What do You think about The Second Time Around (2004)?
True to Mary Higgins Clark's distinctive writing style, The Second Time Around radiates with breezy, natural dialogue, sparkling descriptive text and an intriguing plot. Being a devoted fan, I've read all MHC's books, and this one is another winner. At first, I was somewhat disappointed she had used the first person point of view for the female protagonist, Carly DeCarlo. However, as I dug into the story, I immediately changed my mind. She did a splendid job typifying the likeable, down to earth Carly's persona intermingling her first person between chapters with the menacing Ned Cooper's third person narrative. Excellent! Carly is an investigative reporter for Wall Street Weekly, assigned to report the mysterious death of Nick Spencer, founder of Gen-Stone--a corporation claiming to have discovered a vaccine to cure cancer. Conspirators, co-conspirators, angry stockholders, a cold devious stepsister, and a psychopath killer all figure in her latest riveting, unpredictable plot filled with twists and turns. Definitely one of Clark's best!
—Carole
This book is not perfect, yet makes for an engrossing read. It was a refresher after some of the very monotonous books I read recently.On the plus side, the book is focused on its plot, and does not wonder about. The protagonist is likable, and has a mind of her own. The plot is not unique, but different and well blended into a suspense novel. Also, the story is kept short and does not drag mindlessly.On the negative side, there is a recap of the story in nearly every chapter, and perhaps its omission would lead to a better pace of the story. The suspense is easy to guess because the protagonist's gut instinct must always be right no matter what. The author should have not opted for such a prototype of a protagonist.I'm giving the book four stars for its simplicity, attempt to tell something different and easy-to-read style.
—Jyotika Varmani
OK -it was much better than "Daddy's Little Girl", which I found totally disappointing but it did not measure up to some of Mary Higgin's Clark earlier mysteries (such as "All around the Town" and "Loves Music, Loves to Dance").This is the story of Carly DeCarlo, a financial advice columnist turned investigative reporter, and her quest for the truth about the suspicious disappearance of Nicholas Spencer, the head of medical research company "Gen-stone". Nicholas Spencer, who also happens to be her stepsister's husband, has claimed to develop a revolutionary vaccine that could cure cancer as well as other genetic abnormalities. His company was built on this premise and many stockholders were attracted with hopes of curing family members. Even Carly was convinced to invest $25,000 in memoriam to her son Patrick, who died from birth defects as a baby. So when evidence of embezzlement surfaced with the alleged death of Nicholas Spencer, the stockholders were in an outrage and even speculated that Spencer's disappearance was staged. Carly's reporting assignment led her to investigate the truth behind these allegations.On a positive note, I must admit that the writing style was fascinating and led to a fast read (I finished the book in 1 ½ days!). Mary Higgins Clark intermingled the well-crafted first-person narrative that she attempted in DADDY'S LITTLE GIRL with sporadic chapters of 3rd-person narrative which were more in line with her earlier novels. The prose kept me on my toes and engrossed throughout the story. I just found Carly's character a bit unbelievable - how does one go from financial advice columnist to brilliant investigative reporter so quickly? The plot and the isssues the story dealt with (i.e. medical research, corporate sabotage, etc.) were interesting enough, but...I don't know - the characters and even the ending kind of left me flat!However, if you need an intriguing book to bring on an airplane or to read at the beach or by the pool, this book might be for you. It goes by fast and, if you don't have any interruptions, you could probably finish it in one gulp!
—Mimi
