Heart of the World

by Linda Barnes

Book Overview

Carlotta is awakened by a late-night phonecall telling her that Paolina is missing. Carlotta was paired up with 14 year-old Paolina by a mentoring programme in Boston years ago. As Carlotta combs the streets looking for Paolina, she finds herself thinking of the child she gave up for adoption.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312332874
• ISBN13: 9780312332877
• Release Date: May 2006
• Publisher: Minotaur Books
• Length: 321 Pages
• Weight: 1.44 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.5" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

Don't miss this book

Yes, I'm on a Carlotta Carlyle kick... and this book was a perfect follow-up to Deep Pockets. While DP kept Carlotta and crew in the Boston metro area, Heart of the World takes the show on the road to Miami, Bogota, and beyond. As usual, the plot is intricate and waterproof. The characters are vivid and unforgettable. And the relationships between Carlotta, Sam, Mooney, and others are progressing to critical inflection points. Something has got to give, and in this book, you'll find out what does. Carlotta traces Paolina, apparently kidnapped by her drug lord father and taken out of the country. She has to face tough questions about her morality, her relationships, and her past as she tracks Paolina around the world, from the projects of Boston to the highest mountains of Colombia. Another must-read for mystery fans.

A Tale of Love and Loyalty

P.I. Carlotta Carlyle doesn't have a family, so she hangs close to those she calls friends and one person she's been very close to is her sort of adopted little sister Paolina. Paolina's got a mother who, well let's just say Mom has other things on her mind than raising her children, like men and good times. Carlotta has done everything she can to replace the love and affection the girl doesn't get at home. However, Paolina has grown up, she's a teenager now and she wants to meet the father she's never know. He's a Colombian drug lord. When Paolina's mother calls Carlotta and tells her that her daughter has disappeared, Carlotta at first assumes she's run off with her boyfriend. Then it appears that maybe she's with some people who are taking her to her father. Carlotta is, of course, worried about the child's safety and this is going to propel her into the means streets of crime fueled by drugs to the jungles of Colombia in this tale of love and loyalty. As I said, Carlotta hangs close to those she calls friends. This book is well into the series, but you can pick it up and start fresh even if you haven't read any of the books by Ms. Barnes. From the streets of Boston to the Colombian jungle, from her life of safety to her kidnapping by Paolina's father, you won't be able to put down this book. It'll grab you by the seat of the pants on Page One and keep you there right up to the end.

Carlotta in Columbia

This is possibly the best in an excellent series featuring Cambridge detective Carlotta Carlyle. It is riveting and gripping and unusually passionate. A difficult book to put down though you really don't want it to end......

A wonderful heroine

This was my first book in Linda Barnes' Carlotta Carlyle series and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Carlotta is similar in ways to Stephanie Plum. In this book she follows her "little sister" Paolina to Colombia where she believes Paolina's Father may have taken her following Paolina's disappearance from Boston. I was totally taken in by Carlotta's adventures and the unravelling of mysteries. I look forward to Linda Barnes' next book to see what happens to some of the enticing characters she introduces us to.

Series' Absolute Best

For those who follow Linda Barnes' delightful Carlotta Carlyle series, be prepared to be blown away by this latest, absolutely brilliant, entry in the series. It truly marks a step up in talent, plotting, suspense and mystery, and is a page-turner from start to finish. As fans of the series know, Carlotta has a "little sister," a hispanic girl named Paolina whom Carlotta befriended as a "big sister" when the child was 7. Through the years, their relationship has deepened, and now Paolina is in her very difficult early teen years--and a brat. But Carlotta loves her as much as her own child, and herein lies the plot of "Heart of the World." Paolina is missing. Did she run away? Was she kidnapped? Did she meet with foul play? Carlotta is frantic, and can get very little information from Paolina's embittered mother, Marta. Obsessed with Paolina's safety, Carlotta pulls out the stops to find her--dead or alive. Her search takes her to the dangerous jungles of Colombia, where Paolina's birth father, a famous drug lord supposedly killed in a plane crash, holds the only possible key to the mystery. Carlotta puts her own life on the line in a big way as she tries to unravel secret after secret, involving the Colombian government, clandestine American operations, underground business dealings with U.S. corporations, and various guerilla factions--all of whom seem to want her dead. The suspense keeps growing on every page, as the reader joins Carlotta in the steamy jungles with danger at every turn. The ending is a cliff hanger, and a good one--and left this reader absolutely desperate for the next in the series. That's how good this book is...recommended not only for Carlotta fans, but for new readers as well. This book can stand alone.