Young Writers Society

Reader Games Entry

Title: Where are the Children?
Author: Mary Higgins Clark

Imagine having your worst nightmare happen in reality. Now imagine it happening a second time. This is what happens to Nancy Harmon, the protagonist of 'Queen of Suspense' Mary Higgins Clark's debut novel.

There is a reason why Mary Higgins Clark is known as the 'Queen of Suspense' and this novel says it all. Reading this book, it was kind of hard to believe that this was her debut novel, it was that good. The story takes us through a mother's pain of losing her kids a second time and the devious mind of a psychopath. Yes, psychopath. See? Queen of Suspense right there.

Nancy Harmon, resident of San Francisco's worst nightmare came to reality on her birthday. Her kids, Peter and Lisa had disappeared, only to be found in the lake, dead. The police wrongly accuse Nancy to be the killer and sentence her to prison. After several torturous trials,seven years later, Nancy has moved to Cape Cod, Massachusetts to start a new life, with a new husband(her previous husband had committed suicide), a new identity and two wonderful children, Michael and Missy.
Its her birthday and while Michael and Missy are playing in the backyard, Nancy is horrified to find her face in the newspaper,with details of the murder of Peter and Lisa. Feeling scared, Nancy rushes out to get her kids back into the house. But she was in for a shock. In the place where her kids were supposed to be were two red mittens. Missy's mittens. The kids were gone, just like last time. But Nancy vows to find them before her nightmare replays itself. Where are the Children?

The plot has been set, it was up to Nancy to find the killer ,and boy was I in for a shock when I found out. The story contains POV of the villain as well. He treats the children with utmost care and love, as a mother would, and kills them. He is not like other villains, no. Clark has done an excellent job to portray him, with all the creepiness intact.
My hands are just itching to type out his name, but no, I've got to control myself.
Nancy was a pretty likable character. A grieving mother, who's lost her children a second time and is wrongly accused of murder. You could feel her pain, her guilt for letting her kids play on their own and most of all anger at the thought of the murderer. Her character was very well written.

My only disappointment was that the book ended pretty fast. Also, its quite easy to predict the villains in all of Clark's novels, so I kind of already knew who it was, just not the motive.
But otherwise, there is not a single flaw.

Bottom line: Its a classic case of Whodunit that will leave you craving for more psychopaths for sure.

I've rated this book: 8/10