Black Hills-Nora Roberts

Black Hills
Nora Roberts
Putnam, Jul 7 2009, $26.95
ISBN: 9780399155819

At eleven years old Coop Sullivan was sent for the summer to his grandparents’ South Dakota ranch. Although he objected as he never wanted to go, he meets Lil Chance there and he learns to love his relatives who shower him with love back. This was the most wonderful summer of his life and he repeated it for years until he and Lil fell in love. However, they went their separate ways to attend colleges many miles apart until he deserted his Lil and their love.

Now almost a decade later, Coop is at the ranch caring for his grandmother and Lil is back too. The wildlife biologist wants no part of her former lover, the ex police officer turned private investigator. However she needs him when uncontroversial proof surfaces that the man who killed some animals and a man waits for her on her animal refuge. Coop risks his life to keep his beloved Lil safe and hopes the time will give him a chance to make amends for his failure as he now knows with maturity she is the one.

BLACK HILLS is Nora Roberts at her magical best as she constructs what seems on the surface as a formulaic romantic suspense, but in her words turns into a thrilling love story. Lil is terrific as she understands her peril and turns to the only person she trusts to keep her alive when the High Noon confrontation she (and readers) anticipates occurs. Coop would be resolute anyway, but has the additional motive of regaining and retaining Lil in his life. In some ways the killing predator steals the show as he hunts two and four legged beasts. Ms. Roberts shows why she is consistently a best seller author with this super thriller.

Harriet Klausner