in a series, I wasn't lost jumping in. The characters were engaging, the plot was fast-paced--you add a tracking dog and a kid who's one smart cookie, and you've got Noah's Rainy Day.
[Read more at thisismysymphony.blogspot.com]

[Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

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

When I first started 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.

[Ruth · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Likeable Hero

This book had a likeable, though unlikely, hero, in young Noah. Noah has CP, leaving him unable to communicate with others, though his family has learned how to interpret his cues. The story had uneven pacing at first, which improved quickly. The writing did have a number of editing errors, but the overall plot was interesting. The same plot material seemed to be covered repetitively; some paring of pages would produce a faster pace. Although I had not read previous books in the series, I was easily able to identify the characters and their relationships.

All in all, a decent read.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review.

[Sarah (is clearing her shelves) · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[Nancy Carty Lepri]

Noah's Rainy Day by Sandra Brannan

Greenleaf Book Group Press

September 3, 2013

162634017X

978-1626340176

392 pages

Suspense

Twelve-year-old Noah Hogarty, is severely disabled with cerebral palsy. He has spent his entire life inside a body in which he is unable to function as an ordinary child, even to the point where he is partially blind. Though Noah lives with these limitations,
his mind is sharp, and Noah and his family are able to communicate through hand signals and his facial expressions.

It is Christmas Eve, and Noah is excited about the upcoming holiday. He is looking forward to spending time with his favorite aunt Liv and her bloodhound Beulah.
Aunt Liv, a recent graduate of FBI training in Quantico, currently lives with her sister, Noah's mom, and their family. She and Noah have a special closeness, and Noah loves that she treats him as an average person and not a disabled child.

Unable to celebrate the holiday, Liv is called to handle a case pertaining to a missing child. Working alongside her agent boyfriend, Jack Linwood and agent Streeter Pierce, she wonders why she, a rookie, has been called in on this case.

She soon learns the missing child is five-year-old Max, son of multimillionaire Maximilian Bennett Williams II and fashion model mom Melissa. Known as “little Max,” the child had been put on a plane in New York with an escort to deliver him to his mother in California. On a layover in Denver, little Max turns up missing. Father Max almost became Liv's brother-in-law when her sister, Ida dated him, but to everyone's relief, Ida saw Max for the scoundrel he is and dumped him.

But why does he want Liv on the case? The two despise each other and Liv is just a rookie.

A high-profile case, this dilemma ups the contentiousness between Max and Melissa, and the FBI wonders after many hours have passed why there is no ransom demand. Could one of the parents be to blame? Meanwhile Liv and her colleagues search tirelessly for clues using Beulah to track the child's footsteps throughout the airport.

In his room, Noah thinks about another boy who turned up missing not that long ago. His backpack was found in the mountains and the boy returned home but he did not go back to the Noah's school, causing speculation among the children.
Noah becomes distracted upon seeing a young girl in the window of the house across the way. Dragging himself to the floor-length picture window in his room, he tries to get a better look at the child, wondering why she is in Mr.
Fletcher's house. Everyone knows Mr. Fletcher is weird and never talks to anyone.

Noah becomes frustrated when he cannot communicate his findings to his family as they all are too busy to take the time to listen to him. With a sharp mind and the dream of being a spy himself, Noah pieces the puzzle together, but will his limitations impede him from conveying what he knows and believes?

Ms.
Brannan digs deep into the minds of her characters, sharing differing points of view in separate chapters. She tackles the delicate subject of disabilities,
showing they are not always debilitating. Along with mystery and suspense, this novel conveys profound familial love.  

[Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This review originally published in Looking For a Good Book. Rated 3.0 of 5

I have a long back-log of ARC books that I'm trying to catch up on and as I write this, Noah's Rainy Day by Sandra Brannan is the oldest book in my queue. One of the reasons I kept putting it off, I think, is because of the title, which sounds more like an Easy Reader Chapter Book than a captivating mystery.

But this is a captivating mystery. It's a page-turning thriller and author Sandra Brannan really turns up the tension, building the book, layer by layer.

Liv Bergen is a recent Quantico-trained FBI agent. When the five-year-old son (Max) of a very wealthy, connected New York mogul goes missing between connecting flights from New York to Los Angeles, Liv is requested to work the case. Her connection to the wealthy man is tenuous (her sister briefly dated him) but it's enough to make local agent Streeter Pierce suspicious. Agent (and lover) Jack Linwood is also on the case.

Given Max's wealthy father, and the separation of Max's mother and father, Agents Bergen, Pierce, and Linwood follow up on the most obvious of crimes: kidnapping for money or kidnapping for parental care. But Noah Hogarty learns another possibility.

Noah is the nephew of Liv Bergen. Born with severe cerebral palsy, Noah's an intelligent young boy trapped inside his own skull, working hard to find ways to get attention and to communicate with those around him. He's managed to find a way to communicate with his parents, though most might not believe that his complicated system of "yes" "no" and spelling out he alphabet is anything more than his mother's imagination. But now he must get his mother's attention and then convince others to get in touch with his Aunt Liv, because he believes he knows something important about the missing boy case.

Author Brannan really does a great job of building tension, especially when we are inside the mind of Noah. Near the climax of the book I was reading at a fevered pace, willing the information to come faster in order to save young Max. I recognized and appreciated the beautiful prose, leading me in this direction.

Liv Bergen is an interesting, strong female agent and I find it interesting to learn after the fact that this is the fourth book in a series (no worries ... there doesn't appear to be anything crucial to know prior to this to enjoy this book). If this is her first FBI case, what happened in the first three books? I definitely want to know, and I am very curious to read more of her adventures following this as well.

But as well-built as the suspense and tension is, all is not well with this book.

The story comes from multiple points of view. Sometimes Noah, sometimes Agent Bergen, sometimes the kidnapped boy, sometimes the kidnapper. It's a bit of a mess, stylistically and slowed my reading when I was wanting to really get in to the story and read faster and faster.

There is also the fact that the mystery is solved not so much by great detective work, but a lot of happen-stance and coincidence. And the final moments are almost laughably poorly managed by three FBI agents, all to try to draw out the suspense just a little bit longer. This is a case where I feel a stronger editing hand would really have helped an otherwise nicely written suspense.

Looking for a good book? Noah's Rainy Day by Sandra Brannan shows a lot of promise and delivers some intense suspense, but a few choices along the way derail an otherwise fine read.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review

[Heath Henwood · Rating 3 out of 5]

Liv Bergen Mystery Series
Book 1 - In the Belly of Jonah
Book 2 - Lot's Return to Sodom
Book 3 - Widow's Might
Book 4 - Noah's Rainy Day
Book 5 – Solomon's Whisper
Book 6 - Jacob's Descent
Book 7 - Jeremiah's Revenge
by Sandra Brannan

The Liv Bergen Series by Sandra Brannan will split audiences, either loving or extremely disliking the books.
On the positive the books are faced paced, with a modern female lead. The gripping story line twists and turns like a snake on a mission.

On the negative, after the first, the books fall into a pattern, with the spice losing its flavour quickly. The second and third books are a much harder read.

The first book in the series “In the Belly of Jonah”, introduces the characters Liv Bergen, amateur sleuth, and her love interest, FBI Agent Streeter Pierce.

They investigate the gruesome murder of her summer intern Jill Brannigan. More murders are quick to follow, by a madman with an appetite for human art.

#InTheBellyOfJonah

#NetGalley
www.books-reviewed.weebly.com

[Nicola · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and publisher for a copy of this book.

The atmosphere, characters and the plot for all these books are fab. You definitely have to read the whole Liv Bergen series!!

[Beth (bibliobeth) · Rating 4 out of 5]

First of all, many thanks to both NetGalley and Greenleaf Book Group Press for allowing me to read a copy of Noah's Rainy Day in exchange for an honest review. I really love being part of NetGalley, it has thrown very few "bloopers" my way and often, you can find a real gem of a book, which is what I felt about this novel. It is the fourth in the author's Liv Bergen series and I always worry about reading a middle-of-the-series book (purely a personal thing, I'm very particular to the point of obsessive compulsive about reading things in order!). I needn't have worried though, this novel stands on its own as a great mystery with some fantastic characters that I'm now very much looking forward to reading more about in the previous and future releases in this series.

Liv Bergen has just qualified as an FBI agent after quitting a job she didn't particularly enjoy but it looks like her first official case as a Special Agent will affect her in ways she could have never predicted. A five year old boy Max, seems to have disappeared off the face of the earth after his multi-millionaire father packed him onto a flight so that he could spend Christmas with his supermodel mother (the couple are divorced). The flight had a stop-over in Denver and as an unaccompanied minor, Max was being looked after by an airport employee however when he becomes distracted, Max is whisked away and is now officially missing, presumed kidnapped. A ton of pressure is being placed on Liv and her team's shoulders, particularly as the parents are minor celebrities and the case is getting a lot of press. Liv is fully aware that there often a crucial time limit on missing children before the situation escalates and the child in question is at high risk of being killed.

The star of this story for me however was not our fiesty, caring FBI Agent Liv, but her nephew, Noah Hogarty, whose personality and resilience shine right through the pages to make this a fantastic, unputdownable read. Noah was born with Cerebral Palsy and is confined most days to his wheelchair unable to talk, move around a great deal, is partially blind and prone to terrible seizures. His Aunt Liv is one of the most important people in his life and unlike many who come into contact with him, treats and talks to him like an adult. She has the strength of mind to see past his disability and is aware of his high intelligence and compassion for others, often bringing him little gifts and gadgets so that he can learn to be a "spy" like her - one of his dreams.

Liv and her team are having a tough time coming up with any leads to explain little Max's disappearance and his current whereabouts, even after scouring through hours of CCTV footage from the airport. We as the reader on the other hand know exactly what has happened to Max and terrifyingly, so too does Noah for reasons I will not disclose. Noah is desperate to try and make the adults in his life, namely Liv and his mother understand that he has vital information that could lead to the recovery of Max but being unable to talk/write/etc is proving quite an impenetrable barrier. Then the tables turn and Noah's life too becomes in very real danger - can Liv put all the clues together to save her beloved nephew before it is too late?

I was really pleasantly surprised with this book. I didn't have any expectations going in as I hadn't read the other books in the series or the author before but I was delighted to get a novel that was full of excitement and drama yet also full of heart. As I mentioned, Noah was the stand-out character in the book but I also loved his relationship with his sister Emma and how they learned to communicate with each other using "the five finger method," where each finger and knuckle of a hand represented a number or letter of the alphabet. At times, this was also quite a frustrating read but only in a good way as I was well aware of what was going on, it was just waiting for every other character to catch up! Anyone who enjoys a good mystery and a tense, thrilling read will really enjoy this story and I must also applaud the author for writing about a character with a disability who, like anyone, is just a normal person that deserves love and understanding.

For my full review and much more please visit my blog at http://www.bibliobeth.com

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

(nb: I received an Advance Review Copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley)

Noah is twelve years old, and he wants to be a spy. He has the makings of a good one, too: sharp mind, eye for detail, incredible courage. Noah’s aunt Olivia is an FBI agent and his idol, and eventually, he wants to solve cases like she does.

One Christmas Eve, Olivia comes over for Christmas Eve dinner. She’s been out in the Colorado woods, working with her tracking dog, Beulah. Olivia found a backpack hidden beneath a bush, and she brought the backpack up to Noah’s room, just to visit while she went through the contents. She named off the items, asking Noah if they meant anything to him.

The items did mean something to Noah. In fact, Noah solved the mystery right then. He just couldn’t explain it to Aunt Liv.

You see, Noah was born with severe cerebral palsy. Mostly, Noah can only communicate with smiles or grunts. He can laugh and he can cry, as we all can. He just can’t talk. He can’t explain to Olivia the significance of the math book and permission slip she found in the backpack.

FBI Special Agent Olivia Bergen didn’t have time to stick around. The son of a high profile multimillionaire and his estranged supermodel wife has been kidnapped, and orders came down from the top that Olivia—three months out of FBI Training at Quantico, VA—has been requested to take lead on the case.

Little Max had gotten on his flight in New York, accompanied by an airline employee escort. He’d made it as far as Denver International, but didn’t board the connection to LAX. Normally in these situations, suspicions turned toward the parents—was the kidnapping a ploy in their acrimonious divorce?

In this case, too, there was something dicey about the airline employee escorting little Max. If neither the parents nor the escort were behind the kidnapping, then all the FBI had to do was figure out which of the untold thousands of strangers walking through Denver International absconded with the five-year-old boy.

And Noah was acting strange. Could he possibly know something about this case the FBI and Denver PD hadn’t yet figured out?

“Noah’s Rainy Day” weaves together a number of plot threads, and does so very well. We follow Olivia as she works the case. The tense interviews and frustrating lack of clues have her team’s nerves frazzled. We also follow the kidnapper on his well-planned rounds. Most importantly, we get inside Noah’s head.

Noah talks repeatedly about his ability to turn himself invisible, meaning that people see his gnarled body and inability to talk, and just ignore him as they would a potted plant. Noah’s handicap isn’t understanding; it’s communicating. Through Noah’s narratives, we hear how frustrating this is for him.

Author Sandra Brannan intertwines these narratives beautifully. As readers, our frustration is that we know who committed the crime early in the book, but we can’t tell Olivia. This frustrated the hell out of me. I kept wanting to yell into the book, “NO!! You need to look HERE!”

The brilliance of this authorial tack is that we feel exactly what Noah feels: we have information, but no way to get it to the right people. It would have been easier, perhaps, for Ms. Brannan to write this as a straight FBI procedural. The choice she made of adding Noah’s thoughts, and how helpless it made him feel being incommunicado, draws the reader deeper into the story. It was easy to understand how tough it was for the law enforcement officers to be chasing their tails—to those of us who read the mystery/thriller genre that’s old hat. Having us empathize with Noah was brilliant, in that it hooked us even deeper into the novel. Now, because we and Noah were in the same position, we became invested.

“Noah’s Rainy Day” is a joy to read. Olivia and her extended family are full of love and warmth, and there’s a strong camaraderie among the task force. In the end, both are necessary to solve the case, and if Noah proves nothing else, it’s that he’d be one hell of a spy.

Highly Recommended

[Bert Edens · Rating 5 out of 5]

From my book review blog at:

http://kickinbooks.wordpress.com/2014...

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)

[Heidi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Noah Hogarty is no ordinary 12-year-old – from birth he has lived with severe cerebral palsy and is unable to walk, talk or play like other children. Highly intelligent, his inquisitive mind is trapped in his body, with only his sister Emma able to communicate with him through an ingenious but slow system of sign language they has developed. But Noah is not easily defeated - inspired by his aunt Liv Bergen, an FBI agent recently graduated from Quantico, Noah’s dream is to become a great spy. Noah thinks he has one advantage over others, which will help him reach this goal – being physically disabled he often feels invisible, as many people assume that his mind must surely be as damaged as his body, and freely say things in front of him which they wouldn’t dare voice in front of others.

When a five year old boy is abducted from Denver International Airport on Christmas Eve, Liv and her fellow FBI agents are at a loss of any useful leads, and time is fast running out. With the media being their best option at the moment, young Max’s face is being branded across all news channels, with his parents pleading for his safe return. Noah, who watches the world go by from his upstairs window, feels like he has seen that face before – but how will he be able to communicate his suspicions to the adults around him, and who will believe him?

Brannan’s very unusual hero Noah, a bright mind trapped in a damaged body, reminded me of Hitchcock’s Rear Window meeting a young Lincoln Rhyme. After witnessing a potential crime from his window, young Noah must overcome serious communication barriers to be able to voice his suspicions. Noah’s daily battles to communicate even his most basic needs were beautifully described, and show Brannan’s familiarity with CP and her heartfelt understanding of the challenges it presents for its sufferers and their families. The author also explores the stigma of physical disability, which often renders sufferers “invisible” in society, often due to others feeling uncomfortable around a person with a disability. Being able to see the world through Noah’s eyes was very humbling in many ways, especially when Noah worries about being a burden on his parents and what the future will hold for him.

I also found Liv Bergen to be a likeable protagonist who brought her own dynamics into the story, and the details of certain aspects of the investigation (eg the search through the airport’s garbage using a grid system) were very interesting. The importance of family relationships in Brannan’s novel was refreshing, considering that a lot of protagonists of modern crime novel are loners with dark secrets in their past, condemning them to lonely lives with unfulfilled longing for love and acceptance.

The low points of the novel for me were the heavy reliance on coincidence for most of the plot and the loss of pace in the last third of the book, which could have been avoided by an unexpected development in the storyline. Giving the abductor a voice took much of the mystery away and made the outcome very predictable for me – I waited for a twist or surprise in the end, which never came.

All in all, Noah’s Rainy Day offered a refreshing new perspective and a likeable pair of protagonists, and made for an enjoyable read, even if it lacked a bit in the thrill department.

[Dianne · Rating 4 out of 5]

How many young boys dream of being a spy? With an aunt recently graduated into the role of an FBI Agent, young Noah’s quick mind seems perfect to achieve his dreams, but his body will not cooperate. Noah has severe cerebral palsy and a limited means of communication. When a young child goes missing, Noah thinks he can help, he has information, but its trapped within his mind, as he struggles to communicate what he believes her knows. Will he be able to save the life of a small child? Has his knowledge endangered both himself and those he loves? Will his aunt, Liv Bergen, understand what he is trying to say?

Noah’s Rainy Day , the fourth book in the Liv Bergen Mystery Series by Sandra Brannan blends life-threatening danger, mystery, intrigue and the warmth of family into an entertaining novel that is perfect for those quiet moments when you just need to escape! Sandra Brannan has tackled the social stigma of the physically impaired head on by making Noah’s limitations real, the discomfort of the uninformed palpable. Also enjoyable was the familial aspect of this novel, not an angst-filled lone wolf in sight! Her characters are warm, caring and close, as the relationship between Liv and Noah stood up to the frustrations of communication, yet Liv knew to trust her nephew’s bright mind locked inside his frail body.

I felt the pacing was sometimes erratic, but the storyline came through to a satisfying finish! If you enjoy mysteries, but want them light on dark angst and grit, but not cupcake fluffy, you should enjoy Noah’s Rainy Day because sometimes heroes shine through from the least expected places.

An ARC edition was provided by NetGalley and Greenleaf Book Group in exchange for my honest review.

Publication Date: September 3, 2013
Publisher: Greenleaf Book Group
Series: Liv Bergen Mysteries, #4
ISBN: 978-1626340176
Number of Pages: 392
Genre: Mystery/Fiction/Adults
My Rating: 4 Stars
Available from: Amazon / Barnes & Noble

About the Author: Like her protagonist, Sandra Brannan learned the family mining business firsthand, starting out in steel-toed boots and rising to a desk in an executive office. She lives with her husband, Joel, in the Black Hills of South Dakota and is proud of their four sons and three grandchildren. The forthcoming fourth title in her Liv Bergen series is Noah's Rainy Day.
For more reviews check out Tome Tender's Book Blog or find us on Facebook.

[Sherrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

The fourth in the Liv Bergen mystery series, Noah's Rainy Day, easily stood alone. For that matter, I didn't feel I was missing any links back to the earlier books. Strong characters appear in Noah and his aunt, newly trained FBI agent Liv. Noah loves Liv and wants to be just like her, and it is obvious that Liv returns Noah's love abundantly. But Noah, a victim of cerebral palsy, is locked inside himself. He can't talk or walk and communicates with his sister, Emma, via a "five-finger"method only they understand.

I loved the author's development of Noah's character, sharing consistently his clever and hardworking mind. Not much was lost on Noah; it was simply a struggle to be a noncommunicating member of family and society. Noah's keen observations through his bedroom window of suspicious activity next door leads him to believe he is seeing the missing child, Max. However, he is unable to tell anyone as his sister is spending the night away.

To share more would give away too much.

However, I encountered distractions I found troubling. I felt on a slippery slope from time to time trying to balance the points of view: multiple first person POVs, multiple character POVs, and a third person who narrates. Another distraction was the voices of Max, a 5-year old, and 12-year old Noah sound too similar. In spite of Noah's disabilities, with his sharp mind and savvy attitude about things around him, I believe the author could have given him a more adolescent- or preteen-like voice.

Also, references and innuendos are made around Liv's relationships with Pierce and Linwood, neither of which seems to lead in a definitive direction. Perhaps this is planned for a later book in the series. As much as I grew to enjoy Liv's character, I was disappointed when Liv finds it necessary to explain multiple times why her dog, Beulah, loses the scent of the young boy, Max. So many explanations were redundant and unnecessary. The lost scent is something a reader would understand based on the dog's actions or lack of same.

The strength in this book comes from the development of Noah's character and his burning desire to solve mysteries, especially this one, despite his poor eyesight and illness-imposed silence. He shines as a beacon to families with children suffering with cerebral palsy.

My Recommendation:

Readers who enjoy a light mystery that moves along well will find this an enjoyable book as long as they aren't bothered by the distractions pointed out above.

Note: I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

[Gee-Gee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dreams of Being a Secret Agent

I receive advance copies of books through NetGalley in order to write and share reviews of the books. I am not paid other than to receive the books, and I have no association with either the authors or the publishers.


Noah's Rainy Day by Sandra Brannan is the 4th book in a series. I have not read the first three books, and had no problem following the story. It easily could be a stand-alone book, so don't worry if you haven't read the previous books in the series.

The story centers on Liv Bergan, and, her nephew, Noah. She is an FBI agent fresh out of the training academy at Quantico, stationed in the Boulder, CO office. She is living with her sister and her family, including 11 year old Noah and 9 year old Emily. Noah has Cerebral Palsy and is not able to walk, control his limbs, or talk. He and Emily have worked out a personal system for spelling words so that he can communicate.

On Christmas Eve, a child traveling alone disappears at the Denver airport between flights. Liv is called in to help find the child. She is the handler for Beulah, a trained tracking dog. Beulah eventually tracks the child to the airport parking garage, where the sent ends.

While the FBI is painstakingly piecing together information about the child, Noah is at home trying to understand who the child is that is visiting his reclusive next door neighbor.

For the rest of the story, you will have to read the book.

Things I liked: As a former therapist, I loved Noah. He is bright and interesting, trapped in a limited functioning body. His inner ruminations make it clear how frustrated he feels by people who assume his mind is as crippled as his body. He is bullied by being called names, having his lunch stolen at school, and shunned by most of his class mates at school. But he perseveres.

I like Noah's sister, Emily, who loves her brother and understands him better than anyone else. I find the painstaking spelling system so difficult and time consuming, I can't imagine anyone actually using it, but I love the idea of the siblings working together to communicate.

The writing is suspenseful with some things predictable but many surprises as well. I was compelled to keep reading to find out what would happen next.

Things I wasn't so thrilled about: early on in the book, Noah ruminates about his lot in life too often and for too long. The repetition became boring, to me. There were times when Liv obsessed on things for too long, and both of these brought the story to stand-stills. Fortunately, this stopped once the action in the story got moving.

I also didn't like Liv waffling between the two men to whom she was attracted. Some of this is probably better understood by reading the early books in the series. But her remunating about them seemed very immature for her age; more like someone in high school.

I will definitely read the next book in the series and give this author and series another chance. With my reservations, I still very much enjoyed the overall mystery and am glad that I read it.

[Icy-Cobwebs-Crossing-SpaceTime · Rating 5 out of 5]

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.

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the fourth book in the Liv Bergen crime series. I love Sandra Brannan. It so happens that I met her, and the voice of Liv Bergen is so Sandra, that reading her books just feels like you’re spending time with Sandra and listening to another one of her alternately humorous, heartwarming, and exciting anecdotes about her life.

In this book, Liv shares the narration with Noah, her 12-year-old nephew who has severe cerebral palsy. Noah can’t actually speak, but it doesn’t mean he isn’t observant, smart, and courageous. He manages to communicate, if people pay attention to him and his signals. As Noah explains, his brain works just as well as any other kid his age; it’s just his body that won’t cooperate.

Noah wants to be a “spy” and his Auntie Liv is helping him.

Liv is staying with one of her sisters (Noah’s mom Frances), because she is looking for a house in the Denver area. She recently quit her job in mining in Ft. Collins, and underwent formal training as an FBI agent. She is now Special Agent Liv Bergen, although, being new, she’s not feeling all that confident. She works closely with Streeter Pierce - “a legend at the Bureau”, and Jack Linwood, the supervisor of the Investigative Control Operations in the Denver Bureau.

Liv is having a bit of a relationship with Jack, although we suspect her deeper attraction is to Streeter. Liv is 29, and Streeter is ten years older, and Jack is even a year older than Streeter. But Streeter lost his wife, and seems to shun serious relationships. Jack is divorced, and while he is more secretive about his private life than Streeter, he is more open to getting involved.

When “Little Max” - the young son of rich and famous parents, is kidnapped on Christmas Eve, Liv is called into the case, as are Jack and Streeter. Once again, as with the previous novels in this series, Liv’s involvement becomes personal. We can see from the Prologue what will happen and we can also guess how it will come out, but that doesn’t interfere with enjoying the book in the least. Nor does it affect the tension level, which of course increases as the hours tick by during which the child has been missing.

Discussion: The books in this series are about crimes, but they are also very much about family ties, female empowerment, and romance. In addition, this particular book brings up the subject of children with severe challenges. The author not only deftly portrays what that means for family members, but offers a way to see such children, who are so commonly treated as “invisible.”

Evaluation: Really? You are not reading Sandra Brannan? You’re missing out!

[Louize · Rating 4 out of 5]

From The Page Walker


This is the 4th book in the Liv Bergen Mysteries, but, unfortunately, only my first book in the series. Why has this series escaped me before? This is a gem from the first moment I read the first page.


Fresh from Quantico, Special Agent Liv Bergen was assigned at Denver Bureau. In the meantime, she’s living with her Sister Frances and her family, while she’s looking for a suitable place for her and Beulah. She was busy training with the bloodhound Beulah, and expecting to spend Christmas with her family in peace, when she was called off for a very controversial abduction case that had happened just a few miles away in Denver International Airport.

Five-year old Maximillian Bennett Williams III, son of a NYC tycoon and a renowned fashion model, disappeared from his connecting flight from New York to California. Little Max had been missing for hours before Denver authorities was alerted. Time is of the essence, or it might be too late.

The narration was shared between Liv and her 12-year old nephew Noah Hogarty, who has a severe cerebral palsy. Noah can’t speak, but he sure knows how to communicate. He’s especially smart and resourceful, something most people discounted because of his twisted body. And he loves solving mysteries with his Aunt Liv.

The mystery is so good, there is no doubt about that; but I perceived that the series is so much more than that. There is much about family values, relationships, and female empowerment. On this particular installment, Ms. Brannan brought the subject of the physically challenged children, which made the whole plot more endearing.

Sandra Brannan carefully built up the mystery, giving the reader a quick peek at every puzzle piece, and then led the reader breathless through the climax. I think I just found my new favorite mystery series. I may have started on the 4th book, but that doesn't mean I can’t start over. I think I just have enough time until the next book gets printed.

If you are looking for your next best Mystery Series, you’ll not go wrong by picking up the Liv Bergen Mysteries.



Title: Noah’s Rainy Day (Liv Bergen Mysteries #4)
Author: Sandra Brannan
Genre: Mystery/Thriller
Publisher: Greenleaf Book Group Press
Release Date: September 3, 2013
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher via Netgalley
Rating: ★★★★



Other books in this series:
In the Belly of Jonah (Liv Bergen Mysteries #1)
Lot's Return to Sodom (Liv Bergen Mysteries #2)
Widow's Might (Liv Bergen Mysteries #3)



To Greenleaf Book Group Press and Netgalley, thank you for giving me a chance to read this in exchange for an honest review.

[Johanna Sawyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

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!

[Kathryn Svendsen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the fourth novel in Sandra Brannan’s Liv Bergen mystery series, but also reads well as a stand-alone book. I especially enjoyed that the main character Noah is disabled. As a teacher of students with special needs (specifically visually impaired children) it was refreshing to see Noah’s abilities, rather than his disabilities. There was one error in Noah’s disabilities however. The visual impairment that he had (due to oxygen therapy as a premature baby) is not correctable with contact lenses.

I thought the book did a good job of showing how difficult it must be to be to live with the disabilities that Noah did. We often treat people with severe disabilities such as Noah had as though they are of low intelligence as well. Noah’s character shows us that this is not always the case.

When little Maximillian Bennett disappears, everyone thinks either one of the parents has stolen him or someone wants him for ransom. Logical thinking since the majority of child abductions are by family members and both of Max’s parent are both rich and famous. Unfortunately Max has been kidnapped for more sinister purposes.

Noah is the only one who knows where Max is. Trapped in his body, unable to speak and can barely move, the author does an excellent job of portraying Noah realistically. His desire to help and his inability to communicate effectively war with one another. I was frustrated along with him when his family members didn’t understand him. Noah’s attempts to bring help to little Max end up getting him kidnapped as well.

I loved the family focus in this book. Liv’s family is very close-knit and the value of family is apparent. Her characters are well-developed, likeable and believable.

The suspense in this book was palpable and made the book very difficult to put down. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes mysteries or thrillers. Now I need to read the other books in the series!

Sandra included a set of questions at the end of her book which are useful to book clubs and discussion groups. I thought she had some excellent questions that were very thought-provoking.

I gave this book 5 stars!

Disclaimer: I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for my fair and honest review. A free product does not influence my opinion. All thoughts are my own.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Holy... I am so blown away by this book I'm not even sure where to start. I've been a massive fan of Sandra Brannan's mysteries since I first met Liv Bergen in book one. I've watched Liv grow, met her family, and fallen totally in love with her fabulous personality. To say I had high hopes for Noah's Rainy Day doesn't even begin to cover how I felt as I opened to the first page. Honestly though? I shouldn't have worried. There was so much to love here that it's going to be one hell of a task for me to explain how I feel.

First off I was so happy to see that Liv, one of my top five favorite female characters of all time, was just as vividly written and feisty as ever! What's awesome about this particular installment is that Liv is finally an FBI agent. Oh sure, all sorts of insanity happens around her constantly. Now, however, she can actually do something about it legally. I loved Special Agent Liv Bergen. Loved watching her get her feet wet, learn the FBI ropes, and solve the mystery. Liv hasn't changed at all, but now her skills come to the forefront and it's perfection!

Then there was Noah. Please pardon me while I gush, but Noah Hogarty is an absolutely wonderful protagonist. Living with severe cerebral palsy hasn't gotten Noah down. He's sweet, intelligent beyond his years, and so wonderfully positive. Everything about him screams life, and it's no wonder that Liv loves spending time with him. I was so impressed with the way that Sandra Brannan wrote this young character. Despite what life has handed him he is brave, strong and damn impressive. I loved Noah Hogarty, with all of my heart.

Oh and the plot! I could gush, and gush, but the point remains that there is nothing about this book that is slow. Each page brings a new clue to light, a new piece of the puzzle into the picture, and it was all I could do to keep up with the mystery. No spoilers here friends. You absolutely must experience it. Let's just say that I'll admit I was teary eyed near the end. There are just some books that have you so wrapped up in them that you cry when things finally end. 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.

[Maxine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Noah is a twelve-year-old boy with severe cerebral palsy. He can’t talk or walk and he is nearly blind. But he has a vivid imagination and a loving family so he’s a happy little soul. His ambition is to become a spy like his Aunt Liv who is a newly minted FBI agent. He and his sister Emma have developed a way to communicate using their fingers and he and his aunt play games to improve his observation skills.

On Christmas Eve day, a small boy is kidnapped from the airport. Liv is called in to work on the case which means she won’t be home for Christmas. Noah notices that there’s a little girl next door at the ‘creepy’ neighbour’s house. Except he begins to suspect that the girl is really the missing boy but with his limited communication skills and the fact it’s Christmas, he just can’t get anyone to pay attention.

For the most part, I really enjoyed this book. It moves along at a pretty good clip and Noah is a very likeable character. However, there were times he seemed rather immature for his age. The book also changes voice and perspective so often that even the author seems to stumble over who is talking in the first person and whose story is in the third. As well, Liv is sharing the investigation with two male agents, one of whom she is having a relationship with and the other to whom she is attracted. There seems to be a whole lot of touchy-feely stuff going on between the agents which I would imagine would be inappropriate at any time in the FBI never mind a child abduction case. But, in all fairness, I’m not a big fan of romance in the books I read so I may not be the best judge of this.

Still, put aside these criticisms and this is a pretty good story with a fast pace and some enjoyable characters. It was especially nice to see a young disabled boy play the role of hero in the tale since too often they seem invisible in the real world. I really liked Noah’s family dynamic and, although, his parents clearly aren’t always able to understand him, they never underestimate him. This is a nice contrast to the little boy’s extremely wealthy parents who, though they also love their son, don’t make a lot of time for him. Despite its flaws, Noah’s Rainy Day tells a compelling tale and watching Noah risk his health and perhaps his life to save Little Max makes for a highly readable thriller.

[Kim Bamber · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you Netgalley and Green Leaf books for the electronic copy

I discovered Sandra Brannan's novels on Netgalley and quickly read them all. I love all of the characters and felt like I got to know them better in each novel. I can't wait for more in the series. I recommend you start from the beginning and read them all.

[Shane · Rating 4 out of 5]

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