Tuesday, August 07, 2007

Book Review: High Noon

Another Nora Roberts book, another conflicted impression on my part. She's such a good writer, really one of, if not the, best in the business. Her books always keep my interest and are entertaining, but at the same time it's pretty rare that I have a strong reaction to one.

In this book the heroine is Pheobe, a hostage negotiator with the Savannah-Chatham PD. First of all, let me say that I have been to Savannah, and it didn't strike me as a huge city. Maybe I only saw the touristy parts, but I had a really hard time believing that there are enough hostage situations in Savannah to keep Pheobe employed on a full-time basis. And really hostage negotiating seems to be all she does with the police. Yet she supposedly works all the time. Anyway, I digress.

My beef with Pheobe is the same beef I have with most Roberts heroines. They project this image of infallibility to the world, and that really gets under my skin. Sure, I like an independant gal as much as the next person, but why do they all have to be so tough all the time. They always seem to have the answers and never seem to make mistakes. That bugs the hell out of me. Sure, there are moments of vulnerability that the heroines have to face, but after the moment is over they always seem to super-tough again. One of the things I liked most about Angels Fall was how the heroine was not perfect.

The hero, Duncan, was a pretty nice guy, but like I read in one review, he was too smooth for my tastes. He was a totally averagely-acting guy that I would definitely be attracted to in real life, but for some reason in my romance novels I like the heroes to be a little darker, a little more sullen. This guy was just too perfect in every single way.

Lindsey's Grade: B

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