Where are You Now?

Where Are You Now? by Mary Higgins Clark

Reviewed by Gerti

I generally like Mary Higgins Clark books, and “Where Are You Now?” is no exception. The plot is wonderful, as it involves the disappearance of a college student named Charles MacKenzie, Jr., called “Mack”. He has been gone for 10 years without a trace, but calls his family every year on Mother’s Day to assure his mother he’s fine. However this year, his sister Carolyn grabs the phone to tell him she’s had enough. She swears to him on the phone that she is tired of this abuse, because he is torturing his family by his absence. And she swears to him that she will track him down this time, which sets a whole lot of dominoes tumbling.

Carolyn decides to go back to the Private Investigator that her now dead father initially hired to find Mack. She also tries to go back through and interview all her brother’s friends and associates from the time he disappeared. Among the most suspicious are his old apartment superintendent and his wife, Gus and Lil Kramer. Lil used to clean the apartment Mack shared with 2 roommates, and is very nervous when Carolyn starts asking questions about him again. Turns out, she was convicted of stealing jewelry from an old ladies apartment before, and suspicion rises that maybe she had stolen something from Mack, which lead to a fight and… more? Gus is definitely a hot head. Could he have killed Mack?

Also on the list of suspects is the “Lone Stranger” roommate, who married a girl Mack used to date once he disappears. He spirits his wife out of town before Carolyn can get to her, and her interview with him is mighty cold. Carolyn had a crush on the third roommate, playboy Nick DeMarco, whom the cops think is responsible for kidnapping another college student recently. So is he good for the older crime, too?

The plot thickens when the missing girl’s cell phone is used, and she claims that “Mack” has kidnapped her. So is that why he disappeared? He had some kind of mental breakdown, and is now some kind of kidnapper/rapist? Carolyn’s head spins with the possibilities. But in the end, she sticks to her guns that Mack is innocent of the crime, which puts her in even more jeopardy from the real kidnap/killer.

I realized early on that one of the people the family knew well had to be responsible for the recent kidnapping, and it turned out that was true. But who it was a pretty neat twist and I found it very satisfying that I had correctly pegged one of the good guys as a baddie, as well as guessed his motivation for the crimes. “Where” is a satisfying suspense novel that will keep you glued to your seat until you finish the last word.

While My Pretty One Sleeps

While My Pretty One Sleeps by Mary Higgins Clark
Review by Gerti

"While My Pretty One Sleeps" is another winner by Mary Higgins Clark. The protagonist is Neeve Kearny, the only daughter of a former Police Commissioner of NYC. You would think that connection would keep her safe in the city. Instead, it means that Neeve has been exposed to lots of famous people, and some of them are even dangerous! After her mother Renata is murdered, a mobster is put into prison for 17 years, but now he's set to be released, and Neeve's dad is worried that she will be his next victim.

Besides being a potential victim, however, Neeve has a full life. Although she still lives with dad, she runs a very successful clothing store, which caters to the rich lives of New York who have no fashion sense of their own. One of her clients is a hard-to-love, hard-as-nails writer named Ethel Lambston. When the lady goes missing on the eve of a large delivery of clothes, Neeve makes it her business to fin out what happened to the old bird. In the process, she runs into Ethel's mooching nephew, Donald, who has moved into the lady's apartment just as she has done her disappearing act. Also on the suspect list is Lambston's ex-husband, Seamus, whom she's been bleeding dry financially for over 20 years. That man and his second wife, Ruth, are at wit's end and the pressure is on to stop paying alimony, with their 2 kids in college and his liquor business no longer as profitable as it was. He admits they had a big fight. But did he kill her?

Unlike so many mystery books, Clark keeps the reader guessing until the end, and even when the killer is revealed, it is a hug surprise, as there is another suspect who I haven't bothered to name here who is just as likely to have iced the old girl, as he's involved in running seat shops and guilty of tax evasion. He's so openly evil that Neeve has refused to carry his clothes in her shop anymore, so he could have put a hit out on her as well. This book is a thrilling whodunit with only a few sour notes, including the romance of Neeve's father with the widow who found Lambston's body. The book was well written, and the ending very satisfying, as it tied up several loose ends. I would recommend "While My Pretty One Sleeps" to anyone older than their teens.

The Associate

The Associate by John Grisham
Review by Gerti

John Grisham is famous for writing legal dramas. Some, like "The Last Juror," are amazing. While not up to the the genius of that book, "The Associate" is still class "A" storytelling. Grisham's effortless writing is a joy to read, even is his storyline here, about a group of college friends who may/may not have committed a rape, is not the most palatable. Kyle McAvoy is the protagonist, and his is the Tiger Woods of law students. The son of a small-town lawyer, Kyle grew up around the law, and therefore excelled at it in college, even becoming the editor-in-chief of the Yale Law Review. While his father and girlfriend want him to do some pro bono work for a few years in order to give back to the community after graduation, McAvoy is also being courted by some big name law firms from New York, and one of them just made him an offer he can't refuse.

Some cell phone video of the rape just surfaced, and someone, we're never sure who, is using it to force McAvoy to join the largest law firm in the world and become part of a lawsuit they are putting together for a defense contractor. McAvoy is being forced to discover secrets in order to save his own reputation and that of some college buddies, including Baxter Tate, a drug-swilling trust fund baby. Another college buddy tries to help McAvoy figure out who is behind the blackmail attempt, but it is never clear whether it's the opposing law firm, the government itself, or some characters with an even shadier agenda.

There is of course a little sex with a cubicle mate named Dale at the law firm, but McAvoy doesn't tell her about the trouble he is in either. Finally, when McAvoy is on the brink of doing something illegal, he comes clean to his father and another lawyer, who get government officials they can trust involved. Still, the setup for his handler doesn't net the suspect, and McAvoy has to go into hiding, because he knows he just made somebody's hit list, too.

"The Associate" is a good book with enough twists and turns to keep it interesting. The only thing I didn't like about it was that although we know that McAvoy never committed rape, which is good, the truth about who exactly is manipulating him is never revealed to the reader, and even after all that effort and investment in the plot and character, we are left with fewer answers than we'd like. As a result, reading "The Associate" is a little like a date with a cute guy who never calls you again. You are left wondering why, and spend your time, dissatisfied, going back over what happened to see what you missed.