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Closing in on danger in quality style
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Published: September 14, 2008
WHERE ARE YOU NOW? By Mary Higgins Clark. Simon and Schuster. 289 pages. $25.95.
Writers such as Mary Higgins Clark make flying safe for readers. They know they can pick up one of her books in the airport, and get at least a thoughtful, well-plotted novel, maybe even a page-turner with a pop at the end. Clark has been providing quality product (including her daughter Carol Higgins Clark) for some time.
She does it again in her latest. She also piques the reader's interest in her preface with a glance into her process: "When a situation intrigues me, I ask myself three questions: Suppose? What if? Why?" In this case, she asks, "Suppose a college senior disappeared ten years ago; what if he calls only on Mother's Day; why did he disappear?"
Where Are You Now? is both the title of the resulting book, and the question that motivates Carolyn MacKenzie. She's the no-longer kid sister of "Mack," the college senior of Higgins' premise. Against the express wishes of her upper-crust, East Side New York mother and the family counselor-at-law (her father died in the Sept. 11 tragedy), Carolyn takes off down a cold trail of clues. Her line of investigation soon crosses that of a more recent case -- the disappearance of a coed from the East Village. It seems her brother's old roommate is a major suspect. As she follows the faint traces of the case, she uncovers surprising new evidence and comes ever closer to danger. Within a short time, her brother's case takes on new and dangerous life: the coed starts calling her family, and "Mack" becomes the cops' prime suspect. Her brother's only defender, Carolyn can't quit until she finds him or the answer to his disappearance, regardless of the danger.
The reader can feel the larger picture emerging, as Higgins' supposes, what ifs, and whys fall into place. As in a well-made puzzle, each piece is a surprise but makes perfect sense once it is in place. An enigmatic shifting of narrative point of view escalates into a revealing, suspenseful conclusion.
Higgins keeps the villain hiding in plain sight while she explores the eternal mystery question: Was it love or money? Many a reader will be entertained in flight by this well-crafted answer.
■ Robert Moyer is retired from teaching drama at the UNC School of the Arts.
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