Three Fates [Mass Market Paperback]

Nora Roberts (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 30, 2004

It's fate--another instant #1 New York Times bestseller.

There's "a treasure hunt, romance, [and] danger" (Charleston Post and Courier) in this unforgettable tale of luck and love in which friendships and fortunes depend on a simple twist of fate.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Setting: Ireland, Europe, and New York City

Sensuality: 7

Irish siblings Malachi, Gideon, and Rebecca Sullivan cherish the family legend of their great-great-grandfather's acquisition of one of the Fates, a trio of priceless, long-separated silver statues. When the Sullivans' Fate is stolen by an unscrupulous New York antiquities dealer, they vow to retrieve the little silver lady, and thus begins a quest that will send them racing across Europe, traveling through Ireland, and dodging killers in New York City. Most importantly, their search for their Fate and her two sister statues brings them into the world of a brilliant female mythology professor, a free-spirited exotic dancer, and a security expert adept at breaking and entering. This diverse sextet must meld their talents in order to thwart their enemy, retrieve the stolen statue, and stay alive while administering their particular brand of justice.

Prolific author Nora Roberts's latest tale of adventure and romance is a nonstop page-turner with quirky heroines, strong heroes, and a delightfully nefarious villainess. Toss in strong Irish, European, and New York settings, interesting secondary characters, and a plot with intriguing twists and turns and the result is romantic suspense at its best. --Lois Faye Dyer --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Acts of thievery ultimately lead to justice in the wildly prolific Roberts's latest romantic suspense novel. The little silver statues representing Greek mythology's Three Fates are an art collector's dream: they're extremely valuable individually, but priceless as a trio and legend has it that when put together, they endow their owner with power over destiny. When a German U-boat torpedoes the Lusitania in 1915, petty burglar Felix Greenfield is in the midst of purloining one of the Fates from a first-class stateroom. Felix survives the ship's sinking and vows to reform. Flash to the present, in which three of Felix's descendants calculating Malachi, slick Gideon and intelligent Rebecca Sullivan have just had their Fate stolen by Anita Gaye, a ruthless and menacing antiques dealer. Vowing to recover Felix's statue, the three siblings depart Ireland to search the globe, finding love along the way with a pan-phobic Greek scholar, a stripper and a security expert. Like the Three Fates, the six principals learn that they will only be powerful enough to defeat Anita if they can operate as a single unit. Though it's a slick, snappy read, this character-heavy sudser is far from Roberts's best. She uses the words "three" and "fate" so often that the repetition becomes comic, the siblings' exotic globe-trotting amounts to little more than location name-dropping and Anita, a villainess of Cruella de Vil proportions, is a caricature rather than a character. But Roberts has been so popular, and for so long, that her legion of fans will undoubtedly forgive her for this one while eagerly awaiting her next.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 496 pages
• Publisher: Jove; 1 edition (March 30, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0515135062
• ISBN-13: 978-0515135060
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (121 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #51,051 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #22 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Romance > Authors, A-Z > ( R ) > Roberts, Nora

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

58 of 60 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thrilling Romance, April 3, 2002

By 

Sheri Melnick (Enola, PA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Three Fates (Hardcover)

Nora Roberts is at it once again, turning out another thrilling novel complete with a satisfying story line and sensuous romance. In 1915, the LUSITANIA sank off the coast of Ireland, ostensibly taking with it the first of the Three Fates, small silver statues collectively worth a fortune. But Felix Greenfield, a thief, had the fortune to steal the Fate from collector Henry W. Wyley and survived the sinking of the ship.

Fast-forward to the present when Felix's Irish descendant, Malachi Sullivan, attempts to recover the first Fate from Anita Gaye, owner of Morningside, a New York antiques dealer, who duped him of his treasure. In this quest, he pursues Dr. Tia Marsh, mythology expert and an heir to the Wyley fortune. With Tia's knowledge concerning the three female Greek statues, Malachi thinks she just might help his search for the remaining two Fates. Tia's fragility is craftily combined with her brilliance to highlight her strong characteristics, which continue to emerge when Malachi follows her back to New York.

Brother Gideon Sullivan embarks on his own Fate-seeking quest when he locates Cleo Toliver in Prague. Cleo, a down-on-her luck dancer working at a strip club, just happened to have an ancestor who supposedly owned the second Fate. Even as Gideon and Cleo embark on a wild affair, some men that think that Cleo may have something they want, chase them through Prague.

Enter Jack Burdett, owner of a multi-million-dollar security agency, who takes a trip to Ireland and visits Rebecca Sullivan, sister of the biblically named brothers. Is Jack's interest in Rebecca of a business nature as he enjoys a pleasure tour in her family's boat?

When the Sullivans, along with Cleo and Jack, descend upon Tia's New York apartment, the three couples must combine their efforts to locate the Three Fates and prevent them from falling into the wrong hands. As the romance heats up, the pairs find that their past and futures are inextricably linked to the Fates.

Fast-paced adventure enthralls the reader following the fascinating players as they travel across Europe and back to New York again in this sizzling romance. Ms. Roberts' ability shines as she creates six unique and appealing characters whose differences accentuate their strengths.

29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Hurrah!! -- more than one plot line without a trilogy!, April 8, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Three Fates (Hardcover)

As an avid fan of Nora Roberts, I was delighted to see the story of the Three Fates start and end within the pages of one book. It must have been tempting to split the story line into three lucrative and separate entities, but instead the reader is treated to real interaction between each pair of lovers. In fact, this interaction between all the players is one of the strengths of this book.

Ms. Roberts has once again given us engaging characters. Her depiction of Cleo, especially, was beautifully drawn. The reader is allowed to see the entire woman, not just the hot stripper. The Irish contingent is Nora Roberts at her best -- lovable, laughable, and a family truly united. Her villian, Anita, is almost a cardboard cut-out of evel personified, and does not really have an impact on the story line, other than to act as a catalyst for the other characters.

An exceptionally enjoyable read!

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not Nora's Best..., May 16, 2002

By 

Serene (Marina, CA, United States) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Three Fates (Hardcover)

I love all of Nora's books, but this was not her best works.

Three Fates is the story of a trio of Irish siblings and their American lovers as they fight to reclaim three ancient statues.

Nora Roberts has a distinct gift for writing character driven plots, but the Three Fates did not showcase this ability. Instead we get three implausible love stories crammed into a single volume, with not enough attention paid to each couple.

Several characters even fall into the 'unlikable' category, (at least for me). Ex-Ballet-dancer-turned-stripper (Cleo's) constant sarcasm and phrases such as 'slick' etc. Grated on my nerves. Gideon, and Mal, the two brothers had no personality and were virtually interchangeable. Jack was a cardboard cutout. Also,I was surprised at how quickly all the characters jumped into bed with their respective partners. There was harldly any romance at all! =-(

The best character in the series was Tia. The slightly anxious mythologist. Nora should have written the book about Tia and Mal, and left out the four other characters.

Overall, a disappointing read. I would recommend only to diehard Nora Fans.