4.5 STARS "A young woman is ensnared into returning to a place she had wanted to leave behind forever -- her childhood home. There, at the age of ten, Liza Barton had shot her mother, trying desperately to protect her from her estranged step-father, Ted Cartwright. Despite his claim that the shooting was a deliberate act, the Juvenile Court ruled the death an accident. Many people, however, agreed with Cartwright, and the tabloids compared her to the infamous murderess Lizzie Borden, pointing even to the similarity of their names. To erase Liza's past, her adoptive parents change her name to Celia. At age twenty-eight, a successful interior designer in Manhattan, she marries a childless sixty-year-old widower, Laurence Foster, and they have a son. Before their marriage, she reveals to him her true identity. Two years later, on his deathbed, he makes her swear never to tell anyone so that their son, Jack, will not carry the stigma of her past. Two years later, Celia is happily remarried. Her peace of mind is shattered when her new husband, Alex Nolan, surprises her with a gift -- the house in Mendham, New Jersey, where she killed her mother. On the day they move in, they find the words little lizzie's place -- beware painted on the lawn, splotches of red paint all over the house, and a skull and crossbones carved into the door. More and more, there are signs that someone in the community knows Celia's true identity. When Georgette Grove, the real estate agent who sold the house to Alex, is brutally murdered and Celia is the first on the crime scene, she becomes a suspect. As Celia fights to prove her innocence, she is not aware that she and her son, Jack, are now the targets of a killer." (From Amazon)One of my favourite suspense novels by Mary Higgins Clark - a great plot, suspense and a smart heroine.
“Liar liar pants on fire”This was the theme of “No place Like Home” by Mary Higgins Clark. If you lie once, you will need other lies to corroborate that initial lie. So, don’t lie and your life wouldn’t become like the plot of this book.Liza Barton, killed her mother while trying to save her from her husband, when she was young. Then she was acquitted, she changed her name to Celia Kellogg, and moved on. Only to find her own husband no.2 gifting her the same house where she killed her mother. As she starts living there, bodies start falling all around her and she is dragged back to the horrors of her childhood.Now this one was done in the typical MHC style. Action from first page, cliff hanging chapter endings, damsel in distress, with knight in shining armour everything was there. But, the problem with her style is that once you have read a few of her books, you can easily guess as to what might happen with the book you are reading. As it was, I guessed the identity of the main culprit within the first few chapters.But, that’s not the point. The point is that how the culprit was unmasked. The process, the clues. The deduction and the chase. These makes the book memorable for me. And, MHC in most of her books describes the “HOWCATCHEM” part in a way that keeps the reader hooked and guessing. But, sadly that was not the case here. Here the plot was moving and suddenly everyone started connecting the dots and without a moment’s notice the culprit was spotted. I thoroughly missed the build up, the tension that comes from the bit by bit revealing of the clues, leading up to the grand showdown.And, somehow I felt the book was slow. The pace typical of a MHC thriller was missing. Summing up, this was just an average thriller from a more than average writer.
What do You think about No Place Like Home (2006)?
je ne me suis jamais intéressé aux romans policier mais "rien ne vaut la douceur du foyer" m'a complėtement changé d'avis. un roman policier avec excellence dont on ne peut jamais imaginer la fin. personnellement j'ai trop aimé, et je le trouve juste parfait, et hardiment je ne peut pas nier qu'il m'a conduit d'avantage à s'intéresser à ce genre de romans. That's one of the good books that hooks you from the very begining so you have to read it, you have no choice. it makes you crazy raeding it late ar night and finishing the book in the span of just few days.
—Imane
There is no one like Mary Higgins Clark There is a reason why Mary Higgins Clark have millions of devout readers . i was late to join the bandwagon, but now that i have finally joined i have started to see the magic she weaves on her audience. So far i have read two books from her works and what i have noticed is that, she brings forward all these characters that you know for sure are the culprits from the get go, but as soon as you reach the end,you realize that the author had been playing with you the whole time and the real action was happening behind your back. The author just uses the pawns to distract you through the entire book only to reveal her cards at the very end making for a fabulous narration technique and in turn an engaging readThe only problem i had with the book is the numerous characters that keep popping which for my tiny brain had become a hassle to keep track but otherwise the narration is solid and iron clad and keeps you on your toes throughout.I guess she is the only thriller writer i have come across who will bring forward the culprit in the very beginning of the chapter making you relish in the fact that you don't have to wait till the end, only to find out that the book has just flipped on you to reveal a much complicated side of action which actually upholds the lure of a good thriller. Over the years the name Mary Higgins Clark has become a synonym for a good thriller book so why say anything else than that this book is written by Mary. A good complex story. so yes this is not going to be an easy and demands time and definitely a bumpy ride as well. Lots of twists and turns that would spin you good but at the end you get the satisfaction of having read a good thriller.
—Merril Anil
No place like home by Mary Higgins ClarkI can't begin to begin to describe of how in awe I am of this book. It was simply magnificent. I could never stop. It kept making me turn the next page, and each page made me hungrier for the next. You'd never expect the twists. You'd conjure up an idea in your mind of what you think will happen next, but then as you turn the page, the twist is mind-blowing. This book was just phenomenal. I remember the frustration I had when Zach Willet, Celia's only chan
—Taylah
