Many people have tried to kill Adrian Rizzo. When she was seven, her biological father tried to murder Adrian and her mother Lina. Fortunately, Lina, creator of the wildly successful Yoga Baby brand, was able to save them both. Ten years later, Adrian received her first death threat--in the form of an anonymous poem--when she was just starting her own fitness brand, Next Generation. Over the years, as Adrian builds her company into a worldwide sensation, the anonymous poems continue to arrive. Now, after relocating her company to the small town of Traveler's Creek, Maryland, Adrian is reconnecting with her maternal family and with old friends, including Raylan Wells, when her poetic pen pal decides to no longer limit the threats to mere words. Once again, Roberts (Hideaway, 2020) effectively parlays her literary superpower into creating compelling, all-too-human characters and crafting plots composed of realistic domestic details and unflinching suspense. Legacy is another page-turning hit for supreme storyteller Roberts.HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: With a major multimedia PR campaign and news about the Netflix movie adaptation of Roberts' thriller Brazen Virtue (2010), her latest is practically best-seller status.

Very nearly murdered by her father when she first met him at age seven--fortunately, her mother, Lina, intervened--Adrian Rizzo was raised by her grandparents while Lina went on the road to promote her fitness brand. A decade later, Adrian has her own successful fitness and workout videos, but then threats start arriving. With a million-copy first printing.

Adrian Rizzo, the protagonist of this melodramatic thriller from bestseller Roberts (Hideaway), first meets her father, Jonathan Bennett, a university professor with a reputation for forcing sex on his students, at age seven when he barges into the Georgetown townhouse where she lives with her nanny, Mimi, and her mother, Lina Rizzo, a fitness expert with a successful business called Yoga Baby. After hitting Mimi, Jon attacks Adrian and Lina. Fighting back, Lina kills Jon by pushing him over a second-floor railing. Though the death is ruled self-defense, Lina, fearing the negative publicity, sends Adrian to her parents in the small town of Traveler's Creek, Md. Meanwhile, Lina's career soars, and Adrian's summer with her loving grandparents is idyllic. Years later, Lina and Adrian, now a teenager, resettle in New York, where Adrian starts her own fitness company. But each February, Adrian receives a creepy poem coinciding with a woman's murder in different parts of the country. Roberts knows how to entertain, but the plot follows formula and the gimmicky killer emerges as a caricature with transparent motives. Established fans will best appreciate this one. Agent: Amy Berkower, Writers House. (May)

Roberts sticks to formula in this romantic thriller--which should please fans and newcomers alike. The only daughter of a woman with a wildly successful fitness company, 7-year-old Adrian Rizzo is used to traveling with her mother for videos and photo shoots, the child star of the brand. But everything changes one night when a man breaks into their house, confronts her mother for destroying his marriage, and then dies in a fall down the stairs. Adrian spends the summer with her beloved grandparents, enjoying the idyllic pace of small-town life and making some strong connections. Several years later, teenage Adrian gains the confidence to start her own business with the help of some high school misfits who become her best friends. Fast-forward a few years: Adrian's grandmother dies in an accident followed by the death of a friend's wife. Adrian decides to move in with her grandfather and to finally make a home. As frequently happens in Roberts' novels, Adrian's friends all end up living nearby, and they create a loyal, loving network that sees them all through marriage, birth, loss, success, and the other touchstones of maturity. In the background lurks a threat, though: For years, Adrian has been receiving disturbing letters signed only "The Poet," and they begin to arrive more frequently. Adrian's perfect, messy, successful life--and blossoming relationship--may be in danger from this psychopath, but her friends and family will be there to support and protect her to the happiest of endings. If you're a fan of Roberts' thrillers, the structure of this novel will bring few surprises, but the familiarity is comforting. Roberts' strength has always been her ability to create likable, complex characters, and this crew is even more appealing than most--they are never whiny in insecurity or snobbish in success; rather, they provide unwavering support for each other's ups and downs. The most comforting of comfort-food reading--with a few chills for fun. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.