Where Are The Children?

By Mary Higgins Clark

Nancy Harmon has a new home, a loving husband and two beautiful children. The thing is, she's had all this before . . .

Seven years ago she escaped from a volatile marriage and the devastating deaths of her first two children. Now, she's trying to start afresh. The accusations. The newspaper stories. The blame. That's all behind her. Or so she thinks.

For someone has not forgotten. Somebody who is determined to bring the terror and the pain hurtling back. One cold morning, Nancy leaves her children to play outside - but when she returns, they have disappeared. With growing terror, she realises it has begun again . . .

• Language: English
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK
• Release date: Sep 4, 2008
• ISBN: 9781847395573

Mary Higgins Clark

The #1 New York Times bestselling author Mary Higgins Clark wrote over forty suspense novels, four collections of short stories, a his­torical novel, a memoir, and two children’s books. With bestselling author Alafair Burke she wrote the Under Suspicion series including The Cinderella Murder, All Dressed in White, The Sleeping Beauty Killer, Every Breath You Take, You Don’t Own Me, and Piece of My Heart. With her daughter Carol Higgins Clark, she coauthored five suspense novels. More than one hundred million copies of her books are in print in the United States alone. Her books are international bestsellers.

Reviews for Where Are The Children?

[bookwitch24 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A very good mystery that keeps you guessing until the very end.

[sweetbriarpoet · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

This was a horrible book- just drivel. Sorry, MHC, you seem like an awesome person, but this book sucked and I will probably never read anything by you ever again. If you're going to switch the perspectives of characters willy nilly in the middle of paragraphs, at least make it understandable. There's just so much to say....but it's not even worth it. Good God, MHC. *Face/palm*

[lisamaria_c · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

The story involves an innocent woman, Nancy Harmon, who was at one point convicted of the murder of her two young children and sentenced to the gas chamber in California. Released on a technicality, the key witness had disappeared so she couldn't be retried. She dyed and cut her hair, changed her name, moved to Cape Cod and married and had two more children. And now, the secret of her true identity has come to light in her new community and her five-year-old son Michael and three-year-old daughter Missy have disappeared.As a rule, if I get through an entire book and don't want to hurl it at the wall, I give it at least three stars, but somehow I don't want to give this book so much credit. It's pretty short, about 65,000 words or so, and being written at a grade school level really in syntax and vocabulary pages do fly by before you know it, and I read this in a few hours and not once did I slow to savor a nice piece of writing or want to speed up because I found it at all suspenseful. I found the prose pretty pedestrian.Predictable is what I found the plot. In an introduction, the author says her inspirations included Agatha Christie and Josephine Tey, but she doesn't have their ability to keep me guessing or deliver a jaw-dropping twist. (Or their witty prose and ability to write memorable characters.) I think that's at least partly because the central mystery involves events years in the past and across the country, which means given the little we're told, I knew by 15 pages in that the kidnapper of the children could be one of only two possibilities, and by 20 pages in guessed which of the two was probably guilty--and the nature of the "twist" and I was right. Even though this isn't a terrible novel, I can't even really recommend this as an airplane or beach read. Just too meh.

[macnan_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Quick, easy read, enjoyed it.

[dverdecia-1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This book started off so well. And then, predictable and stupid towards the end. Why did it start off so well? The villan came across as a true villan should. Cold, manipulative, strategic and he was executing his plan to the letter. Then about midway through the book, the stupidity started to set in. All of a sudden he could no longer predict the future. He could not stay one step ahead of the good guys. He started making mistakes. This, all for a crime he was duplicating, repeating.

This is the story of Nancy Harmon (aka Nancy Eldridge)who is running from her past. Apparently she was caught up in a legal mess after being prosecuted for the death of her first two children under her first marriage to Carl Harmon. She simply lost her childeren to have them wash up in San Francisco Bay. So she decides to move east to escape the pressure and the publicity as her trial was labeled a Mis-Trial because of a lack of a witness that ran away. So she moves to Cape Cod and 7 years later she is re-married to Ray Eldridge and has two additional children.

It all started on her birthday where she read the front page news about her trial 7 years ago, and the article having detailed pictures that identified her to have her relive the nightmare of 7 years past. Did she kill her children? Did someone else do it?

As I said in my opening, this book turned out totally stupid. Suspensful? To some degree but then you reflect and you wonder how Mary Higgins Clark got away with writing this stuff.

[lismb_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I enjoy Mary Higgins Clark mysteries and this one was another enjoyable read. note, this one is creepy

[aprildt_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Her first mystery, I believe. Thrilling, chilling! It kept my attention, even though I have read it many times before. Well-written, believable characters. I enjoy her older works the most. This mystery is about a woman who has fled her past, and an accusation of murdering her children, to start a new life in New England. She marries again, has two more children, and life is getting back to normal. Until she goes outside to fetch her children from their playtime one morning, only to discover they are missing.

[midkid88 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A women's life starts repeating when her two children go missing, just like they did in her first marriage when they were murdered. She can't believe the nightmare is starting all over again. As always, Clark did a wonderful job with this book, I just didn't like the fact that the children were taken.

[becky_mckenna-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

My Rating: Three & 1/2 Stars

This was actually really, really good for a debut novel. Considering the subject matter, it clearly demonstrates that Mary Higgins Clark was ahead of her time when she wrote the book in 1975. I can see why it was a real standout; the shocking, suspense-filled thriller must've had everyone talking. Compared to present-day novels, Where Are The Children? is still a very good mystery. It aged well, but I did have a few problems that kept it from being a standout experience.

First, I had a difficult time connecting to the characters. It wasn't really until the very end that I even remotely liked Nancy. It helped once I understood what had happened to her, but then I struggled with her sudden turn around from the meek reclusive woman, to the She-Cat of Cap Cod. Anyway, I still enjoyed watching the transition and was able to suspend belief just because Nancy deserved something positive. I'm mean...c'mon...she'd been through enough. Who am I to rain on her "I am woman, hear me roar!" parade? Mom's do get a little crazy when it comes to protecting their babies. I would know.

Also, I had to struggle to make myself keep reading during the first half of the book. There was too much predictability and the dialogue was just boring. Granted, it's Clark's first novel and my first time to read her work...take it with a grain of salt. Maybe I was just sleepy or something.

I did like the overall plot of the story and the way multiple sub-plots all came together in the end. It's not a terribly long novel, either, so pick it up and give it a try! I'll be picking up one of her recent books soon as I'm super eager to see how the Queen of Suspense has grown in her writing over the years!

[kallmon75 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

very good book

[frozenplums · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Years and years ago Nancy's two young children were brutally murdered, and she only narrowly escaped charges. Now, years later, she's established a new life for herself, with a new look, new name, and a new family. Until one day, the children go missing...Yet another M. H. Clark book I think parents will appreciate (or find horror in) more. This was an okay book (and fortunately shorter than her typical novels), but I wasn't particularly grabbed by it. The unfolding events were plausible I suppose, but the elements of this book that I enjoyed I feel Clark has employed much more enjoyably in some of her other works.

[tricia35 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

It was a quick easy read! I really enjoyed this book.

[lorisbook · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This storyline is very gripping and extremely bold considering the time period it was first written. I believe I read it first about 30 years ago. Nancy Harmon's two children are dead. She is accused and facing death but gets released on a technicality. She then changes her identity and flees to Cape Cod. She marrys and has two more children and basically begins to relive the nightmare again when they go missing - and she is again a suspect. The anxiety of missing children, the false imprisonment and the devastation of a suicide all lead to an emotionally turbulent read. I picked it up and was devoted to reading through it as quickly as posssible.

[Leher Sethi · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I started looking for this book when I came across “Where are the Children Now?” in the bookshop when looking for a new book to pick up.

When I read that it’s a sequel, I thought of finding out more about Mary Higgins Clark and her books. That’s how I ended up reading Where are the Children. I realise that it’s a very old book, which explains the way abusive details and language is left out, and that is also kind of nice. One understands what’s happening but doesn’t go into gory and disturbing details!

I enjoyed reading it, and plan to read more Mary Higgins Clark books.

[twink_2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Where Are The Children by Mary Higgins Clark was originally released in 1975. It is newly released as an audio book.Clark has penned a new introduction to the book. She names Where Are the Children as the book that kick-started her incredible career.Although I've read a number of Clark's books, I had never read Where Are the Children. More and more, I'm doing my 'reading' through audiobooks, so I was quite happy to listen to this title.Nancy Harmon was a suspect in the deaths of her two young children. She was cleared in court, but not in the public eye. She changed her name, appearance and locale in an attempt to start over. She found love with Ray and they have two children together. And she is as happy as she can be. Until......yep, unbelievably these children go missing. How could this happen again to her? And as much as she knows knows she has nothing to do with their disappearance, the cops think she does......Now, this book was written 44 years - and at the time it created some controversy. In the intro, Clark mentions this book was turned down by some publishers because of some of the content. It would have been boundary pushing in 1975. I kept this in mind as I listened. Clark also says that the inspiration for the story was the real life case of Alice Crimmins.What happens to Nancy is unthinkable and she collapses. A friend of the family who happens to be a therapist believes that the past holds the clues to what is happening now. As she answers his questions we learn that Nancy's first marriage was more than a little creepy. The childsnatcher also has a voice. Creepier. His motive for taking the children is, well, deviant. And this is probably what scared off publishers in 1975.The reader knows what is happening with the children as well as how the search for them is progressing. A back and forth narrative ramps up the tension. (And ensures the reader listens to just one more chapter) And kudos to Clark. Twists and turns in a novel are all the rage now. Where Are the Children includes some nice unexpected twists.There's a reason Mary Higgins Clark is called the Queen of Suspense.This early novel was a treat to listen to. January LaVoy was the reader. She's a narrator I know and I quite enjoy her voice and readings. Her performance in Where Are the Children was excellent. She has a rich, smooth voice with a nice undertone. Her enunciation is crisp and clean. Her voice is clear and easy to understand. She has interpreted the book well and her voice telegraphs the tension and action well. She provided really believable and distinctive voices for the characters. Her children's voices were especially well done.