This book Roberts's fifth new one released this year features all the romance, drama and intrigue that fans have come to expect from the bestselling writer. It also offers a bit more: clichd characters (e.g., a rough-talking, street-smart stripper; a reclusive alcoholic brainiac) and well-trod ground (e.g., a grand-scale shipwreck and the international art scene). Despite a predictable plot involving the Sullivan family and their quest to find a small silver figurine that belonged to their ancestors and narrowly escaped sinking with the Lusitania in 1915 reader Quigley triumphs to make this a winning production. Her performance rings with subtle nuances, accents ranging from Czech to Irish, and theatrical crescendos and decrescendos. The story opens just before the Lusitania meets its fate, and Quigley draws listeners round with an ominous "happily unaware he'd be dead in 23 minutes, Henry W. Wiley imagined pinching the nicely rounded rump of the young blonde who was directly in his line of sight." In this scene and throughout the story, she puts herself inside each character, giving each one a unique mannerism, tone and feeling no matter how formulaically Roberts may have drawn them. Quigley's presentation is captivating; Roberts's story, regrettably, is not quite. Simultaneous release with the Putnam hardcover (Forecasts, Apr.1). (Apr.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

On May 7, 1915 the lives of two people change forever. Henry Wyley is a wealthy man enjoying a cruise, on the way, he hopes, to purchasing the second of three figurines called the Fates, a trio of priceless, long-separated silver statues. Felix Greenfield, a petty thief on the run from the law in New York, decides to rob Wyley's stateroom and comes across the statue. They are sailing on the Lusitania when a torpedo hits; Wyley is killed, but Greenfield helps to rescue a passenger and survives. While recovering, he meets the woman who becomes his wife and begins to move toward redemption. Eighty-seven years later Greenfield's heirs work to recover the Three Fates. There is lots of action, intrigue, and wonderful dialog here. Bernadette Quigley does an exceptional job as reader, providing interesting characterizations. The story does plod some in the middle but reaches a satisfying conclusion. For libraries where Roberts is popular.-Danna Bell-Russel, Library of Congress (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.