Night Moves (Nora Roberts)

August 10, 2015 Book Reviews 16 ★★

Night Moves (Nora Roberts)Night Moves by Nora Roberts
Published by Silhouette on August 4th 2014 (first published 1985)
Genres: Romantic suspense
Pages: 221
Format: Kindle or ebook
Source: purchased
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two-stars
Also by this author: Dark Witch, Shadow Spell, The Collector, 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

Was she foolish or wise to follow her instincts?

The house had stood vacant for ten years, but Maggie Fitzgerald knew she could call it home. An award-winning songwriter, Maggie had sought peace and solitude from the Los Angeles celebrity hounds after her husband's accidental death. Instinct had brought her east, to the small Maryland town of Morganville.

Instinct also told her that Cliff Delaney, owner of a local landscaping company, was just the person to revitalize her property. But once that project began, the remains of a dead man were discoveredâ€"and everyone she knew, including Cliff, seemed to have a motive for the killing.

Could she trust her instincts again – or would the truth be her undoing?

Review

I never expected to give a Nora Roberts book only 2 stars, but despite good writing and an interesting female lead, I wasn’t thrilled with this one. Three things really bothered me about it. Well, three and a half.

The main characters, Maggie and Cliff, are strongly physically attracted to each other from their first meeting – too strongly for me to believe in, actually. Yet they don’t like each other much; Cliff jumps to conclusions about Maggie, and Maggie doesn’t care for his attitude. I’m not a fan of insta-lust or insta-love – and it’s clearly the former in this case. Although I think we’re meant to read it as emotional attraction, it didn’t come across as anything but physical to me in the beginning. And I don’t particularly buy into the antagonism-as-precursor-to-love trope, unless it’s handled really well.

The second thing ties in to the first. Even when Maggie says no, Cliff keeps pushing, using the almost-irresistable physical attraction between them to get her to have sex with him, on the assumption that afterward, he’ll be over her. That’s just wrong on so many levels. It falls into the whole rape-culture myth that women really want it even when they say no. It’s not honorable on Cliff’s part; he’s not respecting her objections, and he’s using her – so it doesn’t give me a very good impression of him as a person. Roberts tries hard to sell me on him, and later on she almost succeeded, but that whole section of the book left me with a bad taste in the mouth.*

My third objection is that there’s never any real reason given for the way Cliff jumps to unflattering conclusions about Maggie based on her celebrity and what he’s read about her. I could understand it when he hadn’t met her, but he goes on doing it even when he has plenty of evidence to the contrary, based on his own interactions with her and his observations of her. If it’s a character flaw, it’s not one I would find attractive (and Maggie doesn’t), nor is it one I’d care to live with. He does get over it eventually, as far as his understanding of Maggie goes, but there’s no evidence that he has actually learned not to judge people in that way, or learned to be less cynical.

The half-objection is that I spotted the killer right away; it’s telegraphed in various ways shortly after the bones are discovered. (I can’t remember the sequence clearly, but I think there’s even a hint before that.) Maybe it’s just that I read so many mysteries that it’s getting harder to fool me, but it lessened the suspense. And once again, something went unexplained; at one point there’s a tension in Cliff when he speaks of or meets the person, and we never really find out why. I felt that overall, Cliff’s backstory and motivations weren’t really clear, and even when his “secret” was revealed, it didn’t explain some aspects of his character or behavior.

The redeeming feature of the whole book for me was Maggie. I really liked her determination to make a home away from all the glitter and hustle of L.A., and having grown up in Maryland, I understood the attraction of the Blue Ridge mountains. I liked her passion for music, and thought that Roberts really conveyed the singlemindedness of a musician/composer at work. And she is fundamentally a good and kind person, with empathy for others, a hard-won patience, and an admirable ability to keep a rein on her quick temper. She’s the reason I kept reading – well, that and a desire to see if I was right about the killer, and find out how it would all resolve.

Roberts is still one of my favorite authors for romantic suspense, but I’m glad this wasn’t my first exposure to her. I realize it’s one of her earlier books, but it has significant flaws. I won’t be reading Night Moves again.

 

*Night Moves was first published in 1985, and this aspect is not out of keeping with other books of the same period… but it still bothers me.

CHALLENGES: COYER, but not Scavenger Hunt.  Popsugar #16: A book by an author you love that you haven’t read yet.

two-stars

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.

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Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

  • COYER Scavenger Hunt - Summer 2015
  • PopSugar 2015 Reading challenge

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16 Responses to “Night Moves (Nora Roberts)”

  1. Red Iza

    I’m sorry it wasn’t good for you, but I do understand your reasons and I strongly support your second objection. But just like you, I’ll read more Nora Roberts, I’ll just avoid that one. Thanks for sharing 🙂
    Red Iza recently posted…The sunday post #53 : I’m back !My Profile

    • Lark_Bookwyrm

      The conclusion I’ve come to, after reading some of her earliest works, is that I’d rather stick to her more recent stuff – mid-career and beyond. I’m sure there are exceptions, but there’s no way I’m going to get through all her books anyway, so I’ll just work through some of the more recent backlist. 🙂

  2. Quinn @ Quinn's Book Nook

    I’ve read so many of Nora Roberts books over the years, but I don’t think I’ve ever read this one. I’m sorry this was such a disappointment. I would be so annoyed with Cliff too! I would hate for the “hero” to be using the heroine, and also to be pushing her when she says no. That is NEVER okay, even if the book is an old one. Thank goodness things have changed, yes?

    Thanks for the honest review.
    Quinn @ Quinn’s Book Nook recently posted…Quick Review: Tough Love by Lori FosterMy Profile

    • Lark_Bookwyrm

      I’ve run into similar problems with other authors who were writing in the 1980s (like Jayne Ann Krentz.) It’s clear we’re supposed to read it as Cliff really is falling in love with her but doesn’t know it, but it didn’t come across that way to me. I think we’ve all become more sensitive to and concerned about the “she doesn’t really mean no” mentality, so what was more acceptable in romance books 30 years ago is no longer comfortable for readers today.

  3. Katherine @ I Wish I Lived in a Library

    I don’t remember if I’ve ever read this one or not. I had this idea at one point that I was going to read all of Nora Roberts’ books but after reading a few of her really early books I decided to let that plan go! The early ones are really dated. I try to avoid anything before the mid-90s with most romance type authors for this reason.
    Katherine @ I Wish I Lived in a Library recently posted…Baker’s Blue – Blog Tour Review + GiveawayMy Profile

    • Lark_Bookwyrm

      Yes, that’s sort of where I am with it, too. I’ve run into similar problems with some of Jayne Ann Krentz’s early work. Readers’ tastes change and evolve, as does what society considers acceptable behavior. And authors change and grow and evolve right along with the rest of us.

    • Lark_Bookwyrm

      The grapes LOL – I love that! As far as what bothered me in the book, though, I think it has more to do with the tropes that were prevalent and accepted in the ’80s than with the storytelling itself. I would have liked it if those things hadn’t been present.

  5. Bea @Bea's Book Nook

    I don’t think I’ve read this one but your objections bother me also, especially number two. That nonsense was prevalent in 80’s books and it really needs to die out again. Why the heck didn’t she update this book before re-releasing it? Oh well. One less book for the TBR Pile of Doom. 🙂
    Bea @Bea’s Book Nook recently posted…Bea Reviews The Musubi Murder by Frankie BowMy Profile

    • Lark_Bookwyrm

      Yes, precisely my thought. But updating it really would have required rewriting it, I think. I guess I’d rather she spend the time writing new books. 🙂

    • Lark_Bookwyrm

      Definitely dated in that it contains one or two of the problematic tropes from the ’80s. I like her more recent work better.