Dancing in the Dark (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "Diane could feel the heat from the sidewalk seeping through the soles of her shoes as she hurried down Columbus Avenue..." (more)
Key Phrases: flex cuffs, own abduction, satellite truck, Ocean Grove, Leslie Patterson, Carly Neath (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In Clark's latest KEY News mystery (after Hide Yourself Away, etc.), correspondent Diane Mayfield heads to the quaint New Jersey beach town of Ocean Grove, not for a much-needed vacation but because even the sunniest of resorts has its newsworthy, hidden darkness. When Leslie Patterson, a young Ocean Grove woman reported missing for three days, is rescued virtually unharmed and claims she was kidnapped, police, friends and family believe her disappearance was a hoax and a cry for attention. Diane's producer Joel Malcolm sees the pseudo-kidnapping as grist for his "Girls Who Cry Wolf" feature and sends Diane to cover it for the network's Dateline-style Hourglass program. But the feature story becomes hard news when a second young woman is kidnapped and found dead. Suddenly, victim number one's story becomes credible, and the police, Diane, and her news crew start to take the investigation seriously as multiple Ocean Grove residents have motive and opportunity to have committed the crimes. Clark's latest competent showing will intrigue her eager fans, if not more discerning mystery readers.
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Review

"'Mary Jane Clark has a gift for writing page-turners' Mary Higgins Clark 'Clark's latest dispatch from KEY News is her best' Good Book Guide 'Secrets...ambition...intrigue...Mary Jane Clark knowingly seduces you in this intensely suspenseful behind-the-media-scenes thriller' Joan Rivers" --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press; 1st edition (July 21, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312323158
• ISBN-13: 978-0739455968
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #500,289 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Trouble in paradise., July 23, 2005

By	E. Bukowsky "booklover10" (NY United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Mary Jane Clark's latest thriller, "Dancing in the Dark," follows the same formula that has earned her a devoted following for years. She picks an interesting location; this time, the setting is beautiful Ocean Grove, New Jersey. Ocean Grove is both a mecca for tourists who love water sports and a place of historical interest. Clark's attractive and admirable heroine is Diane Mayfield, a single parent by default. Diane's husband, Phil, is a white collar criminal who is serving time at a federal correctional institution, leaving his wife to play the roles of mother, father, and breadwinner for their two children, Michelle and Anthony.

Diane is forced to cancel a much anticipated family vacation to the Grand Canyon when, Joel, her boss at KEY news, orders her to cover a breaking story at the Jersey shore. A young lady named Leslie Patterson has been found bound and gagged after disappearing for three days. The police are convinced that Leslie staged her own abduction. Joel wants Leslie to prepare a segment on "girls who cry wolf" for her newsmagazine show.

Diane drags her reluctant children to Ocean Grove, and the story she has been sent to follow becomes more and more complicated. Another girl goes missing and is subsequently found dead; there are a whole host of suspects who could be behind the abductions. Among them are a mentally disturbed man, the boyfriend of the two victims, and a harried husband who has been quarreling more and more with his wife. Red herrings pile up and the reader is kept guessing until Clark comes up with a truly surprising ending.

"Dancing in the Dark" has brief chapters, spare writing, and sharply delineated characters, including an incompetent psychiatrist, a heartbroken real estate agent, and a woman who lives with her children in a tented community known as the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association. Clark nicely integrates Ocean Grove's scenic setting into the narrative, and the story moves along at a fast clip. One of the sad themes of the book is the epidemic of anorexia in Ocean Grove. Young girls are starving and mutilating themselves in an effort to gain control of their lives and their inner pain. Without trivializing this serious issue, Clark shows how difficult it is to treat these young women and what a tremendous toll their illness takes on their helpless families. Another theme is the predatory nature of the media. Whenever and wherever tragedy strikes, the television cameras start rolling. "Dancing in the Dark" is an engrossing story by a talented author who knows how to keep her readers hooked until the final page.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fun, fast-paced, suspenseful mystery, August 2, 2005

By	Bookreporter.com (New York, New York) - See all my reviews

In her eighth novel, Mary Jane Clark spins a suspenseful story around what has become the signature element in her books --- an employee of the fictional organization KEY News encountering dire circumstances.

This time it's reporter Diane Mayfield, who is anticipating a much-needed vacation to the Grand Canyon with her kids when her boss derails the trip. Under threat of being fired if she doesn't accept the assignment, and with her sister and two children in tow, Diane heads to Ocean Grove, New Jersey, to cover a story for the television news magazine "Hourglass."

In this picturesque town on the Jersey Shore, things aren't as idyllic as they seem. Eighteen-year-old Leslie Patterson, who was missing for three days while an all-out search ensued, turns up on the grounds of the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Area. She claims to have been kidnapped, held in an unknown place by a man who forced her to dance with him in the dark. (The book shares its title with a song by rocker Bruce Springsteen, who hails from Asbury Park, a town where some of the action in the book takes place.) The authorities, though, believe she faked her own abduction. Their assumption is based in part on the fact that Leslie, who has a history of anorexia and cutting, was recently dumped by her boyfriend, Shawn, and wanted his sympathy. Diane lands an exclusive interview with Leslie for a piece about women who "cry wolf" to get attention.

When a second abduction occurs --- and leads to a murder --- it appears Leslie was telling the truth. Ocean Grove suddenly seems more menacing than scenic, and the clues begin to pile up. From a resident at the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Area (a summer resort where vacationers live in colorful tent homes) to Leslie's unconventional therapist to her ex-boyfriend, just about everyone is a suspect and red herrings abound.

Diane is determined to follow up on every lead and be the first to uncover the truth. But her professional and personal paths collide when a member of her family goes missing, and the stakes are suddenly about much more than scooping the competition.

Although the emphasis on anorexia and cutting at times overwhelms the whodunit aspect of the plot, Clark --- a producer at CBS News --- is adept at using short, compelling chapters and vivid writing to keep the action humming along. If you're looking for a fun, fast-paced read for the beach or elsewhere, take a turn with DANCING IN THE DARK.

--- Reviewed by Shannon McKenna

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Trying to keep the kids happy, trying to keep her job , July 31, 2005

By	N. Larrabee (Tarrytown, NY) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Keys News Correspondent Diane Mayfield is getting ready to take her kids to the Grand Canyon. Instead her boss insists she cover a news story, about "girls who cry wolf", in Ocean Grove, New Jersey. Allowed to take her family, Diane is torn between her job and her kids. Local girl, Leslie Patterson had claimed that she was kidnapped for three days. Fortunately, she was returned safely but no one believed her because of her history of emotional problems. However, another young woman Carly Neath is kidnapped and is discovered dead days later. Diane and her news crew are right on top of the story. Dr Messinger, Larry Belcaro, Jonathan Richey, and Shawn Ostrander are seemingly tied in to the investigation. In the meantime, Diane struggles with discovering her daughter's own problems and tries to keep her emotions in check when her son goes missing. So many characters and so many stories are adeptly resolved in the end. A lot of tough issues to contend with as the chapters fly by