Zapped: A Regan Reilly Mystery

Written by Carol Higgins Clark

Narrated by Carol Higgins Clark

It's a hot, humid July night in New York City. Where were you when the lights went out?

As Zapped begins, the Reillys return home from a summer weekend to the loft in Tribeca they are in the agonizing process of renovating and expanding. They are looking forward to a quiet supper on their newly acquired rooftop terrace. But it's not meant to be. While Jack goes to pick up Chinese food, Regan enters their apartment, unaware that a nervous thief, who preceded her by minutes, is hiding in the front closet. A thief who knows about a hidden safe that Regan and Jack have yet to discover. Minutes later, the blackout strikes, and both Reillys are called into action.

A new gallery in SoHo, featuring treasured glass sculptures from all over the world, has been burglarized. As head of the NYPD Major Case Squad, Jack oversees several departments. Art theft is one of them.

PI Regan hears from her best friend, Kit, who is in Manhattan on business. She's been abandoned at a comedy club by a colleague from an insurance convention, Georgina Mathieson, who ran out for a cigarette moments before the blackout struck and never came back. Kit gets a call that Georgina is disturbed and dangerous. Fueled by her rage at a college boyfriend who dumped her, Georgina seeks revenge on unsuspecting young blond men. She was last seen getting into a cab outside the club—with a tall blond. Regan heads the search for Georgina and her potential victim.

Meanwhile, Lorraine Lily, an almost famous actress, returns to New York City the night of the blackout, after spending three months in England doing a play, and is informed by her estranged husband, Conrad Spreckles, that he'd sold his loft to their next-door neighbors, the Reillys. Lorraine had never told him about the hidden safe she'd had installed in the closet. If she doesn't get back what's in there, she's sure her budding career will be ruined.

In Zapped, Clark takes readers on a tour of the city they won't forget and introduces them to a wonderful cast of colorful, eccentric characters whose stories intersect in precarious and often humorous ways during one very dark and hot summer night.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
• Release date: Apr 8, 2008
• ISBN: 9780743571135

Carol Higgins Clark

Carol Higgins Clark (1956–2023) was the bestselling author of the Regan Reilly mysteries. She was the daughter of suspense writer Mary Higgins Clark, with whom she coauthored a bestselling holiday suspense series. Also an actress, Carol Higgins Clark studied at the Beverly Hills Playhouse and recorded several novels. She received AudioFile’s Earphones Award of Excellence for her reading of Jinxed.   

Reviews for Zapped

[carlathelibrarian · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Another installment of the Regan Reilly series. I do not think this one was as good as the others. This one was pretty bland and the scenarios just seemed rather contrived. She was never hired, just happened to stumble onto a situation and set out to solve the problem. The other story line was pretty bad. An actress who is getting divorced finds out her husband has sold the apartment where she has hidden some pretty controversial letters in a safe. If they get mailed, it could ruin her career. She tries to break into the apartment with a friend to get them back. A rather lame storyline. Hope her next one is better or I will not be reading anymore.

[murderbydeath · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A good, fast-paced read. Very light-weight, but written well enough.