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The Scent of Rain and Lightning MP3 CD – Unabridged, May 4, 2010

by Nancy Pickard (Author), Tavia Gilbert (Reader)
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 733 ratings
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One beautiful summer afternoon, Jody Linder, a young English teacher, is unnerved to see her three uncles parking their pickups in front of her parents' house--or what she calls her parents' house, even though they have been gone almost all of Jody's life. The three bring shocking news: the man convicted of murdering Jody's father is being released from prison and returning to the small town of Rose, Kansas. It has been twenty-six years since that stormy night when Jody's father was shot and killed and her mother disappeared, presumed dead. Neither the protective embrace of Jody's uncles nor the safe haven of her grandparents' ranch could erase the pain caused by Billy Crosby that night. Now Billy has been granted a new trial, thanks in large part to the efforts of his son, Collin, a lawyer who has spent most of his life trying to prove his father's innocence. Jody knows that sooner or later she'll come face-to-face with the man who she believes destroyed her family. But what she doesn't expect are the heated exchanges with Collin. Having grown up practically side by side in this very small town, Jody and Collin have a long history of carefully avoiding each other's eyes. Now Jody discovers that underneath their antagonism is a shared sense of loss that no one else could possibly understand. As she revisits old wounds, startling revelations compel her to uncover the dangerous truth about her family's tragic past. Engrossing, lyrical, and suspenseful, The Scent of Rain and Lightning captures the essence of small-town America--its heartfelt intimacy and its darkest secrets--where through struggle and hardship people still dare to hope for a better future. For Jody Linder, maybe even love.
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  1. Language
    English
  2. Publisher
    Blackstone Audiobooks
  3. Publication date
    May 4, 2010
  4. Dimensions
    5.3 x 0.6 x 7.5 inches
  5. ISBN-10
    1441747753
  6. ISBN-13
    978-1441747754
  7. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Nancy Pickard is a four-time Edgar Award nominee, most recently for her debut, The Virgin of Small Plains. Hailed by mainstream critics, the novel was also honored by the State Library of Kansas to be the "Kansas Reads" book for 2009. She is the winner of the Anthony Award, Macavity Award, Agatha Award, Barry Award, and Shamus Award. She has been a national board member of the Mystery Writers of America and president of Sisters in Crime. She lives in Merriam, Kansas.



Tavia Gilbert, an acclaimed narrator of more than four hundred full-cast and multivoice audiobooks for virtually every publisher in the industry, is an eight-time Audie nominee and the recipient of thirteen Earphones Awards, a Voice Arts Award, and a Listen-Up Award. With frequent inclusion on best of year and annual top ten lists, Tavia is a trusted and increasingly sought-after actress for work across every genre, from children's and YA, to literary fiction, nonfiction, and genre fiction. Audible recently named her a Genre-Defining Narrator: Master of Memoir, and Library Journal said of this highly acclaimed actress, "as close as you can get to a full cast narration with a solo voice." Tavia is a producer, singer, photographer, and a writer, as well as the cofounder of a feminist publishing company, Animal Mineral, with fiction and nonfiction focusing on relationships, love, and identity.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Blackstone Audiobooks; Unabridged edition (May 4, 2010)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1441747753
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1441747754
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 3.2 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.3 x 0.6 x 7.5 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 733 ratings

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Nancy Pickard

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Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
4.3 out of 5
733 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

josephine briggs
5.0 out of 5 stars A TRIP TO WESTERN KANSAS
Reviewed in the United States on January 17, 2014
Verified Purchase
I like midwestern writers and also Canadian writers. This book is a murder mystery, but a good one. This is the first book I have read by Nancy Pickard. Ms Pickard pulls readers into her story. All the characters are interesting, the Linder family is the salt of he earth.

The book begins on a hot summer day
when 26 year old Jody Linder, who is beginning her teaching career as a high school English teacher, hears banging on her door. Her three uncles, who usually would be at work this time of day, are at her door. What can be wrong?
The man, Billy Crosby, who was sent to prision twenty three years ago, is being released. His son, an attorney, is responsible for his release. Billly has been a demon, an ogre, someone from a nightmare to Jody. She can barely remember her parents, her father was found shot to eath in his home, her mother disappeared. Jody always hopes her mother is still alive.

On another hot summer day twenty three years earlier, Laurie Jo Linder is bored with small town Kansas, being a mother, married life. She dropped out of college, married too young, had a baby too young. Laurie Jo felt by marrying the eldest son of the wealthiest family in the area her life would be filled with fun, travel,adventure. Hugh Jay loved his job, loved the land and worked all the time. Hugh Jay's mother worried abut her son's marriage plus was concerned about her three other young adult children. She loved perfect three year old Jody, her only grandchild who was left orphaned but had loving grandparents, uncles and an aunt.

Billy Crosby is sent to prison. The Linder ranch has been vandalized by Billy who is mad at Hugh who has always been good to him, but Billy is a mean, hateful man, a wife beater, a drunk, kills and mutilates animals, and beats and abuses his only son. There is nothing good about this man. Citizens of Rose, Kansas are glad to see him gone though some feel Billy is not the true murderer.

I am interested about reading about Testament Rocks, a spectacular sight in the flat Kansas landscape. The Rocks attract tourists, archaeologists, geologists, palentologists. This unusual rock formation was formed
eons of centuries ago by an inland sea, later a vast river. Testament Rock contains marine fossils and is beautiful at all times of day and night, an almost unearthly sight.

Jody is cautioned to have nothing to do with Billy's son, Collin while the two are growing up. Collin is four years older than Jody. Collin has been badly abused by his father while a child. He was seven when his father was sent to prison. His mother was beaton on a regular basis. Then why, when Collin is grown and a lawyer, does he get his father released from prison.

This book gives readers many questions and answers. It is never boring and the ending is surprising
6 people found this helpful
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J. Grattan
4.0 out of 5 stars Cartwright family II (3.6*s)
Reviewed in the United States on May 23, 2010
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This family saga/mystery is set in the little town of Rose located in the Kansas plains where in the mid-70s twenty-something Billy Crosby, a part-timer at the huge Linder ranch, had the audacity and bad taste to brutally murder the patriarch Hugh's older son Hugh-Jay and permanently conceal his wife Laurie, leaving behind a parentless three-year old daughter Jody. Or so it seemed. This story begins with the imminent arrival of Billy after some twenty-three years of incarceration, as his thirty-year-old son Collin, now a lawyer, has inconveniently pointed out to authorities that his father's trial was a total sham. The immediate reaction of the Linder clan is to shelter the now twenty-six-year-old Jody, but she demonstrates unexpected independence and spunk in moving past initial assumptions and getting to the bottom of the matter, at some risk to her physical and emotional well-being.

Whether intentional or not, the setting and characters in this book uncannily parallel those of the old TV series Bonanza, where Ben Cartwright headed up the Ponderosa ranch with his three sons Adam, Hoss, and Little Joe. In this case Hugh Linder and his dutiful wife Annabelle personify the same kind of sternness, toughness, uprightness, and kindness. His closely monitored sons, Hugh-Jay, Bobby, and Chase, all share those attributes. Like in Bonanza, women are for the most part a corrupting influence. The Linder boys don't have lasting relationships; the only one, Hugh-Jay, who succumbed to the wiles of a female found his life well compromised before his death. In addition, like the Cartwright's, the Linder's have a large community influence, certainly with law enforcement and legal affairs. The Linder's belief in Billy's guilt was not seriously questioned, though no overt coercion was involved.

The book has a nice pace; the author's story is well-told. As noted, the characters are largely stereotypical, though Jody has possibilities that the author did not fully take advantage of, especially her complex relationship with Collin. The ending is Cartwright-like all the way - in retrospect predictable; the Linder family integrity is not compromised in the least. While the Linder's had some troubles, a far more diligent scrutiny of the assumptions of their goodness and self-righteousness would have undoubtedly produced a harder-hitting realistic story. But that is not the author's intent. Just barely makes four-stars.
7 people found this helpful
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Linda Rockhill
5.0 out of 5 stars Great story, excellent plotting, wonderful characters.
Reviewed in the United States on January 6, 2011
Verified Purchase
This is one of those rare books that synchronizes characters, plot, and pacing to perfection. The story centers on Jody Linder, who at age three tragically loses both her parents in one night. One is murdered, the other goes missing. As the book opens, the man accused of this crime, Billy Crosby, is unexpectedly released from prison after serving 20+ years of his life sentence. From here, through flashbacks, the story unfolds and the mystery builds. Pickard's descriptive skills are masterful. She brings to life rural life on a ranch and presents multi faceted very believable characters. She captures the subtleties of human interaction, presents real life situations and shows the politics of small town psychology. She also keeps you guessing. Was the right man convicted? There are enough twists and surprises, so that once started, the book is hard to put down. Although categorized as a mystery, it's a book to be enjoyed by anyone who likes a good story. It's easy to understand why Nancy Pickard is an award winning author.

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Top reviews from other countries

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Ramona M. Lynn
5.0 out of 5 stars Loved it
Reviewed in Canada on August 2, 2013
Verified Purchase
I picked this book on a whim and loved every page of it. It is interested and keeps you guessing right to the end. Wonderful little twist to the story at the end of the book.
2 people found this helpful
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Mr. John Frank Herbert
5.0 out of 5 stars I really enjoyed this book
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 8, 2014
Verified Purchase
I really enjoyed this book.
We've got Rose, a small Kansas town; we've got the big successful ranching family
with three strapping brothers; we've got the villian farmhand who bathes in trouble;
we've got the murder, the victim's daughter aged only three, and we've got the victim's
wife, who oozes lust.
What's there not to like or intrigue?

The said villian Billy Crosby, was locked up for life 23 years ago, but now his lawyer
son gets him out of jail for a retrial.
The townsfolk all have their opinions of the rights and wrongs of what happened all
those years ago.
I just loved all the building intrigue and tension, and the feeling that you're right there,
sitting on a rooftop, watching all this incident packed drama unfold.
A fabulous read!
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COB from Philly
3.0 out of 5 stars Disappointed
Reviewed in France on November 17, 2012
Verified Purchase
L'histoire de ce livre est bien ficelée, mais le style de l'écriture laisse très fortement à désirer. Je l'ai lu en anglais (étant américaine) et bien que l'histoire m'ait tenue en haleine jusqu'au bout, l'écrivain manque vraiment de talent dans ses descriptions et surtout ses dialogues - trop ordinaires, parfois quasi vulgaires et en même temps pas vraisemblables et PLEIN DE CLICHES ! Une déception.
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Ronald E. Dines
4.0 out of 5 stars American Fiction
Reviewed in Canada on February 9, 2014
Verified Purchase
The man who murdered her father when she was just a baby girl is being released. He has been granted a new trial mostly due to the efforts of his lawyer son. The two principals, who live doors apart and have carefully avoided each other all their lives, find they have a kind of shared loss. Set in the small town of Rose, Kansas, the suspense builds. This book makes small-town America come alive.
One person found this helpful
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Both the Macs
3.0 out of 5 stars Rather disappointed.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 14, 2011
Verified Purchase
This was a book I wanted to enjoy, had seen it reviewed on an American booksite, and was looking forward to it. There is absolutely nothing wrong with the story, nor the telling of it. It just didn't 'stick', and even a couple of weeks after reading, I have forgotten most of the story. Also disappointing was the cover, which shows a girl wading through a cornfield. This was a farming story, but sadly it was cattle the farm dealt with, not cereal, and although the corn may had made the book have more eye appeal, it is a lazy mistake on the part of the publisher. Disappointed.
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