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3.48 AVERAGE
3.48 AVERAGE
I have always loved Mary Higgins Clark and never miss a book by her. After a few misses recently her last two I have to say have shown great improvement, the short quick chapters, the suspense building and so many characters you wonder who everyone is and where they tie into the story and as always they all come together in the end and it all makes sense. This book combines two mysteries in one. The main character Laurie Moran's husband was murdered five years before and the killer known as Blue Eyes, threatened to kill both her and then her son after. While we have a general idea who that killer is, we don't know why he did it or why he wants to kill the whole family. The other mystery revolves around a long unsolved murder. Laurie a TV producer is going to recreate the murder of Betsy Bonner Powell twenty years before, for a new TV show about cold cases. We soon meet all the suspects in the case. Four friends, Claire the victim's daughter and her three friends Regina, Nina and Alison, Nina's mother Muriel, Robert Powell the widower of Betsy, the servants driver Josh and housekeeper Jane, and a friend and neighbour George Curtis. As the story unfolds you see that each person had an excellent motive for murder. Betsy lived her life in a way that made her many enemies and at times the story had a feel of an Agatha Christie book. Each suspect is interviewed individually for the cameras. At one point the book Murder on the Orient Express is referenced, as Laurie wonders if each of them took a turn or had a hand in the murder. The story moves along, some of the characters I loved, others were absolutely hateful, and the suspense builds as in the background of this story, we know that a killer is coming for Laurie and her son. Just like her books of old the drama and suspense is there and you don't want to put the book down. Toward the end the chapters are half a page and I was so gripped and I don't think I was aware of my surroundings, the phone rang and it scared the life out of me. Of course it all comes to an end and the ending is a satisfying and happy one which made this such a wonderful and enjoyable read.
I've read my fair share of Mary Higgins Clark and Alafair Burke and alone, they both write much better than in this book. The dialogue was unbelievably, painfully stilted. I read this one hoping I would enjoy it enough to listen to the audio of the rest but there's no way. Sure, the mystery had a few twists and turns but the repetition in each of the women's stories and the painfully written dialogue are a no go. Not quite sure why I finished this one, except I was hoping the writing would magically get better. Sadly, it did not.
I had to drag myself to read it. I don't know if it's because I've been almost reverse reading the series, or if I have been reading too many of them in a short time, but the story just isn't as gripping as j would have liked. I found myself inventing things to do to avoid reading it for some reason. Others in the series are better.
Excellent read. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. The only reason I rated this a 4.5 instead of a 5 was because I felt the ending was a little too rushed. Once the climax hit, everything finished up a bit too quick. It was almost like she rushed through the last chapter. But overall MHC did it again. Excellent book.
Me podría haber gustado si no hubiera sido por ese final tan mal escrito.
Mary Higgins Clark is so popular and while I agree that most of her books are easy entertaining summer reads, there are so many other authors out there in the same genre that are sooo much better!! Her recent books have been more of a chore for me to read - this may be my last
I have ready many books by MHC and this one, while good, left a lot to be desired in my humble opinion. I did enjoy the back and forth of the separate stories. I also enjoyed the short chapters. On the other hand, I felt as though the killer was not a surprise at all and the motive of "Blue Eyes" was kind of dull. It also seemed to wrap up too quickly. Not my favorite, but, overall, it was just good.
Once this book got going, I basically couldn't put it down. Do you know why? SHORT CHAPTERS. When chapters are sometimes only a couple of paragraphs long, I cannot resist reading just one more... or two... or three...
This was a great mystery/thriller with plenty of tension, red herrings, and reasonable suspects. The ending felt a little fast and there was suddenly a lot of death, but overall a really solid read that I quite enjoyed - looking forward to the next book in the series!
This was a great mystery/thriller with plenty of tension, red herrings, and reasonable suspects. The ending felt a little fast and there was suddenly a lot of death, but overall a really solid read that I quite enjoyed - looking forward to the next book in the series!
2.5 stars
The story itself was good and I liked the characters, but the writing was very poor and often repetitive. It was quite a page-turner and I enjoyed reading it, though! If the writing had been better, this would have gotten 4 stars from me.
I might read the next one to see if the series gets better.
The story itself was good and I liked the characters, but the writing was very poor and often repetitive. It was quite a page-turner and I enjoyed reading it, though! If the writing had been better, this would have gotten 4 stars from me.
I might read the next one to see if the series gets better.
Mary Higgins Clark is my guilty pleasure read as I'm sure she is for a lot of people who are generally giant literature snobs but occasionally want to "go slumming" to use the coloquial term. I also enjoy the odd Amish romance. I'm weird that way.
I think I like her because she's literally been writing the same book over and over again for years. There's something oddly comforting about her constant recycling of the gorgeous, impeccably dressed, wildly successful at whatever she does but strangely unhappy female protagonist, her epic descriptions of what all her characters are wearing, the hilarious way she uses internal monologue "If only I hadn't had that two year long affair with her twenty two years ago I might never have lost that gold watch my late grandfather bought in a Parisian antique store during WWII that the police now have in their possession as proof I was in the pool house that night!", her casts of fifteen or so characters who all usually have something bizarre to hide or a key piece of evidence that will come out at just the right time and the way she so ham handedly inserts whatever weird hot topic she thinks is cool at that particular time like reincarnation or the old "psychic twins" plot device.
I think my favorite thing though is how she only has two kinds of villians; the total psychopath who's after the protagonist because he's either a.)trying to get crazy, psychopath revenge that only makes sense to him or because he's b.) "in love" with her OR its the last person who really makes any sense whatsoever who is often the person the protagonist has fallen in love with. In the case of b.) there is ALWAYS an alternative love interest waiting in the wings who has usually proposed to or married the protagonist by the epilogue because there is ALWAYS an epilogue where we find out that all the good guys have had wonderful things happen to them and all the bad people are either dead, in jail, or miserable.
Staying true to form with this latest endeavor Ms. Clark once again spins a yarn about a beautiful, impeccably dressed, super successful television producer who was widowed five years ago when a killer with blue eyes who every one cleverly refers to as "Blue Eyes" shot her husband in front of their three year old. Now she and her father, a retired policeman, live in a more or less constant state of high alert since the killer vowed to get both her and her son one day. Clark throws us a bit of a curve this time by having the protagonist in a not so successful stage of her amazing producing career, her last two pilots didn't do well!!!!! So now she's decided on the incredibly unique idea of revisiting cold cases, reenacting key moments with the actual people involved and interviewing each of them and thus shedding new light on whodunnit! What a concept! If only reality television was something people actually watched! This does not in any way have anything to do with her husbands death ya'll.
So blah blah blah old murder wherein some really mean rich lady was smothered in her bed and all the likely culprits were attendees at a huge graduation party she was throwing for her daughter and her three friends and everyone's there for the show; the four women (who are amazingly annoyingly referred to as "the graduates" for the whole damn book), the mean rich lady's mean rich husband, and Mrs. Danvers from "Rebecca" who apparently did in fact not die when Manderly burned down. There's also like ten other people who know various key pieces of information or have some random ability that is vital to solving the murder and "Blue Eyes" in running around pretending to be a landscaper of all things and the reader is just on pins and needles longing to learn why he's after the amazingly beautiful, brilliant, well dressed protagonist. Oh and there's a random lawyer who's there to narrate the show and fall in love with the protagonist.
Notice how I don't mention names or specific plot developments? Higgy reeeaaalllly phones this one in guys. Its like even she's finally realized she just keeps writing the same book over and over again. There's the typical race against time when everyone realizes who "Blue Eyes" is just as he's about to kill again and the usual reveal of all the peripheral characters true intentions and motivations but it all feels very low tension and "eh."
I honestly can't even recommend this as a beach read. I say stick to the classics like "Where Are the Children" and "Loves Music Loves to Dance." Give this a pass.
I think I like her because she's literally been writing the same book over and over again for years. There's something oddly comforting about her constant recycling of the gorgeous, impeccably dressed, wildly successful at whatever she does but strangely unhappy female protagonist, her epic descriptions of what all her characters are wearing, the hilarious way she uses internal monologue "If only I hadn't had that two year long affair with her twenty two years ago I might never have lost that gold watch my late grandfather bought in a Parisian antique store during WWII that the police now have in their possession as proof I was in the pool house that night!", her casts of fifteen or so characters who all usually have something bizarre to hide or a key piece of evidence that will come out at just the right time and the way she so ham handedly inserts whatever weird hot topic she thinks is cool at that particular time like reincarnation or the old "psychic twins" plot device.
I think my favorite thing though is how she only has two kinds of villians; the total psychopath who's after the protagonist because he's either a.)trying to get crazy, psychopath revenge that only makes sense to him or because he's b.) "in love" with her OR its the last person who really makes any sense whatsoever who is often the person the protagonist has fallen in love with. In the case of b.) there is ALWAYS an alternative love interest waiting in the wings who has usually proposed to or married the protagonist by the epilogue because there is ALWAYS an epilogue where we find out that all the good guys have had wonderful things happen to them and all the bad people are either dead, in jail, or miserable.
Staying true to form with this latest endeavor Ms. Clark once again spins a yarn about a beautiful, impeccably dressed, super successful television producer who was widowed five years ago when a killer with blue eyes who every one cleverly refers to as "Blue Eyes" shot her husband in front of their three year old. Now she and her father, a retired policeman, live in a more or less constant state of high alert since the killer vowed to get both her and her son one day. Clark throws us a bit of a curve this time by having the protagonist in a not so successful stage of her amazing producing career, her last two pilots didn't do well!!!!! So now she's decided on the incredibly unique idea of revisiting cold cases, reenacting key moments with the actual people involved and interviewing each of them and thus shedding new light on whodunnit! What a concept! If only reality television was something people actually watched! This does not in any way have anything to do with her husbands death ya'll.
So blah blah blah old murder wherein some really mean rich lady was smothered in her bed and all the likely culprits were attendees at a huge graduation party she was throwing for her daughter and her three friends and everyone's there for the show; the four women (who are amazingly annoyingly referred to as "the graduates" for the whole damn book), the mean rich lady's mean rich husband, and Mrs. Danvers from "Rebecca" who apparently did in fact not die when Manderly burned down. There's also like ten other people who know various key pieces of information or have some random ability that is vital to solving the murder and "Blue Eyes" in running around pretending to be a landscaper of all things and the reader is just on pins and needles longing to learn why he's after the amazingly beautiful, brilliant, well dressed protagonist. Oh and there's a random lawyer who's there to narrate the show and fall in love with the protagonist.
Notice how I don't mention names or specific plot developments? Higgy reeeaaalllly phones this one in guys. Its like even she's finally realized she just keeps writing the same book over and over again. There's the typical race against time when everyone realizes who "Blue Eyes" is just as he's about to kill again and the usual reveal of all the peripheral characters true intentions and motivations but it all feels very low tension and "eh."
I honestly can't even recommend this as a beach read. I say stick to the classics like "Where Are the Children" and "Loves Music Loves to Dance." Give this a pass.