BLACK HILLS
Nora Roberts
Putnam Adult
Romantic Suspense
ISBN: 9780399155819
Time spent with Nora Roberts, the quintessential storyteller, is always time well spent. Every book delivers a smart plot, riveting suspense, and strong, interesting characters. In her latest romantic suspense novel, the reader is transported to the ranchlands of South Dakota.
What 11-year-old New York City kid wouldn’t want to spend his summer in South Dakota? Certainly not Cooper Sullivan. But when his parents send him to visit his maternal grandparents, the summer becomes an important turning point. Not only does Coop discover the special love that his grandparents have for him, he also meets Lillian Chance, who lives on the neighboring ranch. The two become fast friends, bonding over baseball and ranch life. Lil, whose great grandfather was a Lakota Sioux, also shares with Coop her natural affinity and love for cougars.
Lil and Coop spend many summer vacations trekking the Black Hills and falling in love. Their last summer together brings them to another turning point: Lil and Coop discover a hiker’s body, and Coop decides to break away from his father’s expectations and follow his own dreams. Life takes Lil and Coop in different directions, leaving their relationship and the mystery of the murdered hiker unresolved.
Coop returns to New York and takes control over his future and his trust fund. Instead of becoming the lawyer his father wants him to be, he enters the police academy and eventually opens his own private detective agency. Twelve years later, Coop returns to South Dakota to help care for his grandparents after his grandfather is injured in a fall. Ready for a change of pace, he sells off his agency and decides to stay.
Over the years, Lil has stayed true to her dreams of becoming a wildlife biologist. As a big cat specialist, she has founded and runs the Chance Wildlife Reserve near her parents’ ranch. After a six-month sabbatical studying pumas in the Andes, Lil returns home to find Coop back in town. Will their love be reignited? Only time will tell.
When one of Lil’s beloved cougars is killed, Coop’s cop instincts tell him that someone is trying to sabotage Lil’s wildlife reserve. Who and why? Then a hiker is murdered and Coop begins to worry that someone is after Lil. His criminal training leads him on the trail of a serial killer whose crimes may well include the body he and Lil found all those years ago.
When the danger comes too close for comfort, Coop moves in with Lil and the two partner up to protect the wildlife reserve and Lil’s safety. Living and working so closely together brings up unresolved feelings and issues. Will Coop find a way to explain to Lil why he could not stay with her? Can they rekindle the old flame? As they begin to settle their past, the killer makes a bold move. Lil and Coop must combine their skills and knowledge of the South Dakota wilderness to stop the killer and survive.
Nora Roberts’s story is a marvelous blend of family relationships, suspense and love that connects with the reader. This reviewer can’t imagine ever passing up her newest book --- she always delivers. You will not be disappointed.
--- Reviewed by Jennifer McCord
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