Now You See Me... (Molly Blume Series) [Abridged, Audiobook, CD] [Audio CD]

Rochelle Krich (Author), Deanna Hurst (Reader)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 25, 2005 | Series: Molly Blume Series (Book 4)

For feisty Los Angeles crime reporter Molly Blume, life is good. She is newly married (to the adoring and adorable Rabbi Zack), and her latest true-crime book is a hot seller. When an overardent fan’s attentions arouse Molly’s suspicion, however, her thoughts turn uneasily to stalkers. But the fan, Reuben Jastrow, swears that he desperately needs Molly’s help in finding his eighteen-year-old daughter, Hadassah, who has run away from home to be with a man she met on the Internet. Molly hesitantly agrees - and immediately has regrets. For Reuben hasn’t told her the whole truth. The more Molly looks for clues to the missing girl’s fate, the more she wonders: Is Hadassah a random victim of a predator, or is the girl a pawn in a scheme of revenge against her family? It’s a long, deadly path that stretches before Molly, a path mined with hidden passions and festering secrets. And it ends with a final twist and an unnerving truth: What we don’t see can lead to danger . . . and tragedy. “The Mystery Woman who can do it all . . . Krich knows how to make conflicts between good and evil juicy.” - Los Angeles Times

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Molly Blume, crime columnist and amateur detective, has lost some of her mental crispness in Krich's lukewarm fourth suspense novel (after 2004's Grave Endings). Somewhat reluctantly, she agrees to look into the disappearance of the 18-year-old daughter of a rabbi who was once her teacher. The investigation leads her in myriad directions—to dangerous Internet chat rooms, suicidal teenagers, academic cheats—most of which turn out to be red herrings the size of orcas. Meanwhile, Molly fiddles endlessly with her theories, rehashing the same bits and pieces until readers are begging for some action—which comes all in a rush at the end and has little to do with the information Molly uncovered. Krich's usual solid plotting suffers from overwriting and from credibility issues. After the missing teenager turns up midway through the book, Molly has no reason to continue poking around. But Krich hasn't lost what may be her greatest strength: her ability to invite readers into the world of Orthodox Judaism or to allow us to share vicariously in its rituals and the warmth of its community.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

From Booklist

Just when you think you have things figured out, something unexpected happens. That's what keeps readers going in Krich's latest Molly Blume mystery. Then, too, there's the backdrop: Molly, newly married to a rabbi, is an observant Orthodox Jew, and her faith factors into her everyday life--including her sleuthing. This time Molly is called upon to help the family of Rabbi Chaim Bailor, whom Molly has known for some years. Bailor's 18-year-old daughter, Hadassah, has disappeared, apparently with a man she met in an Internet chat room. Reluctantly, Molly agrees to bypass the authorities. Then Hadassah returns on her own; shortly thereafter, the man believed to have lured her away turns up dead. Could Hadassah have been involved? Writing some chapters from Hadassah's perspective, Krich brings the girl's terror and naivete close, but most of the story revolves around Molly, who doggedly pursues the tangled truth and wrestles with a long-ago hurt that tests her ability to forgive. Stephanie Zvirin
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: Brilliance Audio on CD; Abridged edition (October 25, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1596000546
• ISBN-13: 978-1596000544
• Product Dimensions: 6.1 x 5.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,828,875 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Molly tracks a troubled teen., November 5, 2005

By 

E. Bukowsky "booklover10" (NY United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Now You See Me...: A Novel of Suspense (Molly Blume) (Paperback)

Thirty-year-old Molly Blume is writer whose speciality is true crime stories and she has been happily married to the love of her life, Rabbi Zach Abrams, for eight months. When an eighteen-year-old Orthodox Jewish girl named Hadassah Bailor runs away with a man whom she met in an Internet chat room, Rabbi Chaim Bailor enlists Molly's help in finding his daughter. The rabbi would like Molly to track Hadassah down and convince her to come home. Not only is her father worried about what might befall Hadassah, but he is also concerned about his family's good name if Hadassah's actions become common knowledge. Although Molly would prefer that the Bailors go straight to the police, she reluctantly agrees to do what she can to bring Hadassah back.

"Now You See Me" is a sad story about the many pressures and temptations that lead young people astray, even in the so-called sheltered world of the Orthodox Jews. The book has an intricate plot with many twists, turns, and red herrings, and it highlights such timely issues as self-mutilation ("cutting"), teen suicide, and cheating by both high school faculty and students. Krich's characters are not caricatures, but flawed, three-dimensional people. Hadassah is a very troubled and gullible girl, Rabbi Bailor is a bit too concerned with his reputation, and even Molly reveals herself to be a person who holds grudges. "Now You See Me" is not a "feel good" novel in which everyone lives happily ever after. It is a slice of life about the many evils that threaten our children in America's open society.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A CONTROLLED, FINELY NUANCED READING, November 22, 2005

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Gail Cooke (TX, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Now You See Me... (Molly Blume Series) (Audio CD)

Voice performer Deanna Hurst delivers a controlled, finely nuanced reading of Rochelle Krich's fourth episode in the adventures and misadventures of writer Molly Blume. As many know, Blume's Orthodox Jewish faith is very much a part of her life - Krich describes this beautifully and Hurst reads these passages with dignity and respect. Further, it's a bit of a dual performance for Hurst as the story revolves around a missing girl, Hadassah, and Hurst imbues this character's lines with guilelessness and gullibility.

Finding the missing Hadassah is not a job Blume sought, but she feels she owes a friend a favor. Seems the girl may have run off with someone she met on an Internet chat room, but the plot becomes murky with murder when the man in question is found dead. Surely the ingenuous Hadassah couldn't have committed such a crime....or could she?

Takes an expert voice performer to inhabit the voices of two rather disparate characters convincingly, but Hurst carries it off.

Listen and enjoy!

- Gail Cooke

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of this year's best mystery novels, November 2, 2005

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Bookreporter (New York, New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Now You See Me...: A Novel of Suspense (Molly Blume) (Paperback)

It isn't the fact that NOW YOU SEE ME... by Rochelle Krich is her best novel to date that makes it noteworthy, though certainly this would be enough for her fan base, which has been quietly and exponentially growing. What makes this latest installment in Krich's Molly Blume series worthy of comment is that its many strengths render it one of this year's best mystery novels.

It begins with a disappearance that is voluntary but then leads to a death --- which may be accidental, or a murder, or self-defense --- framed against a religious and cultural backdrop that causes an incidental impediment of the investigation. The result is an intriguing, engrossing, and even enchanting tale magnificently and beautifully told.

Blume is an orthodox Jew, a reporter and semi-successful author of true crime books who balances her writing career with her duties as a rabbi's wife. NOW YOU SEE ME... begins with Blume taking notice of an apparent fan who attends three of her book signings consecutively. At first she believes that he's a stalker, but then learns that he needs a favor. Reuben Jastrow informs Blume that his daughter, Hadassah, has run away from home with a man who she met on the Internet. Jastrow is concerned that this incident will ruin not only Hadassah's reputation, but also that of her older sister and their entire family.

Blume agrees. But there are difficulties. Hadassah is 18, and in the eyes of the law is of age to do as she wishes. An even bigger problem, however, is that Blume has not been told the entire truth about Hadassah. The truth indirectly involves an incident in Blume's past, one that makes her hesitant to involve herself in Hadassah's disappearance yet ultimately causes her to interject herself into the matter. There is a built-in time bomb, if you will, that makes the discovery of Hadassah's whereabouts within a few days imperative, one that creates a remarkable tension that by itself makes this book worth reading.

When Hadassah finally reappears, it seems that the matter is settled. Subsequently, however, an apparent suicide victim is tied to Hadassah's disappearance; and when it is discovered that the man is actually a murder victim, Hadassah, her father, her other relatives, and even Blume herself are prime suspects. The ultimate key to the entire mystery is shrouded in the past, in matters almost (but not quite) forgotten by those involved, demonstrating that the errors and omissions of the past generation are often visited upon the present.

There is a subtle but constant interplay between tradition and modernity in NOW YOU SEE ME... Krich does not make judgments here; keeping true to the traditions of Jewish orthodoxy is no doubt difficult, particularly given the temptations inherent in this world. Yet there is a comfort in ritual and belief, and the underlying reasons therefore, that shine through in the Blume novels in general and this one in particular.

Krich also deserves kudos for including an extensive glossary of Hebrew and Yiddish words; while readers can discern the meanings of many terms from context, the glossary at times is a comfort indeed. But it is the story, and the telling, that make NOW YOU SEE ME... a winner. Highly recommended.

--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub