ROMANTIC RATS
Very seldom. today, do we come across the romantic rogue type bad guy in today's novels – even the “romantic” ones. I met with such a lovable scoundrel recently when a neighbor dropped off one of several books she thought I must read./ It is a novel titled:”Homeport”,:written by Nora Roberts..
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Dr.Miranda Jones, in the novel, of Jones Point, Maine, where they had long been a leading family, is an art expert and especially adept authenticating old art works of art and placing them where they rightfully belong. In this exciting novel, Dr. Miranda encounters art theft of a special kind and becomes romantically involved with a man who specializes in stealing art treasures for a price on order for art collectors. He is a thief, but a very specialized one, and also a young man who takes good care of of his extended Italian family - owners of a fine arts exhibit center of note - with his "earnings". His family - mother, father and others, including a younger sister, who is, oddly enough, a member of the local police force know about his unusual line of work. The next job" they seem to believe is going to be his "last one" which makes it all acceptable for the time being. With his accumulated earnings he has uprooted them from their old urban area which "was becoming dangerous" and bought them a spacious old farm home in Maine where they live in relative splendor and comfort. A happy family, too..
Dr. Jones' mother is also an art expert and runs the family studio and exhibit hall in Florence, Italy. A small bronze figure is found and Miranda is ordered by Mother to come to Florence at once to authenticate it. Thus begins a complicate story of art theft with many facets of romance, adventure and danger.
Mirnada, after a short study, finds the bronze to be the real thing and in doing so here reputation as an art expert will be greatly enhanced. It is placed on exhibit with special safety precautions, but "someone" manages to walk in; steal it and cause all manner of trouble. But, it seems, the "stolen" figure is indeed a fake and has been substituted for the real bronze somewhere along the line..
The plot continues with other thefts and leads, eventually, to murder, but it works out well for Miranda, her brother Andrew and Ryan Boldari - the consummate thief . It is a book to be read for enjoyment. The heavy layer of art is art not at all cumbersome and is not used in a stuffy or academic manner.
I enjoyed reading it . It was a welcome respite from today's mass mayhem mystery overload.. I'd even like to get to know the Boldari family better. The cover blurb called it "romantic suspense". It does well on both counts. Try it: Nora Roberts' “Homeport”. I would say it is one of the better examples of this genre in recent years.
A. L.M. April 2, 2004 [c505wds]
