Two Little Girls in Blue: A Novel

I've realized lately, after reading (or listening on audio CD) to several Mary Higgins Clark novels, that she is a fine enough story-teller, but at times she returns to what is safe and doesn't take any chances. She uses the same plot twists and she always comes back to same types of delivery:

Her characters reveal themselves inadvertently, but she neglects to realize that murderers, kidnappers, molesters etc. are not the most clear thinking individuals and they aren't capable of the insights she provides them with. It just isn't plausible. If these people were so incredibly understanding of their own motivations they wouldn't be committing these acts, and they always inevitably break down and confess all when cornered. Also , simply not plausible. It becomes somewhat annoying when your 3 books into this author and every single one of the "villains" offers up all (at only the mildest of coaxing from law enforcement) at the end, how convenient for her characters that they are saved at the last possible moment by an insightful killer who conveniently confesses not only their crimes, but their motives as well.

She really likes to give you a murder suspect that is wrongly accused but looks oh so guilty. That's fine, but after five, six plots? Are we still in for this? I think she will be best read on occasion and not back to back marathons.

This book you have a rag-tag group of morons who decide to kidnap twins in an effort to gain ransom. The plan is directed only by phone by someone known as the "piped piper", these morons haven't even ever met this piper yet they complete the kidnapping and make sure this mysterious voice gets seven million of the eight million they escape with. Are you serious? That in and of itself is ridiculous. And then there is the fact as I've pointed out that these people are complete morons, and they pull off a ransom/kidnapping? When was the last time one has been successfully completed in the United States? And the money is dropped, physically dropped and picked up and the FBI missing it because they are blocked in traffic? Are you serious? Suspension of disbelief is required for any fiction story, but this goes above and beyond, am I supposed to leave my reason and intellect at the door? And then you have the distraught mother of the twins directing these FBI agents through the investigation, because without her incredible insights and detective work, they certainly would have still been sitting in traffic, no?

All in all, if she would fix these minor details it would sing. As it is now, it reads as if she wrote it too quickly, didn't check facts and added characters that were just convenient and not believable.

What makes her successful is her ability to make her victims so sympathetic. I hang in there, just to see them through, although I know they will make it through fine every time and in the same fashion.

She also loves to put songs into her books, a lot of her titles come from songs. I like that myself!

I found the characters of the kidnappers to be a bit of a joke, kind of like the bumbling thieves in 101 Dalmations. The Author introduced a few different suspects throughout the book (that you never really got to know) just so you could wonder who the real villian was. But I didn't really care as none of them intrigued me at all. The "twin talk" the girls shared was mildly interesting but provided no amazing revelations to the story. All in all I found the whole thing kind of flat.

Boring. Clunky. Obvious. Tiresome. Laboured writing. Hated the way she spelled out the thoughts of each character like a bad melodrama. I couldn't wait for it to be over. What a waste of time!

There is more suspense waiting for a traffic light to change. Fortunately I bought this at the airport and can get half my money back when I return it on Sat. If you have trouble going to sleep, read this.

Recommended by a "friend", whom I am seriously reconsidering her idea of friendship now! This was beyond terrible-not only her background material but also her characterizations. It was worse than a Lifetime Movie, seriously. It scares me that this author would want to be taken seriously! I'm not beyond "reaching" for a storyline, however this was pathetic! I read it, and was sorry for it--if I had to read ONE more TIME that Kathy could "go into" pneumonia--I felt like I was reading "Kathy grows up in the 'hood' ". The next book should be titled "Two Little Girls Get Suga" ! It boggles my mind where this dialect came from!

I remember reading the nail-biter Where are the Children almost 20 years ago and have been hooked on this author ever since, but her latest offerings have been less than stellar. This one is better but still lacks the energy and suspense that distinguished her earlier novels.

The novel's main failing is that there are too many characters introduced and then dropped after a few pages or a chapter; consequently I had no emotional connection to any of them. I wanted to root for law enforcement and for a while thought that Carlson would be the hero, but so many different FBI agents revolved in and out of the story that eventually I forgot who Carlson was. The parents, the kidnap victims, the perps, and the so-called Pied Piper were all equally superficial. The chapters were short, the writing style simple, and overall geared to about 8th grade level. In short, I felt like I was reading the condensed Readers Digest version of what could have been a complex novel...but wasn't.

I read this on vacation and it was a nice way to while away down time, but I wouldn't recommend that anyone go out of their way to buy it. Also, the author really needs to update her thinking or have her books edited by a younger person than she is: the names she chose for the main characters are all out of the Fifties.

Can you say boring! If I hadn't lost my receipt, I would definitely have returned this book. I really tried to like it, but I just couldn't. It started slow and got slower. I purchased this book, so I was determined to finish it, but there was no suspense. While reading, I never even felt a sense of desperation, urgency and fear parents must go through when their children are abducted. It was not interesting, I kept falling asleep while reading it--no joke--. A set of twins were kidnapped from their home on the night of their third birthday party. Ransom was demanded for their safe return. When the author tries to shift the reader into thinking that maybe the parents were involved in the kidnapping, she fails miserably. You "just know" the parents weren't involved. If you read this book, you certainly will not be 'kept guessing'. When I eventually found out who masterminded the kidnapping, I could have cared less. Mary Higgins Clark is without a doubt an exellent writer, but after having read all of her novels, (and she has written some real "sit on the edge of your seat" nail biters) I feel she has lost her edge for suspense writing. Maybe, she should try another category.

Now I know why I had not read a book from MHC since my 20s : they are childishly written. The end seems to have been written in a hurry and is worse than the beginning. I can't find any more to say than this about the book. Very weak story.

The Book was good, the plotline a little familiar but not boring, the way the pieces of the mystery were strand together were a little unrealistic but it kept the book exciting;however, the ending of the book just fell flat. The whole book was like 'going up a roller coaster' but the end made it just stop. Overall it was a really good book to pass time, I would recommend it to anyone who likes a good mystery!

This is the first book by Mary Higgins Clark that has not "grabbed" me and kept me reading as soon as I could find any spare time. She's a great author, but this one is below average.