- Shopping Bag ( 0 items )
Available on NOOK devices and apps
Want a NOOK? Explore Now
Want a NOOK? Explore Now
A New York City resident for many years, Carol Higgins Clark was there during the blackout of 2003. Not surprisingly, she felt that Regan and Jack Reilly should one day share the experience!
As Zapped begins, the Reillys return home from a summer weekend to the loft in Tribeca they are in the agonizing process of renovating and expanding. They are looking forward to a quiet supper on their newly acquired rooftop terrace. But it's not meant to be. While Jack goes to pick up Chinese food, Regan enters their apartment, unaware that a nervous thief, who preceded her by minutes, is hiding in the front closet. A thief who knows about a hidden safe that Regan and Jack have yet to discover. Minutes later, the blackout strikes, and both Reillys are called into action.
A new gallery in SoHo, featuring treasured glass sculptures from all over the world, has been burglarized. As head of the NYPD Major Case Squad, Jack oversees several departments. Art theft is one of them.
PI Regan hears from her best friend, Kit, who is in Manhattan on business. She's been abandoned at a comedy club by a colleague from an insurance convention, Georgina Mathieson, who ran out for a cigarette moments before the blackout struck and never came back. Kit gets a call that Georgina is disturbed and dangerous. Fueled by her rage at a college boyfriend who dumped her, Georgina seeks revenge on unsuspecting young blond men. She was last seen getting into a cab outside the club -- with a tall blond. Regan heads the search for Georgina and her potential victim.
Meanwhile, Lorraine Lily, an almost famous actress, returns to New York City the night of the blackout, after spending three months in England doing a play, and is informed by her estranged husband, Conrad Spreckles, that he'd sold his loft to their next-door neighbors, the Reillys. Lorraine had never told him about the hidden safe she'd had installed in the closet. If she doesn't get back what's in there, she's sure her budding career will be ruined.
In Zapped, Clark takes readers on a tour of the city they won't forget and introduces them to a wonderful cast of colorful, eccentric characters whose stories intersect in precarious and often humorous ways during one very dark and hot summer night.
Three separate investigations, conducted during a blackout, propel Clark's diverting 11th mystery to feature PI Regan Reilly (after 2007's Laced). Soon after Regan and her husband, Jack, head of the NYPD Major Case Squad, return home to Manhattan from a weekend on the Cape, the lights go out across the city. In the darkness, Regan is dismayed to discover an intruder has left behind a stun gun in their apartment, which is undergoing renovations. Hours later, Jack looks into the theft of some unusual glass sculptures from a SoHo art gallery. In addition, the pair become involved in the frantic search for Georgina Mathieson, a psychotic with a track record for branding blond men, before she can claim her next victim. The number of coincidences, including one that allows the heroes to save the day in the nick of time, may be on the high side, but fans of lighter crime fare will be satisfied. (Apr.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Her website is carolhigginsclark.com.
Clark's apprenticeship to her mega-bestselling mom began early on. In 1975, when she was a student at Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts, mama Mary was still working full time, supporting five children on her own while trying to get her fledgling career as a novelist off the ground. Daughter Carol did her part to help, pitching in between term papers and acting classes to peck away at her mother's pages on a manual typewriter, making savvy edits along the way.
She recalled to the Philadelphia Inquirer her early days as an unsung editrix of her mother's work: "In one of her books, Loves Music, Loves to Dance, she had a serial killer who was making dates through the personal ads and then killing the girls. So the best friend of one of the girls he killed is trying to figure out who might have done it, so she's going out on these dates. So I was reading it and going over it with my mother and she had all these bars in New York. I said, 'No one goes there, no one goes there.' So I changed all the bars and restaurants. And People magazine said in its review: 'Clark offers a well-informed tour of New York's singles haunts.' So that was my contribution to that book. But I was really learning a lot."
After a few acting stints in off-Broadway theater, movies, and television -- her first role was as an extra on the soap opera Ryan's Hope -- Clark decided to try her hand at writing her own novel. She conjured up a semi-autobiographical heroine, sleuth Regan Reilly (who just so happens to have a celebrity author mother), and Decked debuted in 1992, garnering nominations for both an Agatha and an Anthony Award for Best First Novel. Clark relishes researching each new Regan Reilly adventure, gleaning inspiration from real-life capers both daffy and decadent.
After establishing herself in her own right as a farcical force to be reckoned with -- all of her Regan Reilly novels hit the New York Times bestseller list -- Clark teamed up with her mother in 2000 to pen their first holiday-themed thriller, Deck the Halls. We think it's pretty safe to say Carol didn't have to do all the typing!
"My first job was at a dry cleaner's. You'd be amazed at what you find in people's pockets! All sorts of clues about their lives! I had a character in Iced who worked at a dry cleaner's."
"I started out as an actress, and that background has helped me with my books. I love going to the theatre."
1
A burst of humid air greeted Lorraine Lily as she exited the baggage claim area at Kennedy Airport and headed to the taxi stand. The unbearably hot night did nothing to improve her mood. Her high heels were killing her feet and she was tired. When she finally made it to the front of the line, the next yellow cab pulled up quickly. The driver popped the trunk, got out, and eyed her one carry-on bag.
"That's it?" he asked.
"They lost my luggage."
"What a surprise," he grunted. "Don't worry. In this weather, all you need is a bathing suit. Hop in."
In the back of the cab, Lorraine was grateful to find that at least the air-conditioning was functioning at a decent level. She pushed her auburn hair off her forehead and sighed. The driver looked at her through the rearview mirror.
"Where are you going?"
"Downtown Manhattan." She gave him the address.
His only reaction was to step on the gas.
Lorraine reached into her massive handbag, pulled out her cell phone, and took a deep breath. How many more deep breaths am I going to need in my life? she wondered. She was sick of people telling her to take a deep breath. Everyone from the baggage claims supervisor to her estranged husband, Conrad. She'd had a wonderful three months away, and now it was back to reality.
P. Conrad Spreckles picked up on the second ring.
"I've landed," she told him.
"Back on home soil," he responded in a remote tone.
"They lost my luggage."
"It's probably wandering the earth. Just like its owner."
"I wasn't wandering the earth, dear. I was acting in an important new play that could be a springboard for my career."
"In a remote town in England with a population of eleven people. You may as well have performed it in our basement up here in Greenwich."
"We had wonderful audiences," Lorraine protested. "You wouldn't know since you didn't bother to come. Listen, Conrad, we need to talk. But right now I'm too tired. I'll sleep at the loft and take a car to Connecticut in the morning."
"There's nothing to talk about," he said flatly. "I filed for divorce."
Lorraine gasped. She was shocked that he'd taken such a drastic step. Not that she wanted to stay married. But she was hoping to be supported for a while longer while she pursued her career. Doing her best to sound saddened, she murmured. "Well, Conrad, if that's how you feel..."
"It's how I feel."
"Okay. I'll spend the night at the apartment..."
"You can't."
"Why not?"
"I sold it."
"You sold it?" Lorraine shrieked. The cabbie turned around to take a quick look, then shifted his attention back to the road. She lowered her voice and hissed, "How could you?"
"Funny you took the news very well about parting ways with me. But the thought of losing the apartment..."
"You had no right."
"I had every right. The loft was mine. It says so very clearly in the prenuptial agreement you signed two years ago." Conrad laughed mirthlessly. "That was when I believed you loved me for me instead of my money."
"I did love you..." Lorraine protested. "I mean I DO love you."
"Serves me right for letting my head be turned by a beautiful woman more than twenty years younger. Anyway, time to move on. I'll sell the house -- the love nest we were going to be so happy in for the rest of our lives -- and you'll get half."
Lorraine felt physically ill. "Who did you sell the loft to?" she sputtered.
"Our next-door neighbor Jack Reilly and his new wife, Regan. When they returned from their honeymoon three months ago, I made them an offer they couldn't refuse. They're already in the process of combining the two apartments. I'm sure they'll find a lot more happiness within those walls than we ever did. Although I suspect you might have experienced more happiness there than I ever knew about."
"That's not true!" Lorraine cried. "I only went there to rehearse scenes with my acting partners or have an occasional yoga session. I needed that apartment for my creativity and my alone time."
"I understand they have wonderful rehearsal space for rent at Carnegie Hall. Tonight you can come up here and stay in the guest room, or you can check into a hotel -- your decision. You'll be hearing from my lawyer."
He hung up.
Lorraine's head was reeling. Jack Reilly was a cop. His wife was an investigator. If they discovered the safe she had installed behind the built-in cabinet in the closet, her life would be ruined. I have to get in there again and soon, she thought frantically. But how? She dug through her bag for her address book. She would call the young actor she'd rehearsed with in the loft not long before she left the States. Lorraine knew he needed money. She could tell he was the type who would help her if the price was right. Riffling through the pages, she located his number and began to dial.
Regan and Jack Reilly were driving south on Manhattan's West Side Highway, returning home from a three-day weekend on Cape Cod with Jack's family. It had been his father's birthday, and the clan had gathered to celebrate.
"We're almost there," Jack said with relief. "I thought coming back on a Monday, we'd beat some of the traffic. I wish we could have stayed longer, especially with this heat..."
"Me, too," Regan agreed. "But if the contractor actually shows up tomorrow, it'll be worth sweating it out. He swore to me he'd be there. We'll see."
"You're not sorry we got into all this are you?"
"Not at all. I love having a shopping cart full of contractor's supplies parked outside our bedroom." Regan smiled. "For years I've listened to my mother lament about how she and my father should have bought the apartment next door to theirs when it went up for sale. We got that chance and had to take it. When this renovation is finished, we'll have a home we'll never want to leave...if by then we haven't gone crazy."
Jack rolled his eyes. "Let's hope not." Five minutes later he was turning onto their block. "How about if I drop you off with the bags and then go get us some Chinese food? I also want to swing by the office and pick up a report."
"Sounds good. I'll open a bottle of wine and set the table on that new rooftop terrace of ours. It might not be in the best condition yet, but there should be at least a slight breeze coming off the Hudson."
They unloaded the car and placed the bags on a luggage cart. Regan brought the cart up to the loft Jack had purchased a couple of years before they met.
Inside the apartment, Regan turned on all the lights. The smell of plywood and sawdust filled the air. She wandered down the hallway to their "new" apartment and smiled.
What a mess, she thought as she looked at all the cans and nails and wood and debris. Hard to believe that this is really going to turn into something beautiful. I'd better open the door to the terrace and get some air in here, she thought. She walked to the corner of the spacious living/dining room and started up the spiral staircase toward the roof. She stopped for a moment. What was that noise she heard?
Nothing, she decided.
Regan tightened her grip on the railing and glanced out the window at the neighboring buildings. Feeling reassured by the familiar view she started up again. On the top step, she reached for the handle of the metal door that led to the terrace, then froze in place.
All of the lights had gone out.
Regan was standing alone in the pitch dark.
New York City had just been hit by a blackout.
Copyright © 2008 by Carol Higgins Clark
After spending a delightful weekend at the Cape, NYPD Major Case Squad Chief Detective Jack Reilly and his wife private investigator Regan return to Manhattan. Jack stops for some Chinese take-out while Regan enters their partially renovated apartment where she finds a stun gun on the floor. Obviously someone broke and entered leaving behind evidence. However, a blackout engulfs the city leaving Reilly in the dark. Lorraine Lily is cursing her estrange husband for selling the pad to the Reillys without informing her while she was performing in London. She had a safe built that she needs to open before the Reillys find it or watch her career die.------------------- Not too long afterward Jack is in Soho investigating a theft of valuable sculptures from an art gallery. Meanwhile their friend Kit calls frantically as she says she was with deranged Georgina at a comedy club when the woman vanished just as the blackout occurred they know Georgina hates and hurts blond men.. Regan gathers a group to find them before her date is branded. Ironically the person who broke into her apartment and left the stun gun behind helps on the search------------------- The chance meter is stratospheric as a series of coincidences especially the final spin stacks the deck. However, fans will not care as Regan works the B&E, Jack the art theft, and together the Georgina branding in a fast-paced suspense crime thriller in which Manhattanites think nothing of a blackout in July as this is somewhat the norm.--------------- Harriet Klausner
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted April 7, 2009
Zapped is an excellent edition to the cozy mysteries written by Carol Higgins Clark. The book is set during a blackout in New York and you feel almost as if you are there with them. It's great how she can write about the different character's stories and how they all relate to each other and tie together. I especially enjoyed the part of how the stolen items were recovered. And it was great how there was the one hotel that opened early so that people could stay there and enjoy the "state of the art generator" that was working so that at least a few people didn't have to be out in the heat and they could ride the elevators during the blackout. Wouldn't it be nice if all apartment buildings and hotels had generators like that for during blackouts, ice storms, etc.?
Carol's books are always cozy, amusing mysteries and I find myself laughing several times during the books. Her books are cozies, not like the sometimes scary suspense her mother, Mary Higgins Clark, writes. Carol's books are for those who prefer cozies. Any adult who likes cozies can read these and understand them. That's often what mysteries are about, cozy or otherwise, different characters whose lives all tie together somehow. Even regular adult fiction is like that.
I look forward to Cursed and many more books by Carol.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.MargaretFW
Posted March 20, 2009
This book was terrible. When I was a young girl,I read "The Nancy Drew Mysteries". That was wonderful because I was about twelve years old. This book was geared for a reader of that age. For an adult, not only was the plot ridiculous but it bordered on stupid. For instance, on Page 161, during a total blackout, two of the characters ran out of a hotel suite and took and elevator - duh!! I have read Carol Higgins Clark's books before and tried to give her a chance. No more. They are a waste of time and not even entertaining. Unfortunately, she does not have the talent of her mother. She would never be published if not for her mother's reputation.
Margaret
1 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted August 15, 2008
I was looking for a mystery but yet something light...and this was the perfect choice! It was the first Jack/Regan book I have read...and it did not matter that I had not read the others. The story was interesting and it was kind of fun to see how people kept intertwining with each other. For a change of pace, read this one!
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted May 13, 2008
This story deals with Regan and Jack returning from their honeymoon and redecorating their apartment. I liked the story, but as a cozy mystery, not as a suspense, as there was little suspense to this story.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted February 3, 2012
Snow white she- cat with ice blue eyes
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted April 10, 2010
I would recommend this book due to easy to follow yet having suspense and keeping my interest.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted April 8, 2010
I Also Recommend:
I stopped reading Carol Higgins Clark years ago but this book sounded good enough to try again. Really disappointed. The book is not written for an adult, it is written for an immature reader. The plot was flimsy and there were a number of large holes in it, especially for somebody who lived through the 2003 blackout in NYC. Buy it for your 12 year old daughter but don't bother with it otherwise.
If you want a good mystery, get one of the "In Death" books by J.D. Robb.
Zena_Zee
Posted March 27, 2010
The story is quirky with all of the characters interacting and relating in unexpected ways. Ms Higgins is always an entertaining read.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.SassySD
Posted February 20, 2010
I love Carol Higgins Clark Regan Reilly series.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Spartan1
Posted June 23, 2009
Zapped was another fast and exciting story from Carol. I have several of her books and find them all very entertaining. I read almost every night to relax my thoughts, sometimes though I will read until 1:00am because I can't put her book down!
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Okay, so I enjoyed the story of this book and the plot was well thought up. The main thing I did not like about this book was that Carol and Mary put too many characters. It's like every chapter or so they introduce some other person into the story and it makes it hard to keep up with what they're all doing. I liked how its mysterious and I must admit, I did want to know what was going to happen but it took me a long time to read this book because of the fact I did not enjoy being confused with the different people. Sorry readers.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted April 30, 2009
Really didn't care for it. Had too many plots.
Wore me out trying to unwind it.
Anonymous
Posted April 6, 2009
If you like cozy mysteries, then the Regan R. series is one you'll most likely enjoy. Zapped was an excellent edition to this cozy mystery series. Sure, there may be mistakes in the books sometimes, even a mistake the equivalent of Sue Grafton's Kinsey Millhone using her keys at a door without returning to her car to get the keys out of the ignition (E is for Evidence I believe). Mistakes happen to the best of us, cozy or serious mystery. It's all part of life. I found Zapped to be a bit more suspenseful than her other books. If you're looking for Mary Higgins Clark's mysteries, then buy MHC's books, not CHC's. You wouldn't buy Sue Grafton's books looking for her father's writing, so don't do that with CHC's books. I enjoy both MHC AND CHC's books but actually prefer CHC's because they aren't as serious and I like to read cozies that are lighter and with cleaner language usually. Thank you CHC for another excellent cozy. I really enjoy Regan and Jack's adventures. I definitely recommend Zapped and all of CHC's series to cozy mystery fans, and those who, as myself, are capable of reading and enjoying cozy and serious mysteries.
0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.This is the second book in the Regan Reilly Mystery series that I have read (listened to). I enjoy her mother¿s work but Carol Higgins Clark is not the writer her mother, Mary Higgins Clark is. Don¿t believe that the daughter can write, just because her mother can.
The book never really got into a real mystery story, in my humble opinion. And, there were so many characters that I couldn¿t keep them all straight. ZAPPED left me feeling like it was written for a teenager reader.
A black out in New York City is the setting but instead of focusing on one mystery (problem), there were several. They included a gal drugging a guy to get revenge, stolen art glass, a divorcing couple, a computer geek, an apartment being renovated and a secret safe. Ms. Clark wove all these unrelated stories together so they all merged in the end but it was just too confusing for me to follow in a story that held my interest.
The main character of Regan Reilly and her husband, Jack, are a bigger than life couple. Regan is a detective and Jack is a cop. Between them, nothing seems impossible. It is just all too storybook for my tastes.
Ms. Higgins is the reader and there is nothing better than the author reading their own work. They know the inflections they wish the characters to have on certain words/sentences.
If you want to read a light, nonsensical book, ZAPPED is it. If you want a mystery to ¿get your teeth into¿, pick another book.
0 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted July 14, 2008
I have every book written. by both mother and daughter. I so sorry couldn't keep interested. I never put there books down till finish. This did not hold my interest. I was really disappointed. Judy
0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted April 23, 2012
No text was provided for this review.
Anonymous
Posted February 7, 2010
No text was provided for this review.
Anonymous
Posted September 21, 2010
No text was provided for this review.
Anonymous
Posted November 3, 2008
No text was provided for this review.
Overview
It's a hot, humid July night in New York City. Where were you when the lights went out?
A New York City resident for many years, Carol Higgins Clark was there during the blackout of 2003. Not surprisingly, she felt that Regan and Jack Reilly should one day share the experience!
As Zapped begins, the Reillys return home from a summer weekend to the loft in Tribeca they are in the agonizing process of renovating and expanding. They are looking forward to a quiet supper on their newly acquired rooftop terrace. But it's not meant to be. While Jack goes to pick up Chinese food, Regan enters their apartment, unaware that a ...