cover image Roanoke

Roanoke

Margaret Lawrence, . . Delacorte, $24 (406pp) ISBN 978-0-385-34237-7

The author of Hearts and Bones returns with a clunky sea-crossing historical thriller that promises to imagine what may have happened to the lost colony of Roanoke. At the center of this tale is Gabriel North, ordered by the conniving handlers of an aging and cash-starved Queen Elizabeth, who’s just survived an assassination attempt, to travel across the ocean in pursuit of the legendary riches that supposedly abound in the New World. But as much as Sir Walter Ralegh and others see Gabriel as a pawn for their bidding, they aren’t prepared for Gabriel’s eventual alliance with the Secota Queen Naia. Though well researched, the novel suffers from wooden dialogue, is filled with far too many minor characters and fails to deliver a stunning reveal about Roanoke’s fate. (Jan.)