Shelter in Place by Nora Roberts is a single story that deviates from her customary style by spanning fourteen years. The horrific tragedy of a mall shooting serves as the book’s opening scene. Simone Knox, a teenager, and her pals are watching a movie at the mall theater.

Her survival after the incident is due to a confluence of events. College student and waiter Reed Quartermaine feels the same way.

The novel’s protagonists, Simone and Reed, aren’t the only ones with connections to the people who were at the mall that tragic night. The psychological repercussions on other survivors and their loved ones are skillfully explored by Roberts.

Reed and Simone are the love leads of the novel, however they don’t meet until much later in the book. Each person discovers their purpose and copes with what happened that night as they go through life. The story is also shaped by how the encounter impacts their relationships with others around them.

The artist and Simone’s grandma CiCi Lennon is “a little bit psychic,” and the two are very close. A member of her family and a friend are also survivors, so she’s not alone. Simone and her sister had various emotions to the occurrence, and their lifestyles and tastes are also diverse, thus the family relations aren’t seamless.

Although Reed is a family man at heart, the plot mostly revolves around his connection to a police officer who responded to the 911 calls made during the incident. She guides him and becomes his mentor as he searches for his life’s purpose.

The routes that Simone and Reed take eventually lead them to one another. Being relatively vague about the particulars here seems preferable than risking damaging the pathways they travel and the elements that impact them along the way because they are expertly created.

Roberts doesn’t walk us through each month of the fourteen years the novel spans, but she does provide glimpses into the individuals’ lives at various moments.

A person isn’t pleased that they and many others survived, and Reed and Simone don’t know this while they construct their lives. One of the mall shooters’ sisters, Patricia Hobart, decides to take matters into her own hands after witnessing her brother and his accomplices botch the operation.

Although Reed has suspicions that survivors are being targeted, not all members of the law enforcement are willing to back this hypothesis. The fact that he must struggle for it is a major factor in how his journey intersects with Simone’s.

An island off the coast of Maine, reachable only by boat, is the setting for the book’s penultimate section. Northern Lights and The Search, two of Roberts’ earlier novels, are reminiscent of this one.

It is to be expected that there will be instances of similarity, given the quantity of her works. These plot points are comparable to one another, but they are not identical. Everything is structured differently in these cases.

Despite the story’s occasionally wrenching emotional content, the characters of Simone and Reed are likable and compelling. (Helping a stray dog earns Reed bonus points.) Everyone around them is usually understanding, though not always. An example of a quarrel that is difficult to resolve is the one between Simone and her sister.

Her sister doesn’t have any comprehensible motivations till that resolution. Without ever resorting to cliches, Roberts expertly manages the characters’ emotional problems.

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About the Author

James Robinson

James Robinson is a voracious reader who has been captivated by the magic of books since childhood.

With a background in journalism, he has honed his skills in writing insightful and engaging book reviews.

James has a particular interest in historical fiction and non-fiction, delving into the pages of the past to uncover intriguing stories and perspectives.