The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett

Reviewed by Gerti

I saw many of the “Thin Man” movies when I was young, and thoroughly enjoyed them. Who wouldn’t love Nick Charles, the dashingly sauve detective, and his lovely wife Nora? And of course, their little dog Asta was always comic relief. The plot was never as important as the chemistry between the couple, and the humor found in the dumber-than-dirt cops and convicts who peopled the movies. So when I started reading Dashiell Hammett books a few months ago, I knew I eventually had to read the novel that started it all.

Unlike “The Maltese Falcon”, the book that Hammett will be remembered for, and its famous protagonist Sam Spade, whom I found terribly sexist, I really like Nick Charles, but I didn’t realize till reading this book that he was supposed to be Greek! Wonder if they left that fact out of the black and white movies for a reason? In this story, Nick is wealthy because he’s married a wealthy woman, Nora, and now spends his time drinking and visiting with friends in the Big Apple. Oh, and he solves mysteries even without being paid for it. He’s just in the know about crimes because he knows so many people of all social classes.

There is no point even talking about the plot here, because it is really just window-dressing to the charming banter and hectic lifestyle of the Charles couple. They have friends who drink too much, who fool around too much, and friends who shoot them, but are very apologetic afterwards. The book is terribly sophisticated, and even dead bodies are hardly worth a mention in the urbane circles in which the Charles’ move.

I think “Red Harvest” is the best Hammett novel I’ve read, but “The Thin Man” is by no means his worst. While it is still a time capsule of an era in which women occupy a certain place in society, I find Nora Charles to be a very modern heroine, and love how she tries to keep up with the sharp chat and sharper deductive skills of her husband. Other female characters in this book are more stereotypical – the grasping ex-wife who fell for a gigolo who will leave once her money runs out; the sad wife who puts up with her wealthy husband’s affairs because she likes the lifestyle his money buys, and of course, the mutton-headed daughter who does nothing but cry and run around hysterically.

Still the novel is quite interesting to read, and it isn’t until the end (once Nick has uncovered the real killer) that it gets a little tedious. Hammett has to explain everything that has happened in the last 200 pages in quick order, and that is a little rushed for me. I guess I don’t really care whodunit as long as the writing is enjoyable and the characters interesting. This books has those things, but I still think I’m gonna go back and see the movies again to see how closely they follow this plotline.

Nighttime Is My Time by Mary Higgins Clark

Review by Gerti

Mary Higgins Clark has written a large number of books very well. However, this novel, “Nighttime Is My Time,” is not one of them.

It tells the story of protagonist Jean Sheridan who is called back to her hometown of Cornwall-on-Hudson in New York for a class reunion. She is one of the famous alum’s from Stonecroft Academy, and is therefore one of those being specially honored by that school during the reunion. Unfortunately, many of the girls she used to sit with at her lunch table have since died, and that’s pretty unusual.

It takes a long time for players in this story to realize that a killer called “The Owl” is on the prowl. He is on a mission of revenge against the girls who used to laugh at him in school (predictable), and no amount of money or success after high school can lure him away from the madness of murder. The problem is, the evidence points to one of the honorees being the killer, but which one is it? Mark Fleischman, Gordon Amory, Robby Brent, Jack Emerson, or Carter “Howie” Stewart? The author leads you on a wild dance of red herrings as she makes each of them look guilty. And then you have to learn the names of the five murdered girls and their back stories, and where they ran into the killer again… and then you’re introduced to other non-Stonecroft victims, because the killer has knocked off other vulnerable women besides those from the school during his career because he just likes killing. It all gets to be TMI – too much information.

While I liked the premise and the story Clark weaves, the cast of characters here was just too huge for me. Her writing is always a pleasure to read, and I liked protagonist Jean, but there were just too many suspects to keep everybody straight. I am a huge fan of MHC, but I read her books for relaxation. I don’t want to treat them like college assignments, taking notes about the character’s different backgrounds or putting together a flowchart to figure out how everyone is related, and that is what I’d have to do here with NIMT to keep things straight. I simply want to be entertained when I read Clark’s novels, and this mystery, clever as it is, requires too much heavy lifting for me to follow along easily. I’d skip this one, Clark fans. 

Daddy's Little Girl by Mary Higgins Clark

reviewed by Gerti

Mary Higgins Clark can be an excellent writer, and the book “Daddy’s Little Girl” is a shining example of that. It is written in the first person, which is apparently a departure for the popular suspense writer, as it is mentioned several times in reviews of the novel. It is the story of an investigative journalist named Ellie Cavanaugh who was only a child when her older sister was murdered. Now, decades later, the man convicted of her murder is preparing to be set free, with help from his uber rich and powerful family. Ellie is determined to use her investigative skills to make sure that doesn’t happen, and in a modern twist, starts a website to prove his guilt, if not in her sister’s murder, than in other shocking crimes, like trying to kill his grandmother for her money.

Ellie is a compelling heroine, made more so by the fact that for many years she felt guilty about her sister Andrea’s murder, as she knew about the hideout where her rebellious older sis would meet boyfriends and girlfriends to commit teenaged indiscretions. It is Ellie’s belief that her parents felt the same way, and that Andrea’s murder was the thing that broke up their marriage. Ellie’s mother has died, after being an alcoholic for a long time, and after dragging Ellie all around the country to maintain her job. Ellie’s father, who she practically refuses to speak to because she feels he abandoned them, has remarried, and Ellie has a half-brother who is a rising star in the basketball world.

The secondary characters in this story are also brilliantly drawn. They are Rob Westerfield, the 19-year-old convicted of Andrea’s murder, who thanks to his money and connections now has a crime writer working on a biography to prove he did not commit this crime. Will Nebels is the shiftless local handyman, who suddenly emerges with a new piece of evidence pointing the finger at another local teenager, the mentally challenged Paulie Stroebel, who was working at a garage the night of the murder and had access to Westerfield’s car (and the murder weapon – a tire jack). Stroebel’s mother wants to keep him out of another trial just to save his fragile mental health, not because he killed the girl.

As the plot goes on, it is Ellie’s investigative skill that gets her evidence of other crimes and misdemeanors committed by Westerfield, but how far will his family go to keep it all quiet? The book kept me reading far into the night, with its engaging heroine, dramatic plotline (involving a fire and a suicide attempt), and heartless villain, who has a history of crimes against women. The suspense only builds as Ellie finally puts the puzzle together, but will Westerfield and his cronies stop her before she can tell anyone else? “Daddy’s Little Girl” is a rich and complex novel, and I strongly recommend it to anyone who loves crime fiction AND happy endings.

Paper Towns by John Green

reviewed by Gerti

I’ve read several John Green books now, and while “Paper Towns” is not my favorite, it is not his worst either. PT has a typical Green formula - a charming pre-college narrator (Quentin Jacobsen in this case) who travels the country, amidst tortured tales of teen angst and romance. High school senior Q (short for Quentin) is in love with his neighbor, Margo Roth Spiegelman, who is far more attractive, more interesting, and more everything than Quentin. She is a popular girl with a reputation for fearlessness, and as such, hell breaks loose when she finds out her boyfriend has been cheating on her. Q helps with her multifaceted revenge plan, but when Margo’s breakup precedes her leaving town, “Paper Towns” turns into “Looking for Alaska,” another (better) Green novel in which the female love interest disappears, forcing the protagonist into a road trip of self discovery. In this case, it is also literally a trip from Florida to a “paper town” in New York.

Quentin faces the same issues faced by Alaska’s hero – has the girl he was crushing on killed herself? To find resolution, Q and his friends (fellow seniors Radar and Ben, as well as Ben’s girlfriend Lacey) follow clue after clue in order to track down a mercifully still-living Margo. But there are few happy endings in life, and there is none here in “Paper Towns”, for while the band of friends find Margo in Agloe, New York (a town which doesn’t really exist at all), Margo didn’t want to be found. The “paper town” destination is a metaphor for Q’s relationship with Margo herself. He is in love with his idea of her, and not with the person she really is. In the same way, a paper town exists only on paper, a place invented by map publishers to keep others from stealing their information.

This book, like all of Green’s novels, is populated by fascinating, quirky, sometimes brilliant characters. The situations presented are also relatively unique, but I like this book less than some of Green’s previous efforts, perhaps because Margo is so very unlikeable. Her revenge plan for her cheating boyfriend is over the top, her idea of fun (sneaking into Sea World when it’s closed) is over the top, and her final departure from her previous life, family and friends, is so abrupt and final that she seems seriously damaged, rather than charmingly adventurous. She has deep-seated psychological problems and needs professional help, not just a group of supportive friends. Her pattern of living alone in deserted buildings (one a mini-mall filled with asbestos) is dangerous and for a young, attractive woman, a recipe for disaster.

Green’s books are usually charming, fun and easy-to-read, but this novel leaves me with a sour taste. When Q leaves Margo behind, I root for him to get over her, because I don’t see her story ending in anything besides suicide. I understand Green’s message – that we can never really know other people - but that ground was covered more effectively over a hundred years ago by Nathaniel Hawthorne in “The Minister’s Black Veil.” Avoid making a trip to this “Paper Town.”

Plum Lucky

 

Plum Lucky by Janet Evanovich

Reviewed by Gerti

I had never read a book by Janet Evanovich before, so picking up this book was a little like getting on what I thought was an elevator and finding out it was a rollercoaster. “Plum Lucky” is a comic thrill ride, filled with quirky characters that were both horrible and hysterical at the same time. I had a great time reading it!

The protagonist is a woman named Stephanie Plum, who works for her uncle in the bail bonds business. The story is told from her point of view, which sounds as though it might limit the amount of information coming in to the reader, but that is by no means true. Stephanie has a funny family, led by her Grandma Mazur, who has just found a duffle-bag filled with money. The problems come in as the original owner of the money, and the man who stole it from him, both try to get their money back from Grandma. She however has taken the windfall, bought a Winnebago, and gone from Trenton to Atlantic City to gamble.

Since Stephanie is good at tracking down scofflaws, her mother enlists her aid in finding her errant grandmother, but Stephanie is “Plum Lucky” to have a bunch of people who help her out. Those people include the other staff of the bail bond business, office manager Connie and former whore now (almost) high fashion model Lula. The cast rounds out with a cop boyfriend for Stephanie, another sexy people tracker named Diesel, a mad mobster named Delvina, a leprechaun thief named Snuggy, and a racehorse headed for the glue factory named Doug. There are people who talk to horses, people wearing tinfoil on their heads, and people shooting rocket launchers. It’s a mad romp as Stephanie and her crew try to bring Grandma back home alive and well, return the money to the mobster, but also have enough money left to pay for Doug’s operation so he isn’t put down.

Does “Plum Lucky” make me want to look for another book by Evanovich? Yes, because it’s so plum crazy, but also very entertaining. No brain cells died in the reading of this book, meaning it was as easy to digest as a bowl full of Cool Whip. And while there was very little mystery involved in the novel, it was as much fun as a girl’s night out. To top it off, I read this St. Patrick’s Day themed book the day before the holiday, so it seemed like Evanovich and I are meant to be. Can’t wait to see if she can keep up the manic action and wit in her next book! I feel “Plum Lucky” to have finally found this author!

Pretend You Don't See Her

 

Pretend You Don’t See Her by Mary Higgins Clark

Review by Gerti

By now, I’ve gotten used to Mary Higgins Clark writing books based on old songs, but this is one song I’ve yet to look up on YouTube. It seems an odd title, though, for the story of realtor Lacey Farrell who goes into witness protection after seeing a murder at a client’s condo in New York City.

There is more wrong with this novel than just the title, however. One of the things that stands out early is that the killer, who uses a false name to get Lacey to show him a NYC apartment, allegedly steals the key to the place from the front hallway table there in order to come back and kill the owner. But after the murder, when Lacey shuts him out by locking the door, he somehow can’t open it to get back in, even though he has the key. Big continuity flaw.

I also dislike how stupid Lacey is in the novel. Through the witness protection program, the authorities move her from NYC to Minneapolis after she sees the killer’s face and they figure out from his prints that he’s a wanted mobster they thought was dead. But Lacey can’t help telling her ditzy mom where she has been moved to, even though she knows it threatens her own safety. She also can’t keep away from the things she did in New York – working in real estate and going to health clubs. It seems that would be Witness Protection 101, try to do different things in your new location, so you’re not so easy to track down. But Lacey follows old patterns, and with her loose lips, it’s no wonder the murderous mobster finds his way to Minnesota to finish the job by killing her.

I also disliked how she felt unable to make new relationships in her new town, afraid that she was putting them in danger. It seems odd that she is unwilling to put strangers in danger, when she seems to go out of her way to put herself in harm’s way. The only sensible thing she does is choose a fake name – Alice Carroll – this is similar to her real name, so she can remember and respond to it.

The back story in this novel – that actress Heather Landi’s mother never believed she died in a car accident, but that she was murdered, and that elderly lady confides in Lacey and gives her Heather’s journal – is interesting. But all of it seems far-fetched and strains credibility. I always like Clark’s writing, but this seems like one of her early writing efforts which could have used a few more read-throughs by a conscientious editor. Now the only mystery is the song…

My Gal Sunday

 

My Gal Sunday by Mary Higgins Clark

Review by Gerti

I’ve gotten used to Mary Higgins Clark writing books with titles based on the popular culture of her youth, but this title was a new one for me. Apparently back in the day, there was a radio soap opera called “My Gal Sunday,” so it makes sense (to Clark) for the characters here to reference that now obscure show and call the former president’s wife “Sunday” when her real name is Sandra. However, it seems an odd reference to the modern reader who has never heard of the original, but I guess it’s no more unusual than the Preppy Handbook from the ‘80s recommending women be nicknamed “Bunny” or “Buffy.”

The real meat of this collection of vignettes by Clark is that there is a mystery-solving couple comprised of a former president (with another impossible name – Henry Parker Britland IV) and his lovely young Congresswoman wife, Sandra “Sunday” O’Brien. As seemingly mismatched as Dashiell Hammet’s detective and socialite pairing, Nick and Nora Charles from the Thin Man series, the Britland’s first mystery is whether or not his friend and (former Secretary of State Thomas Shipman) murdered his young lover, Arabella. Strangely, Shipman doesn’t even remember her death, although it happened in his house, in his library, with his gun, right after their relationship broke up. The Britlands believe Shipman is being set up, but whodunit? This first mystery is so easy this reader solved it even before the evildoer is revealed.

In the second vignette, Sunday is kidnapped, which drives her husband and the secret service who still protect him crazy. They think an international terrorist is behind the act, but it turns out the terrorist is just using the situation to improve his living conditions in jail and knows nothing about the crime at all. The true criminal is the brother of someone Sunday couldn’t keep out of jail back when she was a public defender. But the good guys manage to rescue Sunday just in the nick of time, thanks to a canny media message she manages to send her husband, who we find out here also happens to be a pilot. Yes, sometimes these people are so talented it defies credulity, and that weakens the stories.

Speaking of which, the third story involves a little French-speaking boy who also gets kidnapped by a bad babysitter and escapes during the Christmas season. Luckily, Jacques finds the Britland’s home, and they treat him to a glorious holiday celebration (having no children of their own) until the mystery of his origin can be solved. Another case goes back to Britland’s own childhood and involves a murder on the presidential yacht. Sunday is determined to solve it, and so she does, bringing a foreign head of state to justice for the crime.

These four stories of Clark’s are fun to read in a “Movie of the Week” way, where you leave common sense behind and just enjoy the ride. No secrets of the universe are revealed, no Nobel prizes won or lost, but if you are looking for a bit of escapist fun to brighten your day, these stories provide just the right touch.

No Place Like Home

No Place Like Home by Mary Higgins Clark

Review by Gerti

One of the better Mary Higgins Clark books, even though one of the "surprises" was pretty evident from the beginning. It involves a woman names Celia whose husband buys her a house for her birthday, a house in which she killed her mother when she was a child and bore a different name. I accept the fact that a child who becomes famous for a crime would want to change her name in order to reclaim her anonymity, but I don't see a husband EVER buying a house for wife that she hadn't seen and approved. And a house with such a terrible history for her? Too great a coincidence to believe, and that makes him an immediate suspect in my book!

Celia, however, has no such suspicions, even though creepy things start happening almost immediately. Those include someone vandalizing the lawn in front of the house and their heavy wooden front door, works which prove to be more than the actions of teenage ne'er-do-wells. Then the realtor who sold the house to her husband is found dead near some spilled paint that was used to write "Little Lizzie's Place. Beware!" on the lawn. Liza Barclay was Celia's childhood name, and the press dubbed her "Little Lizzie" after infamous parent killer Lizzie Borden. But in Liza's case, she accidentally shot her mother, Audrey, while trying to protect her from Ted Cartwright, her sexy but violent stepfather.

Celia hasn't told her new husband, Alex Nolan, about her past, but any fan of old movies know this plot - where the creepy husband tries to make his rich new wife feel like she's losing her mind, possibly even get her convicted of some crime. And that's where it's headed in this book, as the bodies begin to pile up, and Celia seems to be strangely close to each location! After the realtor, the lawn boy is found shot to death, then a riding instructor of Celia's who is also linked to her father and stepfather. One local detective in on the verge of matching Celia's fingerprints to those of Little Lizzie, but luckily, the Morris County prosecutor thinks the finger-pointing has gone too far and that Celia may in fact be more victim than crazed criminal.

All through the plot twists, Celia tries desperately to remember what her mother shouted while fighting with her stepfather, and when it finally comes back to her, she is able to put the pieces together herself. A bullet pulled from a tree decades ago and a yellowing press clipping also help knit the story together, and soon all the non-deceased baddies are behind bars, including Celia's current spouse, who just wanted her for her money.

A fun book to read, like most of Clark's efforts. "No Place Like Home" would make great reading around Halloween, when all the spooky vandalism would fit right into the season of ghosts and goblins. I'm glad I bought this book at a local book sale.

You Belong to Me

 
You Belong to Me by Mary Higgins Clark

Review by Gerti

There is a great and plausible plot in Mary Higgins Clark’s offering “You Belong to Me” up until a sour note sounds when the killer is revealed at the end. The novels tells the story of a man who targets lonely women on vacation. The whack-job (and I think I can call him that!) uses the old song as the basis of his killing spree. If you don’t know the tune, it goes – “See the pyramids along the Nile. Watch the sunset on a tropic isle. Just remember darling all the while, you belong to me.” There are other verses, but you get the point. He takes women away from their tour groups and to the places named in the song, and then they disappear. Oh, and being freaky, he gives them all identical rings, which is what makes him easier to catch.

Dr. Susan Chandler is a radio psychologist like Dr. Fraser Crane. Hoping to warn women against being victims, she has a guest on her show who wrote a new book about women who disappear and have become victims of crimes due to their loneliness. That on-air discussion puts Dr. Chandler in the swirling heart of danger. She is contacted by the mother of one such victim, Regina Clausen, a wealthy successful woman who found romance on a cruise and then was never heard from again. Other women begin to call the show with clues about a ring that reads “You Belong to Me”, but when Chandler tries to track it down, she finds both that girl caller and the New York maker of those custom rings are dead. Is the killer someone Susan knows? Has he been listening to her show? Or is it the author of the book himself?

Like most Clark stories, there are red herrings thrown into the plot before the true killer is revealed. There are also other evil characters, male and female, who give spice to the action, including Susan’s man-hungry sister, Dee. In the end, however, I find that Clark’s killer choice seemed wrong. He was the least likely suspect, and even at the dramatic conclusion of the story, seems like a square peg shoved into a round hole for the sake of Clark’s being unpredictable. The rest of the writing was in Clark’s usual easy-going style, which made “You Belong to Me” a pleasure to read, although I did get tired of hearing about the lyrics to the title song! Not her best, but still fun.

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.

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.

Gone Girl

Gone Girl by Gillian Glynn
Reviewed by Gerti

I picked up this text because I swaw it in the library book room and the movie based on the book was being advertised. I haven't seen the movie yet, but there are not enough words in the dictionary to tell you how good a book this is. My immediate kudos to Gillian Flynn for being the best writer I've read this year, and to "Gone Girl" for being the best book!

How can I tell that is true? Normally, while reading through a book, I'll fold over the pages that are exceptional, either because they have gorgeouly turned phrases, or amazing facts. The average book written by the average author gets between 2 and 8 fold-overs. With this book, I stopped folding early (about page 3!) and started reading with a highlighter, becasue there were so many amazing phrases and such fabulous writing that I would have dog-eared just about every page in the book. For example, three things struck me as great on page 17 alone. The phrase "Deep Hasbro thought for the day" - for being the first-time those words were ever combined in that way in the history of the English language. And we "took the Internet bubble bath in 2000" because it takes a mundane phrase that means losing money - taking a bath - and turns it into something more original and amusing. The third phrase? "We were Dunnes, and we were done," which I liked on so many levels. It refers to the narrator at that point, Nick Dunne, and how he had left New York because the journalism market there dried up. His sister is also included in that phrase, but she wasn't in the same career, but was also done with NYC.

I think I liked and trusted the narrator of this part, Nick, instantly, because I went to J school and knew people in New York who were "in the business," and knew he began his narrative about why he had left New York and returned to his home town with his wife, Amy. And I trusted his narrative when he talked about her being missing, and how he had nothing to do with it. Like the author intended, I felt his fear about his mistress being discovered, knowing that that would lead police to think he had a motive for killing his wife.

While Flynn does a great job creating separate narrative identities for Nick and Amy, I found that I did not like Amy, as a character. I did however, love the intricacy of the plot, and the perverseness of her mind, which enabled her to manipulate everyone in an attempt to get back at Nick for his infedelity. I won't detail the plot here, because you should read it for yourself, but I will say, that the end of the book is a fitting punishment to them both. The book is a tour de force, a force of nature that must be rushed through once, and then once again, slowly, because it is a terrible and complicated world that Flynn creates here, and I can't wait to read the other books she has written. Bravo to "Gone Girl" - my best book of 2014!

The Second Time Around

"The Second Time Around" by Mary Higgins Clark

Reviewed by Gerti

Describing "The Second Time Around" by Mary Higgins Clark as a thriller is entirely accurate. Not until the last few pages, an epilogue, was I sure exactly how all the pieces and players fit into the story. All I knew for sure was that I had to keep reading!

The protagonist is a financial reporter named Marcia "Carley" DeCarlo who as the story opens is attending a stockholder's meeting for a company called Genstone. The pharmaceutical firm was on the verge of releasing a cancer vaccine, and that kind of product of course drew lots of money and investors from all walks of life. But on the heels of the news that the latest tests on the vaccine can't replicate the early successful trials comes the bombshell that CEO Nicholas Spencer has been stealing from the company, and has now allegedly died in a plane crash. The stock is virtually worthless, and The Wall Street Weekly wants to figure out how it all happened. Carley is one of their reporters on the story.

But as Carley digs for answers in Spencer's hometown, she finds that he was a championship swimmer, and an experienced pilot, so she (and others) suspect that he may have faked his death at sea. Only his love for his son Jack put the lie to that theory. Making the story more personal for Carley, her step-sister Lynn was Spencer's second wife, as his first wife died from cancer. Now people suspect Lynn of being involved in the theft, and an angry stockholder has burned down her Bedford home, not knowing that Lynn was asleep in it. Lynn is burned and turns to Carley to help her garner sympathy with the media. Carley complies, even though she doesn't really like, or trust, the cold but beautiful Lynn.

As the story progresses, Carley must interview Spencer's administrative assistant, another beauty named Vivian Powers, and soon realizes that Spencer and Vivian were romantically involved. While Vivian is initially reluctant to talk to a reporter, Carley gains her confidence just before Vivian disappears. It begins to look more and more like Spencer faked his death and had Vivian join him in some villa in Europe. But when Vivian is located in a car five days later, she is totally disoriented and thinks she is 16 years old again. Carley now suspects a pharmaceutical rival has used a memory erasing drug on her. Add to the mix an unhinged investor with a rifle who is slowly picking off people with whom he is angry and you've got quite an exciting story.

I loved watching Carley interview one person after another, leading her closer and closter to the truth. There was real suspense for me as i kept expecting Spencer to show up, even though those who knew him best always suspected he hadn't done the terrible things of which he was accused. There is a throw-away romance here between Carley and a doctor friend, but other than that, the story is riveting, and the ending a real surprise. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves a good "tale of deception and tantalizing twists."