Clark's Tormented Souls to Produce Winner

All Around The Town by Mary Higgins Clark

Mary Higgins Clark knows how to pull at the heartstrings of her readers. In All Around the Town, Clark introduces us to a young girl who has never quite recovered from her extremely traumatic childhood.

Laurie Kenyon was a well-loved child who was kidnapped at age 4 and wasn't returned for two years. During those two years, she was sexually abused by her captor, a fact that her parents couldn't face and so never sought help for her. Instead, Laurie developed a split personality and frequently has blackouts that she can't remember.

So things look bleak for her when her favorite professor is murdered and all evidence points at Laurie. Her sister, an attorney, tries to defend her while her childhood captors are planning one more surprise for her.

It's a very quick read and one that is quite engrossing. Many people complain that Mary Higgins Clark creates cardboard characters, but I was quite fascinated by all of the ones in this book. Laurie is a deeply sympathetic character even as she resists finding out what happened to her. In fact, I felt a great deal of sympathy for all of the characters except the extremely repugnant kidnappers, one of whom was a man embodying all the worst aspects of televangelists.

Clark also does a wonderful job of building suspense. There were several times when I thought I had figured out what was going to happen only to have it change. It was neat to be able to figure things out just as the book's main characters were and to be able to share in their response.

Clark is the grand dame of this genre and it is easy to see why. She writes engrossing stories peppered with fascinating elements. Written in 1992, All Around The Town continues to be an entertaining read.

--B. Redman