Hidden Nature
- Judith D Collins
- May 27
- 6 min read
By: Nora Roberts
Narrator: January LaVoy
ISBN: 978-1250370853
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Macmillan Audio
Publication Date: 05/27/2025
Format: Other
My Rating: 5 Stars (ALC)
The #1 New York Times-bestselling author presents a new novel about an injured cop who must fight to bring down a pair of twisted killers…
Natural Resources police officer, Sloan Cooper, and her partner had just taken down three men preying on hikers in the Western Maryland mountains. Driving back, she pulled in at a convenience store―and walked right into a robbery in progress. One gunshot from a jittery thief was about to change her world.
After being shocked back to life on the operating table, she has a long recovery ahead, so she moves back to her parents’ peaceful house in Heron’s Rest. As for the boyfriend who dumped her via text while she was in the hospital, good riddance.
She may be down, but she’s not out. So when a woman vanishes, leaving her car behind in a supermarket parking lot, Sloan searches online for similar cases. She finds them, spread across three states. Men and women, old and young―the missing seem to have nothing in common. And the abductions keep happening.
Luckily, the new man in her life shares her passion for solving this mystery. But it will take every ounce of endurance to get to the dark heart of this bizarre case―and she's willing to risk her life again if that's what it takes to stop the horror.
My Review
#1 NYT bestselling author Nora Robert (favorite) is back with her latest novel of suspense, HIDDEN NATURE —featuring Sloan Cooper a natural resources police officer who is driven and tenacious, taking on a pair of twisted killers for an action-packed suspense thriller that will keep you turning the pages into the wee hours of the morning.
A second chance at life can be DEADLY. Disturbing, engrossing, and adrenaline-pumping!
About...
Natural Resources police officer, Sloan Cooper, and her partner had just taken down a trio of men who spent most of the fall harassing, robbing, and assaulting hikers on the Western Maryland mountains. Two brothers and their father.
After a three-day operation, they were all in custody and hoped they would have a pleasant, extended stay in federal prison to consider the error of their ways.
Sloan is intense, driven, and buttoned-down, whereas her partner Joel is easygoing, does the job, and goes home. They trained together and aimed for the Criminal Investigative Bureau. She was from a small town in the western mountains, and he was raised in DC. Despite their different personalities, they make a great team.
However, as they are driving back, she pulls into a convenience store and in the middle of a robbery in progress. It happened so quickly. She was shot and had to be shocked back to life on the operating table with a long recovery. Her life changed before her eyes. She died and came back alive.
Her boyfriend dumps her via a text while in the hospital, and she decides to move back to her parents' home in Heron's Rest to recuperate. Of course, she cannot stay in bed, PT and her parents hovering, even though she is still in pain.
Their family has a business (third generation). All the Rest has cabin rentals, cottages, lake houses, boats, canoes, and paddleboards at Heron's Rest deep in the mountains and centered by Mirror Lake for those who want a quieter stay.
However, when a woman vanishes, leaving her car behind in a supermarket parking lot. She begins searching for similar cases. She finds mysterious missing people across three states. Men and women, old and young—the missing seem to have nothing in common. (Or do they?) And the abductions keep happening.
From Maryland, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania. In the midst of the investigation, she meets a new man who shares her love of life and mysteries, Nash Littlefield. Two brothers. Two sisters.
Due to the connection, they may be coming after her next! Her life is in danger once again.
My thoughts...
Get ready for the ride of your life in this scorching, action-packed, cop procedural and romantic suspense thriller. A solid story with well-written characters, a courageous, determined protagonist, and a twisty plot that keeps readers engaged.
Roberts does a great job balancing gentle romance with high-tension suspense. The twists and turns keep the reader on the edge of their seat as they will not want to put the novel down.
I adore Nora Roberts' writing, her books, and her characters! HIDDEN NATURE features a highly relatable Natural Resources police officer, Sloan Cooper, with an intriguing job —a dedicated, tenacious, and resourceful investigator (in a man's world). Her journey is one that many of us can empathize with. I always enjoy her books about courageous women.
Emotional, intense, and engrossing!
The novel delves into the minds of the killers, revealing their twisted motivations and the heinous crimes they commit for a chilling suspense thriller.
The author's skillful storytelling and twisty plot keep the reader on the edge, eager to see how Sloan will unravel the mystery and bring the culprits to justice. She must save the next person on the list before it is too late.
The author's characterization and vivid descriptions of the area and the creepy bad guys draw you in with intensity. The relationships with family members and the love interest give it a warm, cozy feel, providing a comforting balance to the dark suspense that Roberts is known for with her winning classic signature style.
I hope we hear from Sloan Cooper again in future books! I'm excited to see where her journey takes her next.
Audiobook...
Oh, my, the audiobook was fantastic! January LaVoy is one of my all-time favorite narrators and was thrilled to see she was performing! She is a superstar for all voices, which elevated the book and made the characters come alive. I could not put it down! What a performance, captivating and engaging. I highly recommend the audiobook.
When you join Nora Roberts and January LaVoy, you have a match made in heaven! Roberts and LaVoy fans will devour HIDDEN NATURE. A listen in one sitting.
Thanks to St. Martin's Press, Macmillan Audio, #MacAudio2025, and Netgalley for an ARC and ALC in exchange for an honest review.
@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks
My Rating: 5 Stars
Pub Date: May 27, 2025
Praise
"For Roberts’s fans, this delivers the goods." ―Publishers Weekly
"Roberts continues to serve up maximum reading pleasure with another nerve-wracking novel of suspense." ― Booklist
About the Author
Nora Roberts was born in Silver Spring, Maryland, the youngest of five children. After a school career that included some time in Catholic school and the discipline of nuns, she married young and settled in Keedysville, Maryland.
She worked briefly as a legal secretary. “I could type fast but couldn’t spell, I was the worst legal secretary ever,” she says now. After her sons were born she stayed home and tried every craft that came along. A blizzard in February 1979 forced her hand to try another creative outlet. She was snowed in with a three and six year old with no kindergarten respite in sight and a dwindling supply of chocolate.
Born into a family of readers, Nora had never known a time that she wasn’t reading or making up stories. During the now-famous blizzard, she pulled out a pencil and notebook and began to write down one of those stories. It was there that a career was born. Several manuscripts and rejections later, her first book, Irish Thoroughbred, was published by Silhouette in 1981.
Nora met her second husband, Bruce Wilder, when she hired him to build bookshelves. They were married in July 1985. Since that time, they’ve expanded their home, traveled the world and opened a bookstore together.
Through the years, Nora has always been surrounded by men. Not only was she the youngest in her family, but she was also the only girl. She has raised two sons. Having spent her life surrounded by men, Ms. Roberts has a fairly good view of the workings of the male mind, which is a constant delight to her readers. It was, she’s been quoted as saying, a choice between figuring men out or running away screaming.
Nora is a member of several writers groups and has won countless awards from her colleagues and the publishing industry. Recently The New Yorker called her “America’s favorite novelist.”
