Once again, a master turns in an addicting book. Hidden Nature features Sloan Cooper, a Natural Resources Police officer in Maryland who survives a shooting, only to find herself investigating what appears to be a case of disappearing people and a serial killer.
Sloan and her partner, Joel, just took down three men who were robbing and assaulting hikers when the officers stopped at a mini-mart. Sloan went in, and came face-to-face with a robber who shot her pointblank. Joel saved her, but it was a hospital team who shocked her back to life. It as a long recovery, longer than the driven officer wants, but she finds a distraction as she recuperates at her parents’ home in the Alleghenies.
Janet Anderson disappeared Thanksgiving weekend while Sloan was laid up. She becomes fascinated by the case, and spends time researching, only to find several other people who disappeared, and were never seen again. Sloan is convinced they’re dead, but can’t find a connection between them.
By the time Sloan recovers, she’s eager to resume her job. A promotion keeps her in the area where her parents rent cabins to tourists. But, she’s ready to move on with her own life, and buys a small bungalow to rehab. She hires her parents’ new handyman, Nash Littlefield, and his brother to assist with the renovation. As she gets to know Nash, she finds an intelligent, concerned man who shares her interest in the cases of disappearing people.
Roberts’ latest novel introduces two families, the Coopers and the Littlefield brothers who share a passion for renovating houses. And, as Sloan and her sister get to know the Littlefield brothers, relationships develop. I’ll admit I appreciated the family stories and relationships, as well as the accounts of home renovations as much as I enjoyed the crime aspects. The couple behind the abductions and disappearances were creepy, a little too creepy for me, and I sometimes I skipped the sections that dealt with their relationship and their inner thoughts.
Suspense, romance, serial killers, and house renovations. Nora Roberts offers something for everyone in her latest riveting novel, Hidden Nature.
Nora Roberts’ website is https://noraroberts.com/
Hidden Nature by Nora Roberts. St. Martin’s, 2025. ISBN 9781250370853 (hardcover), 44i8p.
FTC Full Disclosure – I received a galley from the publisher, through NetGalley, with only the promise of an honest review.
Coincidentally, Jackie is just about to start reading this one. Glad you liked it.
Oops, my mistake. Jackie said it was the previous Nora standalone, which she missed, that she is reading first.
That’s okay. She’ll get to this one, Jeff.
I’m planning on reading this one in the next few weeks. Sounds like a good one. Thanks for telling us the ‘scoop’ on it!
You’re welcome, Kay. I love her characters.
I love renovation stuff, because we improved every place that we owned and even an apartment that we rented and I am a big fan of family stories. But creepy, I run from!!!!!!1
Loved the main characters and all the renovation stuff, Carol. But, the villains were creepy.
Thanks for the warning about serial killers, Lesa. I tend to steer clear–and yet I read the Washington Poe series, so I’m obviously not very consistent, am I?
Sorry I’m not on the blog much–lots of traveling. Things should return to normal by mid-June.
Enjoy the traveling, Kim! I think that’s wonderful.
Oh, I skipped some of the creepy parts about the serial killers.