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.
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I received a free copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I haven't read the first three books in this series, it may have helped to clarify some of the relationships in the book but it wasn't really necessary.

I wasn't sure if I was going to like it as the subject is very upsetting but it is handled and written with a great deal of delicacy and skill. Although some of the ends were tied up a bit too neatly, overall it was a well-paced read.

Noah is a strong character even though he suffers from Cerebral Palsy and is unable to communicate in the normal fashion. His family have worked out a system that allows them to communicate with him and life is rather good. His aunt Liv is staying with the family until she can sell her house and she gets on very well with Noah, she treats him like an adult and gives him a special pin that records audio. She works for the FBI and is the handler for a search and rescue dog named Beulah.

When she finds a backpack whilst out on a training exercise with Beulah, she gets Noah to help her find out whose it is but before they solve the case, Liv is called out to the airport as a little boy as gone missing.

Whilst Liv is working the case, Noah realises that the little boy is next door with a neighbour that no-one likes. It takes a while before he can make anyone understand what he has seen and by then it's almost too late.

With a thrilling ending and a great story line throughout, it was one that I ended up staying up late to see what was going to happen next.

I'm going to see if I can find the first three from this series that's how much I enjoyed reading this one. ( )

NOAH'S RAINY DAY is the fourth novel in the Liv Bergen series, although it's the first I've come across. Which could be quite a large part of my problem - I really could not work out who was who and what was going on. Was truly lost, and slightly baffled for the entire book.

The character of Noah is obviously carefully crafted to tug at the heart strings, as well as provide somebody to really barrack for. Even the bloodhound Beulah is a strong character, much stronger than the central character, Bergen, whose voice seemed strangely wishy washy. That wasn't helped at all by the fact that there is obviously a lot of back story to Bergen, her family (I lost track of who was who) and what connection there was somewhere between the missing boy's family and Bergen's family. Actually that's not true, I really couldn't see the point of it. But there's also the enigmatic lover Jack (who seemed a rather standoffish sort of a bloke for a "lover"), and the rather "convenient" element of having a kidnapped boy held in the house next door to Noah. To say nothing of senior officers stomping around on crime scenes, and some rather baffling flummoxing around by the investigation team.

NOAH'S RAINY DAY is probably one of those books that, if you've read the earlier ones in the series, works for you. It's also seemingly a series designed to give people somebody to really barrack for (assuming Noah, although Bergen's probably got her cheer-squad as well). To be honest I never really connected with any of them - and spent most of the book feeling somewhat like I'd shown up at a party in fancy dress, when that idea had been dropped by the hosts weeks ago.

http://www.austcrimefiction.org/review/review-noahs-rainy-day-sandra-brannan ( )

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. ( )

Noah, a cerebral palsied child helps his aunt Liv solve a missing child case. Noah communicates with his younger sister and his Aunt who has become an FBI agent. When a millionaire's son disappears on a flight to visit his mother at Christmas Liv is called in to find Little Max.
Noah, who has excellent observation skills soon find the boy living next door, not the real mystery to this story. Instead, refreshing so, the mystery is can Liv find Little Max and her nephew before it is too late. The story got better as you realize that Noah, can communicate and be an active member of the "spy team" ( )