The latest from powerhouse author Nora Roberts has left me with some mixed feelings. Nora Roberts’s books always provide imaginative and immersive reading experiences. She builds worlds that feel alive and thriving and where readers can escape. In this case, however, the world of MIND GAMES felt a little sharper, with a few jagged edges.

Following the vicious murders of their parents, young Thea and Remington Fox are raised by their grandmother in Kentucky. As do all the women in her family, Thea has the gift of sight, and she witnessed the murders of not only her parents but also tapped into the mind of the killer to give testimony about other murders and his whereabouts. Thanks to her, the police can quickly catch up to the killer and lock him away for life. The gift weighs heavy on Thea, and she leans on her brother and grandmother to cope as time goes on.

While being able to see such horrific actions is a curse, Thea’s gift also allows her to create a richly vivid world of dreams. It becomes the passion behind her school studies and career as a video game designer, a choice that allows her to work remotely in the comfort of her Kentucky home. Thea keeps quiet about her gift outside of those who know her well; she has been bruised in the past by friends and lovers and is adamant that she won’t make the same mistakes again.

Tucked safely and happily away, Thea doesn’t expect to meet her childhood rock star crush, who, as it turns out, is the great-grandson of her neighbor. Tyler and his young son move in, and their lives become enmeshed and enriched.

I loved the setting of the Kentucky hills and mountains, and I can very easily see how the characters fit there so fully and completely. However, I have some issues with the pacing, which at times felt slow and dragged out and, at other times, sped ahead by months or years at a time. About 70% of the way through the book, everything felt rushed and pushed ahead. On the one hand, that makes sense; Tyler and Thea are falling in love, and the killer, though physically locked up, continues to bedevil Thea through mind games, and all of the narrative threads need to be resolved. It isn’t that I didn’t like this pacing so much as it felt like such a departure from the first chunk of the book, which detailed the pastoral settings of childhood, life in Kentucky, etc.

The emotion Nora Robert delivers is once again present in this book. She has a strong gift for character development and dialogue; scenes play out in my mind’s eye as if I’m standing on the sidelines watching and listening. I grinned at Thea’s dog, Bunk’s, adventures, laughed at the verbal interplay between Ty, Thea, and Rem, winced at Ty’s betrayal, and cringed at the descriptions of killer Ray Riggs’ brutality. All in all, this is another great story from a well-loved author.

I’d like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced reader’s copy I received in exchange for my honest opinions. MIND GAMES will be published on May 21, 2024.