Nightwork

The latest romantic suspense novel from bestseller Roberts (Legacy) is a master class in the slow burn, blending heartrending emotion and thrills to deeply satisfying effect. Harry Booth spends his childhood becoming an exceptional thief to support his ailing mother and, after her death, builds a freewheeling and detached life for himself as a young man. He falls in love with Miranda Emerson during a stint in college in North Carolina, but threats from vicious criminal mastermind Carter LaPorte, whose attention Booth caught years earlier, force him to break Miranda’s heart to protect her. Twelve years later, Booth encounters Miranda again, and he realizes that to build a life with her, he’ll need to deal with LaPorte—permanently. The story delivers all the hallmarks that make Roberts so beloved: charming characters, alluring settings, unconventional chosen families, heartfelt romance, and riveting action. The unhurried pace allows for an organic accumulation of essential elements as intense emotion builds, but risks losing less patient readers. Those who trust Roberts’s sure hand to guide them along, however, will find themselves on an immersive and moving outing in the company of a beguiling thief. This is a treat. Agent: Amy Berkower, Writers House. (May.)