Once again, a book I wanted came out sooner than I was expecting it. Three Fates by Nora Roberts, was just released in hardback. I bought it as soon as I knew it was out and I read it in two days. I would have finished it in one, but I had to get up early for work the next morning, so I had to get some sleep. I did end up staying up much to late reading. I kept telling myself I was only going to read a few more pages. I kept that up for a while, until I just made myself put the book down so I could get some sleep. As it was, I went off to work the next day with only three hours of sleep. I don't seem to have any will power where Nora Roberts books are concerned.

The first chapter begins on May 7, 1915 on board a ship, the Lusitania. Henry Wyley and his wife Edith were sitting on the deck having some tea. Henry owned an antique business and was making the voyage to England to hopefully obtain a small silver statue, one of the Three Fates. Henry had already acquired one of them. He wanted to get all three. Alone, they weren't worth much at all, but together, they would be priceless. Henry did have a lead on the third fate that he intended to follow up on after he got the second fate. He sat on the deck of the ship daydreaming about what he would do once he had all Three Fates.

Felix Greenfield, a thief, was also on board the ship. He just broke into the stateroom of the Wyleys. Felix had been watching them, so he knew their routine. He was just looking to grab what loose cash was laying around. Felix was from New York, but things were getting too hot for him there. He decided to move onto Europe. While searching a drawer, he discovers a small silver statue. It was one of the Three Fates. Felix wanted the statue for himself. He was getting ready to return it to where he found it when he heard a loud noise, like thunder. The ship shook. Felix put the statue in his pocket as he made his way to the deck. The ship was sinking. He was trying to save himself when he saw a young woman who was hurt holding her young son. Felix stopped to help them. He ended up in the ocean. He woke up later in the house of an Irish family that lived near where the ship had gone down. Felix was very shaken up by what had happened, and he changes his life.

The book the jumps forward to 2002. Malachi Sullivan, the great-great-grandson of Felix, is in Helsinki at a lecture being give by Dr. Tia Marsh on Greek myths. The statue had been passed down through Felix's family. They hadn't known that it was part of a set of three, or how valuable all three could be if reunited. Malachi met a woman, Anita, who ran an antique store in New York. She ended up stealing the statue from him. By this time, the family knew about the Three Fates and how valuable they were. They were determined to get it back and find the other two. Tia is the great-great-granddaughter of Henry Wyley. Malachi and his family believe that she may know some things about the fates that will help them track them down.

Tia is a very shy woman. She wrote a book on Greek myths, and was on a tour of Europe speaking about the book. Her therapist thought that the tour would help Tia overcome her shyness. Tia doesn't think it will help. She is convinced she has social anxiety disorder and a few other phobias. She is twenty two days into her tour and she is handling it better. Malachi talks to her after the lecture and the two end up having coffee. When he walks her back to her room, it has been searched. Malachi stays with her and keeps her calm while she deals with the police. He returns home to Ireland the next day. He thinks it is his fault that Tia's room was searched. He knows that Anita is also looking for the other two Fates. He thinks she was behind the break in.

Tia returned home to her apartment New York. She spends a few days not doing much of anything, just lounging around and recovering from the trip. She is convinced she is getting a cold and she took all kinds of vitamins and things. Tia was a hypochondriac. Malachi travels to New York, and shows up at her apartment. They spend some time together. Malachi really does enjoy spending time with her. One night at dinner, Anita stops at their table to chat. After that, Tia assumes that Malachi was just using her to try to find the Three Fates. She refuses to listen to him when he tries to explain. He returns to Ireland, hoping she will calm down so he can talk to her. Tia starts doing some research of her own on the Three Fates.

Gideon Sullivan, Malachi's brother, goes to Prague, looking for Cleo Toliver. He believes she may know something about one of the missing fates. Cleo is working in a club as a striper. She had been a dancer on Broadway, but she had some bad luck in her last relationship. She ended up stuck in Prague with no money and no way to get home. She took the job striping so she could make enough money to get back to New York City. She does meet with Gideon. She does know something about the statue, but she doesn't tell Gideon everything. She doesn't fully trust him since she doesn't know him. Some of Anita's flunkies show up looking for Cleo. She and Gideon barely get away. They end up on the run across Europe before they make it to New York City. Once there, they do meet up with Tia, and Malachi returns to the city as well.

Jack Burdett owns his own security company. He provided the security system for Anita's home and business. Jack does collect some antiques. Anita knows this, and decides he is the perfect person for her to use to track down the other two. Jack knows what she is up to. He just plays along with her, not letting her know that he is on to her. A little later in the book, Anita feeds him some lies about Cleo. Anita was hoping he would track Cleo down for her. Jack did know all about the Three Fates. He has his own connection to them. He does some checking, which leads him to the Sullivan family in Ireland. When he goes there, he meets Rebecca, Malachi and Gideon's sister. After a few days, they head to New York and meet with everyone else. They all have to decide if they can trust each other enough to work together to get the Three Fates. They come up with a plan they can all live with. One or two of them aren't thrilled with their parts in the plan, but they all agree to it. Many more things happen throughout the book. There are many things I have just briefly skimmed over, or left out all together. There are many things happening in this book, and many characters, so even though it seems like I have said a lot about the plot, I really haven't. There are just several characters that are involved, so it takes a little more to explain how they fit into the book. If you want to see how it all turns out, read the book.

Three Fates is a wonderful book that I really enjoyed. I had to make myself put it down, and I only did that because I had to go to work and I needed some sleep. The book is well written and descriptive, like all of Nora Roberts' books. Three Fates is similar to some of her other books. Three of the main character, Malachi, Gideon, and Rebecca, are siblings from Ireland. Roberts has written a few trilogies in which the main characters are siblings from Ireland. The only difference now is that Three Fates deals with all the siblings in one book, instead of spread over three different books. I think the book could have been split into three separate books, one focusing on each couple and the search for one of the statues. If there had been three books, then there would have been more details and development about some things. There would have been more showing the development of each of the relationships. Also, if there had been three books, it would be next year sometime before the third book was released. Three Fates works fine the way it is. I just would have liked to see a little more development in some of the relationships and maybe some more details related to the search for the statues. Three Fates is the first book by Nora Roberts that I have read that has more than one romantic relationship going on.

There is mystery, suspense, and romance throughout Three Fates. The mystery and suspense parts of the book relate to the search for the statues. There is some violence in some scenes relating to that search. A few dead bodies show up, but the violence in the book is not excessive. The descriptions of these events aren't explicit or gory. There is some swearing throughout the book. The word that rhymes with luck, and several variations of it, do show up throughout Three Fates. It isn't used as every other word like in some books and movies, but in a few scenes, it is used frequently. I didn't think the swearing was excessive, but some people might. If you are offended by repeated use of the word that rhymes with luck, or just don't like to read books that have that word, then this isn't the book for you.

The romance parts of the book deal with the relationships among the three couples. Malachi and Tia are the first to meet. They have some misunderstandings and a few things to deal with. Gideon and Cleo spend some time on the run together, in some very close quarters. They are attracted to each other and become intimately involved, but they do have some trust issues to work through. Jack and Rebecca are the last of the couples to meet. They seem to have fewer problems to deal with too. They are the first to make their relationship formal. All three couples do have intimate relationships, so there are descriptions of sexual situations and acts in the book. There are not a lot of these scenes, but there are some. They were descriptive, but I didn't think any of them were extremely explicit, but some people may think so. I think they were written in good taste. Some people may disagree with me on that. If you are offended by reading those kinds of scenes, or just don't like to read them, then Three Fates isn't the book for you. Since this is a romance, some things that happen are predictable, but many things that happen aren't predictable at all. At least they weren't for me.

Most of the book takes place in New York City, but there are scenes in many different locations. Some of the characters travel all over the world in Three Fates. Malachi and Tia meet in Helsinki. Tia returns to her home in New York, and Malachi shows up there, after spending some time at his home in Ireland. Gideon and Cleo meet in Prague, and then go on the run across Europe before they go to New York. Jack travels to Ireland to see the Sullivan family, and returns to New York with Rebecca. Anita makes a trip to Greece, following up on some information she had about one of the statues. Each location was well described, so I had no trouble imagining what the settings looked like.

Nora Roberts has written many books since she first started writing. I have read many of them, and plan on eventually getting to all of them. She is a very productive writing, publishing several new books each year. With many other authors I like, they write one, sometimes two books a year. Some authors take even longer to get a new book out. Not Nora Roberts. I think she published seven books and one new short story last year. Some of her older books that were first published by Silhouette Books were also reissued throughout the year. I think she will be publishing about the same amount of new books this year as well. She usually has two new books published in hardback each year. For the last several years she has been writing some trilogies, and there are usually at least two books that are part of a trilogy published each year. It seems like she still writes one or two new books for Silhouette each year too. Nora Roberts also writes a futuristic romantic suspense series under the name J.D. Robb. There are two books in the In Death series published each year. I do like that she writes so many books each year, but since I just started reading her books a little over a year ago, that means I have a lot of books to catch up on yet. I think that anyone who has enjoyed books by Nora Roberts in the past would enjoy Three Fates as well. Also, fans of the In Death series, even though they are a bit different, should like this too since it was written by the same author. Some books from the In Death series were actually the first books written by Roberts that I read. I loved that series, and then moved on to other books she had written.

There are six main characters in Three Fates. Since there are so many characters, none of them are as well developed as they would have been if there had been fewer main characters. Having six main characters did make the book some what complex, but I was easily able to keep up with everyone. Not too much time is spent on any one character. I think they are all well developed, especially considering how Roberts was juggling six main characters. Anita isn't in as much of the book, but she is developed enough that the reader can tell what kind of person she is and what drives her to do what she does. There are a few other minor characters that show up briefly here and there, but they aren't that well developed at all.

CHARACTERS

Malachi Sullivan - He is the oldest of the Sullivan children. The statue that Felix stole on the ship has been passed down in his family for years. It was important to them as a symbol before they knew of the other statues and the possible worth of all three. Anita stole the statue from him. He feels like he has to get the statue back for family honor. He is dedicated to his family and can be overprotective of his sister. He does care for Tia, and feels guilty for not telling her everything at first. He becomes protective of her too.

Tia Marsh - She is a hypochondriac, like her mother. She is convinced she has all kinds of health problems and pops all kinds of pills. Some of them are just vitamins and natural medicines, but some are prescriptions. She is very shy. She doesn't have much self confidence. She decides that the only reason Malachi is interested in her is because she may be able to help find the Three Fates. She doesn't think she is attractive to men. She feels like she is a big disappointment to both her parents. Her mother is always laying guilt trips on her. She only has a few friends. She does care about Malachi, but she convinced herself he could never return her feelings. She does things she never thought she would as part of the plan to recover the Three Fates and has fun doing them.

Gideon Sullivan - He is the middle child. He is also dedicated to regaining the statue that was stolen from them and finding the other two. He travels to Prague and meets up with Cleo, hoping she can help them find one of the other fates. He is attracted to her from the start, but he doesn't act on that attraction until later. He is a bit upset over something she does later, and he has to work through that. He seems to have a little trouble expressing his feelings at times.

Cleo Toliver - She is working as a striper in Prague. The last guy she was involved with conned her, and took off with all her money, leaving her broke. She took the job striping so she could make enough money to go back home to New York. She does meet with Gideon when he shows up looking for her. She does know about the statue, even where it is, but she doesn't tell Gideon everything she knows. She doesn't really trust him, especially after what happened with the last guy she was seeing. When they first return to New York, she has a plan of her own, but it blows up in her face. She wants to get the Three Fates, and make sure Anita gets what she deserves. Cleo gets along ok with Malachi, and becomes friends with Tia.

Jack Burdett - He owns a security company in New York, but he provides security for buildings all around the world. He provides the security for Anita's home and business. She tries to pick his brain about the Three Fates. He isn't going to let her use him. He has his own connection to the Three Fates that he never shared with Anita, but he does with the Sullivan family once he meets them. He and Rebecca spend time together in Ireland and then in New York. He is dedicated to his work. Once they all come up with a plan, he has an important part in it.

Rebecca Sullivan - She is the youngest Sullivan child. She is upset that her brothers are traveling all over and she has to stay home in Ireland. She likes Jack when she first meets him, but she tries to keep him at a distance. She has very strong feelings for him, and she is scared. She wants to get their statue back and reunite the Three Fates. She isn't happy with her part in places of the plan, but she does her part well. She becomes friends with the other two women.

Anita - She owns an antique company that she inherited from her husband after his death. He was several years older than her, old enough to be her father. She married him for his money and social position. She didn't have the best childhood. She was determined she would have money and be someone important. She had affairs with men she thought she could get something from. She is cold and ruthless. She stole the statue from Malachi and is determined to track down the other two. She thinks they will make her reputation if she reunites them and then sells them. Also, she is sure she'll make a fortune. She is willing to do anything to get her hands on the Three Fates.

Three Fates is a wonderful book and I loved it. It is another great book by Nora Roberts. Anyone who has read and enjoyed any of her other books, including the In Death series written as J. D. Robb, should enjoy this one. It is a must read for fans of Nora Roberts.

www.noraroberts.com

Nora Roberts Book Reviews
Dance Upon the Air ~ Heaven & Earth ~ Face the Fire ~ Reflections ~ Dance of Dreams ~ Hidden Star ~ Captive Star ~ Secret Star ~ Night Shift ~ Night Shadow ~ Night Smoke ~ Night Shield ~ Cordina's Crown Jewel ~ Cordina's Royal Family ~ Once More With Feeling ~ Midnight Bayou ~ ~ The Villa ~ Sweet Revenge ~ Genuine Lies ~ Chesapeake Blue ~ Birthright ~ Engaging the Enemy ~ Remember When

In Death Reviews
Seduction in Death ~ Reunion in Death ~ Purity in Death ~ Portrait in Death ~ Imitation in Death ~

Recommended: Yes