Customer Reviews

A STRANGER IS WATCHING,

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Four stars go to a wonderful author with several published books. A Stranger Is Watching was particularly intriguing. It keeps the reader interested and not wanting to stop. The short chapters make it an easy book to get hooked on. The mother of a family is killed and a local teen is found guilty of the murder. Ronald Thompson knows he did not kill Nina Peterson but he will be executed in just fifty-two hours. Steve Peterson, the husband of the victim and his new girlfriend, Sharon Martin have different points of view on capital punishment. Sharon and six year old Neil, son of Steve and Nina, get kidnapped by a man for ransom. Only Mary Higgins Clark could write a story this twisted and terrifying. With a good storyline to keep readers of all ages turning to read just "one more chapter," I would recommend this book to anybody that likes suspense. The only negative thing about this book is the way there are so many different groups of people and every chapter switches to tell about a different group each time. The first three chapters are kind of boring but once you get into the meat of the story and discover what is going on, there is no putting it down.

I absolutely loved this book! It is a total page turner. The author writes books that keep people on their toes and with this book she definately suceeded. The book is about a young woman named Sharon Martin who is dating a widower named Steve. Steve's wife was murdered about a year ago. His son Neil has not yet gotten over his mother's death and refuses to be friendly with Sharon. Things get complicated when Shaton and Neil get kidnapped by a psycho who is planning to blow them up. I found it very hard to put this book down, especially near the end. I got so sucked into the book that I just had to find out if Neil and Sharon were rescued. The author has a knack for making her characters seem so incredibly real that you actually start to really hate the bad guy and get attached to the heroine. This book was meant to keep people on the edge of their seat and that's exactly what it does. This is definately one of the best books I've read by this author.

If you are interested in reading an intense novel that keeps you from wanting to put the book down, then "A Stranger is Watching" by Mary Higgens Clark is the book to read. This novel is full of intense situations which makes the reader see things in a completely different perspective.
Kidnapping is a devastating situation which occurs in everyday life. In "A Stranger is Watching", it shows the viewpoint from which one is kidnapped. The novel gave a horrifying insight on what, the character that had been kidnapped, had to go through. It gave great detail on the emotional distress that the character felt, it made the reader feel as if he/she were the ones going through the terrifying tragedy. It also showed the viewpoint from the police officers and the investigators, and the stress they had to go through as the victems lives depended on them.
It's truely amazing what a difference one person can make and how many lives they effect. Many people were effected by this tragedy and many people put in 110% effort to help save the victems lives and to obtain justice. The novel shows the reader what the many people that are effected have to go through in real life situations. I recommend this novel to anyone who loves intense reading.

This was my first Mary Higgins Clark book. It was requested reading on my ninth grade reading list for the summer. At first when I saw the cover, it looked boring, but when I started the book, I couldn't put it down. I felt like I needed to be a detective in the book and tell Hugh and Steve where Sheron and Neil were hidden. I give this book 5 stars and request that it be read by many others.

A good novel! Parts of it are written from the kidnapper's point of view - an interesting perspective. I didn't like the timing in the end, it was all just a little too close. But nevertheless it's a good book you shouldn't miss.

Reading this book I was struck by how dated it was. Although the book I was reading appeared new the copyright was 1977.

Despite being dated, it is still an enjoyable read. I read the last half in about two days as I didn't want to wait to see what happened next. I fought sleep the last night to finally finish the book at midnight. This is a typical Mary Higgins Clark but does not seam cookie cutter so you won't feel like you have read this already. Some of the characters (the police) I found a little irritating and hopefully not true to life. Maybe I'm too used to the police being the heros in suspense novels.

Overall this is an enjoyable book weaving together a couple different story lines.

"A Stranger is Watching" by Mary Higgins Clark is a very tense book. It was the second novel that she ever wrote, the first being "Where Are the Children?"

The story is about a man whose wife was murdered, leaving him with a motherless son. He has recently fallen in love again, and his son-Neil-is reluctant to bond with his father's romantic interest. The only issue in Steve (Neil's father)'s relationship with this woman is that they both have different views on the death penalty: he is strongly for it, she is strongly against it. This is all connected to the young man sitting on death row, convicted of killing Steve's wife.

However, this young man did not kill Steve's wife. Rather, the guilty person is still alive, free and well and ready to kidnap Neil and Steve's love interest. He hides them in Grand Central Station and the reader's heart is soon beating--hoping somehow that Neil and Steve's love can be delievered home safely.

The one thing I don't like about this book is the title: "A Stranger is Watching." It's a nice title, but it just doesn't seem to fit this specific book.

I pesonally would have to say this book was one of the best I've ever read. The view point of this book was very unique in that they relayed the events from each persons view. I tend to avoid reading, but I couldn't put this book down. The killer and his plan were so methodic and technical, yet you couldn't connect all the clues till the end. There wee so many twists that kept grabbing your attention. The ending was awesome. I'd definitely recommend this book.

I was expecting more suspense in this story but it lost it somewhere near the beginning. It was more of a 'clock'watching' tension suspense.

~Ronald Thompson knows he never killed Nina Peterson, yet the state of Connecticut is going to take his life for the brutal murder.
Nina's husband, Steve Peterson cannot deal with the pain and overwhelming anger he feels for Thompson and thinks his death will ease some of it. To make matters worse, his only child, a six-year old Neil has witnessed Nina's murder and refuses to speak to anyone.

Sharon Martin is a journalist who oposses the death penality and is trying to prove Thompson's death is a waste. The problem is, she is in love with Steve and Steve is madly in love with her, but Nina's death is hanging over them like a black cloud. Only time can ease his pain and the love of this woman. But in the shadows, a stranger waits. A cunning psychopath who has killed before and who has unfinished business at the Peterson home...can Sharon stop the wrong man from dying? Will the killer get to them before she can prove it?

A true time-watcher's dream. Sharon must beat the clock to save an innocent man's life! Will Steve help her or will he thwart her efforts? A nail-bitter...

Tracy Talley~@

I read this book this year and I couldn't put it down! I'm in seventh grade. This book isn't a good book for people that get nervous or scared easily. But it's great for people that love Scary Mysteries!

This book is a true Scary Mystery classic.

This book has romance, which leads to a huge mystery that has people's lives at stake.