Tuesday, August 4, 2009

The Second Time Around by Mary Higgins Clark

From the author's website: When Nicholas Spencer, the charismatic head of a company that has developed an anticancer vaccine, disappears without a trace, reporter Marcia "Carley" DeCarlo is assigned the story. Word that Spencer, if alive, has made off with huge sums of money -- including the life savings of many employees -- doesn't do much to change Carley's already low opinion of Spencer's wife, Lynn, who is also Carley's stepsister and whom everyone believes is involved. But when Lynn's life is threatened, she asks Carley to help her prove that she wasn't her husband's accomplice. As the facts unfold, however, Carley herself becomes the target of a dangerous, sinister group that will stop at nothing to get what they want.

This one was just OK. The mystery part was fairly interesting, it was a corporate intigue/espionage type thing and there were plenty of players to chose from as I mulled over who the "bad guy" might be. I think my problem with the book was that I didn't grow to like any character enough to really care about them. The female lead character Carley is a reporter so she isn't heavily invested emotionally in all of it and thus I wasn't either. The male lead character was actually missing, presumed dead, so we get to know him a bit through other peple's memories but, again, not enough to really care. There was a little suspense when you knew the potential for harm was coming but let's be real, it's Mary Higgins Clark, we know the heroine will esacape so the suspense is not really suspenseful.

I have two more of Mary Higgins Clark's books in my TBR pile and I'll slip them in between books I have selected for challenges and such. Even though this book didn't win me over, I like Mary Higgins Clark it's just that sometimes she hits a home run.. and sometimes she doesn't.

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