About The Clouds Roll Away: Forensic geologist Raleigh Harmon returns home for Christmas but discovers Richmond, Virginia running low on goodness and light.
Although her exemplary service in Seattle lifted her disciplinary transfer, Raleigh lands a hometown civil rights case riddled with problems that could get her sent away again. When she helps out a fellow cop, her life goes on the line, forcing her undercover in a sting operation. As Raleigh realizes the lines are crossing and double-crossing, her domestic life starts to unravel. Her mother’s mental health cracks like ice, her closest friend grows cold, and her old boyfriend DeMott comes a-calling, hoping for more than chestnuts by an open fire.
While the city glows with Christmas lights and carols, Raleigh is forced to rely on her sharpest skills to stay alive, hoping for that one clear moment when everything makes sense and the clouds roll away.
About Sibella: Sibella Giorello grew up in Alaska and majored in geology at Mount Holyoke College. After riding a motorcycle across the country, she worked as a features for the Richmond Times-Dispatch. Her stories have won state and national awards, including two nominations for the Pulitzer Prize. She now lives in Washington state with her husband and sons. Find out more about Sibella and her other books at her website. www.sibellagiorello.com My Review:
The Clouds Roll Away
is the third book in Sibella Giorello’s Raleigh Harmon series. FBI Special agent Raleigh is back in Richmond after a disciplinary transfer to Seattle for a year. She is happy to be home again, but before she can really settle in and get back to normal, a cross burning in front of the plantation house that a well-known black rapper has recently moved into, starts racial tensions soaring and brings unwelcome media attention to bear on how the case is handled. Her supervisor wants it solved and solved quickly, but Raleigh’s resolve to get to the truth rather than just tie things up in a neat bow could mean the death of her career.
is the third book in Sibella Giorello’s Raleigh Harmon series. FBI Special agent Raleigh is back in Richmond after a disciplinary transfer to Seattle for a year. She is happy to be home again, but before she can really settle in and get back to normal, a cross burning in front of the plantation house that a well-known black rapper has recently moved into, starts racial tensions soaring and brings unwelcome media attention to bear on how the case is handled. Her supervisor wants it solved and solved quickly, but Raleigh’s resolve to get to the truth rather than just tie things up in a neat bow could mean the death of her career. Raleigh Harmon is still dealing with the unsolved murder of her father, a mother who is teetering on the brink of an emotional breakdown, and feelings for an old high school boyfriend whom she can’t quite get over. In the midst of that are dead bodies with KKK tattoos, crack houses, and gangbangers.
The Clouds Roll Away is not just a novel about race issues, but about heart issues. Without God’s redemption we are all lost in our depravity. Raleigh witnesses the sickness of sin in the rich as well as the poor, black and white, male and female. During the hap-happiest time of the year—Christmas—Richmond is seething with violence and hatred. I was profoundly moved by a scene in a crack house where two young children and their addict mother sit watching A Charlie Brown Christmas while a man is beaten and crack is being cooked on the stove in the next room. The children listen to Linus reciting the story of the Lord’s birth while their father plans murders and makes drug deals.
is not just a novel about race issues, but about heart issues. Without God’s redemption we are all lost in our depravity. Raleigh witnesses the sickness of sin in the rich as well as the poor, black and white, male and female. During the hap-happiest time of the year—Christmas—Richmond is seething with violence and hatred. I was profoundly moved by a scene in a crack house where two young children and their addict mother sit watching A Charlie Brown Christmas while a man is beaten and crack is being cooked on the stove in the next room. The children listen to Linus reciting the story of the Lord’s birth while their father plans murders and makes drug deals. As an FBI agent, Raleigh witnesses horrors no one should have to see, while trying to maintain a calm, professional exterior. Her faith in God, and hope that someday she will solve her father’s murder seem to be what keeps her going. Raleigh doesn’t believe in luck. She knows who’s in control. And every once in a while the clouds roll away…
(I received this book in exchange for a review)
(I received this book in exchange for a review)
About The Clouds Roll Away – “Beautifully written with exquisite descriptions, Giorello’s mystery also features well-developed characters…”
—Booklist, starred review
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