Public Secrets [Large Print] [Hardcover]

Nora Roberts (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1994

Emma is a pop star's illegitimate daughter, overprotected and hounded by the Press until one day she discovers her own artistic talent and the secret fire that roars for her in the arms of a man. But the darkest secret of all may be buried in her mind, and someone might kill her to keep it.

--This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Complex relationships among a believable ensemble of characters give Roberts's ( Sweet Revenge ) new romantic thriller much of its appeal. Emma McAvoy, daughter of a British rock star, is only six years old when her infant half-brother Darren is murdered in a bungled kidnapping attempt. Emma, the only witness, remembers little of that night, and while investigators determine that someone close to the family was involved, the case is never solved. Nagged by fears for her safety, Emma's father has her trailed by a bodyguard whenever she is not closed away in a private school. But as she grows up, neither guards nor a loving father can protect her from the nightmares and feelings of guilt that torment her. Nor can they shield her from Darren's murderers. Although it concludes with a satisfyingly gripping finale, the mystery is more a recurring element than a driving force, as the story explores the members of McAvoy's rock group, Emma's devotion to her father (who bought custody of Emma from her abusive, alcoholic mother), her destructive marriage and the father-son detective team whose dedication to the McAvoys and this case lasts more than 20 years.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

From Library Journal

Set to go hardcover?thanks to the success of last year's Sweet Revenge, which was originally released as a paperback?this 1990 romance features the illegitimate daughter of a music icon who discovers she has talents of her own.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Wheeler Pub Inc (January 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1568950551
• ISBN-13: 978-1568950556
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.8 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (100 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,952,219 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

87 of 87 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book made me a Nora Roberts fan, May 8, 2000

By 

Anne Cahill (Groton, MA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Public Secrets (Mass Market Paperback)

A friend loaned me "Public Secrets" a couple of years back, and it took me a few months to get around to reading it -- and only then because I'd run out of all my "usual" authors. Suffice it to say, since then I've been running out and getting my hands on as many NR novels as possible, and it all started because of this page-turning mystery.

Emma McAvoy gets whisked out of poverty and into the glamour of rock-music at the age of 3, but those early years never quite fade away from her memory. She loves and idolizes her rock-star father and also quickly loves her step-mother and her new baby brother. When he is tragically kidnapped, Emma's new world changes again, and she must live with the guilt and the uneasy sense that she knows more than she remembers, and she must force herself to remember to save her own life.

This is a wonderful, "un-put-downable" book, which I subsequently passed on to all MY friends because I liked it so much. Now that I have it back I'm looking forward to reading it again!

35 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Musician's Daughter's Life, April 5, 2005

By 

Susie Morris "Book Junkie" (Southern California) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Public Secrets (Mass Market Paperback)

At the time PUBLIC SECRETS was written, it was a very different style for Nora Roberts. It wasn't her typical romantic story, but instead dealt with more mystery and intrigue. Little did I know that she would eventually expand on her writing abilities in this area and focus the majority of her new material in the mystery genre.

Public Secrets deals with the life of Emma, a woman with a past containing one of the worst nightmares known to man. Emma's father, Brian McAvoy, is a famous musician who swept into her life at an early age. Emma's mother had gotten pregnant in an attempt to "catch" Brian so she could have the luxury and money that went with his fame. Things didn't work out that way because Brian saw her for what she was - a drug addicted manipulator who hated everyone around her. After Emma was born, her mother used her to get money from Brian but squandered it on drugs, clothes, and other addictions in her life. On a visit, Brian couldn't stand the look in his tiny daughter's eyes any longer and took her away from the rancid apartment, hateful mother, and life of hell that she had been enduring. He then showed her what life could be like. Emma felt like she was on top of the world - she had her father, her new mom, a wonderful home, and the best part was she would soon have a new baby brother.

Several months later, her new, safe world came crashing down around her when a kidnapping attempt went awry and the baby was killed. Typical with this type of story plot, mimicking real life, this event tears the family apart and each character retreats into his/her own world for a time being. The catalyst that brings them back together is when years later Emma begins to remember that fateful night and realizes that she saw the man who killed her brother. When word of this gets out, Emma's life is in danger. The killer wants to make sure his identity is never made public.

When I was reading this book, for some reason I kept picturing McAvoy's band as The Beatles. Silly, I know, but for some reason that was the mental image I had conjured. Maybe it was the wild parties that were described in detail, the bits and pieces shown of the music world including recording sessions and tours, or the English countryside. Without being able to pinpoint the exact reason, I just finally went with the mental image and enjoyed the book, while periodically reminding myself that it WASN'T about The Beatles!

The plot is fairly intricate with a few minor twists and turns. Figuring out the villain's identity was not difficult, but the various subplots were very enjoyable and unexpected. True to her style, Nora Roberts is vivid in her detail and descriptions including her characters. One of my favorite parts is when she describes the English farm where Brian McAvoy grew up and where he buried his son in the family graveyard. The detail was such that this countryside was something I craved to see firsthand.

Public Secrets isn't one of Nora Roberts' best books, but it is very good.

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wow! I couldn't put it down., January 4, 2003

By 

A reader "peaseblossom67" (Chatsworth, GA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Public Secrets (Mass Market Paperback)

Nora outdid herself with this story. Public Secrets is more of a family saga than a traditional romantic suspense novel, although there is romance and there is plenty of suspense. It follows the McAvoys, through the eyes of Emma, from the time she is three years old, through childhood, the school years, marriage, and adulthood. All this against the background of the life of rock-and-roll legends. It is fascinating and compelling. I simply couldn't put it down.