Follett's newest story of adventure and love tells of two strong people--a man and a woman--destined to be together. In Scotland in 1767, Mack McAsh is a coal miner on the property owned by Sir George Jamisson. As a coal miner with the ability to read and the drive to be free, Mack proves to be no small problem for the Jamisson family. After exposing the illegality of the mining system, Mack is collared and publicly humiliated, and he flees to London, dismayed to discover a whole new set of hardships and inequities there. The youngest Jamisson son has also moved to London with his new bride, Lizzie Hallim, a spunky beauty who's ahead of her time. She was a childhood playmate of Mack's, and when she runs into him in London, where he has already become a local political hero, she feels the old attraction for him. Lizzie and Mack help each other--despite their different loyalties and social classes--out of various scrapes, ultimately landing in America, where their love develops and Mack's dream of freedom now includes Lizzie. It's no Eye of the Needle (1978), but as usual with Follett, the action and the tension should keep fans happily turning pages. Kathy Broderick --