Mx3 Book Reviews

Hooray for me!  I actually finished two entries for the Murder, Monsters and Mayhem Challenge.  And they couldn't be at more opposite ends of the spectrum.  One five-star read and one that received one star only because I'm not sure you can give a zero rating.

Where are the Children? by Mary Higgins Clark

This is old-school thriller writing.  I read this book in the 70's and thought I remembered the story - but I wasn't even close.  (Now I'm wondering what book I AM remembering...)  

To escape the terrible secret in her past and the people who knew about it, Nancy Harmon changed her hair color, moved across the country and married Ray Eldredge, believing that at last she had begun a new life.  Seven years have passed and she is happy with her home, her husband and her two beautiful children.

Then an article appears about a famous California murder trial, along with a picture of a woman who looks suspiciously like Nancy.  That very morning, her two children disappear from the yard - and the past and present become inexorably linked.  The police fear that Nancy may have snapper her tenuous hold on reality.  They know nothing about the existence of the stranger in town who holds the key to the children's lives.

I have been in a reading slump lately -- couldn't get involved in anything, nothing was interesting.  That's what inspired me to return to the tried-and-true.  Mary Higgins Clark set the bar for page-turners.  The story is fast-paced, with enough hints to keep you guessing without revealing too much and ruining the twisting ending, and just creepy enough to qualify it for Mx3.

Ms.Clark's more recent novels have lost something, in my opinion.  They tend to be more benign, less intricate, less....thrilling. If you are only familiar with the Mary Higgins Clark of the last 10-15 years, I encourage you to try some vintage suspense.

In the Tall Grass by Stephen King and Joe Hill

In the Tall Grass begins with a sister and brother who pull off to the side of the road after hearing a young boy crying for help from beyond the tall grass. Within minutes they are disoriented, in deeper than seems possible, and they've lost one another. The boy's cries are more and more desperate. What follows is a terrifying, entertaining, and masterfully told tale, as only Stephen King and Joe Hill can deliver.

This is a short-story (about 40 pages) and that's a good thing!  At least the time I wasted was relatively small.  It started out brilliantly, and classic Stephen King -- a common situation that turns bizarre, but maintains that basis of reality that keeps the reader thinking there is a logical solution.  Dave and I were especially enjoying it because it's set in Kansas, in an area we're familiar with, and involved the Tall Grass Prairie that I love.  We were pumped for an awesome journey with the horror "King" (pun intended.) But with about 15 pages left, it went totally off the rails and veered from brilliant to just plain stupid.  There was no point, no progress, no redeeming value.  It apparently became a contest between two  authors to see how disgusting they could be and how many people could be suckered into paying for it.  Honestly, it made me angry that a writing super-star took the easy way out, opting for the gross-out instead of an actual climax to the story.  This isn't horror, this is horrific.

Update:  Can't believe I forgot to mention that The World's Largest Ball of Twine in Cawker City, Kansas plays a part in this book. Cawker is only 30 miles from where I grew up and the giant ball of twine is a familiar sight.  When we used to drive through there on our way to see family, Dave would always hit the brakes and yell "Look at that ball of twine!" -- just to annoy the kids.  And it did.

The Unseen and The Lost Years

I'll tell you right up front, that both of these books should probably take advice from their titles and remain "lost" and "unseen".  Sorry, but with so many good books lined up for the summer, I was a little disappointed that I spent time on these newest from a couple big names.

1800s. San Antonio, Texas: In room 207 at the Longhorn Saloon, in the long shadow of the Alamo, a woman renowned for her beauty was brutally murdered. Her killer was never found.

One year ago: In that same historic room, another woman vanished without a trace. Her blood was everywhere, …but her body was never recovered.

Now: In the last month, San Antonio has become a dumping ground for battered bodies. All young women, many of them long missing, almost all forgotten. Until now.

Texas Ranger Logan Raintree and U.S. Marshall Kelsey O'Brien team up to use their psychic abilities to track down the killer. 

Together, Kelsey and Logan follow their instincts to the Alamo and to the newly reopened Longhorn Inn.  If the spirits of those long-dead Texans are really appearing to the victims before their deaths, only Kelsey and Logan have the skills to find out why.

And if something more earthly is menacing the city's oldest, darkest corners, only they can stop it—before more innocent women join the company of San Antonio's restless ghosts…. (from publisher's blurb)

There's just no pleasing some people . . . and evidently I'm one of them.  I'm not, generally, a fan of paranormal stories (OD'd on them in my teens), especially the current trend toward the vampire-zombie-freakish end of the spectrum. I'm a Paranormal Lite girl.  That's why I bought this book - Heather Graham's stories aren't usually too spooky.  But I found myself wanting more spook from this book.
The whole thing was rather bland and too easy.  The hero/heroine fall in love too easily.  The crime is solved too easily.  Although there is a strong plot foundation, she doesn't build on it.  There's no tension, either in the romance or the mystery.  I give it 3 out of 5 stars.  It's an easy, pleasant read, but it's not going to keep you up nights.


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At its center of The Lost Years is a discovery that, if authenticated, may be the most revered document in human history.  Biblical scholar Jonathan Lyons believes he has found a letter written by Jesus Christ. Stolen from the Vatican Library in the 1500s, the letter was assumed to be lost forever.

Now, under the promise of secrecy, Jonathan is able to confirm his findings with several other experts. But he also confides in a family friend his suspicion that someone he once trusted wants to sell the parchment and cash in.

Within days Jonathan is found shot to death in his study. His wife, Kathleen, who is suffering from Alzheimer’s, is found hiding in the study closet, incoherent and clutching the murder weapon. It is up to their daughter,  Mariah, to clear her mother of murder charges and unravel the real mystery behind her father’s death. Mary Higgins Clark’s The Lost Years is at once a breathless murder mystery and a hunt for what may be the most precious religious and archaeological treasure of all time.  (from publisher's blurb)

There is nothing "breathless" about this book - except me because I read the e-book while walking on the treadmill.  Maybe, again, I was too hard to please, but I expected more Dan Brown and less Encyclopedia Brown.  The whole thing was rather bland and too easy. (I think I've said that somewhere before.)  Perhaps Ms. Clark has become too familiar with her long-time amateur detectives, Willie and Alvirah, and forgets that readers may not be.  There were a ton of suspects, but none of them was fleshed out enough to distinguish them from each other. Again, no tension and, just a detail, it seems that a 2000+year-old document would need to be handled with more care than it was.  3 out of 5 - will appeal to Willie and Alvirah fans.

I'll Walk Alone by Mary Higgins Clark

Notice:  Prolific Author Review Policy in effect.

Alexandra “Zan” Moreland is haunted by the disappearance of her own son, Matthew, kidnapped in broad daylight two years ago in Central Park—a tragedy that has left her torn between hope and despair.

Now, on what would be Matthew’s fifth birthday, photos surface that seem to show Zan kidnapping her own child, followed by a chain of events that suggests somebody has stolen her identity.

Zan, sustained only by her belief that Matthew is still alive, sets out to discover who is behind this cruel hoax.

What she does not realize is that with every step she takes toward the truth, she is putting herself— and those she loves most—in mortal danger from the person who has ingeniously plotted her destruction.

Zan herself begins to doubt her own sanity, until, in the kind of fast-paced explosive ending that is Mary Higgins Clark’s trademark, the pieces of the puzzle fall into place with an unexpected and shocking revelation. (from publisher's synopsis)

Interesting plot with current topics - child abduction and identity theft.  I have to agree with Publisher's Weekly, who became frustrated with "contrivances that prevent key information from reaching the heroine".  The believability of the missed connections that kept the case from being solved chapters sooner began to wear thin.  Also, the budding romance between two of the main characters was very superficial.  They've met a couple times on business and now they're in love?  Superficial is just a good word to describe all of the characters.  These are not Ms. Clark's best characters, but still a pleasing plot-line with a satisfying ending.

My Mind and a Book Review

Here's a sample of what life is like in the world of confusion and randomness that I call my mind:  Yesterday Daughter drove half-way to Nebraska to pick up a friend that is coming to visit for a few days.  Before she left, she commented - ever so politely - that I might want to clean the downstairs bathroom before she returned because "It's disgusting!" and she didn't want company to see it.  Two important points here: 1.) OUR bathroom is upstairs.  The downstairs bathroom is used by two teenagers, one of whom was looking at the counter filled with her toothbrush, toothpaste, facial cleanser, washcloths, lotion, saline solution, contact cases, glasses, etc and complaining because I hadn't cleaned the counter and sink.  And 2.) saying she was polite is stretching things.  Anyway, after a brief mother/daughter "discussion" on the ages of the bathroom users and their abilities to clean up after themselves, I agreed to clean it for her THIS TIME because she needed to get on the road and she's right, it was disgusting.  So Hubby kicked in (he cleaned the top of the shower where I can't reach) and we got everything back into proper shape - or as close as it's gonna get. 

Fast forward a few hours to where the confusion and randomness comes in.  I was sitting on the couch reading a book (go figure) and said to myself, "Self, your daughter will be home soon with her friend and if she didn't want said friend to see her disgusting bathroom, she would probably prefer that Friend also not see Mother sans make-up and hair un-coiffed." So I started upstairs to our bathroom to remedy the problem.  As I passed through the dining room, I noticed three shirts that had been carried in from the clothesline and draped over a chairback awaiting hangers.  Yeah, I don't know where the hangers were magically going to come from either, but there they were.  So I picked them up to carry upstairs and hang since I was going anyway.  

Once the shirts were properly hung and I was exiting the closet, I noticed the overflowing pile of laundry next to the door and realized I had enough time left in the day to get at least one more load run so I sorted the clothes into categories, selected the load I wanted to wash (in other words, MY clothes) and started downstairs.  Are you seeing the problem here?  Sure enough, as I was leaving the room I went past the bathroom door which reminded me that I had originally come up here to fix my hair and make-up.  So, I sat the laundry down and went in to primp.  It occurred to me that, being so near to turning 50, I would need to use the facilities before I could stand still long enough to do my makeup without having lipstick where the mascara should be.  So I did.  Can you guess what happened next?  Exactly!  I walked out the door, re-gathered the laundry and started down the stairs again.

Three stairs down I had a flash of a vague memory about hair and makeup, so retraced my steps to the bathroom, re-deposited the load of laundry on the floor, fluffed my hair, applied a little foundation and lipstick and called it good.  I then re-re-gathered the laundry and started down - for real this time. 

Back in the dining room, which I had to pass through to get to the basement laundry room (and you're right, there are WAY too many stairs in this house), I propped myself and my laundry against a chair to laugh with Hubby about my trip to the twilight zone of my brain, then headed on downstairs.  Naturally, there was laundry in the washer waiting for the dryer and laundry in the dryer waiting for the sucker who wanted to use it bad enough to fold the previous load.  So, being the sucker that I am and also being out of pants to wear to work, I folded clothes, moved the load from the washer to the dryer, started dryer, carried basket of folded clothes up the stairs with me and returned to my book - leaving the load of pants sitting on the floor next to the washer.

This is what it's like living in my head.  It's a wonder I find my way to work.  It also explains why I have conversations in my head like Tatersmama - If I didn't have a running dialogue with myself to keep me on track, I would just spin in circles.  After reading this, it should come as no surprise that if I don't write a book review within a rather short period of time after completion, I can no longer remember what I wanted to say about it.  This is what has happened with Mary Higgins Clark's The Shadow of Your Smile.   I read it a few weeks ago, then forgot that I hadn't reviewed it.  Now I can barely remember the story, much less what I thought of it.  And yes, I did write a post about my intention to use the Read, Remember, Recommend journal to keep track of such things - but I forgot.

Honestly, all you need to know is that Mary Higgins Clark hasn't lost her touch.  It's another solid story with a little suspense and a little romance.  I do recall that I thought some of the family connections were a little hard to follow, but obviously that could just be me.    Fans of Ms. Clark's books will certainly want to add this one to their TBR list.  I give it 3 1/2 stars - enjoyable read, but nothing that will remain in the somewhat foggy recesses of my brain.