From Publishers Weekly
The latest romantic suspense novel from Michaels (Shattered Silk) is a bizarre story involving a haunted quilt that exerts an evil influence over characters' lives. It stars Cheryl Cardoza and her sister-in-law, Kara, seen previously in Ammie, Come Home and Shattered Silk. Owners of a vintage clothing store in Leesburg, Va., they hire an assistant, Rachel Foley, a graduate student in anthropology at a nearby university, where she is doing a research project on how quilt-making and other women's crafts assume a magical significance in such important cultural rituals as marriage. When Rachel touches a mysterious antique quilt made by a secretly jealous woman for the wedding of a friend who was marrying her ex-lover, she herself becomes the victim of such magic. Under the spell of this quilt, Rachel falls in love with Cheryl's husband and attempts murder. With the help of anthropology professor Adam, a friend of Kara's, the quilt is "mutilated" and its evil forces exorcised. While Michaels has a knack for suspenseful cinematic scenarios and highly detailed descriptions of women's garments, the premise is too outlandish for even the suspension of disbelief, and one tires of countless scenes in which characters creep around in the dark. $150,000 ad/promo; author tour; UK, translation rights, Dominick Abel. Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From School Library Journal
YA?Working with Cheryl and her partner, Kara, in their vintage clothing store is a source of pleasure for Rachel; it also helps her with her academic research on women's crafts. When a box of antique quilts is left on the doorstep of their shop by a mysterious stranger, things begin to change. The bridal quilt fascinates Rachel, but it takes control of her actions before she realizes that some heirlooms are crafted from hate rather than love. Besides offering a riveting mystery, Michaels also introduces readers to the interesting business of restoring period clothing.?Katherine Fitch, Lake Braddock Secondary School, Burke, VACopyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
Barbara Rosenblat's skills as a reader could make the dictionary a best seller. A well-known narrator of unabridged audiobooks, she doesn't skimp on her talent in the abridged arena either. In this instance, however, her verbal dexterity is undermined by a sketchy abridgment. The story itself is fascinating: Rachel Grant finds her personality overshadowed by a woman long since dead but not yet avenged. The key is an antique album quilt, which comes into Rachel's hands when it arrives at the vintage clothing shop where she works. Events escalate when Rachel's actions turn sinister. Unfortunately, too many gaps are present in the plot, as key scenes begin from nowhere and subplots suddenly reappear to tie up loose ends. Rosenblat's considerable narrative skills compensate somewhat but not entirely. The popularity of both the author and the reader makes this a must purchase despite its inconsistencies.?Jodi L. Israel, Westwood, Mass.Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Booklist
Returning to the people and the place made popular in her best-sellers, Shattered Silk (1988) and Ammie, Come Home (1979), Michaels weaves an incredible mystery based on a haunted quilt. Rachel Grant is a doctoral student working on her thesis--an investigation of women's garments designed for important rites of passage--when she takes a part-time job at a chic vintage clothing shop run by two women, Kara and her sister-in-law Cheryl. When Cheryl's police officer husband is shot, Rachel is drawn into the family because she moves into Cheryl's home, which is connected to the shop. Meanwhile, the message from the quilt lures Rachel into dangerous misdeeds. The unraveling of the mystery proves fascinating, and any stitcher or mystery lover will fall under this novel's spell. Denise Perry Donavin


From Literary Times
Rachel Grant finds the perfect job to tide her over while she finishes her master's thesis on the power of women's folk art. Working in her friend Cheryl's vintage clothing store offers money and a chance to research the needle crafts that so interest her. Rachel suffers more than a twinge of discomfort, though, when Cheryl asks her to move in to help with the store while Cheryl's injured husband, a cop who broke his leg chasing a suspect, recuperates from his injuries. Rachel's discomfort comes from her guilty secret; she's got more than a passing crush on Cheryl's handsome mate. One day, a bag of antique quilts appear at the door of the store. In the course of tracking down the thief who dropped them after he fled the building, Rachel and her friends find themselves drawn deeper and deeper into a bizarre round of mishaps, each one more and more dangerous. Rachel can't decide who to trust, not Cheryl, her wayward husband, nor Adam, mysterious hulk who's house-sitting with her. All Rachel knows is, the closer she gets to the answer, the farther away safety and sanity become.When Barbara Michaels turns up the suspense, watch out! A word to the wise; don't read this in bed alone! Fascinating detail and hair-raising suspense!Annette Carney -- Copyright © 1994-97 Literary Times, Inc. All rights reserved


Book Description
When an antique bridal quilt appears under mysterious circumstances at the vintage clothing shop where Rachel Grant works, she is fascinated. She has never been able to resist handmade textiles from the past, for she believes that through the ages, women wove protective magic into their fabrics in order to mark the important events of their lives: birth, marriage, and death. But there is more than good in the quilt's magic power. Day by day Rachel sees and feels the power growing, as she senses the quilt influencing her thoughts and actions. Much as Rachel's logical mind longs to deny the supernatural, the aura of evil coming from the quilt is terrifyingly real, and it seems to carry a sinister legacy into the lives of the people Rachel loves.


From the Publisher
New York Times bestselling author Barbara Michaels brings back some of her best-loved characters from the novels Ammie Come Home and Shattered Silk in a mesmerizing tale of a woman whose mysterious link with the past puts her in grave danger.


About the Author
Barbara Michaels is the award-winning author of more than 20 novels, including six New York Times bestsellers. She has a doctorate in Egyptology from the University of Chicago and lives in Frederick, MD.

ANNOTATION

When an antique bridal quilt appears under mysterious circumstances at the vintage clothing shop where Rachel Grant works, she is fascinated. She believes that through the ages, women wove protective magic into the fabrics in order to mark the important events in their lives. But, day by day, Rachel sees and feels the power growing, as she senses the quilt influencing her thoughts and actions. From the bestselling author of Shattered Silk.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

The quilt captured Rachel Grant's imagination. An antique bridal quilt, which appeared under mysterious circumstances in the vintage clothing shop where Rachel worked, it drew her as if it had been made for her. It was beautiful, mesmerizing ... almost eerily fascinating. She little dreamed that it might hold secrets better left undisturbed. Rachel had never been able to resist the allure of finely crafted textiles from times gone by. Her research into women's crafts led her to believe that through the ages women had woven protective magic into the fabric of all they fashioned for their rites of passage: birth, marriage, and death. It never occurred to Rachel that the same power used to protect could also be used to harm. But day by day she saw and felt the power grow - the quilt was influencing her thoughts, her actions. And this was not the benign white magic of her imagination. Much as Rachel's rational mind longed to deny such an uncanny phenomenon, the aura of evil emanating from the quilt was all too frighteningly real. The carefully crafted heirloom carried a sinister legacy into the present, something that threatened to destroy the people Rachel loved.

FROM THE CRITICS

Library Journal

Barbara Rosenblat's skills as a reader could make the dictionary a best seller. A well-known narrator of unabridged audiobooks, she doesn't skimp on her talent in the abridged arena either. In this instance, however, her verbal dexterity is undermined by a sketchy abridgment. The story itself is fascinating: Rachel Grant finds her personality overshadowed by a woman long since dead but not yet avenged. The key is an antique album quilt, which comes into Rachel's hands when it arrives at the vintage clothing shop where she works. Events escalate when Rachel's actions turn sinister. Unfortunately, too many gaps are present in the plot, as key scenes begin from nowhere and subplots suddenly reappear to tie up loose ends. Rosenblat's considerable narrative skills compensate somewhat but not entirely. The popularity of both the author and the reader makes this a must purchase despite its inconsistencies.Jodi L. Israel, Westwood, Mass.

BookList - Denise Perry Donavin

Returning to the people and the place made popular in her best-sellers, "Shattered Silk" (1988) and "Ammie, Come Home" (1979), Michaels weaves an incredible mystery based on a haunted quilt. Rachel Grant is a doctoral student working on her thesis--an investigation of women's garments designed for important rites of passage--when she takes a part-time job at a chic vintage clothing shop run by two women, Kara and her sister-in-law Cheryl. When Cheryl's police officer husband is shot, Rachel is drawn into the family because she moves into Cheryl's home, which is connected to the shop. Meanwhile, the message from the quilt lures Rachel into dangerous misdeeds. The unraveling of the mystery proves fascinating, and any stitcher or mystery lover will fall under this novel's spell.

AudioFile - Bonnie L. Worcester

Arcane forces seem to be emanating from an antique quilt left by a mysterious stranger. Has Rachel gone mad, or has she been possessed by some ancient spell? Barbara Michaels and Barbara Rosenblat team up once again to deliver a gripping tale, which is a treat for lovers of both mystery and romance. Rosenblat displays a narrower range of her talents than listeners have come to expect, but she still holds us captive as she works magic in this compelling story of modern witchcraft. B.L.W. ￯﾿ﾽAudioFile, Portland, Maine

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING

No one can match Barbara Michaels!
 — Phyllis A. Whitney