Roberts delivers another winner with this book. I really enjoy how she adds a touch of supernatural to ordinary tales. The story's setup is intriguing: a young girl with telekinetic powers sees something terrifying. It leaves a lasting mark on her, both physically and mentally. This book blends different genres seamlessly, making it a captivating read.

Thank you Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for the opportunity to listen and review this audiobook ARC.

This audiobook was my first Nora Roberts book, but it won't be my last.

I was intrigued by the premise: we follow the life of a young girl, Thea, whose parents are murdered by a serial killer. She has the ability to read minds/feel others' emotions, and as it turns out, so does the serial killer. And he's in her head, obsessed with hurting her like he did her parents.

I was expecting a thriller, and it definitely was in lots of ways. But I was interested to find that the story was just as much a character study. We spend a lot of time watching Thea grow up, spend time with friends and family, and pursue a career. The killer is there in the background the whole time, but isn't the focus for much of the book.

I enjoyed the pace and the story — and the narrator was terrific. She did such a great job with the different voices, I really forgot it was just one person.

I got attached to many of the characters, and enjoyed the setting of small-town Kentucky. I was surprised how quickly this went, but that's probably because I was listening to it almost every waking moment once I started.

I feel like this is almost a new (or new-to-me) genre - not too scary but still thrilling, a nice comfy pace with some romance but also gruesome murders. It's like... a cozy thriller? I kept expecting horrible things to happen and they never did, which was refreshing and also made me realize just how violent many of the thrillers are that I read.

However you categorize this book, I enjoyed it a lot and look forward to checking out more from this author.

Nora Roberts never lets me down!

In Mind Games, we meet Thea Fox and her family. When Thea and her brother are young, visiting their grammy on her Appalachian farm, the unthinkable happens to her parents back in Virginia. Thea and her brother must move in with Grammy in Kentucky, and start a new life. But starting over is hard when you've got "the sight" and someone evil is breaking through the veil.

Ahhh this was soooo good!!! Mind Games is Nora at her best. Blending romance, suspense, and supernatural elements, this was utterly unputdownable! LOVED!!

Narrator January Lavoy crushed it! Her ability to portray a large cast of characters of multiple ages is nothing short of uncanny! Such a talent!

Thank you Macmillan Audio for my gifted copy.

I just finished listening to “Mind Games” by Nora Roberts. I am a huge fan of Nora Roberts and have read a lot of her books. This was such a great book! I really enjoyed reading the main character’s growth through each chapter.

I always love a Nora Roberts book and this one did not disappoint! It had great storytelling, wonderful characters, and a great family dynamic . January Lavoy was excellent as the narrator.

The publication date is May 21, 2024.

Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the advanced digital audiobook.

Wow. This was not the book I was expecting seeing Nora Roberts as the author, but it was a great read. This is more psychological thriller than it is a romance. It places a huge emphasis on the importance of family. The narrator did such a good job of drawing me in and feeling what Thea was going through. I had to take breaks at points because of how intense parts got, but I loved the journey to the end. It was well written and well narrated. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martins press for the audiobook arc to give an honest review.

I haven’t read Nora Roberts in years but I remember really liking her storytelling and characters in the past. This book was great and no exception to my memories of her being oks in the past.

I loved the family relationships portrayed in this story. They were so rich and warm and the descriptions of Appalachian family life were vivid and welcoming. This story reads like a cosy in some ways. However, there is a terrifying psychic serial killer, so it won’t appeal to all the cozy fans, only those with a higher tolerance for some peril and violence.

I enjoyed this book and will recommend it for others who like family stories, provided they’re also okay with the killer aspects.

Overall, a fun read with a satisfying conclusion.

I really struggle with Nora Roberts. I find the beginning draws me in and then somewhere along the line I lose that spark that for me hooked in the beginning.

My thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this audiobook ARC.

Best-selling author Nora Robert’s is practised in a remarkable number of genres, mystery, thriller, romance, fantasy. This one is difficult to slot precisely, because it is really all of these. It also has a unique time-slip element. The main character, Thea Fox can re-experience past events using a gift of vision, handed down through the female line of her family, that is both prophetic and ‘historic.’ It’s a fascinating concept and enhances what is basically a cat-and-mouse story also distinguished by the fact that the ‘cat’ is the original victim.

The mouse, then, is the perpetrator, a psychopath named Ray Riggs who commits the major crime, the murder and of Thea’s parents in their beds one summer night when young Thea and kid brother Rem are happily visiting their Grammie Lucy in rural Kentucky. Grammie, my also possessing the gift, is awakened in the night with a sudden knowledge that her daughter and son in law have met a violent death at their Virginia home. Thea’s gift goes beyond Lucy’s, although she is a child: she ‘witnesses’ the entire crime and is even ‘seen’ by the murderer. This takes place vividly in her mind. Somehow, and this is never explained, Ray Riggs also has ‘the gift.’

Because the gift that Lucy and Thea share is simply part of local Kentucky lore, the sheriff immediately notifies Virginia police, Thea provides a clear visual portrait and even maps his movements after the crime, and he is quickly caught. Still a teenager, Riggs already has a history of misdemeanours and worse, and gets two consecutive life sentences in maximum security.

Without giving away the plot twists and turns for which the author is famous, let’s just say that, having both exposed and resolved the main story in the opening chapters, much of what follows becomes predictable. Riggs and Thea seemingly formed a tight psychic connection that terrible night. Until the conclusion nearly ten years later, they each ‘use’ that connection to taunt and torment each other. Thea, her family and friends, and eventually her rock-star boyfriend Ty, fear what Riggs might do just by using his mind to ‘push in’ on her. Thea fights back, at times initiating his psychic pain to remind him of who has the upper hand. She is on the side of justice so it’s never a question that the power for good will battle the power for evil. And win.

Because Thea grows up to be an enormously talented and famous video game designer, the battle itself takes place within a number of her video games, in segments throughout the book. These are well-done, reminiscent of the worlds Roberts created, with their sword fights, magic, dragons and dogs, and fierce female avengers, in other novels. But all of it goes on far too long. The first third of the book sets the scene with the children visiting the Appalachian farm and Thea discovering her gift, but, even without the gift or the trauma Thea (and Rem) are too wise and knowing for kids, and Grammy can sound like a Kentucky miner’s daughter, a shaman, and a learned philosopher, in varying degrees. Riggs is just plain bad, and thoroughly delights in his evil, but his own prison musings about his past don’t explain how he got the gift or why or how he ‘sees’ Thea and can penetrate her mind when he has never met her. Why does he hate her so much, a hatred apart from her understandable hatred of him? The subplot about boyfriend Ty, the moody (and really immature) musician who suddenly appears in Thea’s isolated neighborhood after having been her teenage crush, and the four year old son he is raising alone, adds a touch of ‘destined as if by magic’ romance. But not enough for the space they take up.

There remains plenty for Roberts fans to enjoy, however, though a tighter pace and fewer repeats, (Thea tells her entire murder scene story in almost the very same words far too often), maybe fewer characters and less fresh-baked cornbread, would have heightened the thriller factor. And narrator January LeVoy is once again terrific with all the accents, genders and ages of the characters.

Another GREAT book by Nora Roberts. "Mind Games" delivers all the goodness of romance, mystery and a touch of the paranormal. GREAT!!!

This is the sort of lite-paranora/suspense combo. Typically I love Nora Roberts books but this one wasn’t for me!
"Mind Games" follows young Thea Fox who along with her brother, are dropped off for the annual vacation at their grandmother's home in Appalachia. Thea though while staying "sees" a man who ends up breaking into her parents home and murders them.
Due to Thea, the man is arrested and jailed.
But Thea realizes this man has the same
"gift" that she does and through the decades she does what she can to stop him.
Thank you to NetGalley, Macmillan audio and Nora Roberts for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Wow! I finished this audio book in 2 days - once I started I just couldn't stop listening. I really enjoyed the time the author dedicated to building the characters of Thea and her family, showing us the community and how Lucy and Thea's gifts are an excepted part of their community. Thea was a strong character who didn't rely on those around her to save or rescue her, but listened to herself and figured out how she could care for herself as well and resolve the overarching conflict with Riggs.

This will be a fantastic summer read :)

Nora Roberts does it again and the narrator was fantastic!
This book sucked me in from the beginning. I could not get enough and did not want it to end. It was a different type of story than I have read from her before. One thing I really liked about it was that we got to follow the 2 main characters from the time they were children up to through their 30's. It was great to watch the story play out over all of that time and see how they built great lives despite the terrible thing that happened when they were young.
If you are looking for a great book to read, pick this one up. You will be glad you did !

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this ARC.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to review, Mind Games by Nora Roberts. This review is purely my thoughts and opinions based on this audiobook.

The Foxes take their children to Grandma’s for a couple weeks every summer and this summer is no different. Thea is able to run free in Appalachia and spend time with her Grammie. While the children are enjoying themselves, their parents are entering unknown territory that they were unaware of. Thea and her grandmother, Lucy both have the same nightmare, but then it has become reality. These two have never discussed their special sight they share.

The kids will be staying with Grammie from now on and the is to Thea’s vision- her parents killer will stay in prison, but does prison really keep the killer at bay?

This was such a great read. With their special sight, I felt a sense of fantasy dancing around this title, along with suspense, and a little romance to keep it interesting.

I found myself immersed in Mind Games, by Nora Roberts. I loved the setting and characters that were expertly woven into a gripping story. The narrator did an outstanding job giving a unique voice to each character while bringing them to life. Listening to this audio book was an absolute pleasure

A family with special gifts that run down through the women of the family - can be a blessing and a curse. Fabulous writing— the author really draws you in from the beginning and makes you invested in the Fox family— I did find some sections slow between the 50-70% mark— but they were just moments and then the story would get it’s drive again. I read this book by audiobook and I have to admit during the slower parts of the story LaVoy our narrator was really what kept me interested in the characters LaVoy was amazing at telling the story and her voices and accents for the multitude of generational characters was beyond amazing — it was like listening to different people — male , female . Old and young — and accents — each character had such a distinctive voice it blew my mind . LaVoy’s narration was what truly brought these characters to life for me and helped me stay invested.
This is my second book by Nora Robert’s and she is definitely a Master storyteller — with character that are likable and easy to invest in from the start of the book— full of suspense and intense emotion which was also enhanced by LaVoy’s narration.
I would rate this book 4/5 for the story and writing but bump it up to 5/5 cause the audiobook narration was stellar !

Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for this ALC. this is my honest review .

Nora Roberts used to be an incredibly formulaic author. Which I didn’t mind. There was something comforting about knowing that the main character would meet her love interest around the 10% mark, share a first kiss around 25%, consummate the relationship about halfway through the book, have some kind of intense argument about 3/4 in, after which they’ll make up, the plot will resolve, and they will live happily ever after. These books were incredibly predictable, but I still loved them. Nora’s lovely prose, her lovable characters, and her ability to just weave an incredibly engaging story made this predictability cozy instead of boring. Yet, since about 2017, with the publication of Come Sundown and Year One, she has thrown that formula completely out the window, and it shows no signs of returning. And her work is so much stronger for it. Her books now tend to deal with harder hitting topics and are far less predictable in their timelines. You can still absolutely trust that everything will work out in the end, but the journey to that end is much more fraught, and much more likely to take unexpected turns.

Mind Games is no exception to this. We follow our main character, Thea, from the age of 12. We spend a lot of time in her childhood and young adulthood, and that time is never boring. She’s a fascinating character. We don’t really even meet the love interest until around halfway through the book, and the progression of their relationship is slow and organic and lovely. But, while I enjoyed the romance, it definitely wasn’t the focus of the book. Instead, the focus is on Thea’s mental war with her parents’ killer as he serves out multiple life sentences in a supermax facility. For, you see, both Thea and the murderer she helped put away have a gift, and that gift links them. They are both somewhat telepathic, and I found the expressions of that telepathy, especially in Thea’s life, absolutely enthralling.

I loved following Thea through her life. I adored the Appalachian setting, where Thea and her brother, Rem, grew up, nestled in the Kentucky foothills. Their grandmother, Grammie, is a gorgeous, talented, spitfire of a woman with a touch of the same gift that Thea has in spades. I loved her so much, and she was such a wonderful guardian to her grandchildren. Though their family experienced some incredible trauma, she built a beautiful life for those kids. I also loved the relationship between Thea and Rem, and the career paths they chose for themselves. Thea’s path adds an extra layer of meaning to the title, which is fun. There are other wonderful characters in this story, but as they don’t show up until the halfway mark, I’ll leave them for other readers to discover for themselves.

Nora’s strengths are, in my opinion, her characters and her settings. She does a brilliant job of crafting characters with instant depth, who it’s impossible not to fall for within paragraphs of meeting them. The relationships she builds between them are rock solid and honestly enviable, even for those who have such relationships in their real lives. And the settings are always beautifully drawn, rendered in Technicolor and incredibly enticing. I love where I live, but the temptation to move to Kentucky and raise chickens and make soap was strong.

Even though her characters and settings and her writing itself are the big draws to Nora’s work for me, she never tells a boring story. And this one was no exception. I was completely captivated by every aspect, from the horrific to the charming. It was a really strong plot. I was reminded just a touch of Stephen King’s The Shining in terms of Thea’s and the killer’s telepathic war, but without the horror elements.

Mind Games was a solid, always engaging read, populated with a host of wonderful characters. I was completely hooked from the first page to the last, which is high praise for any book. It’s a story I will absolutely revisit, as I so often do with Nora’s work. I’m so thankful I was given the opportunity to read this early, and I can’t wait to get a physical copy in my hands and on my shelf. And if you're an audiobook fan, January LaVoy did a magnificent job with the narration, as she always does!

This was quintessential Nora Roberts. Cheesy, over the top, entertaining. I love January LaVoy's narration of her books so much.
A negative for me was the "mental fighting" between the characters. It was so out to lunch lol

This was a good story! I loved the concept though I really thought the killer was really going to cause trouble and be released and come for her. Some of the dialogue was hard to read but I guess the author thought that it was "Kentucky." Loved the slow burn of the romance. It didn't feel forced, but natural. Would recommend.

This book was classic Nora Robert and absolutely excellent. I loved it so much. The plot was unique and the characters captivating.