April 17, 2017
This series launch from bestseller Robards (Hush), about a female master thief with highly developed martial arts skills, scores points for energetic storytelling but is marred by an implausible plot, shallow characters, and uninspired dialogue. As a child, Bianca St. Ives, known as the Guardian, learned about martial arts, explosives, and deception instead of playing with toys. Now she has joined her father, Richard St. Ives, “tall and elegant, the ultimate silver fox,” in recovering stolen money and secret government documents. The elite criminal and law enforcement entities know Richard only as the Traveler. When Richard is killed during a botched job, Bianca returns to running her own security company in Savannah, Ga. Email delivered to Richard’s encrypted account later sends Bianca on an international recovery mission and a search to find out if her father really is dead. A far-fetched, game-changing character reveal near the finale is more laughable than stunning. Agent: Robert Gottlieb, Trident Media.
April 1, 2017
When a huge heist goes awry, shadowy criminal Bianca St. Ives emerges as a security expert--only to be drawn back into crime by a mysterious job she's blackmailed into taking.When superthief Bianca discovers that the job she, her father, and their team have spent months planning is a huge fail, and possibly a setup, she needs to get out--of the glitzy party, the ancient palace, and Bahrain. Her narrow escape includes a kiss that affects her far more than she'd like to admit. After her father winds up dead, she and one other survivor, a computer specialist, make their way to the U.S. and start a security company, living aboveboard for the most part. Monitoring her father's email account, however, brings in the occasional request for services, which she ignores until the day one contains an ultimatum: do the job or we'll kill your family. Seeing her father's wife and daughter in danger baits Bianca back, but she's wary, especially since it's obvious her adversaries believe her father is still alive and they want him more than the requested object. Taking on the first task of the mission brings her face to face with "Mickey," her kissing partner in Bahrain, so she knows he's involved in the hunt for her father. But trying to piece together her own enigmatic past on the heels of her father's death uncovers some unwelcome enemies, and Mickey may be an ally in disguise. Robards begins a new series with a fascinating main character, blazing action, a Jason Bourne-esque central mystery, and an intriguing cliffhanger ending. Barely-there romance promises to heat up in subsequent title(s). Fresh, sexy, and eminently readable.
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Starred review from April 15, 2017
The latest from thriller-master Robards is an enthralling high-stakes caper novel. Bianca St. Ivesgorgeous, intelligent, talented, multilingual, and able to hold her own in any fight or social situationwas trained by her father, the leader of a gang of elite swindlers and thieves, to be accomplished in all the skills she'll need to follow in his footsteps. When a heist in Bahrain at a prince's palace goes wrong, she makes a spectacular escape and retreats to her legitimate identity as a security expert, certain her father and his crew perished. She is also convinced that an e-mail arriving in her father's secret account and offering a job is a trap, but a video of her seven-year-old half sister being held captive is enough to convince her to say yes. With cinematic clarity, Robards immerses readers in the glamour, action, and danger facing Bianca as she once again encounters an exceptional man she met briefly when fleeing the palace. Readers won't want this adrenaline-rich story to end, and surely Bianca deserves a series. Nonstop excitement and a believable romance give this broad appeal. Buy extra copies.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)
January 1, 2017
Bianca Saint-Yves runs a big security agency, but her real job is to con money from thieves and return it to those from whom it has been stolen. Only her private secretary knows what she's up to, and she's beginning to fall for him. Ah, complications. With a 100,000-copy first printing.
Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
May 15, 2017
Bianca St. Ives is a gifted and integral part of her father's international band of high-stakes thieves who specialize in conning con men and returning their ill-gotten gains to their victims. But when a job goes wrong and her father is killed, Bianca takes over the family business and subsequently becomes the target and pawn of the U.S. government, which doesn't believe Richard St. Ives is really dead. With her team and livelihood at risk, Bianca needs to dig up the truth about her father before the feds do. This series launch moves swiftly and keeps us engaged; Robards's visually evocative narrative allows the reader to "see" Bianca during her escapades. VERDICT Readers who appreciate the thrillers of Iris Johansen, Tess Gerritsen, and Lisa Gardner will enjoy getting to know Bianca St. Ives. [See Prepub Alert, 12/12/16.]--Nicole A. Cooke, GSLIS, Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.