2007: #94 – Northern Lights (Nora Roberts)
Book #94 was Northern Lights by Nora Roberts. The back of the book reads:
Lunacy was Nate Burke’s last chance. As a Baltimore cop, he’d watched his partner die on the street-and the guilt still haunts him. With nowhere else to go, he accepts the job as Chief of Police in this tiny, remote Alaskan town. Aside from sorting out a run-in between a couple of motor vehicles and a moose, he finds his first weeks on the job are relatively quiet. But just as he wonders whether this has been all a big mistake, an unexpected kiss on New Year’s Eve under the brilliant Northern Lights of the Alaska sky lifts his spirit and convinces him to stay just a little longer. Meg Galloway, born and raised in Lunacy, is used to being alone. She was a young girl when her father disappeared, and she has learned to be independent, flying her small plane, living on the outskirts of town with just her huskies for company. After her New Year’s kiss with the Chief of Police, she allows herself to give in to passion-while remaining determined to keep things as simple as possible. But there’s something about Nate’s sad eyes that gets under her skin and warms her frozen heart. And now, things in Lunacy are heating up. Years ago, on one of the majestic mountains shadowing the town, a crime occurred that is unsolved to this day-and Nate suspects that a killer still walks the snowy streets. His investigation will unearth the secrets and suspicions that lurk beneath the placid surface, as well as bring out the big-city survival instincts that made him a cop in the first place. And his discovery will threaten the new life-and the new love-that he has finally found for himself.
Another winner! I enjoyed the male point of view in this book and the way the location is a character all on its own. Nora kept me guessing about the bad guy with some convincing red herrings. Unfortunately, the ending seemed a bit manufactured. I didn’t understand why the bad guy was so suspicious all of a sudden — he had no reason to be.
Page count: 672 | Word count: 154,973
I agree! I thought he became too paranoid at the end when nothing really led to it. Also, I wasn’t impressed with Nate and Meg as a couple. I didn’t feel the spark that Nora usually writes between her characters. To me, I found that they ended up together just cause it was the way it was supposed to be. I liked the plot mind you, but I wasn’t that impressed. I think, out of all the Nora Roberts novels I read before this one, this one was the very first one where I could say the plot was good, but I wasn’t impressed. And that’s a first for me, LOL!
Gin