A review by blogginboutbooks
Where Are the Children Now? by Mary Higgins Clark, Alafair Burke

3.0

As a teen and young adult, I DEVOURED MHC's books, staying up long into the night to finish them because I literally could not put them down. In the 2000s, though, her books didn't have the same pizzazz and I stopped reading them for the most part. When I saw that a sequel to WHERE ARE THE CHILDREN? had been written, I bought it and a copy of the original for nostalgia's sake and because I was curious. Re-reading the latter was...disappointing. Even though I give MHC credit for her pioneering storytelling techniques, I still found the book to be a less-than-average read. The characters are flat as paper, the plot is far-fetched, the dialogue is cringe-y, and the prose is lackluster. In my opinion, the sequel is a *little* better since the characters and plot are a bit more developed. Still, though, the characters are pretty meh. Melissa doesn't seem vibrant or smart enough to be a successful lawyer and podcaster. She doesn't have much personality, she's slow on the uptake, and she's incredibly naive for a seasoned woman and attorney. Her actions just don't seem believable considering who she is supposed to be. Plotwise, WHERE ARE THE CHILDREN NOW? is pretty dang contrived. Also predictable. I saw the Big Reveal coming a mile away, although there is one part that caught me by surprise (mostly because there aren't any clues to foreshadow it). That being said, the book was entertaining enough to keep me reading. In true MHC fashion, it has short chapters, lots of action, and multiple viewpoints that work together to bring the story to an exciting conclusion. As always, I also appreciate that MHC books have no graphic content. All of these things make WHERE ARE THE CHILDREN NOW? a quick, compelling-enough read, even though it's ridiculous and eyeroll-worthy at the same time.