Out of Mind (Hardcover)

by Catherine Sampson (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
In British author Sampson's uneven second thriller (after 2004's Falling Off Air), London TV journalist Robin Ballantyne looks into the disappearance of a colleague, Melanie Jacobs, an adventurous camerawoman. Warned off the case by her bosses, Robin persists, even traveling to Cambodia to interview the last person to see Melanie alive, former Special Forces officer Mike Darling, now a private security specialist. Back in London, Robin is drawn to Darling's extended family. When baby Christopher Darling is kidnapped, Robin suspects a link with Melanie's case and determines to investigate, despite continued opposition from her employer and the police, including her lover, DCI Tom Finney. Robin is the kind of heroine who ignores advice, makes instinctive accusations, forges ahead, steps on figurative and literal minefields, yet—the unusual feature of this series—is a caring and concerned single mother of twins. As in her first novel, Sampson assembles a bewilderingly large cast of intriguing characters, especially Robin's dysfunctional family, and meanders into subplots that are well done but distracting, then produces a slam-bang climax revealing a surprise culprit.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
This mildly appealing follow-up to the well-received Falling Off Air (2004) finds British TV documentary producer Robin Ballantyne digging into the disappearance of a colleague. The danger-seeking camerawoman vanished, ironically enough, from a survival school, but no one besides Robin and the woman's mother seems all that keen on tracking her down. Told with oddly flattened affect, the story takes quite a while to pick up steam as Robin battles officious network bureaucrats to interview aggressively reluctant sources, slog through clues, and finally face a few perilous encounters of her own. The best parts of this sophomore series entry concern Robin's home life. Her button-pushing sister invites their deadbeat dad to stay at Mom's place while she is away; Robin's cop boyfriend may be courting his ex on the side; and her rambunctious young twins are a constant challenge. Sampson, a BBC and London Times vet, also provides a nuanced, realistic look at the modern news-gathering process. But her fans might hope she is able to concoct a more compelling mystery for Robin to tackle next time out. Frank Sennett
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Mysterious Press (August 26, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0892968141
• ISBN-13: 978-0892968145
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,592,829 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing follow-up..., November 2, 2005

By	Reader (CT, United States) - See all my reviews

I enjoyed 'Falling Off Air', Sampson's debut novel featuring Robin Ballantyne, but had to slog through this dreary follow-up. It started out quite well but about a third of the way into the book, I felt Sampson lost impetus (it seemed to me as if she herself was bogged down and bored with the characters) and started meandering all over the place. Robin's relationship with her detective boyfriend is bloodless and unconvincing, her bratty twins tedious and somehow unreal (hard to believe she has three children of her own), and Robin herself is unlikeable and colorless. In fact, none of the characters seem like real people. The story line had potential, but became totally lost in a thicket of silly sub-plots and unconvincung characters. And the number of phone calls from one player to another was ridiculous! At one point there seemed to be three of four per page and the only way the author could think of to convey the plotline to the reader. I made myself finish it, just to see how Sampson extricated herself from the morass, but it was a chore.

5.0 out of 5 stars A marvelous read..., April 4, 2008

By	armchairinterviews.com (Minnesota) - See all my reviews

The critics were not kind to Catherine Sampson's sophomore novel, Out of Mind. Publisher's Weekly called it "uneven" and Booklist referred to it as "mildly appealing." I, on the other hand, had a much different experience. Maybe it was because I didn't read her first novel, Falling Off Air, but I found Out of Mind a marvelous read.

Robin Ballantyne is now the single mother of three-year-old twins, a nightmare all by itself. Her job as a journalist for a London television company keeps her doubly busy. Robin makes documentaries and is working on a show about missing people. Then one of her colleagues, Melanie Jacobs, disappears from an embedded-journalist training school, yet no one seems concerned. Robin barely knew Melanie other than by sight and by her reputation as a woman unafraid of man, beast, or war. After calling Melanie's parents to express her sympathies, Melanie's mother asks Robin to look into things since it seems that neither the law nor the television station seem to care. When Robin agrees, that sets the entire chain of events into action.

Robin identifies the last person to see her alive, Mark Darling. Mark is in Cambodia, but that doesn't stop Robin from using her expense account, and with her photographer, takes the next flight out.

The plot gets a little confusing when Robin returns to England, with more questions than answers. Her investigation leads her to Mark's completely dysfunctional family, with whom Robin becomes more and more obsessed.

With a twist I never saw coming, Sampson created a character that was for the most part believable. I had some trouble believing that Robin would leave her kids with her neighbor to look for a woman she never knew, but on the other hand, hard journalism often requires that kind of willingness to abandon home and hearth.

Out of Mind was, for me, a suspenseful read that kept me up past my bedtime.

Armchair Interviews says: If you like suspense with your mysteries-and good writing, check this out.

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars strong journalistic investigative tale, August 20, 2005

By	Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews (#1 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Following maternity leave to raise her twins now three years old as a sole parent, journalist Robin Ballantyne has returned to work as a TV reporter. Her current assignment focuses on a series of missing persons. When camerawoman Melanie Jacobs vanishes without a trace, Robin promises the distraught mother of her peer to investigate this as part of her work.

Robin's inquiries lead to the killing fields of Cambodia but quickly link back to London. She particularly researches what she can about Mike Darling, who allegedly is the last person to have seen Melanie. As she gets closer to the truth, her lover DCI Finney and the Corporation's bosses tell her to back off for her own safety. Before she can decide what to do, someone kidnaps Mike's baby. Though no one else agrees with her assessment, Robin believes that there is a link between the infant abduction and the disappearance of Melanie; she is determined to find it even if it means angering two highly regarded military families who prefer secrets remain hidden.

OUT OF MIND, the sequel to FALLING OFF AIR, is a strong journalistic investigative tale starring a wonderful protagonist struggling between raising her three years old twins alone and doing her reporting work. The story line is superb especially when everyone tells Robin to drop this particular inquiry, but the obstinate mother feels she survived the terrible twos so how bad can this case be. Though sometimes her supermom efforts seem off kilter, fans will appreciate this strong mystery and look forward to more of Robin in future books.

Harriet Klausner