Get chilly with the Queen of Suspense

It's been 40 years since Mary Higgins Clark started her colourful career with Aspire to The Heavens in 1968. But it was really her 1975 thriller, Where Are The Children?, that launched her career and earned her the title of America's Queen of Suspense.

With Where Are You Now? Clark yet again spins a yarn that immediately pulls the reader into a world of thrills, chills and drama. Charles 'Mack' MacKenzie was 21 years old when he walked out of his Manhattan apartment one morning and was never to be seen again. Now 10 years later, the only thing his mother Olivia knows about her son is through the one phone call he makes every year on Mother's Day.

His sister Carolyn, now a law-school graduate, is ready to embark on her new life but she knows that the only way to move on is by closing the door on her past and uncovering the horror that drove her brother away from his family. However, as she attempts to unravel the mystery, someone is trying very hard to ensure some skeletons stay in the closet.

Could everything be somehow tied to Mack's old roommates, nightclub owner Nick DeMarco and wealthy real estate tycoon Bruce Galbraith? Are the superintendents of Mack's old building keeping a secret about his disappearance? And if so many twists in the tale weren't enough, did we have to turn Mack into a possible serial killer and the prime suspect in the brutal murder of his drama teacher?

Aside for a few confusing plot connections, Clark successfully manages to capture the desperation of a family torn apart by grief, while writing up enough shady characters with a mysterious past to promise an action-packed thrill ride.

Where Are You Now? By Mary Higgins Clark. Available at all major book stores. Dh 90.

Follow Emirates 24|7 on Google News.