Mind Games

Mind Games is an intriguing smorgasbord of suspense and romance with a side of supernatural served up via Author Nora Roberts’s signature style. 

A multi-layered, character driven story with a strong yet vulnerable protagonist, Mind Games pits good vs. evil in an epic battle of the minds between two individuals with the gift of sight. 

Twelve-year-old Thea Fox and her younger brother Rem are excited to be spending two weeks of their summer vacation with their maternal grandma Lucy on her idyllic farm in Appalachia, Kentucky.  Unfortunately, their happiness is shattered when tragedy strikes during a home invasion in which their parents are brutally murdered back in Virginia . . .  An attack both Thea and Lucy witness in horrifying graphic color in their nightmares. Thea inherited her psychic gift of sight from her grandmother as it’s been passed down through generations of women in the family. Thea’s powers of sight surpass those of her grandmother’s, and it’s her detailed description of the killer and his subsequent actions that aids authorities in locating, capturing and locking him away for life. Over time, Thea realizes the killer can also “see” her, and a mental battle of the minds begins between them.

Like several of Roberts’s books, Mind Games unfolds in parts beginning with Thea Fox’s early formative years starting at age twelve and continuing over a span of fifteen years into adulthood.  Over the course of the story, readers get a sense of the love, respect, kindness, and tradition in which Thea and Rem thrive, growing into productive, caring adults with a keen sense of family.  Over the years, Thea continues perfecting her gift of sight while utilizing her abilities to keep an eye on her parents’ killer locked away in prison. She’s careful, or so she thinks, to never let him “see” her watching him, but as she soon learns his powers are growing also, and he taunts and threatens her while stalking her nightmares. There’s no doubt a confrontation is coming. Will she survive the challenge?

Mind Games is an emotional story that evolves slowly over time. Roberts gift for crafting heartfelt, emotional family sagas is highlighted as is her talent for rendering characters with deep family roots and tradition.  Some readers may find the development of this story a bit slow as the author takes time to introduce the characters and set the stage for the coming battle while building tension.  While the pace is slow, there’s an escalating undertone of malice lurking that builds to the final showdown and epic battle of the minds. For those looking for romance, a love interest appears in the second half of the book with a relationship developing slowly, but for the most part Mind Games is a family drama about a girl who grows up learning to accept and embrace a unique gift while yielding it in ways to help not harm her fellow man. It’s a showdown of good vs. evil reminiscent of the epic battle at the O.K. Corral, but with weapons of the mind not guns.  It’s another Nora Roberts classic in the making. Highly recommended to fans of Roberts and romance suspense as well as those who enjoy stories featuring protagonists with psychic gifts.