I have been reading books written by Nora Roberts for several years. I picked up her newest book, High Noon, and just finished reading it.

Police Lieutenant Phoebe MacNamara was the best negotiator in Savannah. She and Duncan Swift met when one of his former employees was threatening to kill himself and Phoebe was called in to talk to the man. Duncan was immediately interested and managed to convince her to go out with him. In addition to have a stressful job, she had a lot to deal with in her personal life with her shoe shopping loving daughter Carly and agoraphobic mother Essie.

Phoebe was attacked inside her police station and shortly after that things that could be taken as threats started turning up outside her home. She didn’t think it was a good time to get involved, but she did develop feelings for Duncan. She had to deal with his feelings and concern for what was going on while trying to deal with her job, the threats, and figuring out who was doing it.

Much of High Noon dealt with Phoebe’s job in some way. She had to negotiate more than once, either with someone considering killing themselves or with someone holding others hostage. Phoebe was also responsible for leading some training sessions to train other cops in negotiating and some of that was shared. It didn’t seem like Phoebe usually had to do much actual investigating since she tended to only deal with negotiations, but she ended up doing some as the book progressed. I did think the things related to her job were interesting though those sections of the book did move a bit slower.

At one point, an event from Phoebe’s past was shared that greatly influenced her and played a big part in her becoming a negotiator. That aspect of the book was similar to Blue Smoke, another Roberts book. In that book, an incident when the main female character was a child caused her to become an arson investigator. That book actually started when she was a child and then progressed forward so a lot of that character’s past was shared. Not as much of Phoebe’s past was shared. Both women also had a mentor who had been involved in their childhood incidents. The books are identical, but the similarities were noticeable.

It was made very clear early on that someone really didn’t care for Phoebe so it wasn’t exactly surprising when that character did something. That aspect of the plot was predictable, which might bother some readers. There were several other things that happened that kept me guessing and added some mystery. I did think I had something figured out fairly early and then discovered later that I was completely wrong. I wasn’t expecting how something worked out, but it did work well with the plot and what had been set up. I thought the mystery was entertaining and it did keep things interesting. Several scenes also added a bit of suspense.

Most of the time when Phoebe was shown dealing with a situation that required negotiation, it just involved talking. There were a few times when things went wrong and violence turned up. Things went extremely wrong at one point and that was disturbing to read about. I think the most violence occurred when Phoebe was attacked. The attack was described as it happened without it getting too graphic. That scene could be very upsetting to some readers. I didn’t think that the book was violent overall even though some things that happened were disturbing.

Duncan and Phoebe met fairly early in High Noon and their relationship developed over the course of the book. It was important without being the main focus or detracting from the mystery part of the book. There were some sexual situations and a few sex scenes between Duncan and Phoebe. I didn’t think the scenes were graphic even though they were descriptive. Similar scenes in some of her other books have been much more descriptive. People who don’t like to read those types of scenes may want to pick a different book.

Phoebe was the most developed character and in most of the scenes. She was devoted to a dangerous job that she was very good at. She felt it and second guessed herself if something went wrong. Phoebe loved her mother but did feel some irritation at times because of how she was tied to the house they all lived in. Phoebe could be stubborn about some things, especially connected to her work. Duncan was important to the plot even though he wasn’t in as much of the book as Phoebe. He was a very kind man who could be determined when he decided on something. He and Phoebe seemed like realistic characters and their relationship was believable.

Dave was Phoebe’s boss and he’d been a friend for a long time. He had a connection to the event that inspired Phoebe to become a negotiator. Carly was a happy seven year old who had already developed a love of shoes and shopping. She was good at convincing her grandmother to buy to things. Essie was agoraphobic but she still managed to run her own business from the house. Ava also lived in the house. She was a long time friend who liked looking after Essie and Carly. Phoebe’s younger brother Carter turned up a few times without him being that important to what was going on. Phineas was Duncan’s best friend and lawyer who turned up a few times.

Nora Roberts has written many books during her career. She started off writing shorter romances for Silhouette before branching out into longer books. She also writes the very popular In Death series as J.D. Robb. That series is set in New York City and follows police detective Eve Dallas through different murder investigations. Eve’s relationship with her husband Roarke and other things connected to her personal life are also featured in the books. The mystery tends to be stronger in those books and they are more violent as well. Roberts wrote one book,Remember When, that started off in current times and then concluded in Eve’s time. A mystery connected both halves of the books. I have read and enjoyed both groups of books. Fans of Roberts may also enjoy the In Death series since it was written by the same person. Eve’s part of Remember When took place between Imitation in Death and Divided in Death.

High Noon was another very entertaining Nora Roberts book that her fans should enjoy. People that like the In Death series may also like this one since it was written by the same person.

Nora Roberts Book Reviews
Silhouette Series
Reflections ~ Dance of Dreams ~ Hidden Star ~ Captive Star ~ Secret Star ~ Night Shift ~ Night Shadow ~ Night Smoke ~ Night Shield ~ Cordina's Crown Jewel ~ Cordina's Royal Family ~

Three Sisters Island Trilogy
Dance Upon the Air ~ Heaven & Earth ~ Face the Fire ~

Key Trilogy
Key of Light ~ Key of Knowledge ~ Key of Valor ~

In the Garden Trilogy
Blue Dahlia ~ Black Rose ~ Red Lily ~

The Circle Trilogy
Morrigan's Cross ~ Dance of the Gods ~ Valley of Silence ~

Single Titles
Angels Fall ~ Birthright ~ Blue Smoke ~ Chesapeake Blue ~ Engaging the Enemy ~ Genuine Lies ~ Homeport ~ Midnight Bayou ~ Once More With Feeling ~ Northern Lights ~ Sweet Revenge ~ Three Fates ~ The Villa ~

Nora Roberts and J.D. Robb
Remember When ~

Recommended: Yes