Public Secrets Nora Roberts | ISBN : 0-553-10655-4

Public Secrets

Author: Nora Roberts

Publisher: Random House Publishing Group

Publication Date: 02 June, 1997

ISBN: 9780553106558

Pages: 448

Subjects: Suspense, Romance, Family life

Available as: Trade Cloth, 978-0-553-10655-8 Trade Cloth, 978-1-56895-055-6 Trade Paper, 978-0-553-38640-0 Trade Paper, 978-0-553-28578-9

Description:

From Nora Roberts, the incomparable New York Times bestselling author of Sanctuary and Montana Sky,comes a mesmerizing story of a woman trapped by a dangerous desire and threatened by a murderous secret, one of Nora Roberts's most popular novels, now available for the first time in hardcover. Emma. Beautiful, intelligent, radiantly talented, she lives in a star-studded world of wealth and privilege. But she is about to discover that fame is no protection at all when someone wants you dead.... All she has to do is close her eyes and she remembers the magical day her father came into her life. She was a frightened, lonely toddler, hiding, always hiding, from her mother's wrath, when Brian McAvoy swept in and took her away. She didn't know then that she was his illegitimate daughter or that she had just been rescued by pop music's rising new star. All she knew was that suddenly she felt safe. And there wasn't only Brian...his new wife became Emma's loving stepmother, his band members became her surrogate uncles, and soon Emma even had a new baby brother to care for. Then just when everything seemed perfect, a horrifying event shattered all their lives: a botched kidnapping attempt, shocking the world, traumatizing Emma, leaving her bereft of her newfound happiness. Yet now, after so many years of pain and guilt, of being overprotected and hounded by the press, Emma finally feels as if she's put the tragedy behind her. A determined, self-sufficient young woman, she has carved out a thrilling career, and even dared to fall rapturously in love. But the man who will become her husband isn't all that he seems. And Emma is about to awaken to the chilling knowledge that the darkest secret of all is the one buried in her mind--a secret that someone may kill to keep. With Public Secrets, Nora Roberts has woven an absorbing tale of a woman you can't help but care for, trapped in a terrifying web of suspense that will keep you reading long into the night.

PW Publishers Weekly

Review Source: Publishers Weekly

Review Date: 1990-05-25

Complex relationships among a believable ensemble of characters give Roberts's ( Sweet Revenge ) new romantic thriller much of its appeal. Emma McAvoy, daughter of a British rock star, is only six years old when her infant half-brother Darren is murdered in a bungled kidnapping attempt. Emma, the only witness, remembers little of that night, and while investigators determine that someone close to the family was involved, the case is never solved. Nagged by fears for her safety, Emma's father has her trailed by a bodyguard whenever she is not closed away in a private school. But as she grows up, neither guards nor a loving father can protect her from the nightmares and feelings of guilt that torment her. Nor can they shield her from Darren's murderers. Although it concludes with a satisfyingly gripping finale, the mystery is more a recurring element than a driving force, as the story explores the members of McAvoy's rock group, Emma's devotion to her father (who bought custody of Emma from her abusive, alcoholic mother), her destructive marriage and the father-son detective team whose dedication to the McAvoys and this case lasts more than 20 years. (July) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved