Customer Reviews

Nobody Knows

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

 

 

I read this book in 2 nights. COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN. I was so moved by Vincent and his little brother. I ached for their mom. I felt for Cassie (and her distant daughter). But mostly my heart was racing and I could never have guessed who was behind the murders. (Until the end, of course, at which point it made perfect sense).

This is Mary Jane Clark's best book. I loved LET ME WHISPER IN YOUR EAR too. Now I get to dig into the paperback of CLOSE TO YOU.

Mary Jane Clark's latest thriller, "Nobody Knows," features Cassie Sheridan, a high profile television reporter who makes a serious error in judgment. She reveals the name of a rape victim on the air and Cassie is horrified when her report causes irrevocable damage to the victim. As a result, the victim's family is suing Cassie and her news station. While the lawsuit is pending, Cassie is exiled to Florida as a reporter for a small-time television station, and her career is headed on a downhill spiral. To make matters worse, Cassie's dedication to her job has put her marriage in jeopardy. Her relationship with her husband, Jim, and her daughter, Hannah, has suffered because of the long hours that Cassie has devoted to rising up the ranks in television news.

After moving to Miami, Cassie faces a strong hurricane that is about to hit the coast and she is on the scene when a murderer strikes. The murderer is a person who has killed before, and Cassie may well become one of his next targets.

Mary Jane Clark, former daughter-in-law of Mary Higgins Clark, has learned well from her famous relative. "Nobody Knows" has many of the elements that make Mary Higgins Clark's books so successful. The protagonist of "Nobody Knows" is a sympathetic and attractive woman who is beleaguered by the twists and turns of life, and she must struggle to survive. Mary Jane Clark throws so many suspects into the mix that guessing the identity of the murderer early in the novel is an exercise in futility. What the author does best is describe the rough and tumble world of television news reporting, a topic that she knows well, since she is a producer and writer for CBS news in New York. The author also provides some colorful background about Sarasota, Florida, home of the Ringling Brothers Museum, where part of the novel is set.

The book is fast-paced. It has a great deal of dialogue plus a large cast of characters. The most notable character is a sharp eleven-year-old named Vincent, who has a key role in the plot. However, the murderer is a stock psychopath whom we have seen so often in books of this type, and the ending is formulaic and maudlin. For fans of lightweight mysteries, "Nobody Knows" is a serviceable escapist novel.

This murder mystery is a fast paced and cleverly disguised journey. I was wrong in each instance along the way when, in my mind, I labeled one of the characters the likely perp and I just about covered them all.

In all honesty, before this I was not familiar with Clark's other titles or her name. I can guarantee you that will now change. She's my kind of author.

Mary Jane Clark's best suspense so far. I've never cared more about the people in a thriller. My heart was racing and aching for the boys. Loved, loved, loved this book.

Who knew that an author can write such a fast paced story with a list of possible suspects only to wrap it up to quickly and not give an in-dept look as to why the villain is actually a villain. In this book, a rapist disquised as a clown is raping women. After I finished this book I was still wondering why a guy would need to put on circus make up in order to rape women. What a crazy freak he was but why was this individual so fascinated by clowns and raping women. Please do not give me the usual, my mother beat the crap out of me and my father took off.

I have read all of MJC's books and with the exception of her lastest, No Where to Run and her earlier books, I have been extremely disappointed. I am not disappointed with the the author, her characters or even her plot line, I just don't like her endings. They wrap up too quickly and leave many questions unanswered. I sometimes like to read a book where the reason behind the crime is even more surprising than the unveiling of the villain.

I still give her a 4 because she keeps me reading even though I know I may not like the ending. Hopefully like in her latest book, No Where to Run, she will continue to improve her endings.

The ending could've been better but overall, the suspense was pretty good. Excellent plot and development of characters.

I am a huge fan of Mary Higgins Clark, and never thought I would find an author that could be ranked up there with her, that was until I read Nobody Knows, I am now hooked. In fact, I just ordered 3 other books by Mary Jane Clark.

I like this author- but she jumps around with her charaters too much and it is easliy confusing.

Washington correspondent Cassie Sheridan is on her way to the top with an evening New York based show on the horizon until her career derails. Cassie reported that a serial rapist raped the daughter of the FBI Director. The teenage girl already struggling to cope kills herself when Cassie reveals her exclusive on national TV. Her station exiles Cassie to the Miami Bureau until her contract ends and her career with it.

Her husband and daughter sick of her ambition refuse to talk to her adding to her feelings of isolation. Now she is reporting on a coming hurricane when preadolescent Vincent Baylor finds a human hand with a ring on it on the beach. Vincent takes the ring with plans to pawn it knowing his desperate family could use the cash. However, the killer needs that ring and will murder to obtain it. Cassie and Vincent team up in an attempt to identify the culprit, but neither realize they are in the eye of a murderous human hurricane.

NOBODY KNOWS is fast-paced and gripping as the suspense builds up while readers wonder if Cassie will overstep her bounds again and what the killer will do. The crisp story line will grab the audience in spite of the Ferris Bueller-like pontificating. The support cast is somewhat stereotyped but likable as the families of Vincent and Cassie are used to evoke emotion from fans and to provide further insight into the lead characters. Though Mary Jane Clark has written a fine novel, the bottom line is Cassie is not likable and this is her tale.

Harriet Klausner

Pretty good. Kept my interest considering I was so busy I had to keep putting it down but would go back to it to see how it ended.