High Noon by Nora Roberts
High Noon by Nora Roberts 2008 Jove Books
[image error]Roberts combines a mystery with a romance in a seamless story. Lt. Phoebe MacNamara is a negotiator. She was a hostage when she was 11 years old and her mother’s boyfriend held them captive in their home. Capt. Dave McVee was the negotiator who helped get her out and became her mentor. She works for him now.
Phoebe responds to a jumper, Joe Ryder, where she meets Duncan Swift, who owns the bar where Joe worked. It’s love at first sight for Duncan. Phoebe has so many family problems and busy workload, she barely gives him a second glance.
In old romance novels, space or a misunderstanding would keep the couple apart. That doesn’t work in the modern novel. Phoebe has a 7-year-old daughter, an ex husband, Roy, who has never shown an interest in their daughter, a mother who can’t leave the house, and a co-worker who assaults her in a stairway because he doesn’t like taking orders from a woman.
Roberts doesn’t leave those threads dangling. She weaves them into the final conclusion in a way that keeps the tension tight. In addition, a stranger is leaving dead animals on her doorstep and whistles the theme to “High Noon” as he plots a final showdown with Phoebe.
Roberts develops her characters layer by layer, showing the past, their friends, and the current relationship in its strengths and weaknesses. Decisions are logical, emotional, and out of love. Phoebe’s biggest flaw, and every hero should have at least one, is her independence. She doesn’t need help from a big strong man, but she learns to lean on Duncan at the end when she needs him the most without losing any of her personal strength.
The villains are bad in this story, and the assault on Phoebe is hard to take. Roberts doesn’t pull any punches. But without a vicious villain, the hero’s success isn’t as powerful when she defeats him. Both villains exist in the real world, the man who hates women and the man who blames someone for his own shortcomings, but Roberts takes them to a more dangerous level.
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