Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Safe Haven - Nicholas Sparks

I listened to Dear John earlier in the year and found it overly saccharine for my taste. I was pleasantly surprised by Nicholas Spark's latest novel Safe Haven. I really enjoyed it.

A woman calling herself Katie arrives in the small town of Southport NC. She has few belongings and keeps to herself as much as possible. She buys her few groceries at a small store run by single dad Alex. When circumstances throw them together, they begin a tentative friendship. Katie lives in a run down cottage on a dirt road. She makes another friend when Jo moves into the other cabin on the lot.

Piece by piece we learn the truth of Katie's past. This is told in flashbacks and memories - very addictive and quite frightening in parts. Without giving the plot away, Sparks has captured and portrayed an issue that needs telling. The burgeoning relationship between Alex, his kids and Katie is just as addicting. Sparks successfully combines romance, mystery and danger into a really good read/listen. Fans of Joy Fielding would enjoy this one.

I chose to listen to Safe Haven. The reader was Rebecca Lowman. Her voice has a soft, melodious resonance that captured the tone of the story. Listen to an excerpt of Safe Haven. Or read an excerpt.

You've got until Saturday November 27th, 2010 to enter to win an audio book copy of Safe Haven!

3 comments:

bermudaonion said...

I've enjoyed Sparks' work in the past but after a while, they felt like the same story over and over, so I haven't read one in a while. It sounds like I should pick this one up.

Lu said...

I read this one a couple of weeks ago. I really enjoyed it. I liked that there was a little bit of suspense to it too. And, I liked that this one did not make me cry like a baby!!

Pam said...

I've avoided Sparks simply because he's always seemed way too weepy for me but if you promise that this one is less sweet than the others, maybe I'll try it out. :O)