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"BLUE SMOKE is an example of why Ms. Roberts is one of the most popular authors writing today"
Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted October 4, 2005

In 1985 Baltimore Catarina "Renna" Hale was attacked by her neighbor twelve year old Joey Pastorelli and would have been raped if the neighbors didn't intervene. Reena's father fought with Joey's abusive dad and that night, the Hale's family pizzeria, Sirico's burns to the ground. Police find enough Read more...

"Edge of the seat, can't put it down book!"
Reviewed by Judith Saul
Posted October 31, 2005

Reena Hales' life was changed the night her family's pizzeria burnt. The fire not only set Reena on the course of becoming a top arson investigator, it touched every part of her life. Friends, lovers, and family were all touched by that one event. The person that started that fateful Read more...

Summary

From the incomparable Nora Roberts, Blue Smoke is a tale of gut-level fear, human triumph, and the bonds that carry us through our darkest times.

The blaze that night at her family's pizzeria changed young Reena Hale's life. Neighbors and relatives would help the Hales rebuild. The Baltimore authorities would arrest the arsonist responsible. But as Reena beheld the fire's brutal beauty and destructive power, her destiny began to take shape. She would understand and master its terrible force—and one day become an investigator herself.

But she is not the only one fascinated by the flames. Someone else sees their power—and is obsessed not with conquering the fire but with controlling it, owning it, using it to exact vicious revenge . . .

When Reena finally joins the arson unit, her strength and wits are constantly tested—although sometimes the job seems like a snap compared to her love life. But she can't always blame the men—after all, a soot-caked woman barking orders and smelling of smoke isn't the biggest turn-on in the world. Then she meets Bo Goodnight, who seems different. He's been trying to find Reena for years, and now that she is close enough to touch, he has no intention of letting go.

Nor does the man who has begun to haunt Reena's life—with taunting phone calls and a string of horrifying crimes. And as Reena tries desperately to trace the origins—of the calls, the fires, the hatred aimed in her direction—she will step into the worst inferno she has ever faced.