Customer Reviews

Before I Say Good-Bye

5 star:		(37)
4 star:		(38)
3 star:		(32)
2 star:		(14)
1 star:		(15)

 

 

I thoroughly enjoyed Mary Higgins Clark's latest thriller "Before I Say Goodbye" -- An Exciting and suspenseful 'page-turner' that kept me guessing 'who-done-it' til the very end.Nell McDermott is a distraught young woman whose husband Adam is killed along with 4 others in a boat explosion. Nell is doubly upset because she and Adam had a big fight before he left for the boat trip over her decision to run for a Congressional seat once held by her grandfather. It soon becomes apparent that the explosion was no accident but a planned murder. As Nell begins to discover that her husband was involved in illegal real estate deals and bid-rigging the story becomes increasingly intriguing and suspenseful.Many interesting and well-defined supporting characters add to the mystery and Mary Higgins Clark, in her own wonderful stye, has weaved them all into another winner!

Mary Higgins Clark is a smart writer. She knows her strengths and she sticks to the type of writing that she does well. Clark's latest novel, "Before I Say Goodbye," is the story of Nell MacDermott, a newspaper columnist who wants to run for her grandfather's former Congressional seat. She has been married for three years to Adam Cauliff. Adam is an architect who has been acting secretively of late. He is vehemently opposed to Nell's idea of running for office, and this is a source of friction in their marriage. Suddenly, a terrible accident occurs on Adam's cabin cruiser, and Nell's entire world is turned upside down. The man whom she loved is suddenly a stranger to her, and Nell must come to terms with some harsh truths about her husband's secret life. Clark's plot is intricate, with many characters woven in to the narrative. One problem with the book is the large number of coincidences that tie all the characters and plot elements together. Too many unbelievable things happen to bring the story to a "logical" conclusion. To her credit, Clark avoids writing gloppy romantic scenes, and she limits the melodrama to the very end of the novel. "Before I Say Goodbye" is good escapist fiction, a genre at which Mary Higgins Clark excels.

BEFORE I SAY GOOD-BYE includes a lot (romance, corruption, envy, politics) and makes full use off all of them. It's a fabulous who-done-it. The best suspense thriller since Michael Crichton's TIMELINE and Craig Furrnas' THE SHAPE. And I think it's a treat that this novel is longer than a lot of Clark's novels. More words to savor!

Former Congressman Cornelius "Mac" MacDermott asks his granddaughter Nell Cauliff to run for his old seat in the House. Two years ago she rejected his request because her spouse objected to her becoming Mac's legislative puppet. However, this time Nell decides she wants to run for the public office as politics is in her blood.

The next day she informs her husband, architect Adam Cauliff, about her plans. He becomes irate and they have a serious argument before he leaves for a meeting on his cruiser. An explosion occurs on the ship apparently killing Adam, several business associates and employees. Nell is left feeling guilty and ashamed of herself. The police believe the explosion was deliberate.

When rumors abound that Adam was on the take, Nell decides to investigate the accident to prove her spouse's innocence, which means one of the other guests was the intended victim. She also follows Adam's instructions from the grave thorough a medium while a killer looks on, wondering if Nell needs to be eliminated.

Known for her suspenseful bestsellers, Mary Higgins Clark writes an intriguing tale that combines elements of a thriller with that of an amateur sleuth mystery. The story line is fun and exciting, especially when Nell begins her inquiries. Nell is a wonderful character and her grandfather comes across as a powerful individual. The support cast is developed to the point where the reader understands their flaws. Ms. Clark provides her myriad of fans with another enthralling tale filled with action and adventure exciting tale.

Harriet Klausner

I did like this book, however I felt difficulty "getting into" the book for the first 70 pages or so. She introduces so many characters at first (this is her signature style)and I kept getting confused who was who. The book did pick up and unlike some of her other books, I could not guess "who did it". If you want to read Mary-Higgins Clark's all-time best, read "A Cry In The Night". That has to be one of my all time favorite books of all time!

Mary Higgins Clark has never been better than in this totally suspenseful tale of a young woman whose husband is killed in a boating accident after they quarrel. Haunted by his death, she seeks help from a famous psychic and, in a spell-binding climax, finds closure to the end of her marriage. The heroine, Nell MacDermott, is surrounded by a cast of well-defined supporting characters. She is delightful as is her curmudgeon of a grandfather, her spinster aunt, a handsome pediatric surgeon and many others. I was literally on the edge of my seat and completely terrified by the ending. It's a definite can't-put-down book, so start it when you have several free hours ahead.

Although I always look forward to new books by my favorite authors, sometimes after reading them I say to myself "that was just like the last book". That was not the case with this book! I was at my local bookstore the day it was released and finished before I went to sleep that night. I absolutely could not put it down, and was so disappointed to know I had finished it. This is one of those books that is so good you hate for it to end. I highly recommend it, but must warn you to clear your schedule, you will not want to stop reading until you reach the end!

Known for her suspenseful bestsellers, Mary Higgins Clark writes an intriguing tale that combines elements of a thriller with that of an amateur sleuth mystery. The story line is fun and exciting, especially when Nell begins her inquiries. Nell is a wonderful character and her grandfather comes across as a powerful individual. The support cast is developed to the point where the reader understands their flaws. Ms. Clark provides her myriad of fans with another enthralling tale filled with action and adventure exciting tale. After curling up with my favorite reading music, (John McArthur's, Hidden) and some great green tea, a few candles and a warm Friday Night, I read the whole thing in one sitting. It was that good.

I got this book 10 days before the scheduled release date and boy was I excited. As usual this was another wonderful Mary Higgins Clark thriller.You could never guess who did what and who was the killer because there were so many twists and turns! Like always,there were so many characters that you could never guess who did what. But like always, Mary draws them all together and leads up to a magnificent conclusion. Keep up the great work MARY!

I really hope that Mary Higgins Clark reads these reviews!

I am a librarian, and hear many comments when patrons return their books.

Many readers just plan gave up on this book because they couldn't keep the multitude of characters straight.

I am a regular Mary Higgins Clark reader, so I stuck with it. However, I had to make myself a chart of the characters to use as a bookmark!

There are, to the best of my count, 37 characters. I wondered why she even bothered to name some of them, as they did not advance the plot.

I hope Mary reads this! She needs to know that if she is to retain her readership, she needs to meet the needs of the reader, and keeping track of so many characters is work, not leisure.