Customer Reviews

When Day Breaks (Sunrise Suspense Society)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

This is an exciting suspense thriller in Mary Jane Clark's series of books set in the "KEY TV" network world. There is "KEY to America," a morning show, and "KEY Evening Headlines," a nightly news show just for starters and the competition is fierce. The events happen over a week's time span in May.

The story opens in a Manhattan animal shelter where an unknown person is intent on getting a dog, a large dog that is roughly 112 pounds. The attendant there convinces the stranger to take a Great Dane named Marco who was well-trained by his previous owner who had to move and couldn't take him with him. The new owner takes the dog far out in the country to Constance Young's get-away country home and convinces the dog to play fetch with a rubber ball and, as the dog gets muddy, throws a ball in the pool so the dog follows it. As Marco is swimming in the pool he sees something big and shiny thrown in the pool by his new owner. It is a toaster connected by an orange outdoor cord and the dog dies. This is a very scary prologue to the mystery and murder that is about to start and gives us insight into the murderer's character. This killer not only hates enough to kill a lovely dog that never hurt anyone but is also ready to take a human being's life, as well.

Constance Young took over the show "KEY to America" after Eliza Blake went to anchor "KEY Evening Headlines." Constance became the "undisputed star of morning television" and was now quitting "KEY to America" and moving to the competition. At KEY News, co-workers and bosses alike have mixed feelings about Constance's new job as it either makes their job easier or much harder. Her replacement at "KEY to America" is going to be a young woman who is friend/lover to the producer. Constance enjoys her farewell show and luncheon and heads to her country house to relax before taking her new job. The next morning, Constance is found by her housekeeper; drowned in her pool. While it looks like an accident at first, the coroner and other evidence found by police soon lead to the conclusion that she was murdered.

As Eliza Blake and her friends at KEY begin to investigate the murder on their own, the suspect list gets longer and longer and the danger to Eliza and her friends come closer and closer to home.

Full of great plot twists and turns, this is a suspenseful and enjoyable read. Highly recommended!

Enjoy all works by Mary Jane Clark. Wish a full list of her titles were available for Kindle.

I read with great interest the reviews placed by others....and although I ALSO AM AN ANIMAL LOVER, I found this book to be wonderful!@! YES, I did not like the animal killing....I found it a bit graphic.....however it most certainly did NOT keep me from devouring every single word in this book. I read all of Mary Jane Clark's books....and I found this one to be both fast paced and VERY GOOD!!

Her characters were great and the story was one that I won't forget easily. It will find itself beside all of the other books written by Ms. Clark....I have collected them all.

Perhaps if they had not closed the book at the scene of "Marco's" killing they would have loved the book also.

Easily one of her best books!!!

Sandy in Ks.

Mary Jane Clark's "When Day Breaks" deals with the dog-eat-dog nature of television news broadcasting. Eliza Blake left her post as anchor of the popular morning show, "Key to America," to take over the top spot at "Key Evening Headlines." Eliza's former colleague, Constance Young, is a prima donna who treats her underlings with contempt. She is about to jump ship from her job anchoring "Key to America" to host a morning news show on another network. Although none of her co-workers will miss her, staffers fear that Constance will siphon off viewers from "Key to America," which may lead to a plunge in their all-important ratings.

They needn't have worried. An unknown perpetrator kills Constance before she has a chance to make her career move, and there are enough suspects to fill a telephone book. Executive producer Linus Nazareth, cameraman B. J. D'Elia, and producer Annabelle Murphy all have motives for murder. Other suspects are spurned suitor, Stuart Whitaker, and Faith Hansen, Constance's jealous and resentful sister. Faith is stuck at home nursing their bedridden mother, and she has no support system to make her life bearable. Although Faith has asked Constance for help, the busy television star is far too self-absorbed to be bothered with a sick parent. Boyd Irons, Constance's assistant, resents being treated like a lackey by his imperious shrew of a boss.

"When Day Breaks" is a typical Mary Jane Clark novel, with its short chapters, unadorned writing style, host of red herrings, and spunky female heroine struggling to cope with her hectic life as a news anchor and single mom. Clark's insider look at television news broadcasting is authentic and there are nice bits of background information on the beautiful Cloisters museum, which figures prominently in the story. On the down side, the plot is paper-thin, the characters are one-dimensional, and the conclusion is pat and formulaic. "When Day Breaks" will mainly appeal to fans of fast-moving and escapist fiction.

I thought this was a great book. An easy read and it kept the reader interested until the end. I finished the second half in one afternoon.

As far as the other comments and reviews...if you continued to read the book you would have come across this comment by one of the characters "'People seem to be able to stomach the idea that people kill other people. I guess we've become almost desensitized to that reality. But the thought of an animal being deliberately killed horrifies us." The dog killing and murder in the book were the same yet one bothers us and not the other? Maybe we need to rethink this.
If the killing of a dog bothers you while reading a FICTIONAL MURDER MYSTERY book then this may not be for you.
Personally, I enjoyed the book and can't wait for more from Mary Jane Clark. I have enjoyed every book of hers that I have read so far.

Mary Jane Clark works in broadcasting, so she knows the world from inside the media. This experience brings realism to her novels that might not exist if an author is merely doing the research.

Constance Young is leaving KEY for a rival network and a huge paycheck. There are few people (other than her boss, Linus) who will miss the difficult diva. But by going to a rival network, she will create competition that KEY just may not be able to beat. And that's a potential problem.

But just after Constance bids her fairwell to the network, she is found dead in the swimming pool of her weekend home--and a dog is found dead in the woods. It's unlikely that Constance, an accomplished swimmer, drowned. And there may be a connection between her death and the dog's death.

As the media coverage builds to a frenzy and the list of possible murderers grows exponentially, news anchor for KEY, Eliza Blake, producer Annabelle Murphy, cameraman B.J. D'Elia and psychiatrist Dr. Margo Gonazlez join forces to find out who killed Constance Young and why.

When Day Breaks is interesting but it isn't as thrilling as other novels in the genre are. The plotting seemed to be formulaic and it wasn't difficult to figure out who `did it.' That criticism given, it was exciting enough to give Clark's other work a read.

Armchair Interviews says: A good beach read.

A few points...

1) All the negative reviews here are written by folks who have NOT read the book. It amazes me that people can justify a review post without actually reading the book.

2) I too am an animal lover and a Great Dane lover specifically. Yes, *of course* the scene described below is upsetting/horrifying/disgusting/heart-breaking. That is the point! MJ Clark is painting a picture of one very disturbed monster for the reader.

3) This is FICTION. Far more maniacal things have been written in the world of fictitious novels. ("American Psycho," anyone?) MJ writing about such a horrible act does not make it a "how to."

All that said, if you're looking for a quick, easy, suspenseful beach read this summer, "When Day Breaks" fits the bill. Enjoy.

This highly readable murder mystery features Eliza Blake and her television crew. Her colleague, Constance Young, the leading star of morning television, is found at the bottom of the pool at her upstate home after a farewell luncheon with her co-workers at the station after her final broadcast before joining a rival network. Is it an accident by drowning, death by natural causes, or murder?

Enter the Sunrise Suspense Society--Eliza, her researcher, cameraman and a consulting psychiatrist--who turn investigators to get to the bottom of the death of their colleague (with a few murders along the way]. Will the killer get to them before his or her identity is uncovered? Read on and find out.

The Sunrise Suspense Society has made another appearance in the July release of "It Only Takes a Moment," newly published in hardcover. If it is as well-written and entertaining as this novel, it should be equally rewarding. And we'll soon find out -- it's next on the agenda. Recommended.

I really enjoyed the book and find it interesting how the stories seem to come from the news with their own little twist to them. There's always twists and turns and just when you think you know who it is something happens to send you in a different direction.

Had to put the book down after the first few pages. I'll never read another of hers again. Killing a Great Dane at the very beginning - it was just too much.