In this tale about three seemingly separate murders committed years apart, Jan Maxwell’s skillful narration ranges from intimate (when detailing the characters’ backstories) to cold and clinical (when describing the characters’ bad behavior). Since the novel, set in New York, involves murder in triplicate, the cast is extraordinarily large—with some characters connected to the long-ago disappearance of a young waitress, some to the not-so-long-ago drowning of a social worker, and still others to a more recent explosion at protagonist Hannah Connelly’s family-owned furniture store. That explosion took the life of former employee Gus Schmidt and left Hannah’s sister Kate in a coma. Maxwell carefully provides each character with a unique voice. For example, Hannah’s initially quiet speech takes on a gradually increasing edginess the closer she comes to uncovering the identities of the villains and revealing her family’s secrets. Gus’s aged widow has just enough of a Germanic accent to suggest her European roots. The rest of the players are given fully imagined voices, from Hannah’s self-centered father, whose florid bombast is often slurred by drink, to a homeless Vietnam vet whose native New York accent is spoken with a thick tongue and inflected by mental and physical illness. A Simon & Schuster hardcover. (April)
Daddy's Gone A Hunting
Narrated by Jan Maxwell
Mary Higgins ClarkUnabridged — 9 hours, 2 minutes
Daddy's Gone A Hunting
Narrated by Jan Maxwell
Mary Higgins ClarkUnabridged — 9 hours, 2 minutes
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Overview
What was Kate Connelly-a tall, glamorous CPA-doing in her family's antique furniture museum when it exploded into flames in the middle of the night? Why was Gus-a disgruntled retired employee-with her? Now Gus is dead, and Kate lies in a coma, unable to explain the tragedy's mysterious link to a decades-old missing persons case. And unable to warn her sister what could happen next.
In a novel of dazzling suspense and excitement, Mary Higgins Clark once again demonstrates the mastery of her craft that has made her books international bestsellers for years. She presents the reader with a perplexing mystery, a puzzling question of identity, and a fascinating cast of characters-one of whom may just be a ruthless killer.
Editorial Reviews
This slight novel from MWA Grand Master Clark (The Lost Years) shows her in less than top form as she unabashedly piles on coincidences. An early morning explosion that rocks Long Island City, N.Y.'s Connelly Fine Antique Reproductions kills Gus Schmidt, a disgruntled former employee, and leaves Kate Connelly, the owner's eldest daughter, unconscious and seriously injured. Why Kate and Gus were at the site is one question disturbing Hannah Connelly, Kate's younger sister. Complications abound for the financially troubled company, its owner, and plant manager Jack Worth. Also figuring in the unwieldy plot are homeless Vietnam vet Clyde Hotchkiss; aspiring actress Tracey Sloane, who's been missing almost 28 years; and the unsolved murder two years earlier of Jamie Gordon, a Barnard senior with a social conscience. Clark strains credulity and fails to achieve much suspense as she tries to pull all these elements together before the hoary resolution. This one is for devoted Clark fans only. (Apr.)
They say that Agatha Christie was the Grand Dame of Mystery. If that’s true, then Mary Higgins Clark must be the Marquise, because this book is a royal treat. . . . The Lost Years is truly a keeper.”
The mistress of high tension.
Mary Higgins Clark has penned yet another mystery that will keep her at the top of the suspense writers list for a very long time….Daddy’s Gone A Hunting will chill readers….This one is not to be missed.
Teeming with tantalizing twists, Clark’s crackling tale of identity theft, revenge, and murder is a tempting and thought-provoking thriller.”
With unexpected plot twists, interesting characters, and a crisp narrative, Mary Higgins Clark once again spins literary magic.”
A flawless storyteller.
The grande dame of American thriller writing.
Clark, known rightly as the Queen of Suspense, performs her usual magic.”
"Clark produces another winner….She rivets the reader’s attention while tying…multiple plots together in a plausible manner. Her many fans will want to add Daddy’s Gone A Hunting to their trophy shelves.”
The cast of characters is large, and each member is distinctly drawn in the way that only Mary Higgins Clark can create ‘real’ people on the page.”
The mistress of high tension.
Teeming with tantalizing twists, Clark’s crackling tale of identity theft, revenge, and murder is a tempting and thought-provoking thriller.”
The grande dame of American thriller writing.
The mistress of high tension.”
“Mary Higgins Clark has penned yet another mystery that will keep her at the top of the suspense writers list for a very long time….Daddy’s Gone A Hunting will chill readers….This one is not to be missed.”
“A flawless storyteller.”
“The grande dame of American thriller writing.”
“Clark, known rightly as the Queen of Suspense, performs her usual magic.”
“They say that Agatha Christie was the Grand Dame of Mystery. If that’s true, then Mary Higgins Clark must be the Marquise, because this book is a royal treat. . . . The Lost Years is truly a keeper.”
“The cast of characters is large, and each member is distinctly drawn in the way that only Mary Higgins Clark can create ‘real’ people on the page.”
“Fans will bite their nails to the quick.”
“Teeming with tantalizing twists, Clark’s crackling tale of identity theft, revenge, and murder is a tempting and thought-provoking thriller.”
“With unexpected plot twists, interesting characters, and a crisp narrative, Mary Higgins Clark once again spins literary magic.”
Kate and Hannah Connelly are no strangers to tragedy. Twenty-eight years ago, a boating accident killed their mother and uncle and injured their father. They were raised by their father, who owned the family antiques furniture reproduction plant and museum, but as the sisters reached adulthood and thrived as independent career women, their father’s personal life and business ventures spiraled out of control. Tragedy revisits the Connelly sisters when Kate makes a clandestine visit to her father’s business at 4:30 a.m. and is caught in a fiery explosion that lands her in a coma. Kate quickly becomes the prime suspect of attempted arson at her father’s floundering business. As the story unfolds, additional layers, clues, and twists emerge that hint that the destruction of the furniture plant is much more than an open-and-shut arson case.
Verdict Clark still delivers a delicious mystery after a 40-year reign as the prolific queen of suspense. Her tautly interwoven story lines, colorful characters, and suspenseful twists will enthrall mystery and fiction readers. [See Prepub Alert, 10/28/12.]—Mary Todd Chesnut, Northern Kentucky Univ. Lib., Highland Heights
(c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Clark follows a complicated family mystery in this familiar story of individuals caught up in past misdeeds and present tragedies. As sisters, Kate and Hannah Connelly couldn't be more unalike: One is tall, blonde and good with numbers, the other, short with charcoal brown hair, is a budding fashion designer. But the two sisters share more than simply the bond that comes with being siblings--they have a father who is distant, self-absorbed and disinterested in their concerns. The three are tied together by virtue of the family business, which produces high-quality antique reproductions. When the quality of the products and orders fall off, the girls pressure their father, who wants to be called by his first name, Doug, to sell out. He refuses, despite their best efforts. Then, one night, the complex explodes, killing a former employee and landing Kate in the hospital, unconscious and fighting for her life. Clark then trots out the current plant manager; the widow and daughter of the dead man; two fire marshals, along with the wife of one of them; a woman whose daughter disappeared after moving to New York City in order to become an actress and her son, who is a lawyer; the family of a college student who was murdered two years earlier; a retired police detective; Hannah's best friend; and a plethora of other characters, all of whom are described down to their dental work. Also figuring heavily in the plot is a long-ago accident in which a boat driven by Doug Connelly sank and killed his wife, Susan, and his brother and the aftereffects of the Vietnam War. While the two fire marshals inexplicably continue to follow a case that spreads to include not simply arson, but other, more serious crimes that are not related to the explosion, the other characters find their lives and fates converging. Too many characters and too much extraneous information pad this lackluster tale that will resonate with Clark die-hards but won't bring new converts to the fold.
Product Details
| BN ID: | 2940170975372 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Simon & Schuster |
| Publication date: | 04/09/2013 |
| Edition description: | Unabridged |
Read an Excerpt
Daddy’s Gone A Hunting
At four o’clock in the morning, Gus Schmidt dressed silently in the bedroom of his modest home on Long Island, hoping not to disturb his wife of fifty-five years. He was not successful.
Lottie Schmidt’s hand shot out to fumble for the lamp on the night table. Blinking to clear eyes that were heavy with sleep, she noticed that Gus was wearing a heavy jacket, and demanded to know where he was going.
“Lottie, I’m just going over to the plant. Something came up.”
“Is that why Kate called you yesterday?”
Kate was the daughter of Douglas Connelly, the owner of Connelly Fine Antique Reproductions, the furniture complex in nearby Long Island City where Gus had worked until his retirement five years earlier.
Lottie, a slight seventy-five-year-old with thinning white hair, slipped on her glasses and glanced at the clock. “Gus, are you crazy? Do you know what time it is?”
“It’s four o’clock and Kate asked me to meet her there at four thirty. She must have had her reasons and that’s why I’m going.”
Lottie could see that he was clearly upset.
Lottie knew better than to ask the question that was on both their minds. “Gus, I’ve had a bad feeling lately. I know you don’t want to hear me talk like this, but I sense something dark is going to happen. I don’t want you to go.”
In the shadowy 60-watt light of the night table lamp they glared at each other. Even as Gus spoke, he knew deep down he was frightened. Lottie’s claim to be psychic both irritated and scared him. “Lottie, go back to sleep,” he said angrily. “No matter what the problem is, I’ll be back for breakfast.”
Gus was not a demonstrative man but some instinct made him walk over to the bed, lean down, kiss his wife’s forehead, and run his hand over her hair. “Don’t worry,” he said firmly.
They were the last words she would ever hear him say.
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