Bonnie Wheeler is married to Rod Wheeler; they have a daughter, Amanda, and Rod has two children with his previous wife, Joan. Bonnie enjoys her life until the day Joan calls to ask Bonnie to meet her. She wants to give Bonnie information indicating that her life and Amanda's life are in danger. Bonnie agrees to meet Joan, but when she arrives at the meeting place, she discovers Joan is dead -- shot through the heart.As the story develops, Bonnie becomes more deeply involved in trying to figure out who killed Joan as well as what Joan could have meant when she indicated Bonnie's life and that of her child are in danger. This is where Joy Fielding is usually at her best with twists and turns to complicate her mysteries with enough intrigue to keep those pages turning almost all by themselves. Unfortunately, she didn't hit her usual mark of suspense with Don't Cry Now. What disrupts the story is Bonnie's preoccupation with her own demons from her childhood. That coupled with Bonnie's somewhat bizarre behavior at times, no matter how reasonably Fielding explains it all, leaves the character of Bonnie Wheeler a little short on credibility.I wouldn't recommend Don't Cry Now to someone who'd never read Joy Fielding before, because this book does not give a good first impression of what she's capable of writing. But to fans of hers, like me, this book still holds that Fielding "charm". Whenever I finish a book by Joy Fielding, I'm sad to see the characters go, and I usually wish there were a sequel so that I could connect with them again. That's how I felt about Bonnie Wheeler; it's just that if there were a sequel, I'd hope Bonnie had it a little more together than she did this time around.
Bonnie Wheeler je nastavnica koja, na prvi pogled, ima savršen život – živi u krasnoj kući sa suprugom, uspješnim televizijskim redateljem i njihovom trogodišnjom kćeri Amandom. Ali, jedne večeri, samo jednom izgovorenom rečenicom: „U opasnosti ste ti i Amanda“, to savršenstvo nestaje kao probušeni mjehur od sapunice. Osoba koja ju je nazvala je Joan, bivša suprugova žena, koju nakon toga pronalaze mrtvu u vlastitoj kući. Tako Bonnie u nasljedstvo dobija još dvoje suprugove djece, Sama i Lauren, problematične tinejdžere čija je srca vrlo teško osvojiti. Bonnie shvaća da mora zaštititi svoju kćer i sebe samu, samo osnovno je pitanje – od koga joj prijeti opasnost: od već navedenih ukućana, od šašavog napušenog učenika škole u kojoj predaje, od kolege profesora čiji je telefonski broj pronašla u Joaninom obiteljskom albumu ili možda od vlastitog brata, koji zbog pokušaja ubojstva već ima dosje. Koliko god ljudi bilo upleteno u ovu situaciju, Bonnie je svjesna da će slagalicu morati riješiti sama, suočena s brojnim opasnostima.Ovo je solidan psihološki triler s taman dovoljnom dozom drame i napetosti, u kojem tijekom čitanja stalno mijenjate mišljenje tko bi mogao biti ubojica (bar sam ga ja tako doživjela). Nije baš da sam grizla nokte do zadnje stranice, ali preporučujem ga za čitanje, ako ništa drugo možda vas zaintrigira citat New York Newsday-a na koricama: „Tko pri čitanju ovog romana ne osjeti hladne žmarce, vjerojatno ima sunčanicu.“ Nisam dobila sunčanicu, možda sam samo blago „zagorjela“, ali lagala bih kad bih rekla da nisam osjećala napetost i malčice se i sama poigrala detektiva.
What do You think about Don't Cry Now (1996)?
Another suspenseful, sit on the edge of your seat novel by Fielding!Back cover:"Bonnie Wheeler had a picture-perfect life: a rewarding job as a schoolteacher, a happy marriage to a successful TV director, a sprawling suburban home, and Amanda, her adorable three year old daughter. She'd heard the sordid details about her husbands ex-wife Joan--the drinking, the instability. Then Joan calls her with a cryptic warning--you're in danger, you and Amanda.But when Joan is found murdered and Bonnie is the prime suspect, she knows this is no game. Suddenly her secure world comes crashing down around her. Things she once believed in are lies. People she thought she knew have shocking secrets to reveal.Desperate to know who intends to harm her daughter, Bonnie is caught in a frantic race to keep Amanda safe--even as she feels her own grasp on reality slipping..."Believe me people, this is a page turner!
—Louise
This book had a slow start but soon enough I had a hard time putting it down. I loved the suspense, and the twists and turns it took until the killer was revealed. The one thing that made this book unrealistic was the fact that Bonnie was a high school English teacher that never seemed to have any lesson plans to create or essays to grade. Even though this book was published in the 90's, I still found it hard to believe that when Bonnie went to work, rather than going to her classroom, she went to the faculty room where one of the other teachers was reading a newspaper?! I think she should have been given another type of career to be honest. If you like a murder mystery with a bit of family drama, teenage growing pains to say the least, romance drama, and dealing with the past, then you should read this book!
—Anne Marie
Great mystery. Just when I thought I had it figured out the author throws in a twist. Book kept me wanting to read more!!! Bonnie is married and had a 3 year old daughter. Rob, her husband is divorced with 2 teen age children and his ex wife never recovered from the loss of their young daughter and has a drinking problem. One night Joan, the ex, calls Bonnie and wants her to meet her the next day at a house she is showing and tells Bonnie that Bonnie and her daughter are in danger. Bonnie goes to meet her and finds her dead with a bullet hole in her chest. Who killed Joan and why? As Bonnie tries to find out what she was going to tell her she learns her husband may not be the perfect man she thought. She also is suspicious of her stepson and his friend, Haze and as her paranoia grows she becomes suspicious of everyone. Bonnie becomes sick and at first thinks it is the flu or bug but is that the case. More people die and was it by natural causes or were they murdered. Lots of characters in the book and each adds to the story line. Another great book by Joy Fielding.
—Laura Beasley
