Close To You [Mass Market Paperback]

Mary Jane Clark (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 19, 2002

Millions of people are watching-- one wants to kill her... What she found was her worst nightmare...

She thought she'd found safety.

In front of the camera, as anchorwoman for KEY Evening Headlines, she savvy, sexy, and sophisticated. But when she steps out of the spotlight, Eliza Blake is far more vulnerable than her devoted viewers would ever imagine. Single-handedly raising a young daughter, she's finally found a safe haven: a dream house in the suburbs, where nothing can ever threaten her again...

It begins with a venomous letter. No stranger to the occasional hate mail that mingles with glowing correspondence from adoring fans, Eliza is at first unaware that this time, the writer isn't a harmless nutcase. Then come the menacing phone calls. Now that her serene suburban life is shattered by fear, Eliza must face the chilling realization that the stalker is closer, and more lethal, than anyone ever suspected-- perhaps even concealed behind a trusted, familiar face...

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Smooth is the word for this expert thriller by CBS producer and writer Clark (Let Me Whisper in Your Ear, etc.). Moving along effortlessly and unhurriedly, acquiring characters and subplots as it goes, and always focusing on the climax the reader knows will come when the killer finally makes his move, Clark's tale delivers the goods. Eliza Blake, anchor for the KEY Evening Headlines, is a 30-something celebrity, beautiful, smart and good at her job; she is also a single mother determined to be a good parent. As the novel begins, she has just vacated her New York apartment for a house in the suburbs, intent on escaping memories of her husband's death by cancer. Unfortunately, just after she moves, she begins to receive a fresh crop of threatening phone calls and letters. Hate mail is an occupational hazard for a new anchor, it seems, not to be taken too seriously unless, as in this case, the ante gets raised. Eliza finds herself threatened by several obsessives, two of whom may be dangerous, one of whom has killed before. These people are clever, not easy to detect or to catch. Clark's depiction of the stalkers who plague celebrities disturbs and convinces, and her characters come alive on the page: criminal, sick, genuinely evil, or simply flawed and very human. This is an excellent psychological thriller that will keep readers pleasantly bound to the page. Author tour.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"[An] expert tale...delivers the goods."--Publishers Weekly

"Clark's story retains its suspense throughout."--Newark Star-Ledger

"A frightening-- and firsthand-- look at the darker side of celebrity."--Sun Herald (Colusa, CA)

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 386 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks (August 19, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312981961
• ISBN-13: 978-0312981969
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #108,563 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Mary Jane Clark is the New York Times bestselling author of fourteen novels: 12 KEY News media thrillers and 2 Piper Donovan/Wedding Cake Mysteries. A former writer and producer at CBS News in New York City, Clark is the daughter of an FBI agent and mother of two. She lives in Florida and New Jersey.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gripping Suspense, August 25, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Close to You (Hardcover)

I couldn't put this page-turner down. Stalkers come in all shapes and sizes -- even genders, and Eliza Blake (from Clark's debut thriller) is the perfect target, smart and self-assured, even when the letters and phone calls become increasingly menacing. The reader finds out who's getting closer and closer only when Eliza does -- and then it's too late! Immensely enjoyable. When I'm watching Katie Couric and Diane Sawyer these days, I can only wonder who else is watching . . . and planning God-knows-what. I strongly recommend Mary Jane Clark's latest, and very readable, suspenser.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good story spoiled by way too many characters & subplots ..., July 9, 2002

By 

Gerald M. Bull "Jerry Bull" (Fairview, TN United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Close to You (Hardcover)

We've felt the same way after all four of M.J. Clark's four novels of mystery and suspense set in the interesting venue of "Key News", no doubt a knock-off of CBS News where our author toils in real life. Her stories are invariably entertaining and suspenseful, even though her female leading characters verge on Wonder Women. And one eventually gets used to her one- and two-page (or less!) chapter lengths. But we really don't need three main plots and three sub-plots in one fairly short novel, much less the several dozen characters it takes to populate all those mini-stories.

The tale this time is about Eliza Blake, reprised from Clark's first novel "Do You Want to Know a Secret?", who now anchors the evening news broadcast. Two or more viewers, not to mention some of her co-workers, are taking way too much interest in Blake, leading to three variations of a stalking problem, two different male romances gone awry, and one potential female liaison thrown in for good measure! As before, Eliza is so perfect it's clear she's Clark's vision of a modern, progressive, gorgeous, single female parent on the pedestal personified, which gets just a little tiresome after a while. But even more tiresome is the seemingly endless cast of characters and plot details that only sap strength from the main story.

We've complained loudly about this same "clutter" in MJ's three earlier works. We guess there's just no recourse but too quit now before we invest any more time in an author who otherwise has tremendous potential. Can't an editor do something here?

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Predictable, May 30, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Close to You (Hardcover)

With Close To You, Mary Jane Clark has an interesting premise but turns it into a disappointing novel. At under 300 pages, it's is certainly a quick read, but Clark fails to deliver genuine suspense. The so called "thrilling" sequences in the book are much too short, barely giving the reader time to think about what's going on. On top of this, the novel is quite predictable. Anyone with half a brain could figure out the identity of the killer within thirty pages.

One could forgive the predictability if the characters were well developed, but unfortunately, Ms. Clark didn't do this either. Other than the novel's heroine, we don't get much of a backstory for any character.

Mary Jane Clark has a long way to go before she can join the ranks of the great suspense novelists, such as James Patterson and John Sandford. All and all, you could easily find something worse to read than Close To You, but the real question is, why would you waste your time with it when there are so many better books out there?