Book Review: Come Sundown by Nora Roberts

Come Sundown
Author: Nora Roberts
Publication: St. Martin's Press (May 30, 2017)

Description: A novel of suspense, family ties, and twisted passions from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Obsession...

The Bodine ranch and resort in western Montana is a family business, an idyllic spot for vacationers. A little over thirty thousand acres and home to four generations, it’s kept running by Bodine Longbow with the help of a large staff, including new hire Callen Skinner. There was another member of the family once: Bodine’s aunt, Alice, who ran off before Bodine was born. She never returned, and the Longbows don’t talk about her much. The younger ones, who never met her, quietly presume she’s dead. But she isn’t. She is not far away, part of a new family, one she never chose—and her mind has been shattered…

When a bartender leaves the resort late one night, and Bo and Cal discover her battered body in the snow, it’s the first sign that danger lurks in the mountains that surround them. The police suspect Cal, but Bo finds herself trusting him—and turning to him as another woman is murdered and the Longbows are stunned by Alice’s sudden reappearance. The twisted story she has to tell about the past—and the threat that follows in her wake—will test the bonds of this strong family, and thrust Bodine into a darkness she could never have imagined.

My Thoughts: The story begins in 1995 when twenty-one year old Alice Bodine is hitchhiking her way back to the family ranch outside of Missoula, Montana. She had left three years earlier right after her sister Maureen's wedding in the hopes of building a career in Hollywood. She still has some miles to go and night is falling when a man in a pick-up offers her a ride. She doesn't know that he is going to kidnap her, rape her, imprison her and abuse her for more than twenty-five years.

Then the story switches to the present day. The Bodine Ranch and Resort is thriving under the care of Bodine Longbow, Alice's niece. She and her family including her siblings, parents, grandmother and great-grandmother are a tight knit group. Bodine doesn't miss Alice since she never knew her but knows her grandmother still thinks about her often and wonders what happened to her.

Meanwhile, Cal Skinner comes home. Cal grew up on a neighboring ranch and was her older brother Chase's best friend. He did build a career in Hollywood managing horses but is back now. Bodine has a crush on him when she was young but he didn't think of her as anything more than his best friend's little sister. Things have changed now that they are both grown up.

Before they can do more than looking longingly at each other, a young woman employee of the resort is murdered. Then a second young woman is kidnapped and her body found on the resort. One of the Sheriff's deputies who has had a hate on for Cal since childhood is convinced that Cal is the killer and harasses him.

Before the real killer is found, a brutalized and damaged Alice manages to escape from her kidnapper and her re-entry into the family not only changes the family dynamic but links the current murders to her kidnapping many years earlier.

This was an engaging story with Alice's story woven into it in a series of flashbacks. It also has a number of romances since not only Bodine but her brother's Chase and Rory also find romantic partners. The story has a number of Roberts's signature details in the strong family relationships among the Bodine-Longbows and the strong friendships among the younger generation. This one also has a great setting and talks a lot about the beauty of Montana. Nora Roberts fans won't want to miss this engaging story.

Favorite Quote:

"Had the pining eyes," Miss Fancy patted a hand over her heart. "Hell. I'd've been sweet on him myself if I'd been younger, or him older."

"What would Grandpa have had to say?" Bodine wondered.

"That married and dead aren't the same. We were married sixty-seven years before he passed, and the both of us were free to look all we wanted. Touching, now? That's when married and dead are the same."

I bought this one. You can buy your copy here.