I know You People are too smart to take legal advice from a popular but formulaic writer of romantic suspense novels. I do worry though, that there are people out there who would. So I’m going to get right to the point. Do not talk to the police without your attorney present. Do not let them in your house without a search warrant. Do not threaten the police. Do not take the law into your own hands. Do not punch your mortal enemy in front of the police. Just don’t do any of the things Eli Landon does in Whiskey Beach. Eli Landon is a fictional character and a bad role model.
I used to read everything Nora Roberts published, until finally I couldn’t take her formulaic plots and characters any more. The only reason I picked up Whiskey Beach is because I found it sitting at a bus stop with a note on it which read – “Take me. Read me. Leave me for someone else to find.” I’m going to add to that note – “Do not talk to the police without your attorney present.”
Whiskey Beach is exactly what you would expect from a Nora Roberts one-off. Eli Landon comes home to his wealthy family’s house in a small town after a year of being a suspect in his wife’s murder. Abra Walsh is rebuilding her life in the small town after almost being murdered by her ex-boyfriend. There’s a legendary fortune that someone is searching for and everything is connected. We are just lucky there are no ghosts. I know a lot of people think Roberts has ghost writers, but I tend to think she really does write all her own books. She really only has 5 plots and then she mixes and matches from her stable of characters. Whiskey Beach is no different. If you like the Nora Roberts formula, it is an acceptable read. I really just wrote this review to say “Do not talk to the police without your attorney present.”
Edit – I take this for granted, and I should not – Nora Roberts is a proud feminist, and I do appreciate her for that. She sells a huge amount of books and reaches an enormous audience, so though I won’t be spending money on her books anymore, I do appreciate her decades long dedication to feminism.
Thank you for the free legal advice. I mostly read La Nora’s J.D. Robb In Death books which I approach as I would a long running murder of the week show on TV. I’m not really there for the original or inventive plotting, but to spend some time with characters I enjoy. The one romantic suspense I read (well, listened to when I was concussed) didn’t impress me much.
You’re welcome.
I don’t have a problem with anyone reading her books, I just hit my limit with her. It doesn’t help that she has a high price point for books that aren’t that good.
I haven’t read many of her books, but I did pick up the Dark Witch (first in the Cousin O’Dwyer trilogy) and enjoyed it. After that it was second book, same as the first…and by the third I was slogging through it just to get it done. It didn’t inspire me to search out any more from her.
At this point, I prefer her one offs to her trilogies. Less time to get tired of it all. Northern Lights and Angels Fall are books where her formula really works. And I should say in her favor, she is an out and proud feminist.
Hilariously, I need to write a review of Northern Lights.
ooooo. I can’t wait to read it. Your review. I don’t need to re-read Northern Lights.
I loved Angel Falls and Northern Lights too and I think those were the last two stand-alones I did. I stopped the trilogy buying years ago and the In Death books are becoming grudge reads.
I stopped reading the In Death books when I wasn’t sure if I had read the book in my hand or not.