A love story of sorts, yes, but Steel's 38th (Malice, p. 328, etc.)—a no glitz, no glamour, color-by-the-numbers historical tract set mostly in the '40s—will have die-hard fans asking: Where's the Steel? When Japanese Masao Takashimaya meets his arranged bride, Hidemi, it's love at first sight. Though he's an ultramodern professor who wants his children to learn English and she's a fierce traditionalist who wants nothing more than to bear Masao a son, their marriage of convenience quickly transforms itself into a bona fide love match. Hidemi is ashamed, but Masao delighted, when their first child turns out to be a girl. And when their daughter Hiroko turns 18, her father—against her mother's wishes- -sends her to California for what is meant to be just one year of college. She goes to live with her father's cousin ``Tak,'' his Japanese-American wife, and their three American-born children. Tak, a highly-respected political science professor at Stanford, has lived in America for 20 years. Meanwhile, Tak's assistant, Peter, who is white, falls head-over-heels in love with the painfully shy Hiroko as soon as he meets her; and with Peter, Hiroko finally blooms, beginning to feel at home in a land that had previously seemed inconceivably foreign. Then WW II breaks out, Pearl Harbor is bombed, and Hiroko and the Takashimayas are sent to internment camps, along with thousands of other Japanese-American citizens. Peter goes off to war, as does Tak's son Ken, but through the hellish years that follow (and the loss of several principal characters), Hiroko's love for Peter never wanes. In the one concession to Steelism, in spite of insurmountable odds and considerable tragedy, a sappy end is tacked on with unabashed tugs at the heartstrings. History on the light side in the telling, though well researched and solid in its basis. If prosaic and simple, a glimpse nonetheless into a shameful episode in American history.
Pub Date: Dec. 1, 1996
ISBN: 0-385-31301-2
Page Count: 360
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1996
A well-written but not especially engaging entry in London’s contemporary cowboy series.
In Book 3 of the Princes of Texas series (The Devil in the Saddle, 2019, etc.), a restless rancher is torn between the family business and bigger dreams.
Nick Prince’s dreams of becoming a commercial airline pilot were dashed when he inherited the family’s struggling business, Saddlebush Land and Cattle Company, after his father’s death 18 months ago. Deeply unsatisfied with the cattle rancher life, Nick is grumpy and brooding. His capable office manager, Charlotte Bailey, is a bubbly extrovert who enjoys needling Nick over their differing organization styles and his general moodiness. Sexual tension simmers just below the surface of their banter ever since their steamy encounter at the company Christmas party two years ago. Nick tries to put Charlotte out of his mind so he can focus on fixing up the family finances and leaving for flight school, but neither can resist flirting. Charlotte is funny, loving, and adores their little town of Three Rivers. She likes her job and wants to settle down and start a family, but she knows Nick is not ready: “Why did it have to be so hot and tense between them when he was the one guy who would never be the man she wanted?” Eventually, they give in to their desires and spend more time together, but the central conflict remains. Nick’s dithering and complaining wear thin, but he is surrounded by a lively group of family and friends who offer advice he mostly ignores. An engaging subplot, especially one that foregrounds life on the ranch, might have generated more excitement.
A well-written but not especially engaging entry in London’s contemporary cowboy series.Pub Date: March 3, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-451-49239-5
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Jove/Penguin
Review Posted Online: Jan. 26, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2020
Suspenseful, glamorous story of love, blackmail, and magic, set in New Orleans and Washington, D.C., about a family of high-class magicians practicing the time-honored profession of thievery. When magician Maxmillian Nouvelle adopts the 12-year-old runaway Luke Callahan, he gives him more than a family: He teaches him the secrets of blending what's real and what's not...giving people what they want—and also taking what they value. For the Great Nouvelle is a master jewel-thief; stealing from the undeserving rich warms his blood like the anticipation of good sex, a passion that both Luke and Max's bratty daughter Raxanne eventually share. Thirteen years pass: As Luke practices the fine arts of larceny and escapology, Roxanne grows into a flame-haired witch who turns bell, book, and candle into smoke onstage. Offstage, she trades in her David Cassidy poster for Luke; together, they set off sparks that could make an innocent bystander..go up in flames. But Luke's invincibility, like the Great Houdini's, is deceptive: Slimy Sam Wyatt—a former grifter now running for the Senate—slithers in from Luke's past, his frigid heart full of contempt for the family he once tried to seam. He threatens to frame Luke for murder and expose the Nouvelles' after-hours show unless he disappears. Five years later, a homesick Luke reappears, determined to show the disillusioned Roxanne that he's more than smoke and mirrors. Together, they set out to plot vengeance, staking everything on their most daring sting to date. True to the magician's oath, Roberts reveals no secrets, but the illusion works—in a compelling and detail-rich first hardcover. Good escape reading.
Pub Date: July 17, 1992
ISBN: 0-399-13761-0
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 1992
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