Customer Reviews

High Noon

5 star:		(66)
4 star:		(47)
3 star:		(21)
2 star:		(14)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

Phoebe MacNamara's life was irrevocably changed as a young girl when she was forced to make some pretty tough decisions, life and death decisions concerning her small brother and mother. Years later those decisions help shape her into the woman she is and the career she has. After a brief stint with the FBI Phoebe came home to Savannah and the local police department and is now a Lieutenant and the top hostage negotiator.

When the fiery red headed Lt. walks onto the scene of a jumper, Duncan Swift has several thoughts about the woman in charge, all making him to want to know more about the sexy woman with a badge.

The chemistry between Duncan and Phoebe is more subtle than usual; there is a mutual attraction at first then it slowly builds, with a more natural and realistic progression. Phoebe is a single mom and has her reservations, having been burned a time or two in the past. Duncan is confident, persistent and utterly charming. Their relationship kicks up a notch after Phoebe is attacked. After the attack, Phoebe starts receiving strange offerings at her doorstep and soon discovers someone is out to harm her and those she loves.... And so the mystery begins.

At first I thought Phoebe was going to be another ultra independent, cool, detached heroine, like Eve Dallas. But Nora ended up writing a tough woman with a soft heart. Duncan was a loveable hero who didn't take any crap from the heroine. The side characters were just as intriguing. Phoebe is surrounded by tremendous family with a lot of personality; Duncan has a family built of friends.

I gave it the 4 star rating because the conclusion seemed a little rushed and left a few loose ends. Also the book didn't flow like I am used to with a Nora read, on this rare occasion I could actually set this book down and come back to it. The book was good it just lacked the usual pull her reads typically generate for me. The mystery portion was excellent. I really thought I knew who was behind the terror... Huh, foiled again! What I love about a Nora book is that you are guaranteed an enjoyable read, she never disappoints. I was thoroughly entertained and it leaves me completely satisfied while waiting for the next Nora Roberts/J.D. Robb tale.

Phoebe MacNamara is a a hostage negotiator for the police department in Savannah. While she works to help a young bartender who is determined to end his life, she meets his former boss Duncan Swift. As they work together to save a life, sparks fly between Phoebe and Duncan. Duncan is living the dream many would envy. He is very wealthy, but Duncan didn't inherit it or earn it, he actually won the lottery.

As Duncan pursues Phoebe, he learns the reasons she doesn't want to get involved with anyone. She has an ex-husband that has dropped out of her daughter's life, and a mother that is home bound by choice. As Duncan invades Phoebe's life, she learns he really is fond of both her mother and daughter.

When she is targeted and terrorized, Phoebe must solve the mystery behind it before her family or Duncan are lost to her.

What a good read! The characters are well written, and the story is wonderful. I haven't read many stories about hostage negotiators, and I learned a lot. It was a little more violent than I am used to, but it was important to the story.

I waited a week to write a review. Mostly because my review differs so much from all the others. But I read Linda Howard's latest and Julia Quinn's latest and Cherry Adair's latest since reading this one and they all are so great (5 stars each) and better than this one. I love Nora Roberts books. I have read nearly all, I believe. I love the In Death series also. What stands out for me in a typical Nora Roberts book is the fantastic painting of the scenery. Also the great characterizations and relationships. I felt this book lacked in those areas. The h/h just seemed to be thrown together, their relationship less personal for the reader. I liked the secondary characters almost better than the main characters. What I did really like, though, was the ending (here I also differ). It was suspenseful and nail-biting.

Now, for the reason I gave it only 3 stars. Nora Roberts, of late, has taken to writing her characters speaking in incomplete sentences. For instance, instead of something like, "that will never happen", she would write, "never'll happen". This book was so riddled with that kind of dialogue, practically the whole town of Savannah spoke that way. People don't naturally speak that way. I could believe one or even two characters speaking that way but not constantly. But this was throughout the whole book. It is annoying and very distracting. It makes the characters sound tough, or too cool for the reader. I thought of Eve Dallas whenever Pheobe would speak. I thought of Eve whenever Liz would speak. Heck, I thought of Eve whenever Duncan would speak. Catch my drift? If this is a writing gimick that is supposed to be the hot new thing, then I am disappointed to say the least. I wish Nora Roberts would just write the same great way she has always without this new gimick.

Phoebe MacNamara loves her job. As with most police officers working in such a dangerous and stressful position, she has had some career "losses". This has been when a hostage situation or a suicide intervention has gone horribly off the rails, resulting in the loss of life. It is not ultimately that the approach the Lieutenant has taken with her hostage negotiation has been incorrect, for there have always been many factors coming into play, but the emotional part of the Phoebe, the single mother, has never truly accepted that. Neither, it appears, has someone else.

Her own messy past has had much to do with her choice of career as a child her own life was once saved by both by her own quick thinking, and by the cool head of a hostage negotiator. It has been difficult for Phoebe to keep her head above water as she juggles her demanding job alongside a complex domestic situation which involves her traumatized mother, her own daughter, and a family friend all living under the same roof. In walks Duncan Swift, an eligible lottery winner who doesn't have much to do all day but charm his way into the life of the MacNamaras. After a vicious attack at work, Phoebe first thinks that a colleague, jealous of her successes, has taken this as a very personal affront. When the horrific little "gifts" begin arriving on her doorstep, Phoebe realizes that someone has been watching her, and more frighteningly, her family, for quite some time.

The juggernaut of women's fiction that is Nora Roberts continues to churn out an enormous amount of work which must be unparalleled by any other top ten writer out there today. Roberts has repeatedly proven herself capable of writing both bitingly incisive drama works and sharp and sassy crime novels (think of the future-set Eve Dallas series, written under the J.D. Robb pseudonym), both kinds which perform thunderously well. The mystery here is as to what HIGH NOON was meant to achieve as it does not offer up either intrigue or engaging drama. Too dismal for a beach read (though the heftiness of it could certainly hold down a corner of your beach towel) and lacking in believable characters, this work begs the below question.

Is the author resting on her laurels here? HIGH NOON is a book that seems to be going through the motions of banging out a protagonist, her lover, her family, her colleagues etc on a plate without much thought in how to make any of these go beyond the ordinary and stand out for the reader. There are slight variations, for example, the mother's increasing agoraphobia, but this is dealt with rather casually and not given the investigation such a crippling condition would require for a suffering loved one. Reading HIGH NOON is a long wait for satisfaction that never comes, with rather silly adult characters continuing to act in such a foppish manner throughout the entirety of the book. This latest work is production line material, light and easy to digest and not offering up much else beyond that.

I think I have read almost all of Nora's books, so I should be considered a fan. This book, however, felt wrong from the beginning. By the end of the first chapter, I was telling myself there is no way this is the work of Nora Roberts. The style just does not seem like hers. I convinced myself that either she didn't write it, or she was on a HUGE deadline and gave the writing no care, or she has a new and incompetent editor. I found myself having to read and re-read phrases, sentences, and paragraphs to try to make sense of several sections. Example: "Poor Carter, she thought, forever unnumbered." Unnumbered? What's that supposed to mean? Also confusing is the use of many initials with the assumption that the reader knows what they mean: LUDs, IAB, HT, SOP, etc. In two instances I was able to figure the connotation from context clues, but for the most part their meanings are unobtainable. Another example: "...she'd sat at a four-top, talking Charlie down, and out." What's a four-top? The formation of phrases and sentences and the overall syntax of this book is at a junior high writing level at best. Even the writing of the love scenes is simplistic, flat, dull, and crass. None of this book reads like typical Nora Roberts. Most disappointing!

Blue Smoke: Young girl has traumatic experience at a young age; which decides her career with the help of an adult male role model who assisted, is stalked by a vengeful person from her past.

High Noon: Young girl has traumatic experience at a young age; which decides her career with the help of an adult male role model who assisted, is stalked by a vengeful person from her past.

Changing the names, the careers and the supporting cast doesn't make a new book. I have been disappointed in the lack of freshness in Ms. Robert's recent writings.

Phoebe McNamara has a lot of baggage. When she was a child, a man her mother had dated flipped and kidnapped the family, including her little brother, Carter. The incident made Phoebe decide to become a hostage negotiator, which she now does for the Savannah PD. The same incident made Phoebe's mother agoraphobic after awhile, and Essie is now unable to leave McNamara House, the beautiful mansion where she fled with her children after the kidnapping incident. The house had once been owned by her cold, cruel cousin-by-marriage, Bess, and on her death, Bess irrevocably tied Phoebe to the house her mother cannot leave. Phoebe, divorced, is the mother of a sweet seven-year-old girl, Carly. McNamara House is also home to Ava, Cousin Bess' former assistant who is like a sister to Phoebe. Phoebe's plate is full, but then she meets Duncan Swift.

Duncan won over $100 million in the lottery and he's rich, amusing himself by starting any kind of business he desires. He meets Phoebe when she comes to talk one of his ex-employees off a ledge, and instantly falls for her, baggage and all. That she lives in a house full of women who depend on her daunts him not in the least. Phoebe tries to put him off at first, but he won't go away, insisting on being there for her every time she has a problem. Since he's incredibly attractive, it doesn't take long for her to fall into his bed, either.

All is not perfect in Phoebe's world, however. Someone out there holds a grudge against her because of her job. If it's Arnie Meeks, an ex-cop whose badge she saw taken away after he attacked her, it's bad enough. If it isn't, it could be even scarier. The only thing helping her hold it all together is Duncan being there for her to lean on.

Phoebe is a wonderful heroine, tough, yet feminine and far from invincible. She actually reminded me a lot of Eve Dallas from Nora's "In Death" series, though she's much softer than Eve. Phoebe and her family of females are a team who look out for each other, Ava and Essie helping to care for Carly when Phoebe has to work, and keeping the house together. Duncan is pretty much the perfect man. He's rich, but used to be a working stiff, so he's down to earth. He also reminded me a little bit of Roarke. He stays busy starting businesses and renovating property, also helping people who need it along the way. He lets Phoebe do what she needs to do, but also makes it clear she isn't doing anything alone. When she tries to put him off, he won't let her, yet he doesn't get in the way when she needs to work.

Nora Roberts always creates great characters, full of warmth, life, and love. It shines through in such a way that nontraditional families and severe psychological dysfunction feel comfortable, even while they're not quite "normal." This time out, she spent less time inside the head of the villain, choosing to devote more time to the heroine's family and romance, giving an otherwise tense thriller a somewhat cozy feel. You can't go wrong with Nora Roberts, and fortunately, though she's backed her pace off a little, we still won't have to wait long for another book.

Nora Roberts or J.D. Robb? This was a tougher book for me to enjoy than Nora Roberts last few novels. The main character was so out of place with the other characters until I realized it was because she was really speaking with the voice of Eve Dallas, from Ms. Roberts futuristic series of books. Lieutenant MacNamara had the same clipped speech patterns and prickly personality of Eve Dallas. Same type of horrific childhood memories. Rich, capable boyfriend. The extreme violence is also a hall mark of the J.D.Robb series. Also, not once did she come across as a life long resident of Savannah. This book, despite it's length did not have full enough or original main characters to keep me interested.

The characters in this latest Romantic Mystery by prolific writer Roberts, are believable. We have a single-mother with a daughter, who is a hostage negotiator. A job not generally suited to women, but of course Phoebe McNamara is good at her job. We would expect nothing less than a self-determined, self-sufficient, take-charge, get the job done woman.

When she meets rich, handsome, and smooth Duncan Swift, the sparks fly, but being the object of a methodical, organized and determined killer, it can make the romance take a back seat. Lucky for Phoebe, Duncan is sticking like glue to the "best thing to ever happen to him".

There is a lot of personal baggage in Phoebe's life, her brother, mother and her were victims of a hostage situation when she was 12, her mother became an agoraphobic and then there is the ex-husband. Not to mention a demanding stressful high profile job.

Add in a spiteful insubordinate fellow officer with friends in high places and Phoebe is fighting more than one battle in this fast-paced and emotionally charged book.

But with her usual plot twists and turns, and solving crimes the old fashioned way, with determination and foot work, Roberts shows us that good will still triumph over evil in the novels she writes.

First - I am generally a big fan of Nora Robert's books. I adore the JD Robb series! I was excited that this book appeared to start to introduce a new cool heroine for us. Wow - what a disappointment. I am wondering if someone else really wrote this for her given all the pressure to crank books out or something. Honestly - there was absolutely NO chemistry between the characters. The handsome guy was milk toast - and the heroine was whiny and boring. My sister actually bought the book and stopped ready about 1/4 of the way thru - I figured that I just needed to give it more time. Don't bother - it doesn't get any better than the boring read it is in the first 1/2. I'm sure I will read others as they come out but I sure hope the next ones have some interesting characters and a story that makes any sense... Save your money on this one...