Tribute-Nora Roberts

Tribute
Nora Roberts
Putnam, Jul 2008, $26.95
ISBN: 9780399154911

She was a child star, but when her television show was cancelled Cilla McGowan’s Hollywood career was terminated too although as a teen she scored parts in slasher flicks, made CD’s, and performed in public. She realized this was not what she wanted to do with her life although her mother, a failed wannabe actress, kept pushing her in that direction. Finally Cilla persuades her mom to sell her, in exchange for money to put on a show in Las Vegas, her late grandmother’s farm which she always wanted.

Cilla’s renowned grandma Hollywood legend Janet Hardy had her hideaway in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley. Janet died there under suspicious circumstances. Cilla is determined to restore the place to its former glory. She finds Janet’s letters that she was having an affair and the married man wanted to end it. Someone in town wants Cilla to leave and that person tries to intimidate her into fleeing back to the other coast. Cilla refuses to be driven off, but her adversary keeps raising the stakes until her life is in jeopardy.

As always Nora Roberts writes a fascinating tale that her audience will read in one wonderful sitting. Cilla is an obstinate strong person who gained strength with her determination to withstand her mother’s pressure and her own fight with stage fright; so is prepared for the most part to deal with the stalker’s dangerous intent. This is a strong TRIBUTE to a great storyteller.

Harriet Klausner