Customer Reviews

The Christmas Thief

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(14)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

The Christmas Thief, Mary & Carol Higgins Clark's annual Christmas fluff, is, as usual, as fast and easy read. It is, however, quite forgettable once you've done reading. Alvirah Meehan, the former cleaning lady whose life was changed when she won the lottery, and her husband Willy are heading to Stowe, Vermont, for a long weekend with their friends Nora Reagan Reilly, the detective novelist, her funeral director husband, their detective daughter Reagan Reilly, and her fiancee Jack (no relation) Reilly. Alvirah invites her friend Opal, a lottery winner who gave her money to a con man and lost it all. Besides skiing, they are looking forward to watching the cutting down of the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree. Packy, the con man who has been in jail for the last twelve years, and his two henchmen Benny and JoJo are also heading there to retrieve a flask of diamonds, his ill-gotten gains from his scam, from the giant blue spruce where he hid it before he was apprehended and sent to prison. Naturally their paths cross and, of course, Alvirah, Reagan, and their families save the day.

This is a short book, which isn't bad for an evening if there are no good programs on television or a brief car trip. I was not happy that we didn't see much of the Meehans or the Reillys.
Opal is a sympathetic character, as is Milo, the "poet" who helped Packy and his gang but didn't know he was doing anything illegal. Packy is rather nasty, so it's good to see him get his comeuppance. And the tree's owners are too obsessive about the tree and its fate. That just doesn't ring true.

I'm not sorry I bought the book, and the Amazon price was right, but it's nothing that will stick with me over the long run.

Talk about resting on your laurels! I've enjoyed past collaborations between mother and daughter Clark for quick & easy reads. However, in this case, the dialogue is so base and cliche it borders on banality. The lack of interesting adjectives and descriptive language is also profound. One bit of information was grossly inaccurate: When Alvirah receives her maple syrup and instructions to "refill it at the tree" when it runs out. It takes at least 10 gallons of SAP to make one quart of maple syrup after it has boiled down! Do yourself a favor - for mysteries that deliver time after time, read anything by Diane Mott Davidson! Or for that matter, the children's book authors Avi, Beverly Cleary, CS Lewis, JK Rowling, or Andrew Clements offer much more interesting and sophisticated writing. After reading this book I had to read some Edgar Allan Poe to jog my brain awake again!

I'm glad that I only checked this out from the library. Her stories have really seemed to lack substance recently and this is no exception. No suspense in this one. From reading the book jacket, most of her fans could have wrote this for her. These recent books are so watered down recently, they don't qualify to even be in the adult section of the store. Boring!

This was my first Mary Higgins Clark and Carol Higgins Clark book. I was pretty happy with it but I did think it could have been better. The plot was centered around the Christmas tree lighting at Rockefeller Center involving the Meehans, the Reillys, and some ex-convicts. Some parts were utterly unbeleivable. It was a different storyline that seemed pretty orginal but as I read below it's not their best work.

I am looking forward to reading their other books, seperately and jointly. It was a fast, fun read and hey, it occupied my time during Jury Duty!

When I was in my early 20's I read a lot of Mary Higgins Clark. I enjoyed them. As time went on I drifted from her work. Now in my 40s I decide to go back to my early days and try another book by her. A revisit to my youth, I suppose. Why not, it sounded like a good festive read. I WAS WRONG. What age was this intended for? The writing is atrocious; plot, unbelievable; characters, stale.

By the way, I listened to the audiobook which was read by the co-author, Carol. She really doesn't have the voice for it. Plot and writing was hard enough to sustain my attention but the voice was really making me take the headphones out.

Maybe my taste has evolved as I've aged but certainly no one should give this one a chance, young or old alike.

I was very disappointed with this book. I was hoping for a good Christmas mystery, and it was far from it. I love Mary Higgins Clark's books, but this was poorly written and very boring. I wouldn't even borrow this one from the library.

Although I've read almost every Mary Higgins Clark book (including her memoir), I haven't read any of Carol Higgins Clark. That's because I bought one of her books that sat on a remainder table, and the writing was so bad, I put it down and never read another.

I had just finished The Christmas Thief and thought I'd read the newest book, Santa Cruise. (I got both from the library, thankfully!) The Christmas Thief is a *bit* better than Santa Cruise, but both have unbelievable plots and cardboard characters.

Apparently, MHC's friend Michael Korda suggested she write a book about someone stealing the Rockefeller Christmas tree. Intrigued by the premise, MHC and her daughter took on the challenge.

The story could be a lot worse; it was actually a clever tale, albeit not very believable. I can't imagine the brilliant con artist Packy Noonan trusting those two bumbling sidekicks to come through when it matters! But alas, he did...and it was his downfall.

Alvirah isn't as irritating as she is in Santa Cruise, but her friend, Opal, sure is! I can't explain why but I swear, I was hoping that Packy got away with the jewels! For the life of me, I don't know why I was rooting for a criminal other than the fact that Opal was drawn so pathetic and weak (as were many of the characters) that I just didn't care. I mean, it would have been more exciting had Packy gotten away with it!

I actually learned something interesting from The Christmas Thief: spruce's don't grow from the bottom--they grow from the top! (A fact that is central to the story in many ways.)

If you want a breezy holiday mystery, The Christmas Thief is OK. In many ways, I felt like the plot was a lot like Home Alone 1 and 2 in terms of "bumbling holiday thiefs"--so it's amusing at times. If you're a rabid fan of MHC and her daughter Carol, you'll likely enjoy this holiday tale.

A far better holiday book (although it has touches of mystery, it's not a crime novel) that also has a lot of heart, is Finding Noel by Richard Paul Evans. I loved it!

(P.S. A bit of trivia: Michael Korda, MHC's good friend that usually makes it in her Acknowledgements, has a cross-gendered offspring that's the leader of The Church of Euthanasia. This church has only one commandment: "Thou Shalt Not Procreate." It's four "pillars" or principles? Suicide, Abortion, Cannibalism and Sodomy. Mmmmkay...)

I just thought this was great reading! I've read every Mary Higgins Clark book - sadly none of Carol's yet but I'll get to them. Have also read each of their teamwork books - thought this was just as good as any of them! It's lighter reading than Mary's "serious" mysteries - but that's the idea - just a fun Christmas-themed book. Such a fast read and it's still a mystery but not SCARY - just fun to follow along. This was set in Stowe, Vermont, primarily, at or near the Trapp Family Lodge (think von Trapp family from Sound of Music) and since I'm a fan of that film it was extra fun. If you want blood and gore from a mystery, this isn't it. If you want a quick read that has some heart-pounding moments - go for it!

It is truly scary when one thinks of the relative intelligence of the audience this author attracts with trash like this. (Five stars? What planet do you live on and do they have books?) This effort firmly cements Mary Higgins Clark's place with the other sellout authors who indeed have talent but now rely on their minions of mindless fans who buy anything with their name on the cover, (i. e. See James Patterson, Dean Koontz, etc.) The dialogue is forced, juvenile and unrealistic and the premise assinine, (who the hell would climb a tree to hide $70 million in diamonds? And then the person who first discovers them, does the same damn thing. Haven't these rednecks heard of safety deposit boxes?) I'm sorry, but reading a book is not like watching TV where you can put your brain on autopilot. It requires cognitive processes so the fact that this book is considered a light, airy, holiday read doesn't excuse the author from putting this drivel out, (especially for sale). If my brain is engaged enough to be reading it also needs to be challenged to some degree. Clark fails miserably on that level (among many others). Word to the wise, avoid this manure like the clap, unless you have a habit of flushing your money down the toilet. I will never pick up another Clark novel.

Disappointing read. Written for young adults. Thought the previous two books in this series were much better.