seh_c109's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
very good book, but it takes a little bit to actually start learning things about the mystery. at about the halfway point and forward i was spending all my time trying to figure out who the culprit was. the ending surprised me and i feel like it might have been a bit of a stretch, but i did really enjoy it.
thisfishlikestoread's review against another edition
3.0
A typical MHC read. Reading after a long time. Good read, the plot was good. Ofcourse I knew who the suspect was,but then again I've read her books and other thrillers for years.
One annoying thing was too many characters to keep up with that too for short span, not enough to make the characters memorable, maybe it's the authors way of tricking the readers.
Overall a decent read. Have read better from MHC.
One annoying thing was too many characters to keep up with that too for short span, not enough to make the characters memorable, maybe it's the authors way of tricking the readers.
Overall a decent read. Have read better from MHC.
aomccourt's review against another edition
5.0
Great mystery about a guy who disappears from his college dorm 10 years ago and phones home every mother's day to let his family know he is ok. Good suspense and character development.
kricketa's review against another edition
2.0
carolyn mackenzie's older brother disappeared 10 years ago, but still calls every mother's day to assure his mom & sister he's fine, but not coming home. since then, beautiful young girls have also been disappearing in new york city. is mack responsible?
not my favorite. the main character was really annoying and stubborn to the point of stupid. took me forever to finish because i kept wanting to listen to music instead, but when i realized i only had half a disc left i powered through. bleh.
not my favorite. the main character was really annoying and stubborn to the point of stupid. took me forever to finish because i kept wanting to listen to music instead, but when i realized i only had half a disc left i powered through. bleh.
disneymom9699's review against another edition
5.0
This was my first book by this author and I loved it!! It kept me guessing until the very end. It was a page turner and I didn't want to put it down. The only thing that I didn't like about it was that there were too many characters to keep track of. I needed a list at the front of the book.
judyward's review against another edition
3.0
Mary Higgins Clark doesn't write great literature, but she can spin a good yarn. Unfortunately, this was not one of her better books. I found it very formula driven and predictable--I was able to unravel the mystery about halfway through the book. But the ending was well written and did contain some minor twists (at least there wasn't a 25 page chase--I detest those). I checked this book out of the library in an audio format for a weekend car trip and that turned out to be a problem. Jan Maxwell read the book in a virtual monotone with very little attempt made to give the characters different accents and voices. That may have detracted from my enjoyment of the book. But even given that, this book helped the seemingly endless trip to Richmond and back much more bearable.
nnowels's review against another edition
3.0
Good read... kept me guessing, but disappointing ending.
kristy_k's review against another edition
2.0
While the overall premise of the book was intriguing, too many irritating things kept me from enjoying it. Told in multiple POVs (I lost count after the 10th person chimed in), much of the time in the beginning I had to skim back to figure out who was who and how (if at all) they connected.
I found Carolyn, our only first person POV, to be an inconsistent character. One moment she's spouting about being an amazing lawyer and the next she's seeking counsel over general law questions any attorney should have known.
The other major issue for me was how incompetent and cold-hearted the police were portrayed as. The hurting siblings of the missing were out finding clues (with no investigative background), while the police apparently never thought to look in those places. Furthermore, they were made out to look extremely closed minded and hyper-focused on one suspect (to which each officer had a different idea as to who that was). Although police do make mistakes, I found this an unrealistic portrayal of what would happen in these circumstances.
The ending itself had a few good twists, but I felt the character development for most of the players was weak and made certain parts of the ending feel unbelievable.
I haven't read a Clark novel since high school, and I remember them being more suspenseful, but now I am thinking that may have been my young age and more innocent mind. Sadly, I found the story and the writing to be subpar to what I've come to expect out of my mysteries and thrillers. For great mysteries, I recommend [a:Tana French|138825|Tana French|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1277505771p2/138825.jpg], [a:Michael Connelly|12470|Michael Connelly|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1406128068p2/12470.jpg], and [a:Kathy Reichs|26372|Kathy Reichs|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1407166867p2/26372.jpg].
I found Carolyn, our only first person POV, to be an inconsistent character. One moment she's spouting about being an amazing lawyer and the next she's seeking counsel over general law questions any attorney should have known.
The other major issue for me was how incompetent and cold-hearted the police were portrayed as. The hurting siblings of the missing were out finding clues (with no investigative background), while the police apparently never thought to look in those places. Furthermore, they were made out to look extremely closed minded and hyper-focused on one suspect (to which each officer had a different idea as to who that was). Although police do make mistakes, I found this an unrealistic portrayal of what would happen in these circumstances.
The ending itself had a few good twists, but I felt the character development for most of the players was weak and made certain parts of the ending feel unbelievable.
I haven't read a Clark novel since high school, and I remember them being more suspenseful, but now I am thinking that may have been my young age and more innocent mind. Sadly, I found the story and the writing to be subpar to what I've come to expect out of my mysteries and thrillers. For great mysteries, I recommend [a:Tana French|138825|Tana French|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1277505771p2/138825.jpg], [a:Michael Connelly|12470|Michael Connelly|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1406128068p2/12470.jpg], and [a:Kathy Reichs|26372|Kathy Reichs|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1407166867p2/26372.jpg].