"the mountains bow down" by sibella giorello

FBI Special Agent Raleigh Harmon is on vacation, or so she thinks. She, her mom, her aunt Charlotte, and Charlotte's wacky friend Claire are on an Alaskan cruise, courtesy of Charlotte's Hollywood connections, when the wife of the star of the movie filming on board turns up dead. Raleigh has only a few days--until the ship docks in Seattle--to discover who killed the woman. Raleigh requests FBI backup, and she receives it in the form of Special Agent Jack Stephanson, a man Raleigh doesn't much care for. Additionally, Raleigh must deal with her mother's deteriorating mental health, her contentious relationship with Claire, and her confusing feelings about both the Jack and the fiance she left at home.

The Mountains Bow Down is the fourth book in Sibella Giorello's Raleigh Harmon series. (Don't let the fact that it's book four stop you from reading it. I hadn't read any of the previous books, and I had no trouble jumping in.) Told in first person, from Raleigh's perspective, The Mountains Bow Down is an engaging read. Giorello's description of Alaska made me anxious to visit, but more importantly, the story she crafted kept me guessing until the end. Because the reader only knows what Raleigh knows, discerning the killer was difficult, but I enjoyed guessing along with Raleigh. Also, Raleigh and Jack have a great "will they or won't they" relationship (my guess is that by series' end, they will) that reminded me of two of my favorite TV shows, Bones and Castle. Jack definitely has a bit of Agent Booth (Bones) in him! I look forward to reading more of this series.

Also, doesn't the cover just make you want to read the book? I don't think about book covers very often--after all, we all know not to judge a book by its cover :-)--but this cover grabbed me the instant I saw it. I knew nothing of Giorello or this series, but I knew I had to read the book. So, great job, JWH Graphic Arts--you got me with this one!

If you're interested in the book, you can buy it here and see what others said about it here. Also, you can get a digital copy of the first book in the series, The Stones Cry Out, on Amazon for only $2.99. (Yes, I got my copy already ...)

Sibella’s celebrating the release of The Mountains Bow Down with a blog tour, a Cruise prize pack worth over $500 and a Facebook Party! Don't miss a minute of the fun.

One Grand Prize winner will receive:

• A $500 gift certificate toward the cruise of their choice from Vacations To Go.
• The entire set of the Raleigh Harmon series.

To enter click one of the icons below. Then tell your friends. And enter soon - the giveaway ends on 4/1! The winner will be announced at Sibella’s Raleigh Harmon Book Club Party on FB April 5th, 2011! Don’t miss the fun – prizes, books and gab!

About the Facebook Party: Join Sibella and fans of the Raleigh Harmon series on April 5th at 5:00 pm PST (6 MST, 7 CST & 8 EST) for a Facebook Book Club Party. Sibella will be giving away some fun prizes, testing your trivia skills and hosting a book chat about the Raleigh Harmon books. Have questions you'd like to chat about - leave them on the Event page.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Litfuse Publicity Group. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."