Nighttime is My Time - Mary Higgins Clark

The Basics: Nighttime is My Time, Mary Higgins Clark, 2004, 434 pages, paperback

How I found it: Remember how I got How to Win Friends and Influence People from a cereal box giveaway? Well that's where I got this one too.

What's it about?: At a 20th high school reunion Jean discovers that 5 of the 7 girls who used to sit at her lunch table are mysteriously dead. During the course of the reunion weekend the sixth girl goes missing. Jean and a likeable local cop have to solve the mystery of which reunion guest is behind the murders before it is too late for Jean (dum-de-dum-dum DUMMMM!). Surprisingly, it takes over 400 pages to catch the guy even though they only have a few suspects.

Did I like it?: This was pure crap. At first I couldn't believe I was actually going to read the whole thing, but I kept going in the end because I wanted to know who did it. Throughout the book Higgins Clark (the "Queen of Suspense" by the way) throws out little clues about which one of the suspects it might be, but then 50 pages later that clue is proven to be false. I won't tell you whodunnit, obviously, but it was a "shocker"! This book was not well-written, but then again, I didn't expect it to be since it is one of those books where the author's name is larger than the title of the book on the front cover and the author has a reputation as one of those people that churn out the same plot in different forms for years. In the end, it turned out to be one of those books that you read at the beach or at the cabin in a rain storm. Definitely not worthy of bedtime reading during exam period! I'm quite glad it was free!

Will you like it?: If you like suspense/mystery/crime novels, Sugarmilk Falls, which I read recently, was 100 times better than this one. If like me, you manage to get this book for free, are looking for something mindless to read, and are sick of the vapid Bridgit Jones knockoff books (Shopaholic anyone?) this might not be too bad. Otherwise, stay away, far far away.

But don't take my word for it: A mixed bag of reviews on Amazon.ca (although I would have to say the one-star reviewers are the only ones who got it right), one from Bookreporter.com, and another from Woodsontheweb.com.