Black Hills

I am a fan, so it pains me to say this, but it has to be said: Nora Roberts has turned into Danielle Steele. Her latest novel, Black Hills, is so formulaic that I could have written it. It’s a fill-in-the-blank based on any of a number of her other novels — Nora just changes the setting, the characters’ names and occupations, and the murderer’s motive. Yes, there is a crazy murderer, but everyone figures out who he is halfway through the book.

Nora (I’ve read enough of her novels to be on a first name basis) even uses some of the same scare-tactics she used in other novels. I’m pretty sure I remember dead animals being left on doorsteps from High Noon. I’m not saying I didn’t enjoy the book, and I’m not saying I didn’t read the whole thing in about two days. What I’m saying is that it just felt like Nora wasn’t even trying, like she knows all of us chicks will read her books no matter what.

Another issue: her main characters are named Lil Chance and Coop Sullivan, for crying out loud. And of course Coop has piercing blue eyes, and Lil is beautiful and fit, feisty and athletic. She even likes baseball. Why do we never have main characters named Kathy Baker and Steve Johnson, who both could stand to lose a few pounds?

Anyway, I think I’m going to swear off Nora Roberts for a while, at least until her next mystical realism trilogy comes out; I always go for those.