jennmcclafferty's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
4.75
readingqueen83's review
5.0
Thank you NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for a complimentary copy of this novel! All opinions expressed in this review are my own. I requested this book not even realizing this was a sequel. So before reading this novel I had to go back and read the first one by Mary Higgins Clark, “Where Are the Children?”. You don’t have to read the first one to understand this sequel, but I highly recommend you do! They don’t call Mary Higgins Clark “The Queen of Suspense” for nothing!!! These are the first two books I’ve read of hers I’ll be honest, but I was not disappointed at all!!! I’m hooked! This second novel is co-authored with Alafair Burke. I’ve read some of hers too and she doesn’t disappoint either!!! Where Are the Children Now will be available April 18, 2023! You will be in the edge of your seat and won’t want to put this book down until you’ve read the last page!!! The ending was a complete and total shocker!!!
bookedonbooks2020's review
5.0
Where Are the Children Now? by Mary Higgins Clark and Alafair Burke. Mary Higgins Clark is my all time favorite author and this book was a treat. The book had the absolute spirit of a classic Mary Higgins Clark suspense and catching up with the characters after these years brought me right back to the original.
Thank you to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC.
Thank you to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC.
speliti's review
4.0
Not bad in the way of suspense. It's been a lot of years since I've read Where Are The Children, but luckily there were enough flashbacks to keep me in the loop. I was surprised by the "why".
mrmarshall591's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I really enjoyed this one- very unique in that it was a sequel written decades later to her best selling novel.
The book started off slow to me and having read Where Are The Children a decade ago, I at first was confused on who was who but basically everything is clarified… which makes sense since many people probably last read it in the 70s-80s.
While I did predict certain things, it actually was stuff that I went back and forth between, with other possible ideas going back and forth as well, so it still was a very wild ride for me.
There were some things that I found odd though regarding the lack of certain earlier realizations for reasons such as one character happening to never have had run mentioned that this person told that person this before, when it contradicts something the other person said or was told.
I really liked the discussion of true crime podcast culture, and how Missy’s podcast was focused on a case clearly based on Kyron Horman , which was the first case I ever became invested in back as I was graduating middle school.
Speaking of the incorporation of things such as podcasts, it was surreal seeing how much everything changed over the years of her writing , with the changes in technology, language and overall environment. There never was an author I read decades worth of their work to experience this shift.
The book started off slow to me and having read Where Are The Children a decade ago, I at first was confused on who was who but basically everything is clarified… which makes sense since many people probably last read it in the 70s-80s.
While I did predict certain things, it actually was stuff that I went back and forth between, with other possible ideas going back and forth as well, so it still was a very wild ride for me.
There were some things that I found odd though regarding the lack of certain earlier realizations for reasons such as one character happening to never have had run mentioned that this person told that person this before, when it contradicts something the other person said or was told.
I really liked the discussion of true crime podcast culture, and how Missy’s podcast was focused on a case clearly based on Kyron Horman , which was the first case I ever became invested in back as I was graduating middle school.
Speaking of the incorporation of things such as podcasts, it was surreal seeing how much everything changed over the years of her writing , with the changes in technology, language and overall environment. There never was an author I read decades worth of their work to experience this shift.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Gaslighting, and Child death
Moderate: Sexual assault, Stalking, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Suicide
Minor: Death of parent, Gun violence, Car accident, Grief, Medical content, Infidelity, and Injury/Injury detail
rachelmfisher's review against another edition
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? It's complicated
3.5
bargainsleuth's review
4.0
For this and all my reviews, visit www.bargain-sleuth.com
Knowing this book was being released, I went back and read and reviewed Where Are the Children? by Mary Higgins Clark . I found the book dated, but could see how it created the modern suspense novel at the same time.
Forty years has passed, and Melissa is a lawyer and podcaster who marries a man with a 3-year-old girl ten months after meeting him. I found this to be wholly unbelievable. A woman so learned and with a family history like hers doesn’t look into her husband’s prior life. His first wife had an accidental death and she never questions it. He runs a company, but she knows little about it. But, as they say, love is blind, and she adores his daughter, Riley, as much as she adores her new husband.
When Melissa’s stepdaughter goes missing, she becomes a prime suspect because of her family’s past and her present as a mystery-solving podcaster. If you like true crime podcasts, this book will have a special appeal to the reader. For suspense and thriller fans, you’ll enjoy all the twists and turns this story takes. The clues come fast and furious, yet I found myself able to keep up. In fact, I’ve read enough of these sorts of books that I guessed the kidnappers right away, yet I still enjoyed the literary ride to get there.
Alafair Burke has done a great job capturing the suspense and mystery of a class Mary Higgins Clark novel. Well done!
Knowing this book was being released, I went back and read and reviewed Where Are the Children? by Mary Higgins Clark . I found the book dated, but could see how it created the modern suspense novel at the same time.
Forty years has passed, and Melissa is a lawyer and podcaster who marries a man with a 3-year-old girl ten months after meeting him. I found this to be wholly unbelievable. A woman so learned and with a family history like hers doesn’t look into her husband’s prior life. His first wife had an accidental death and she never questions it. He runs a company, but she knows little about it. But, as they say, love is blind, and she adores his daughter, Riley, as much as she adores her new husband.
When Melissa’s stepdaughter goes missing, she becomes a prime suspect because of her family’s past and her present as a mystery-solving podcaster. If you like true crime podcasts, this book will have a special appeal to the reader. For suspense and thriller fans, you’ll enjoy all the twists and turns this story takes. The clues come fast and furious, yet I found myself able to keep up. In fact, I’ve read enough of these sorts of books that I guessed the kidnappers right away, yet I still enjoyed the literary ride to get there.
Alafair Burke has done a great job capturing the suspense and mystery of a class Mary Higgins Clark novel. Well done!
kjovertherainbow's review
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
sisulake18's review
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
4.5