Mind Games by Nora Roberts Published by St. Martin's Press on 5/21/2024
Pages: 419
Format: eARC
Source: the publisher
Purchase: Amazon | Bookshop | Barnes & Noble | Audible | Chirp
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Also by this author: Dark Witch, Shadow Spell, The Collector, Night Moves, Whiskey Beach, Jewels of the Sun, Tears of the Moon, Stars of Fortune, Tribute, The Search, Three Fates, High Noon, The Liar, Identity, Gabriel's Angel, Inheritance, Hideaway
The #1 New York Times-bestselling author of Identity presents a suspenseful new novel of tragedy and trauma, love and family, and the evil that awaits.
As they do each June, the Foxes have driven the winding roads of Appalachia to drop off their children for a two-week stay at their grandmother’s. Here, twelve-year-old Thea can run free and breathe in the smells of pine and fresh bread and Grammie’s handmade candles. But as her parents head back to suburban Virginia, they have no idea they’re about to cross paths with a ticking time bomb.
Back in Kentucky, Thea and her grandmother Lucy both awaken from the same nightmare. And though the two have never discussed the special kind of sight they share, they know as soon as their tearful eyes meet that something terrible has happened.
The kids will be staying with Grammie now in Redbud Hollow, and thanks to Thea’s vision, their parents’ killer will spend his life in supermax. Over time, Thea will make friends, build a career, find love. But that ability to see into minds and souls still lurks within her, and though Grammie calls it a gift, it feels more like a curse―because the inmate who shattered her childhood has the same ability. Thea can hear his twisted thoughts and witness his evil acts from miles away. He knows it, and hungers for vengeance. A long, silent battle will be waged between them―and eventually bring them face to face, and head to head…
I received a review copy of this book from the publisher.
A new favorite Nora Roberts novel
I read Mind Games twice in 2024 and once (already) in 2025, which tells you something about how good it is. Written with Roberts’s usual skill, Mind Games pits Thea Fox, a young woman with the sight, against the psychopath who killed her parents. The suspense in this romantic suspense novel is unusual, because the murderer, whom 12-year-old Thea’s visions helped capture, is held in a maximum-security prison for well over half of the novel; he cannot threaten her physically. But the tie connecting them is on the mental rather than the physical plane, and on that level, neither bars nor distance can protect Thea. She must find a way to defeat him totally, on the playing field of their two gifted minds.
I loved how real Roberts makes this psychic battle, but even more than that, I love the way she brings Thea, her grammie and brother, and their Appalachian neighbors to life. Thea’s best friend, Maddie, is a doctor, the daughter of the sheriff and of one of Grammie’s best friends. Grammie is probably around my own age: a wise, lively, and vibrant woman, who began her family much earlier than I did. Thea’s brother Rem is equally well-drawn; he is protective of Thea when it comes to their parents’ killer, but teases her about other topics just as any brother would.
Thea is a talented video game designer, whose first game sounds reminiscent of The Legend of Zelda (not that I’ve ever played it, but now I want to.) I always enjoy how Roberts’s female characters are strong, passionate, talented women, independent but fiercely devoted to family and friends—much like Roberts herself, as far as I can tell. Thea is simultaneously very much in this mold and clearly distinct from any of Roberts’s other recent heroines.
Thea’s eventual love interest, Ty, is a musician, a single father—and her adolescent crush. And unlike the children in so many romance novels, his 4-year-old son Braydon (or Bray) is both realistic and adorable. Watching Thea fall in love with them, and them with her, was one of the joys of this book.
Mind Games has joined the ranks of my favorite non-fantasy Nora Roberts novels, along with The Liar, Whiskey Beach, and Tribute. (I’m counting it among Roberts’ “real-world” romantic suspense novels as despite the psychic aspects, it really feels more realistic than magical.) As I said, I have already read it three times, and it will remain one I turn to whenever I need a Nora Roberts fix.
NOTE: Although I originally received Mind Games as a Kindle ARC, I liked it so much that I bought a copy.
Challenges: COYER (2025): Out to Lunch; NetGalley & Edelweiss Challenge 2025
About Nora Roberts
Nora Roberts was born in Maryland and educated in Catholic schools. She married young and worked as a legal secretary until her sons were born. In 1979, faced with a blizzard and “a dwindling supply of chocolate”, she sat down and began to write. ‘Irish Thoroughbred’ was published two years later. 30 years and over 210 books and novellas later, Roberts is one of the most popular writers of romance, romantic suspense, and (as J. D. Robb) mystery around.
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
- COYER 2025: Out to Lunch
- Netgalley & Edelweiss Reading Challenge 2025
Anne - Books of My Heart
I loved this also. I thought it was the first in a series but maybe I am wrong.
Anne – Books of My Heart recently posted…Thrifty Thursday: Jodi Burnett edition @Jodi_writes #JodiBurnett #ThriftyThursday #KindleUnlimited
Lark_Bookwyrm
I don’t think so? It came out last May, and her May release is usually a standalone contemporary romantic suspense novel. Lately, her series books (usually part of a trilogy) have been coming out in November, and they usually have a fantasy or strongly paranormal element to them. Mind Games does have the psychic thing going on, but to me it feels overall more like her straightforward romantic suspense books.