The Harbor

Rating:
Summary: FAST PACE, SUSPENSEFUL, GREAT READ
Review: Carla Neggers has once again given us a story with great characters, fast pace dialogue,an intriguing, suspenseful plot, and as always a hero to sigh over. I have yet to be disappointed in anything written by Ms. Neggers. She gets better and better with each book. Its easy to see why The Harbor made the New York Times bestseller list, as well as The USAToday top list. If you're looking for a good book to read, you can't go wrong with The Harbor. Its money well spent.

Rating:
Summary: An average story
Review: I gave this thre stars because it is average. There's nothing terrible about the story of an ex cop determined to find her father's killer and to get her life back on track. Zoe West has abandoned her career and fled from her home town, but now she is back to confront her demons. Just her luck FBI agent J. B. McGrath is 'vacationing' in Goose Harbor and together they tackle the case and eachother. Its ordinary stuff and Negger's fans might enjoy but she'll get no new readers from this one.

Rating:
Summary: An average story
Review: I gave this thre stars because it is average. There's nothing terrible about the story of an ex cop determined to find her father's killer and to get her life back on track. Zoe West has abandoned her career and fled from her home town, but now she is back to confront her demons. Just her luck FBI agent J. B. McGrath is 'vacationing' in Goose Harbor and together they tackle the case and eachother. Its ordinary stuff and Negger's fans might enjoy but she'll get no new readers from this one.

Rating:
Summary: Great read...
Review: I really like this book the last couple of books of CN have been a 3 stars but this one you can tell she's back to the older books she has. It was worth the money...

Rating:
Summary: exciting police procedural romantic suspense
Review: In Goose Harbor, Maine, Police Chief Patrick West stops at the home of his centenarian Aunt Olivia, the author of the Periwinkle cozies, before completing his pre-work jog. Not long afterward, while on her daily run Patrick's police detective daughter Zoe finds her father's dead body. Olivia dies the next day from the shock of her beloved nephew's murder. Zoe pressures everyone for answers, but none surface so she accepts a job in Connecticut.

A year later, Zoe, who was fired two months ago, receives a frantic call from her sister pleading with her to come home because someone broke into her sibling's home. Zoe returns where she meets FBI agent J.B. McGrath whom everyone thinks he is investigating the unsolved murder of a cop. Instead, J.B., who has roots here, is on forced vacation after a harrowing undercover assignment. As J.B. and Zoe fall in love, the mere presence of them worries a killer who wants his secrets interred with Patrick and Olivia and will add a corpse or two to insure it.

The sequel to THE CABIN, THE HARBOR is an exciting police procedural romantic suspense that works on all cylinders due to the mentally wounded cops. Most interesting is that neither Zoe nor J.B. are actively seeking the culprit, but everyone believes that is what both are doing, which ironically leads the duet into sleuthing. Readers will like the heroes and much of the townsfolk, but will be surprised with the identity of the villain, whom comes out of nowhere. Carla Neggers provides a powerful tale that readers will enjoy and demand Christina's story next.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: exciting police procedural romantic suspense
Review: In Goose Harbor, Maine, Police Chief Patrick West stops at the home of his centenarian Aunt Olivia, the author of the Periwinkle cozies, before completing his pre-work jog. Not long afterward, while on her daily run Patrick's police detective daughter Zoe finds her father's dead body. Olivia dies the next day from the shock of her beloved nephew's murder. Zoe pressures everyone for answers, but none surface so she accepts a job in Connecticut.

A year later, Zoe, who was fired two months ago, receives a frantic call from her sister pleading with her to come home because someone broke into her sibling's home. Zoe returns where she meets FBI agent J.B. McGrath whom everyone thinks he is investigating the unsolved murder of a cop. Instead, J.B., who has roots here, is on forced vacation after a harrowing undercover assignment. As J.B. and Zoe fall in love, the mere presence of them worries a killer who wants his secrets interred with Patrick and Olivia and will add a corpse or two to insure it.

The sequel to THE CABIN, THE HARBOR is an exciting police procedural romantic suspense that works on all cylinders due to the mentally wounded cops. Most interesting is that neither Zoe nor J.B. are actively seeking the culprit, but everyone believes that is what both are doing, which ironically leads the duet into sleuthing. Readers will like the heroes and much of the townsfolk, but will be surprised with the identity of the villain, whom comes out of nowhere. Carla Neggers provides a powerful tale that readers will enjoy and demand Christina's story next.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: This one sizzles.
Review: Once again Vermont is the setting for one of Carla Negger's suspense filled romances. J.B. McGrath turns his forced vacation into work when he is drawn into investigating the murder of a local Goose Harbor resident and the burglaries that have struck his youngest daughter's cafe. He finds himself with an unwanted assistant, former detective Zoe West, who has come home to face the ghosts she left behind her. Those same ghosts are a part of the current investigation, as it is her father's murder and her sister's cafe that have caught J.D.'s attention.

Small towns are filled with secrets and rivalry, Goose Harbor no less than any other. Digging for the truth will expose many of these, and force Zoe to face the destiny that she fled. Despite her and J.D's best intentions, they can not fight the heated attraction between them for very long, thus making their risks seem greater and more personal.

***** With an uncertain future ahead for both of them, and slim chances for survival to make the choices they must, Zoe and J.D. sizzle throughout this novel, ala MOONLIGHTING style. Carla Neggers delivers her classic story, making good use of the world she is most familiar with, small town Vermont. *****

Reviewed by Amanda Killgore.

Rating:
Summary: Good Read, Good Fun,
Review: This book engrossed me from the beginning, both the characters and the locale were intriguing. The combination of family tensions and the mystery gives it depth and poignancy. The writing is crisp, the descpritions vivid, the page turning unavoidable. You find yourself intrigued and engaged until the very end.

Rating:
Summary: Very average - the town is the star here
Review: This is the first book I have read by Carla Neggers and it may be my last. The story has been pretty well summarized by previous reviewers so I won't repeat that here.

I found Ms Neggers creation of the little harbor town in Maine (not Vermont) to be very compelling. It was almost like being there on a terrific visit. This and the fairly fast paced mystery kept me reading to the end.

Unfortunately, I found the characters sort of static. Both the hero, JB and the heroine, Zoe were drawn very well - with lots of unresolved personal issues that had tons of potential for development; alas, that's all it was: "potential", very little character development took place.

I also enjoyed watching the mystery unfold, although I twigged the probable villan early on - due to lack of believable alternatives. There were lots of potential suspects, but most - to me at least - were too sterotyped to be the real bad guy.

What really turned me off - and why I probably won't read any more books by this author - is that the motive for the crime came out of "left field". Unless I missed something pretty subtle, there were no clues to be followed. Which is pretty ironic, when Zoe muses on why she enjoys her deceased Great Aunt Olivia's books so much: the "basic premise" behind them is that "Jan Periwinkle" - Great Aunt Olivia's fictional detective - solved her mysteries "by following clues"!

Ah well - at least I finished it; I have no desire whatsoever to re-read it though and for me that's what makes a keeper.

Rating:
Summary: liked the book alot
Review: This is the first novel that I have read by Carla Neggers. While I do not find her prose to be a sophisticated as say Iris Johansen, I am a big fan of mystery romance, and Carla Neggers can spin a tale. I have a six month old daughter so my choices in literature have run to books that are not that difficult to read and keep up with, but still hold the reader in suspense (and a little bit of romance doesn't hurt when your at home alone all day with a baby!). I was pleasantly surprised by this book and intend to read more of Ms. Neggars works.