All Around the Town

Laurie was only 5-years old when she was kidnapped. Two years later, she was let go, but she had blocked out everything from the time she was with her abductors. When Laurie is in the early 20s and her sister Sarah, a lawyer, now in her late 20s, their parents die. More trauma. Laurie is now in college and has a good relationship with one of her professors, but when he is found murdered, signs point to Laurie. She doesn’t remember.

It wasn’t fast paced, but many psychological “thrillers” aren’t. This was much about the psychology. Really interesting read; I imagine the author would have had to do a chunk of research on this. I’ve not read much about it; I think I have only one other book tagged multiple personality disorder, show more which is actually surprising as I do find it fascinating. show less

Its been forever since I've read a MHC novel and I found a couple in one of my book boxes that I don't remember reading, this was one of them.

I really enjoyed this. I appreciate this type of thriller, told from perspective of both the victim and the " villain". The vast majority of suspense/thrillers are mystery "who done it "plots, this change of pace is always nice.

A fast read, that kept my interest to the very end.

I enjoyed this thriller. I purchased this at a library sale and I voluntarily chose to review this. The only thing that slowed me down was the voice of each character including the 4 who belonged to the main character. I've rated it a 4.7*. There certainly was a lot of action and odd things going on. It wrapped up very nicely at the end but I didn't guess who the real who done it was, till the very end. This was a very engageing read.

Een klassieke thriller van Mary Higgins Clark die zowel boeit als frustreert. Het verhaal draait om de ontvoering van een jong meisje en de blijvende impact daarvan op haar leven. Clark weet een spannende sfeer te creëren, maar mist soms diepgang.
Wat werkt goed:
* Spannende premisse: De ontvoering zelf en de gevolgen ervan vormen een intrigerend uitgangspunt.
* Psychologische spanning: Het boek duikt diep in de psyche van het ontvoerde meisje en haar familie.
Wat minder goed werkt:
* Voorspelbare plot: Sommige wendingen zijn te gemakkelijk te voorspellen.
* Ontbrek aan diepgang: De karakters hadden meer ontwikkeling kunnen doormaken.
Kortom:
Een spannende thriller die zeker de moeite waard is om te lezen, maar die niet helemaal aan de show more hoge verwachtingen voldoet. Het boek is een goede keuze voor liefhebbers van klassieke thrillers, maar wie op zoek is naar iets origineelers, kan teleurgesteld worden.
Voor wie is dit boek?
* Fans van Mary Higgins Clark: Een typisch voorbeeld van haar werk.
* Liefhebbers van thrillers: Een spannende pageturner.
* Lezers die houden van psychologische spanning: Het boek onderzoekt de impact van trauma. show less

I’m so torn on her books. The plots are always interesting, which I think is what keeps me coming back, but there is just something, that I can’t put my finger on, that is missing. They just don’t have the same allure as some of my favorite authors. I read them, and they are “good” but I never feel like I’d rather stay up and keep reading to find out what happens instead of going to bed. Usually I know whether I like a book or not, and if not, I know why, but not hers. There’s something missing, I just can’t put my finger on it.

The story: girl has multiple personalities and did/did not commit murder. On so many levels this book is lame. I remember my high school english teacher advising that writers should never end a story by saying, "And then Mary woke up." Ending a story by finding out the whole thing is a dream is a big cop-out. I think that my english teacher would have applied the same cop-out label to Mary Higgins Clark's All Around the Town. Unless you are a very creative writer, the multiple personality conundrum is pretty boring/mundane. And MHC is not a "very creative writer" at least in this instance. Can you say, "Formulaic Writing?"

I think the worst thing about this novel is that MHC didn't do much research into multiple personalities. Maybe she show more just figured watching Sybil was enough? However, the fact that multiple personality disorder is a terribly serious disease doesn't seem to receive the literary treatment it deserves. I think this is aptly demonstrated at the very end of the book. I think that All Around the Town could have had some redeeming value had MHC done some research into multiple personality disorder. Maybe, in addition to a mystery, the reader could have learned more about this serious medical condition. show less

All Around the Town recooked the dry and tasteless politically correct plot--young girl gets kidnapped by evil pedophile, suffers mental trauma in the form of multiple personality disorder, and undertakes therapy to purge herself of disabling memories in hopes of becoming healthy and happy once more. Clark adds a few twists to the story in the form of an interesting but predictable murder mystery. With superficial characters the reader can't relate to and almost no noticeable research on the topic of dissociative identity disorder, All Around the Town is disappointing, to say the least. However, if the reader is looking for a quick read to settle down for the night, the story is entertaining enough.