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A review by dancingterracephantom
Shelter in Place by Nora Roberts
4.0
This book....so much emotion. Active shooters are a very real part of our American society, and we all have to live with the threat that we could be in the wrong place, at the wrong time, when the next one happens. I think this was a ballsy book because some will say it's not appropriate with the current climate, but I think it was released at the perfect time. With the amount of mass shootings we've endured as Americans over the past few years, we've started to become a little desensitized. Or at least, as I do, pull back from the news reports because my heart can't take learning about so many lost souls over and over again.
The beginning of this novel was my favorite part because it captured the emotions so perfectly. Roberts has this formula in some recent books where the main character(s) go thru a traumatic event early in their lives and the story follows from that event and spans many years before getting to present time. This is an interesting way to tell a story and guarantees that we will get to know the characters very well. In this story, the beginning was especially griping and emotional--its very rare that a book makes me cry, but it couldn't be helped here. I liked following Simone and the other key survivors Roberts focused on throughout the 12+ years since the shooting. It was a great way to highlight how different people react and cope and move on (or not) from such a tragedy. Its a good reminder that although survivors if tragedy may not be in the headlines after a few weeks, their lives are irrevocably changed from that day on & shouldn't be forgotten.
Once we got to the present time in the story,it began to read like any other Roberts novel. Up to that point, it read more like a JD Robb novel to me--her writing voice is different depending on the penname of course. I felt the switch from one voice to the other gradually, but by the time the book ended, I could tell for certain the tone from the beginning didn't match what I read by the end. Not necessarily a bad thing since the beginning was tragedy and the ending was a HEA, but it was noticeable nonetheless.
I liked Simone and Reed together. I liked the addition of Barney, because who doesn't love a dog? Roberts loves to write stoic protectors, and she does a great job with Reed. I enjoyed his evolution from slightly lost college student to Island Police Chief. Watching him become the man he was destined to be.
It was a nice change of pace to know who the antagonist was for most of the novel. To get into her head. We don't usually get the why's when it comes to an active shooter so it was satisfying to get to achieve that here, in fiction.
I'm a huge fan of Roberts newer books, and I'm looking forward to her next one!
The beginning of this novel was my favorite part because it captured the emotions so perfectly. Roberts has this formula in some recent books where the main character(s) go thru a traumatic event early in their lives and the story follows from that event and spans many years before getting to present time. This is an interesting way to tell a story and guarantees that we will get to know the characters very well. In this story, the beginning was especially griping and emotional--its very rare that a book makes me cry, but it couldn't be helped here. I liked following Simone and the other key survivors Roberts focused on throughout the 12+ years since the shooting. It was a great way to highlight how different people react and cope and move on (or not) from such a tragedy. Its a good reminder that although survivors if tragedy may not be in the headlines after a few weeks, their lives are irrevocably changed from that day on & shouldn't be forgotten.
Once we got to the present time in the story,it began to read like any other Roberts novel. Up to that point, it read more like a JD Robb novel to me--her writing voice is different depending on the penname of course. I felt the switch from one voice to the other gradually, but by the time the book ended, I could tell for certain the tone from the beginning didn't match what I read by the end. Not necessarily a bad thing since the beginning was tragedy and the ending was a HEA, but it was noticeable nonetheless.
I liked Simone and Reed together. I liked the addition of Barney, because who doesn't love a dog? Roberts loves to write stoic protectors, and she does a great job with Reed. I enjoyed his evolution from slightly lost college student to Island Police Chief. Watching him become the man he was destined to be.
It was a nice change of pace to know who the antagonist was for most of the novel. To get into her head. We don't usually get the why's when it comes to an active shooter so it was satisfying to get to achieve that here, in fiction.
I'm a huge fan of Roberts newer books, and I'm looking forward to her next one!