Blog Tour: The Mountains Bow Down

About the Book
That's what FBI Special Agent Raleigh Harmon believes as she boards a cruise to Alaska . A land of mountains and gems and minerals, The Last Frontier is a dream destination for this forensic geologist who's hoping to leave behind a hectic work schedule and an engagement drained of romance.

But when a passenger goes missing and winds up dead, Raleigh 's vacation suddenly gets lost at sea. The ship's security chief tries to rule the death a suicide, but Raleigh 's forensics background points to a much darker conclusion: Somewhere onboard, a ruthless murderer walks free.

Engulfed by one of her toughest cases yet, Raleigh requests assistance from the FBI and receives her nemesis-perpetual ladies man Special Agent Jack Stephanson. As the cruise ship sails through the Inside Passage, Raleigh has five days to solve a high-profile murder, provide consultation for a movie filming onboard, and figure out her increasingly complicated feelings for Jack-who might not be such a jerk after all.

And that's only her work life. Family offers even more challenges. Joined on the cruise by her mother and aunt, Raleigh watches helplessly as disturbing rifts splinter her family.

Like the scenery that surrounds the cruise ship, Raleigh discovers a situation so steep and so complex that even the mountains might bow down.

About the Author
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 writer 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.

My Take
Sibella Giorello is a new author for me. As I've been reading quite a bit of romance these days, I was excited to see a mystery come across my path. (Several, actually, so be looking for those reviews soon!) Raleigh Harmon is an FBI agent attempts to take a much-needed cruise vacation with her family. Her vacation comes to an abrupt halt when the wife of a famous actor on board is found dead. Murder, theft, and much craziness break out on the ship. With only five days left of the cruise, will Raleigh be able to find the culprit?

The Mountains Bow Down reads a lot like James Patterson's The Women's Murder Club series, which I have enjoyed for years. The pace is pretty quick, the characters are likable and well-developed, and there were plenty of twists in the plot to keep me intrigued. This is the third book about Raleigh Harmon, and I was able to read without many questions that would have been answered in past books.

However, the book started off pretty slow. It took me several chapters to really get intrigued, and it wasn't until FBI agent Jack Stephanson showed up that things really got interesting. I was also disappointed that this book was listed as Christian fiction, but there wasn't much mention of Christ or any biblical themes. The book was clean and had no offensive content, but I didn't think it really pointed people to Christ.

4 stars

I received a free copy of this book from Litfuse Publicity in exchange for my fair and honest review and participation in this blog tour.

Buy the book here.

And ... Start the series fresh with this great deal! Pick up a copy of Book 1 for your Kindle or Nook for only $2.99! The Stones Roll Away is the critically acclaimed award winner that kicked off the Raleigh Harmon series.