Black Hills

• Publisher:   Putnam Adult
• Number Of Pages:   480
• Publication Date:   2009-07-07
• ISBN-10 / ASIN:   0399155813
• ISBN-13 / EAN:   9780399155819

#1 New York Times-bestselling author Nora Roberts takes us deep into the rugged Black Hills of South Dakota, where the shadows keep secrets, hunters stalk the land, and a childhood friendship matures into an adult passion. Asummer at his grandparents' South Dakota ranch is not eleven-year-old Cooper Sullivan's idea of a good time. But things are a bit more bearable now that he's discovered the neighbor girl, Lil Chance, and her homemade batting cage. Even horseback riding isn't as awful as Coop thought it would be. Each year, with Coop's annual summer visit, their friendship deepens from innocent games to stolen kisses, but there is one shared experience that will forever haunt them: the terrifying discovery of a hiker's body. As the seasons change and the years roll, Lil stays steadfast to her dreams of becoming a wildlife biologist and protecting her family land, while Coop struggles with his father's demand that he attend law school and join the family firm. Twelve years after they last walked together hand in hand, fate has brought them back to the Black Hills when the people and things they hold most dear need them most. An investigator in New York, Coop recently left his fastpaced life to care for his aging grandparents and the ranch he has come to call home. Though the memory of his touch still haunts her, Lil has let nothing stop her dream of opening the Chance Wildlife Refuge, but something . . . or someone . . . has been keeping a close watch. When small pranks and acts of destruction escalate into the heartless killing of Lil's beloved cougar, recollections of an unsolved murder in these very hills have Coop springing to action to keep Lil safe. Lil and Coop both know the natural dangers that lurk in the wild landscape of the Black Hills. But now they must work together to unearth a killer of twisted and unnatural instincts who has singled them out as prey.

I picked it up at the library and had to force myself to finish it. It's the same tired story dressed up in a new location. I found myself more interested in the wildlife than the characters. It just didn't hold my interest as her work in the past has. I will think twice before reading another Nora Roberts, and this makes me sad because I have enjoyed her so much.

From New York City to rural, countryside living in South Dakota supplies an interesting contrast for the back ground of the storyline. The age old battle of city life and country life that no one can persuade the opposite opinion...to convert....and then there's love, a serial killer and pure woman's fantasy. Cooper and Lil's escapades fill the pages with excitement for yet another romantic interlude. This one wasn't as suspenseful as I normally like but it was very entertaining, all the same. Another book I read recently that kept my motor running at full speed in all directions was EXPLOSION IN PARIS, by Pirrung. Here's one that would make a stunningly beautiful movie and a book and/or a movie women would buy and read and watch again.... EXPLOSION IN PARIS

This book started out well. I'm a big fan of Roberts and enjoyed the background on the characters. However, the love scenes with both Tansy & Farley and then Lil & Coop were skimmed over and not well-developed. I learned more about wildlife than I did about the character's feelings for one another. This book could have been a little shorter with less narrative on the animals and their habitats. I love many of Roberts books, but this just wasn't one of them. If I wanted a mystery with no romance and a greater understanding of big cats I would have gone for a Nature's Kingdom episode. Build the romance and I will remain a loyal fan. Where's the Circle Trilogy, Key Trilogy, Three Sisters Trilogy & Born Trilgy author? Better luck next time.

Time spent with Nora Roberts, the quintessential storyteller, is always time well spent. Every book delivers a smart plot, riveting suspense, and strong, interesting characters. In her latest romantic suspense novel, the reader is transported to the ranchlands of South Dakota. What 11-year-old New York City kid wouldn't want to spend his summer in South Dakota? Certainly not Cooper Sullivan. But when his parents send him to visit his maternal grandparents, the summer becomes an important turning point. Not only does Coop discover the special love that his grandparents have for him, he also meets Lillian Chance, who lives on the neighboring ranch. The two become fast friends, bonding over baseball and ranch life. Lil, whose great grandfather was a Lakota Sioux, also shares with Coop her natural affinity and love for cougars. Lil and Coop spend many summer vacations trekking the Black Hills and falling in love. Their last summer together brings them to another turning point: Lil and Coop discover a hiker's body, and Coop decides to break away from his father's expectations and follow his own dreams. Life takes Lil and Coop in different directions, leaving their relationship and the mystery of the murdered hiker unresolved. Coop returns to New York and takes control over his future and his trust fund. Instead of becoming the lawyer his father wants him to be, he enters the police academy and eventually opens his own private detective agency. Twelve years later, Coop returns to South Dakota to help care for his grandparents after his grandfather is injured in a fall. Ready for a change of pace, he sells off his agency and decides to stay. Over the years, Lil has stayed true to her dreams of becoming a wildlife biologist. As a big cat specialist, she has founded and runs the Chance Wildlife Reserve near her parents' ranch. After a six-month sabbatical studying pumas in the Andes, Lil returns home to find Coop back in town. Will their love be reignited? Only time will tell. When one of Lil's beloved cougars is killed, Coop's cop instincts tell him that someone is trying to sabotage Lil's wildlife reserve. Who and why? Then a hiker is murdered and Coop begins to worry that someone is after Lil. His criminal training leads him on the trail of a serial killer whose crimes may well include the body he and Lil found all those years ago. When the danger comes too close for comfort, Coop moves in with Lil and the two partner up to protect the wildlife reserve and Lil's safety. Living and working so closely together brings up unresolved feelings and issues. Will Coop find a way to explain to Lil why he could not stay with her? Can they rekindle the old flame? As they begin to settle their past, the killer makes a bold move. Lil and Coop must combine their skills and knowledge of the South Dakota wilderness to stop the killer and survive. Nora Roberts's story is a marvelous blend of family relationships, suspense and love that connects with the reader. This reviewer can't imagine ever passing up her newest book --- she always delivers. You will not be disappointed. --- Reviewed by Jennifer McCord

This is the best one ever written by Nora Roberts - she's fast become one of my favorite authors!!

password: R20091015

Bookmark Black Hills

Hyperlink code: