Moving Target audiobook

Moving Target, the first of her Rarities Unlimited series, is perhaps my favorite of all of Elizabeth Lowell's books. Not because she does anything hugely different in this book that she does from the rest of them, mind you--but more because she happens in this one to mix all of her plot and character ingredients into the exact right recipe to suit my personal tastes.Serena Charters inherits an ancient manuscript when her grandmother is murdered. Like you do in these sorts of plots, soon discovers that she's the latest in a long descent of women, all of whom have the name Serena, charged to guard this manuscript and keep it safe and secret. And when there's an ongoing plot to keep something secret, there are naturally those who are out to get their hands on it. In this case, there's a wealthy patriarch desperate to lay his hands on the Book of the Learned, no matter what it takes.Meanwhile Erik North, our hero, is a manuscript appraiser employed by Rarities Unlimited. Erik too has been seeking the Book of the Learned for his own reasons, and, again like you do in these sorts of plots, soon enough teams up with Serena to find and protect it.And hands down, Serena and Erik are the two big draws for me in this book. I like the female-focused backstory for Serena's family. I like her grandmother. I like the history of the original Serena, and the scrap of mysterious cloth that's all that remains of a dress she wove, adding a very light hint of the paranormal to an otherwise prosaic romantic suspense setup. Just as importantly, I like Erik--he's confident, competent, has his personal form of art he likes to express, and comes across very well as an equal to Serena rather than someone in a greater position of power than her. As for the other characters, the antagonists are suitably threatening without being ridiculous or over the top, while the supporting characters at Rarities are reasonably entertaining.All in all a fun read. I'd definitely recommend this one as the first one to hit for anyone interested in reading an Elizabeth Lowell book. Four stars.

Despite the title and an exciting beginning, this story moves along rather slowly as the characters are set up, and we are instructed about medieval manuscripts and hand weaving, which I personally found interesting, but some might not. This being the first of the Rarities Unlimited series, lots of people are introduced who will get their own books later, and Lowell inserts characters from her other stories as well which was probably unneeded. A paranormal element is added as well. Serena and Erik are either reincarnations of a couple whose tragic story has come down to the future in them, or they are psychically connected with the first Serena and Erik, one a weaver of magical cloth, the other the author of the Book of the Learned, eagerly sought by an arch villian who burns people alive in his pursuit of the book. That said, the description of the desert is lyrical, the couple enchanting, and when action occurs, it is exciting and well described. Actual suspects with the skill set needed are few, though, and the hiding place for the book seems obvious, but the ending is tense with some nice twists. I did enjoy this book and realized later that I had read others in this series before, just not the first one, enjoying them also.

For me, this book started out slow but picked up after a few chapters. I love how the author gets you to think like the characters to help figure out the mystery. The details of The Book of The Learned are so vivid you can almost see the pages. Can’t wait to read more of this series.

I loved this book. Anyone who loves books will love the story wrapped around this one. It was a facinating look back into history as it follows the creation and preservation of a unique manuscript.

Enjoyed the suspense.A extension of a previous series of books set in modern times with a good who dunit ending enjoyed the book.

Terrific read!This is a long book, however, I devoured it. The characters were lively and the storyline took a couple twists and turns. This was a totally engaging book!

When her grandmother dies in a fire in her home near Palm Springs, Serena Charters eventually inherits four ancient pages of illuminated text and art. Specifically, they are from the Book of the Learned, penned by Erik the Learned in early twelfth century England. As such, they are incredibly valuable; but there are only four pages - where is the rest of the manuscript? So begins a search with a researcher from Rarities Unlimited named Erik North, with the bad guys seemingly closing in at every opportunity to steal the pages, and Serena remembering the past as it now applies to her at every opportunity. Moving Target is presented as Romantic Suspense, but there's too much description in it to be true suspense; suspense needs to be lean and mean, constantly moving forward, and this seems to slow down with all the details Author Lowell presents. Here's an example: "Serena snickered. "Hexateuch and incunable are real words. The former means the first six books of the Old Testament. The latter means any book printed before 1501. Primer is another name for the Book of Hours, taken from the House of Prime, which was the first hour in the daily cycle of devotion. Since most people learned to read - if they learned to read at all - from the Book of Hours, today we call early teaching books primers."" You don't need this much detail in a romantic suspense novel, but including it makes the writing seem more researched, somehow more real. This is a good book to read on a rainy day when you have lots of time on your hands.

Sometimes the most interesting character is the one you never meet. Such is the case in Moving Target by Elizabeth Lowell. The most intriguing character in the book dies before you reach page 20.But Lisbeth stays with us throughout the story...we never meet her but learn of her through her granddaughter's memories as well as what Serena learns about her grandmother in her efforts to find her killer.The book moves quickly, there is lots of action...some romance...more than a little intrigue...a couple more fire bombs in addition to the one that killed Lisbeth early on, and another intriguing character that is really easy to dislike from his first appearance in the book...it all comes together to make this a story that is hard to put down until you reach the last page...where there are even more surprises.And while we find out that Lisbeth had more than a few less than sterling personality traits we do learn why making her choices more understandable...

Each couple in the Rarities series has their own unique story and romance in these books and they are all so good it is hard to pick a favorite. This author certainly writes with passion and the Rarities series not only has romance but is also filled with suspense. Another stayed up all night til I finished it book which is typical of me with this author. Since she started writing suspense novels mixed in with romance this is the series that I think is the best. She definitely does her research about some of the topics that are part of the main storyline so one can also learn a thing or two about art and collectibles in this series.

amazing

Another nearly sleepless night...okay, I gave up at 1:30am....but started again first thing in the morning :) The audio reader was good...not great, but good! (There are few that I consider GREAT!)

I'm so inlove with them!! Even though dana and Niall doesn't have that much of scenarios together. I'd be shipping them forveRr. Also i love the foundation of Lowell's writing style.

This book moved fast.

Erik and Serena, connected by an ancient history and Book of the Learned. Easy read, great story. Mystery, love, murder. Loved the read.