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thereadingunicorn's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
kiia's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.0
jonjeffryes's review against another edition
4.0
The best Mary Higgins Clark mystery in years. She's switched up her usual trappings by setting the mystery on an ocean cruiser that includes jewelry thieves, embezzlers, and disillusioned spouses. The book feels fresh...some recent titles have felt like retreads. The book moves at a quick pace and entertains throughout--the book features Higgins Clark's "Lottery Winners" Alvirah and Willy but only as supporting characters. Some familiar Higgins Clark characters and tropes, but overall a winning entry.
mainebookworm22's review against another edition
2.0
I was disappointed in this one. Hard to believe that this is the same woman who wrote Where are the Children? I am not sure why Willy and Alvirah were in this one, they did nothing to help the mystery out. The whole plot was very unbelievable and could have been straightened out with a really dynamic security team. Don't get me started on the scene at the end of the book at the last dinner on board the cruise. Will definitely not recommend this one to anybody. Stick with her earlier books.
michelle_leitheoir's review against another edition
2.0
I feel I need to preface this by saying this was halfway a book club selection, so once again, my opinions will be colored by the fact that this was not entirely one I would have chosen for myself. I say halfway a book club selection because the author was chosen as our March selection in honor of her recent passing. No disrespect meant to her, but I would never choose to read any Mary Higgins Clark novels without external prodding. But book clubs are good for getting us to read outside of the comfortable ruts we fall into, and since we were all given the choice of which book of hers we individually wanted to read, I went into this with a little bit of hope that I would enjoy myself. I don’t really read a whole lot of mysteries or suspense, and after reading plot synopses of about 20 of MHC’s books without a single one jumping out at me as a must read, I was discouraged. But, I figured I would sally forth in the name of expanding my reading horizons, and as I am taking a cruise with some of the girls in my family next year, this seemed like a relevant one to pick.
Unfortunately, I found this book to be the literary equivalent of a saltine cracker - dry, flavorless, left kind of a funny taste in my mouth . . . but hey, some people love saltine crackers. I can kind of see the appeal a book like this would have. It had all the elements to be fun, adventurous, and mysterious - an ocean voyage, an ancient curse on a priceless necklace, an international jewel thief, murder and mayhem, etc. I just think it was badly executed. It read like a first draft. Everything felt like it was a outline of a far better story that just needed more careful development of details and characters to bring it into full form.
Here were a few of my issues:
Much of the narrative, especially in the first half of the book, is told in internal monologue. I am of the opinion that internal monologue should be used sparingly, and when it is, it should seem natural. However, here we have characters stopping to internally spout long bits of exposition, and it was clunky. To make matters worse, none of it was denoted by italics or paragraph breaks, so it was jarring to go from third-person past-tense narrative to first-person present-tense internal monologue with no visual clues that this change was happening. That’s a fault on the editing more than the writing, but it was enough to take away from enjoying the book.
There wasn’t much panache in the descriptions or character development, either. It was all very cut and dry - “She wore a blue dress to dinner.” “He noticed she was beautiful.” And so on. Showing instead of telling would have made it far less bland and would have let us get to know these characters a little better, which would make it easier to care about what happens to them in the course of the story. I did like Willy and Alvirah, to an extent. I can tell they are the characters MHC had written with before. They had enough sweet little details that made it clear they exist outside of this book. But the point is, I want EVERY character to feel like that! Like I picked up this book and peered into the lives of people who might actually exist through the windowpane of its pages. Not that they simply were created for this one book. But too many of the main characters felt that way to me. The eventual romance felt very forced, and the character I was most excited about - the Shakespeare lecturer - was a totally wasted character whose only purpose was to speak in Shakespeare quotes and get annoyed at nearly everyone onboard.
My last major, major gripe is that MHC was known as the Queen of Suspense, right? Such a title indicates to me that I should feel my pulse rate go up and I should grip the pages and my eyes should widen, right? And I should care about what happens next, right? Unfortunately, none of those things happened. We were almost halfway through the book before anything interesting happened, and then, a mere several chapters later, the killer reveals his identity to the readers! I thought half the fun of suspense mystery was to be strung along and keep guessing whodunnit and all that jazz! There was NO suspense whatsoever. I was bored for most of the book and disappointed for the rest of it. Not what I expected from the Queen of Suspense.
Minor gripes include too many male characters with R names - I spotted a Roger, Randolph, Ronald, Raymond, and TWO guys named Ralph . . . hard to keep all you guys straight! - and this weird obsession with what everyone was wearing all the freaking time. Even in the midst of the story’s climax! You’re chasing down a killer, Alvirah! I don’t need a full break in the action to let me know details about your cotton nightgown!
Anyways. The whole experience was too bland for my liking, and there were too many mistakes that anyone who passed Creative Writing 101 would know not to make. I was really hoping for this book to slap me upside the head and say, “Why haven’t you been reading more mysteries? Look how much fun we are!” But it didn’t. Oh well. At least I didn’t have the visceral reaction of hatred to this book club selection like I did with February’s, but I certainly didn’t like it. Not sure what April’s book will be - I think everyone is so distracted with current world events that no selections have been made yet - but I’m hoping for something that really surprises and delights me.
Oh, one more thing - am I supposed to believe one can scoop air into a pair of pants and use them as a flotation device. What.
Unfortunately, I found this book to be the literary equivalent of a saltine cracker - dry, flavorless, left kind of a funny taste in my mouth . . . but hey, some people love saltine crackers. I can kind of see the appeal a book like this would have. It had all the elements to be fun, adventurous, and mysterious - an ocean voyage, an ancient curse on a priceless necklace, an international jewel thief, murder and mayhem, etc. I just think it was badly executed. It read like a first draft. Everything felt like it was a outline of a far better story that just needed more careful development of details and characters to bring it into full form.
Here were a few of my issues:
Much of the narrative, especially in the first half of the book, is told in internal monologue. I am of the opinion that internal monologue should be used sparingly, and when it is, it should seem natural. However, here we have characters stopping to internally spout long bits of exposition, and it was clunky. To make matters worse, none of it was denoted by italics or paragraph breaks, so it was jarring to go from third-person past-tense narrative to first-person present-tense internal monologue with no visual clues that this change was happening. That’s a fault on the editing more than the writing, but it was enough to take away from enjoying the book.
There wasn’t much panache in the descriptions or character development, either. It was all very cut and dry - “She wore a blue dress to dinner.” “He noticed she was beautiful.” And so on. Showing instead of telling would have made it far less bland and would have let us get to know these characters a little better, which would make it easier to care about what happens to them in the course of the story. I did like Willy and Alvirah, to an extent. I can tell they are the characters MHC had written with before. They had enough sweet little details that made it clear they exist outside of this book. But the point is, I want EVERY character to feel like that! Like I picked up this book and peered into the lives of people who might actually exist through the windowpane of its pages. Not that they simply were created for this one book. But too many of the main characters felt that way to me. The eventual romance felt very forced, and the character I was most excited about - the Shakespeare lecturer - was a totally wasted character whose only purpose was to speak in Shakespeare quotes and get annoyed at nearly everyone onboard.
My last major, major gripe is that MHC was known as the Queen of Suspense, right? Such a title indicates to me that I should feel my pulse rate go up and I should grip the pages and my eyes should widen, right? And I should care about what happens next, right? Unfortunately, none of those things happened. We were almost halfway through the book before anything interesting happened, and then, a mere several chapters later, the killer reveals his identity to the readers! I thought half the fun of suspense mystery was to be strung along and keep guessing whodunnit and all that jazz! There was NO suspense whatsoever. I was bored for most of the book and disappointed for the rest of it. Not what I expected from the Queen of Suspense.
Minor gripes include too many male characters with R names - I spotted a Roger, Randolph, Ronald, Raymond, and TWO guys named Ralph . . . hard to keep all you guys straight! - and this weird obsession with what everyone was wearing all the freaking time. Even in the midst of the story’s climax! You’re chasing down a killer, Alvirah! I don’t need a full break in the action to let me know details about your cotton nightgown!
Anyways. The whole experience was too bland for my liking, and there were too many mistakes that anyone who passed Creative Writing 101 would know not to make. I was really hoping for this book to slap me upside the head and say, “Why haven’t you been reading more mysteries? Look how much fun we are!” But it didn’t. Oh well. At least I didn’t have the visceral reaction of hatred to this book club selection like I did with February’s, but I certainly didn’t like it. Not sure what April’s book will be - I think everyone is so distracted with current world events that no selections have been made yet - but I’m hoping for something that really surprises and delights me.
Oh, one more thing - am I supposed to believe one can scoop air into a pair of pants and use them as a flotation device. What.
laurenelizabeth_'s review against another edition
3.0
I listened to this on Audio, and I’m glad i didn’t spend money on a hardcopy. This is the only MHC book I’ve read, and from other’s comments it isn’t her best work. I hope not because most of the dialogue and half of the characters were not good in my opinion. Celia and the Meehans were the only characters I truly liked. The murderer wasn’t too hard to figure out, and I feel like there should have been more focus on him than the 5 million side characters. Great villains are made when we can see their motivations and character.
leopoldineee's review against another edition
3.0
I like this book, it was an addictive detective story but there was too many characters and I was a little bit lost at the beginning. It was really interesting to follow them and there were a lot of suspens and I was really chocked at the end. Just I have to say that Alvirah is THE best character. I recommend this book even it it hasn’t been a favorite.
myreadingmoment's review against another edition
2.0
La esencia de MHC está en algún lugar escondido dentro de este libro. Pero yo no lo he encontrado.
Pareciese que está escrito sin ningún tipo de ambición ni emoción. Creo que sus mejores libros, ya los leímos en su día.
Lo ha firmado ella, pero podría haberlo escrito cualquier otra persona.
Se deja leer aunque la historia es demasiado sencilla y la intriga "justa" para mi gusto.
Pareciese que está escrito sin ningún tipo de ambición ni emoción. Creo que sus mejores libros, ya los leímos en su día.
Lo ha firmado ella, pero podría haberlo escrito cualquier otra persona.
Se deja leer aunque la historia es demasiado sencilla y la intriga "justa" para mi gusto.