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Type of bind: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN num: 9780399154348
ISBN number: 0399154345
Label: Putnam Adult
Manufacturer: Putnam Adult
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 480
Printing Date: July 10, 2007
Publishing house: Putnam Adult
Sale Popularity Level: 50394
Studio: Putnam Adult
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Product 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 very first attracts Duncan Swift to Phoebe. After observing her coax one of his employees down from a roof ledge, he is committed 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.
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Rated by buyers -
I have to say, I am a looooong time reader of Nora Roberts' work. For the last couple of years, her books have kind of taken a detour. Lots of those three in one books and some written in genres that I don't really care for. Not bad at all, just not my personal taste.
That said, I was sooo glad to get a hold of this newer book, High Noon. Nora really does an outstanding job mapping out her characters, making them vivid and helping the reader really get acquainted with them and the settings of her stories. Lieutennant Phoebe MacNamara and her family and friends as well as the villains of this story are shining examples of Nora's talent in this area. The plot was gripping, the mystery was riveting, and the romance provided just the right balance for such a colorful story. High Noon is my favorite class of Nora's writing although she's done amazing, amazing work from all kinds of genres, plots, story lines throughout the year. I would highly recommend it to anyone, her fans or people that may not be familiar with her work. Well done!
Nora, thank you, since I have had my daughter back in 06, this is the very first book I have been able to "eat" like I used to. Loved it, couldn't put it down, and I can't wait to see your subsequent one! You are the reason I keep my eyes on the book aisle at the store, thanks for sharing your talents.
Rated by buyers -
As always Nora Roberts writes an enjoyable novel with a strong, suspenseful plotline, good pacing, and a well developed cast of secondary characters. The main characters were likable and believable, with great chemistry. I do think it wasn't her best effort, though, for two reasons:
1) The hero was perfect - but almost too perfect. He's handsome, intelligent, generous, considerate and rich. In other words, he's EVERYONE'S Mr. Right, not one tailored to the heroine. I think that's usually one of Nora Roberts' strengths - her couples often less then perfect, but they're well suited to each other, whereas Duncan was more of a generic knight in shining armour type. Part of the problem, I think, was that relatively little of the story was written from his perspective, and most of the scenes that were, weren't particularly important to the plot, so I didn't ever feel like I got a good sense of him.
2) It ended much too abruptly, leaving open a handful of things that were never really well explained and developed, that I kept waiting to hear more about.
That said, Nora Roberts at her worst (which this wasn't) is still better than a lot of authors at their best, so I'd still highly recommend it.
Rated by buyers 
-
First I should say I've read this at least four times, and I still don't feel like I fully get it. Duncan seems like a nice guy, but his backstory came so late in the book that I almost missed it the very first time. And as for the conflict Phoebe feels about the house and her mother, I feel like that could've and should've been drawn out so much more. There's a sense of being rushed through the whole story, and it's partly because some of the lines are phrases and not whole sentences. It doesn't help that I read this for the very first time right before I read "The Hollow," and this book fares worse in comparison.
Rated by buyers -
High Noon is the latest blockbuster from the prolific Nora Roberts.
Police Lt. Phoebe MacNamara is a hostage negotiator. She meets Duncan Swift while trying to prevent the suicide of a bartender Duncan just fired. It's love at very first sight for Duncan--or at very first acquaintance, anyway, because he's entranced with her strength and skill (and beauty, of course). It takes Phoebe a little longer.
Phoebe really has too much going on to think about romance, anyway: a house she can't afford but can't move out of, a mother who's severely agoraphobic and can't leave the house, a 7-year-old fashionista of a daughter... to top it off, she's training cops in rudimentary hostage negotiation, and is catching a lot of flack from one particular misogynistic but well-connected cop.
And then she's brutally attacked in the stairway of the police station, and threatening messages and dead animals start showing up on her doorstep.
Duncan, well... Duncan won the lottery a few years ago. And he owns parts of several businesses. His best friend is a lawyer, and he's adopted his friend's family as his own. Basically, he's got plenty of free time to spend acting like the perfect man.
So why am I giving a new Nora Roberts book only four stars? I... you could say I'm a fan. I'm not a squeeing fangirl for Nora the way I am with Crusie or Butcher or Pratchett or Kinsale or Gaiman, but I own every single one of her books and have read most of them multiple times, I moderate an email list, used to run a fan website, did a short stint as a moderator on ADWOFF, and have been to several signings at TTP. Yeah, I'm a fan. I tend to like her books a lot.
But too many things in this book just went nowhere. Phoebe's mother's agoraphobia, for example. Okay, she has agoraphobia, she can't leave the house. It eventually gets explained why she's not doing anything about it, but then it's just left hanging there. The house is apparently completely impregnable, so there's never a worry that she'll HAVE to leave the house for her own safety, and we never find out the terms of the will, so there's never a worry that if Phoebe marries Duncan she'll lose the house. I don't consider that a spoiler--it's not a major part of the plot--I consider it fair warning.
And the romance... just wasn't. It was love (admiration) at very first sight for Duncan (though that's better than just lust, I admit), and Phoebe just seemed to bow to the inevitable presence of Mr. Perfect in her life. There was no development of emotion between them--Phoebe just kept listing obstacles and Duncan just kept using his money and charm to remove them.
Part of that, I admit, is my own preference--I can't think of anything more boring than a "perfect" hero. Never argues, never complains, never has a thought in his head that doesn't mesh exactly with the heroine's. *yawn* I can see how this fantasy would be appealing to some people. Just not me.
Worse yet, the romance/family plot and the suspense plot really didn't overlap except only briefly. I'd expected the villain to break in or bomb or burn the house, so that there would be a point to Phoebe's mother's agoraphobia, but there wasn't. There wasn't a point to the daughter being obsessed with shoes, either, and that could have tied in so easily. There wasn't even a romantic conflict over the danger in Phoebe's job. Perfect man Duncan just calmly supported her.
The suspense plot was great, though. It kept me guessing, and I enjoyed the resolution very much.
It's as if this were two stories, loosely connected: a suspense novel, and a slice-of-life women's fiction story. I'd have preferred the suspense novel to stand alone. Cut out all the agoraphobia, and Duncan's friend's family picnics, the fashion-conscious 7-year-old (that's my own prejudice, but it got on my nerves), and the romance, such as it was. That would bring the suspense story down to 350 pages, and I'd probably have given it 5 stars.
Rated by buyers -
I liked the characters, especially Ma Bee and Duncan. Ma Bee understands Duncan like no other - the only mother figure he'd ever known. Duncan is a take charge kind of man, one who does what he wants when he wants, and pursues Phoebe like a pitbull - jaw locked and refusing to let go. Phoebe needed him to balance her, and I'm glad they found each other. And Carly, Phoebe's 7-year-old daughter - very much like my own 7-year-old daughter. The only difference is my daughter likes numbers, LOL!
I liked the plot, even if there were loose ends. It's not very often when you have a hostage negotiator as the main character. I liked how it all played out. I'd have liked to see Duncan settly into Phoebe's house, them getting married, more about Phoebe's mother as well. And her trademark is all over this book - all the descriptions she gives buildings, gardens, etc..., they suck you into the story. You're seeing the building like you're standing in front of it. You smell the flowers in the garden. And it was pure delight how the very flower that Duncan very first gave Phoebe is my absolute fave flower.
However, the climax of the story happens in the last chapter - something I don't ever remember NR doing before; where the climax and closure of the story happens in the last chapter - about 10 pages. Lots of dialogue, lots of action and suspense that gives it the perfect height of the story, the tension everyone feels in the situation. But all crammed into the last few pages of the last chapter? Come on! I'd have liked to have seen them settle, maybe a little more something from Arnie.
I really enjoyed how the characters came together I found that a lot of the scenes between the characters were so much like my family; ie: for instance, the banter between Duncan and his best friend's wife, Louise. They're banter is very close to the banter my husband has with my best friend - and I got a really good kick out of that! The family closeness - how they treat each other - is very much like my own family, and I like it so much when NR makes me feel like I'm part of the characters' families.
But the ending... that's the only reason why this doesn't get my usual NR 5-star rating.
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