Ripped from the headlines has never been a more accurate description for a book than it is for Shelter in Place.
On a typical Friday night Simone is coming out of the mall’s movie theater restroom when she hears the gunshots. She assumes it’s the soundtrack of the movie she’s missing, until she nears the theater door and a wild-eyed, bloody man falls in front of her. She calls 911 – she’ll always be remembered as being the first to call – and hides in the bathroom while the two shooters continue their killing spree.
Reed is using his break time to chat up Angie, the cute girl working a sunglasses kiosk, and make plans with his best friend, who works at the nearby GameStop. Reed is rushing to get back to work on time when he hears the shots, then the screaming. He sees a laughing teenage boy firing shot after shot into innocent bystanders, and he calls 911 as he, and the toddler he’s saved, hide in the sunglasses kiosk – near Angie’s lifeless body.
Years pass, and the survivors of the shooting are still putting their lives back together. Reed has become a police officer, and silently keeps tabs on all of the people who survived that night. Simone has become an artist, putting all of her passion into her art and very little into her life. Then, as the anniversary of the shooting spree draws closer, survivors begin to die. Someone is targeting those who lived through the terror of that day, and this time no one is safe.
Shelter in Place pulled me in quickly and kept me page turning. Main characters Reed and Simone are believable and sympathetic, and they are given equal time in the novel. Their stories develop somewhat individually before coming together around halfway through the book. Secondary characters are equally interesting and help move the plot along, providing sounding boards and external motivation when the characters *ahem, Simone* need a kick in the pants.
While a good third of the novel takes place during the time of the shooting, at its heart Shelter in Place is exploring what happens after the bullets stop. Roberts delves into this question, following not only the survivors of the attack, but the effect on the families of the guilty. It makes for an entertaining, and thought provoking, read.
Nora Roberts’ standalone fiction is becoming more and more like her J.D. Robb novels each year. I would categorize Shelter in Place as dark romantic suspense, though not as dark – or graphic – as her last standalone, Come Sundown. There’s also not as much romance in Shelter in Place as I have come to expect in Nora Roberts’ novels. While romance is prevalent, the focus is more on the efforts of the main characters to rebuild and reclaim their lives.
Readers who enjoy Roberts’ alter-ego, J.D. Robb, will also enjoy Shelter in Place, as will readers who enjoy true crime, thrillers, and suspense – though this is likely lighter fare than many of the titles in those genres. Fans of Roberts’ lighter romances, such as Inn BoonsBoro, the MacGregors, etc., may not enjoy this darker plot line.