All Around the Town (School & Library Binding)

by Mary Higgins Clark (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Effectively exploiting her canny knack for placing women and children in deadly peril, Clark has pulled out all the stops in her newest effort (after Loves Music, Loves to Dance ). As a child, Laurie Kenyon was kidnapped and abused by a creepy pair named Bic and Opal, and she developed complex multiple personalities as a result. Now she is a college senior and a prime suspect in the murder of an attractive male professor. Might one of her personalities have been responsible? If so, can her protective sister Sarah, now an ace lawyer? confusing as is--if she's prosecutor, she wouldn't be defending her sister , defend her successfully? And will Bic and Opal, now successful televangelists, manage to silence her if she seems likely to identify them as her childhood tormentors? The plotting is swift and slickly managed, with a genuinely surprising twist toward the end. Clark wastes no time on extraneous details of character and atmosphere, but the very skills that make her a popular fast read mean that readers who look for nuance, flavor and shading even in their suspense thrillers will find their cravings unsatisfied. Still, of its efficient, machine-made type, this is a suspenseful page-turner. 500,000 first printing; Literary Guild main selection; author tour.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Kirkus Reviews
For her ninth sure-fire bestseller, Clark returns to what she does best: using a threatened child (this time, a regressive college-student traumatized by a childhood kidnapping) to grab you by the throat and shake well. Back in 1974, four-year-old Laurie Kenyon was abducted from her posh New Jersey home by Bic and Opal Hawkins, a pair of hippies who raped and terrorized her for two years before the heat got so close they turned her loose. Now she's an honor student at Clinton College who unwittingly harbors four personalities--sexy Leona, truculent Kay, four-year-old Debbie, and a nine-year-old boy--that she's developed to keep her childhood memories at bay. Meanwhile, her kidnappers have transformed themselves into TV preachers on the brink of stardom who keep putting scary photos, knives, and severed chicken heads in Laurie's way in case she recognizes them and wants to speak out. The flash point comes with the murder of personable prof Allan Grant, who'd just gone before the administration with proof that the steamy letters from ``Leona'' he'd been getting were typed on Laurie's typewriter. When Laurie finds herself standing over Grant unable to remember whether or not she killed him, it's up to big sister Sarah, fanatically dedicated to protecting Laurie, to quit the D.A.'s office, take charge of Laurie's defense, and incidentally begin a chaste romance with Justin Donnelly, who's trying to tease the truth out of all those alter egos even as Bic Opal step up their campaign from threats to violence. Not enough menace for you? Clark even throws in the mystery of who really killed Grant, though her heart's not in it: broad hints from the outset will tip off all but the most witless readers. No whodunit, then--but Clark's legion of fans, enthralled by her undeniable skill in pushing their buttons, won't even notice. Just be grateful the author isn't running for office. (Literary Guild Split Dual Selection for July) -- Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Young Adult
  
• School & Library Binding
• Publisher: San Val (October 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0785700099
• ISBN-13: 978-0785700098
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (136 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #4,257,800 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Another winning murder mystery...., May 28, 2002

By	Ratmammy "The Ratmammy" (Ratmammy's Town, CA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

This review is from: All Around the Town (Mass Market Paperback)

ALL AROUND THE TOWN by Mary Higgins Clark is a murder mystery involving two sisters. Laurie Kenyon is the younger sister, and her story starts with her kidnapping years ago when she was only 4 years old. She disappeared for 2 years, only to be found again, but never to be the same happy child she once was. Sarah Kenyon is her older sister. She watched as her family fell apart while her parents tried desperately to find their daughter. With this in mind, Sarah becomes Laurie's protector, and vows to always be there when Laurie needed her.

The story revolves around the two women, as a murder mystery unfolds where Laurie is the accused murderer. As the story progresses, Sarah, who is now an attorney, tries to save her sister. But the more Sarah learns, the worse it looks. Laurie is discovered to have multiple personalities, and could one of her personalities have been the murderer?

I've read many Mary Higgins Clark books, and this is probably one of her best. It left me on the edge of my seat and was so riveting that it took me only two days to read it. I highly recommend this book!

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Rollarcoaster thrill-ride! Suspense until the end!, October 25, 2001

By	Tracy Talley "Book Addict" (Boston, MA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: All Around the Town (Mass Market Paperback)

I am amazed that I was kept on the preverbial 'edge of my seat' with this book! I read it in 6 hours and could not put it down! The suspense and twists were enough to make me wince and become anxious! Unbelievable suspense from what I now refer her to, THE Queen of Suspense, Mary Higgins Clark...

~'All Around the Town' is a simple childs rhyme, but not to little four year old Laurie Kenyon. She has been abducted and held mercilessly for two long and torturous years, suffering abuse and horrible mind games so severe that when she is released at age six, she doesn't even remember what has happened to her!
Now at age 21 she is found accused of murdering her English professor, Allan Grant, but she has no memory of the gruesome crime!

Apparently during those horrible years of being held prisoner, she has developed multiple personalities, one of which is a sex kitten calling herself "Leona". Leona has been writing crazed love letters to Allan Grant and has been secretly entering his home! She watches him sleep and wishes she could be with him...but the host personality, Laurie, is unaware of the many other 'people' living inside of her.

When things seem to go farther downhill for a suffering Laurie, her sister and best friend, a reknowned prosecutor,Sarah, takes up her defense and brings her to a psychiatrist Justin Donnelly, a specalist in MPD, Multiple Personality Disorder. Justin must be the one to help Laurie unlock her forbidden memories from those missing two years of captivity. But evil is lurking in the shadows...Laurie's abductor, now a famous televison evangelist, is still hopelessly obsessed with little Laurie and is determined to get to her one last time.

This story has twists upon twists that will leave you gasping for air and wanting more! The sad tale of a tortured woman trying to save herself by remembering who she is and what has happened all those years past. We get to see her world through her mind's eye and what we see is horrible and obscene. The preacher will never let her remember, but can Laurie beat him to the punch? A real rollarcoaster thrill-ride packed with suspense, enough to keep you on the edge of your seat until the wee hours of the night!

(...)

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars great thriller, February 4, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: All Around the Town (Mass Market Paperback)

All Around the Town is a book about a girl, Laurie Kenyon, who was kidnapped at the age of four. Her kidnappers abused her while she was in their custody and somehow managed to form multiple personalities. Unfortunately Laurie was unaware of them, but when she was returned to her family they supposedly disappeared. Now at the twenty-one she is accused of murdering her English professor, Allan Grant, although she has no recollection of the murder at all. One of her many personalities had fallen in love with him and constantly wrote him letters under the name Leona. Laurie's sister, Sarahm does not believe this could be happening and since she is a lawyer quickly goes to her sister's defense. I had a wonderful time reading this book, once I started it I could barely put in down. The suspense was just too thrilling. There was not a single part of this book that I did not enjoy. I just kept on wanting to know what was going to happen next. This is a great book and I recommend it to everyone, even those people who do not enjoy reading suspense novels will certainly enjoy this book.