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Where Are the Children Now?: Book Two - Hardcover

Clark, Mary Higgins; Burke, Alafair

 
9781982189419: Where Are the Children Now?: Book Two
Hardcover
ISBN 10: 198218941X ISBN 13: 9781982189419
Verlag: Simon & Schuster, 2023

Inhaltsangabe

The legacy of the “Queen of Suspense” continues with the highly anticipated follow-up to Mary Higgins Clark’s iconic novel Where Are the Children?, featuring the children of Nancy Harmon, facing peril once again as adults.

Of the fifty-six bestsellers the “Queen of Suspense” Mary Higgins Clark published in her lifetime, Where Are the Children? was her biggest, selling millions of copies and forever transforming the genre of suspense fiction. In that story, a young California mother named Nancy Harmon was convicted of murdering her two children. Though released on a technicality, she was abandoned by her husband and became such a pariah in the media that she was forced to move across the country to Cape Cod, change her identity and appearance, and start a new life. Years later her two children from a second marriage, Mike and Melissa, would go missing, and Nancy yet again became the prime suspect—but this time, Nancy was able to confront the secrets buried in her past and rescue her kids from a dangerous predator.

Now, more than four decades since readers first met Nancy and her children, comes the thrilling sequel to the groundbreaking book that set the stage for future generations of psychological suspense novels. A lawyer turned successful podcaster, Melissa has recently married a man whose first wife died tragically, leaving him and their young daughter, Riley, behind. While Melissa and her brother, Mike, help their mom, Nancy, relocate from Cape Cod to the equally idyllic Hamptons, Melissa’s new stepdaughter goes missing. Drawing on the experience of their own abduction, Melissa and Mike race to find Riley to save her from the trauma they still struggle with—or worse.

Just like the original, Where Are the Children Now? keeps readers guessing and holding their breath until the very last page.

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Über die Autorinnen und Autoren

The #1 New York Times bestselling author Mary Higgins Clark wrote over forty suspense novels, four collections of short stories, a his­torical novel, a memoir, and two children’s books. With bestselling author Alafair Burke she wrote the Under Suspicion series including The Cinderella Murder, All Dressed in White, The Sleeping Beauty Killer, Every Breath You Take, You Don’t Own Me, and Piece of My Heart. With her daughter Carol Higgins Clark, she coauthored five suspense novels. More than one hundred million copies of her books are in print in the United States alone. Her books are international bestsellers.

Alafair Burke is the New York Times bestselling author of fourteen novels, including The Better Sister, The Wife, The Ex, and Find Me, in addition to the Under Suspicion series, coauthored with Mary Higgins Clark. A former prosecutor, she now teaches criminal law and lives in New York City. 

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Prologue Prologue
She could feel the damp evening winds coming in through the cracks around the windowpanes. Only a few years earlier, an incoming draft in this room—her childhood bedroom—would have been unthinkable. Her mother had a discerning eye for detail that would have twitched at the slightest imperfection in a home, especially if it affected the comfort of someone sleeping under her roof. And her father had been the best realtor on the Cape, the kind who had become an expert handyman over the years as an added service to his clients. But it wasn’t only the seams around the windowsills that had cracked lately in the Eldredge family.

Eager to find sleep, Melissa stepped from the bed into her slippers and scuttled over to the window, not wanting to wake the rest of the house. After pulling the drapes closed, she took an extra blanket from the top of the closet, spread it over the bed, and then entered a reminder in her cell phone to have a handyman give the entire house a once-over before she returned to New York, just in case she could ever convince her mother to sell it.

She was returning her phone to the nightstand when she got a new text message. Are you still awake?

She smiled to herself, appreciating the fact that Charlie had stayed in constant contact with her in the four days she had been here. Barely, she replied.

As much as they both traveled for work, he always checked in with her when he awoke in the morning and before going to bed at night. Any other ruffled feathers today?

He was referring to the previous day’s “silly sibling dustup,” as her mother had called it dismissively. Given the seasonal nature of her brother Mike’s work, this was the first time he had been able to come back to the States since the funeral, and Melissa had driven up to the Cape to make it a family homecoming. All smiles and good behavior today. We visited the grave together.

The historic cemetery down the road from Our Lady of the Cape Church was the setting of the country graveyard scene in the painting that hung over the piano in the living room, one of the numerous works of art that covered the home’s mellow, creamy walls. When her mother had painted that haunting row of headstones more than forty years earlier, the idea of someday burying her husband there must have seemed unimaginable.

She paused, recalling Mike holding first their mother’s hand and then hers, as they stood at the foot of their father’s grave that afternoon. They were still family, no matter what. Family is family, Melissa added. She never used to utter a negative word about them until she started grief counseling. Every time the subject matter of the Eldredges arose—and what had happened in their past—she found herself growing quiet, but she was told that talking about your childhood was an essential part of therapy. Nevertheless, she felt guilty sometimes, wondering if she spoke too frequently during counseling about the small hiccups in the family to the exclusion of everything else that had been good. Today, at the grave, she had forgotten all about the occasional tensions and had been grateful once again for the wonderful life her parents had made possible for her.

She saw dots on the screen, indicating that Charlie was typing a new text. Speaking of family, have I told you lately I can’t wait for you to be my wife? Only two more months.

He had proposed to Melissa only two weeks ago, and she had immediately said yes. It had been her mother’s idea for them to get married on the one-year anniversary of her father’s passing, even though it meant a very short engagement. The ceremony would be smaller than small—just the bride and groom, immediate family, and a few friends.

She found herself smiling as she typed a reply, as she always did when she thought about her future with him. I was going to wait until tomorrow to tell you, but I passed the cutest little winery today. I know we said the courthouse, but maybe…? She hit Send and then attached the photographs she had taken when they stopped on the way home from the cemetery to share a toast to her father.

Only seconds later, her phone rang in her hand. An incoming FaceTime call from Charlie. “Well, hello there!” she chirped as his face appeared on the screen. He had close-cropped dark hair and clear blue eyes. And today, he sported a few days of facial hair across his square jaw.

“Too much texting,” he said. “If we’re talking wedding details, I at least want to see my fiancée.”

“You got the pictures I sent of the winery?”

“I did, and it’s absolutely perfect. That view is unbelievable!”

“But we already said we’d keep things simple and go to the courthouse.”

“You were the one who was adamant about that.”

Not long ago, Melissa had believed that she would have a big, formal wedding with a reception at an iconic New York City venue—perhaps the Loeb Boathouse in Central Park or the Rainbow Room overlooking Rockefeller Center. But when she had those dreams, she had imagined her father walking her down the aisle—and a man other than Charlie waiting for her at the altar. It didn’t seem right to transfer her previous bridal fantasies onto a different relationship. Still, though, there might be something in between a fairy-tale wedding and the city courthouse. A small outdoor event at the winery on the Cape felt like a good match for Charlie and her.

“But we already gave everyone the date. And told them it would be in the city.”

He flashed that perfect smile of his. “Everyone? Everyone in this case is like… six people—all of whom adore you and would go to the moon if necessary to be there on your special day. Our special day.”

At the mention of six guests, Melissa hoped that perhaps he was counting his sister, but Rachel Miller most definitely did not count as someone who “adored” Melissa. She had grudgingly agreed to meet Melissa, but only twice, and was reportedly furious when Charlie told her about his proposal, insisting that her brother was jumping into a new relationship too quickly. “Maybe Rachel will come around by then,” Melissa said.

“Maybe so, or maybe not. We are getting married either way, and we are going to do it at this beautiful place you found for us. Consider it done. Let’s book it.”

“Really?”

“Promise. Text me the name of the place, and I’ll call them first thing tomorrow for the details.” And she knew immediately that the decision was, in fact, made. One of the thousands of things she adored about Charlie was the way he kept the trains running, always willing to take jobs off her plate so she could move on to other tasks. “Oh, someone wants to say hi.”

The camera on Charlie’s phone shifted lower until she saw a chubby-cheeked face gazing up toward her. Riley’s fine blonde hair was tousled in every direction in a look that could only be described as bedhead. In the background, Melissa could see cardboard boxes stacked on the kitchen floor. They had just begun the process of slowly packing up his Upper West Side apartment since he and Riley would be moving in with Melissa.

“HI, MISSA!” It sounded almost like Missy, her nickname until she suddenly announced in the first grade...

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Verlag
Simon & Schuster
Erscheinungsdatum
2023
Sprache
Englisch
ISBN 10 
198218941X
ISBN 13 
9781982189419
Einband
Gebundene Ausgabe
Anzahl der Seiten
288
Kontakt zum Hersteller
Nicht verfügbar
Verantwortliche Person
Simon and Schuster Netherlands BV
info@simonandschuster.nl

Herculesplein 96
Utrecht
3584 AA
Niederlande