Scan barcode
silo12's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
bobbiejowoo's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I don’t get the hype for this one. This was my first MHC book, and the premise sounded right up my alley. But somehow the author made DID and murder… boring??
There were too many stories going on and I just couldn’t connect to any of the characters, I guessed the “twist” if you can even call it that super early on.
All and all this was a snooze. I may give the author another chance, but I’m in no rush about it.
There were too many stories going on and I just couldn’t connect to any of the characters, I guessed the “twist” if you can even call it that super early on.
All and all this was a snooze. I may give the author another chance, but I’m in no rush about it.
ericabo_louise's review against another edition
4.0
So I occasionally get the itch to reread a Mary Higgins Clark from my 13yo binge of reading off the paperback spinny rack at the library, and I was reading this one when the announcement came that the Queen of Suspense had died. (Which seemed like the kind of thing that happens in a Mary Higgins Clark novel, honestly.) And I can't really rate or review her books as an adult because my adult lenses are so different than how I first encountered this book when it was like HIGH DRAMA SO GOOD as a kid, because I can see where it's dated and stiff and cringey and such, but LAURIE HAD MULTIPLE PERSONALITIES! THEY CAME IN AND OUT! OF LAURIE'S BRAIN. LIKE IT WAS A PHYSICAL BUILDING. THEY TALKED TO EACH OTHER! It was fun to reread it from that POV as a kid and remember just how compulsively readable these books felt back then, like, I could not put it down. (I also remember listening to this on CD because the audiobook reader did Justin's Australian accent and it was very impressive at the time.) So this was less of a book that I read to review than a nostalgia trip through weird childhood reading phases.
the_true_monroe's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
I did not expect to be giving this book such a high star review when I saw it was about a character with Multiple Personality Disorder (Now correctly referred to as Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID)) accused of a fatal attraction murder. It ended up being a favorite of mine from Mary Higgins Clark though and honestly, although I cannot speak from lived experience with the disorder, the depiction of DID is better than so much in the media today, even having been written 3 decades (wow, I wanted to say 2 but nope… 3!) earlier. There were many characters to follow but each had their personality and connection to the story very well constructed, as if they were each major characters (which they were but often in books you don’t get as much character development amongst such a range of characters, often the ones most central to a plot). Only thing I would have enjoyed was a smoother transition to the end from the epic finale- it ended only a couple of pages after such an intense, wonderful scene with kind of a very unsatisfying conclusion in terms of where we leave the characters.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping, Mental illness, Car accident, Child abuse, Sexual violence, Torture, Animal death, Blood, Confinement, Grief, Pedophilia, Death of parent, Death, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Murder, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Rape, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Misogyny, Forced institutionalization, and Adult/minor relationship
Minor: Suicide attempt
tonyf111's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
3.25
_holliereads_'s review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
karadotten1's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
kristinaray717's review against another edition
4.0
This was my favorite of all the Mary Higgins Clark books I read. I remember it used the multiple personality plotline, and it was mind-blowing when I read it back in 1993!
leawyo's review against another edition
3.0
This is a re-read for me but I was in my teens when I read it the first time. I’m sad to say that it didn’t age as well as I’d hoped. It was definitely a straightforward mystery with none of the unreliable narrator trope. All the clues were dropped right in my lap, but she also told us who the bad guy was right off.