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3.89 AVERAGE
3.89 AVERAGE
emotional
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
emotional
hopeful
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Sloan Cooper was just finishing up a successful arrest when she walked into a convenience store and interrupted an armed robbery. Sloan was shot trying to handle the situation. After being brought back to life on the operating table, Sloane returns back to her childhood home to rest and recuperate. When a local woman goes missing, Sloane gets pulled into the mystery and just may risk her life again in the process.
I can't really ding Nora Roberts on this one because I know exactly what I'm getting into when I pick up one of her books. This one felt a little too formulaic and I couldn't stand the villains. Obviously that's to be expected. They are villains after all and you're not supposed to "like" the bad guys, but these two were grating on my nerves and irritating. As in other books by Roberts, we are introduced to the antagonists early on. I wish that this time we, the readers, got to experience the mystery along with the characters instead of waiting for them to play catch up with what we already know - usually at the very end. Considering my dislike of the antagonists this one felt like it dragged a bit too much to get to the conclusion.
I do like the mundane, the day-to-day and the life of the characters. Sloan had something traumatic happen and I was interested in seeing how she rebuilt her life afterwards. I love seeing the human connection and the building of relationships. The added "bad guys" just didn't mesh.
I don't have much more to say about the book. If you've read Nora Roberts before, this book won't surprise or break any new ground for you. That's not necessarily a bad thing, it's just a fact and the nature of an author who has 200+ titles to just their name (not counting, you know, that other famous penname).
dark
emotional
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I always look forward to May when I know that Nora Roberts' newest standalone novel will hit the shelves, knowing that I am in for another treat. HIDDEN NATURE is this year's addition to her lengthy portfolio, and it is every bit as good as expected.
I've said before that I believe Ms. Roberts' writing has gotten stronger and her stories more compelling now that she spends less focus on the romantic elements and more on character development and the mystery at the heart of each story. This is especially true with HIDDEN NATURE, which contains some of the most chilling villains she has ever included in a story under her name. These villains are more akin to what you find in her In Death series, and the story is better for it.
Another element that is new to her stories is the idea of found family. Again, this is a story element that is the crux of the In Death series and something her previous stories under her name tended to ignore. Her stories have always centered around blood family, but HIDDEN NATURE gives us our first example of two characters for whom blood family means nothing but bad memories. While it also contains a strong nuclear family unit, Ms. Roberts makes a point of allowing the two characters the chance to acknowledge their found family and how better their lives are because of them. In an oeuvre where family is everything, it is a welcome change and an acknowledgement that not everyone is blessed with loving blood family connections.
As if that isn't enough to make HIDDEN NATURE Ms. Roberts' best novel yet, she centers her latest story around a character who has a job that most readers will have never heard of but is a real career path. Sloan Cooper is a Natural Resources police officer. As part of the Department of Natural Resources for the state of Maryland, Sloan has a gun and a badge, handcuffs, a baton, and all the other accoutrement of a "regular" police officer, but her primary focus is on crimes to nature - poaching, hunting out of season, the use of illegal bait, fishing or hunting without a license, stealing from campers, etc.
However, the most surprising thing about this job is that she has no real jurisdiction when it comes to crime. If she happens to witness a crime occurring during her time off and has her badge and weapons with her, she can arrest the perpetrator. Sloan has all the benefits of being a cop, with the bonus of focusing her attention on conservation issues. It is such a unique and relatively unknown career path that I found those scenes where she was on duty to be highlights of the story.
Ms. Roberts always has strong women as her main characters, and Sloan Cooper is no different. Yet, her job gives her an extra level of bad-assery, especially as we meet Sloan during a truly awful day on the job. Her story arc is one of the most rewarding because we get to know her at her lowest point. When you add her story to the new type of criminal and a welcome focus on found family more than blood ties, HIDDEN NATURE really is the best novel she has published to date and makes for the perfect summer read.
I've said before that I believe Ms. Roberts' writing has gotten stronger and her stories more compelling now that she spends less focus on the romantic elements and more on character development and the mystery at the heart of each story. This is especially true with HIDDEN NATURE, which contains some of the most chilling villains she has ever included in a story under her name. These villains are more akin to what you find in her In Death series, and the story is better for it.
Another element that is new to her stories is the idea of found family. Again, this is a story element that is the crux of the In Death series and something her previous stories under her name tended to ignore. Her stories have always centered around blood family, but HIDDEN NATURE gives us our first example of two characters for whom blood family means nothing but bad memories. While it also contains a strong nuclear family unit, Ms. Roberts makes a point of allowing the two characters the chance to acknowledge their found family and how better their lives are because of them. In an oeuvre where family is everything, it is a welcome change and an acknowledgement that not everyone is blessed with loving blood family connections.
As if that isn't enough to make HIDDEN NATURE Ms. Roberts' best novel yet, she centers her latest story around a character who has a job that most readers will have never heard of but is a real career path. Sloan Cooper is a Natural Resources police officer. As part of the Department of Natural Resources for the state of Maryland, Sloan has a gun and a badge, handcuffs, a baton, and all the other accoutrement of a "regular" police officer, but her primary focus is on crimes to nature - poaching, hunting out of season, the use of illegal bait, fishing or hunting without a license, stealing from campers, etc.
However, the most surprising thing about this job is that she has no real jurisdiction when it comes to crime. If she happens to witness a crime occurring during her time off and has her badge and weapons with her, she can arrest the perpetrator. Sloan has all the benefits of being a cop, with the bonus of focusing her attention on conservation issues. It is such a unique and relatively unknown career path that I found those scenes where she was on duty to be highlights of the story.
Ms. Roberts always has strong women as her main characters, and Sloan Cooper is no different. Yet, her job gives her an extra level of bad-assery, especially as we meet Sloan during a truly awful day on the job. Her story arc is one of the most rewarding because we get to know her at her lowest point. When you add her story to the new type of criminal and a welcome focus on found family more than blood ties, HIDDEN NATURE really is the best novel she has published to date and makes for the perfect summer read.
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Sloane's day goes horribly wrong and she is shot. She's now home with her parents and recovering. While recovering, she reads about the disappearance of a woman that she can't get out of her head. With a bit of research she discovers a pattern and needs to solve the mystery before she's next.
This story is well written and the pace moves well throughout.
This story is well written and the pace moves well throughout.
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Suicide, Violence, Kidnapping, Stalking, Murder, Injury/Injury detail