High Noon by Nora Roberts

High Noon by Nora Roberts

My Rating: 10 *'s

Description: Police Lieutenant Phoebe MacNamara found her calling at an early age when an unstable man broke into her family's home, trapping and terrorizing them for hours. Now she's Savannah's top hostage negotiator, defusing powderkeg situations with a talent for knowing when to give in and when to jump in and take action. It's satisfying work and sometimes those skills come in handy at home dealing with her agoraphobic mother, still traumatized by the break-in after all these years, and her precocious seven-year-old, Carly.

It's exactly that heady combination of steely courage and sensitivity that first attracts Duncan Swift to Phoebe. After observing her coax one of his employees down from a roof ledge, he is commited to keeping this intriguing, take charge woman in his life. She's used to working solo, but Phoebe's discovering that no amount of negotiation can keep Duncan at arm's length.

And when she's grabbed by a man who throws a hood over her head and brutally assaults her in her own precinct house, Phoebe can't help but be deeply shaken. Then threatening messages show up on her doorstep, and she's not just alarmed but frustrated. How do you go face-to-face with an opponent who refuses to look you in the eye?

Now, with Duncan backing her up every step of the way, she must establish contact with the faceless tormentor who is determined to make her a hostage to fear...before she becomes the final showdown.

My Thoughts: Very suspenseful story featuring a police negotiator who is brutally attacked at work and then receives threatening messages from a mysterious stalker. I really enjoyed that Nora Roberts was able to pull off a surprise twist with this story, as usual. Included in this story are several secondary stories, of which involving Phoebe's budding romance with a lottery winner, her mother, who is suffering from agoraphobia and Phoebe's past that inspired her to become a police negotiator.

All in all, this delivers the level of entertainment that fans of Nora Roberts have come to expect from her books.