Archive for the ‘Verna Suit’ Category

Review of It Only Takes a Moment by Mary Jane Clark

Tuesday, August 5th, 2008

It Only Takes a Moment
by Mary Jane Clark
William Morrow, July 29, 2008, $24.95

Eliza Blake is a well-known TV news host whose life has become an open book. She’s acquired lots of adoring fans, but also a few detractors who criticize her for not spending more time with her seven-year-old daughter, Janie. As a widowed single parent, Eliza is sensitive to criticism about her mothering; and as such, she is wracked with self-recrimination when Janie is abducted from summer day camp. Two good friends from work, her producer Annabelle and cameraman B.J., come to her aid to solve a crime that will chill all parents to the bone.

Mary Jane Clark’s extensive background as a writer and producer for CBS News gives her insider knowledge about the broadcast news business. This is the second in Clark’s Sunrise Suspense Society series, following When Day Breaks (2007), in which Eliza Blake and her coworkers use the tools of their trade to solve mysteries that touch their lives. It Only Takes a Moment takes only a moment to read, and has the depth of the nightly news, but it still manages unexpected twists that confound conclusions that once seemed obvious.—Verna Suit

Posted in Mary Jane Clark, Reviews, Verna Suit | 2,086 Comments »

Nothing to Lose by Lee Child

Tuesday, July 15th, 2008

Nothing to Lose by Lee Child
Delacorte Press, June, 2008

As itinerant ex-marine MP Jack Reacher travels the country, he passes through Hope, Colorado, and on a whim detours to Hope’s neighboring town, Despair. Where Hope is pretty and welcoming, Despair is dowdy, gloomy, and throws strangers out of town. But the people of Despair make a grave mistake when they throw out Jack Reacher. He’s “a large stranger with nothing to lose,” and hates turning back. Soon Reacher is investigating the huge metal recycling plant that dominates the town, and the town boss who owns Despair and all its residents.

Nothing to Lose is Child’s 12th Jack Reacher thriller and will be warmly welcomed by Reacher’s many fans. Physically Reacher’s in his usual fine form, “a spectacular mesomorph” always ready for action and always in control. He is refreshingly unfettered. He makes his own rules and never hesitates to do whatever’s necessary. Fortunately for the world and righteous readers, he’s morally on the side of good. When an unexplained military guard unit stationed nearby suggests that Despair’s sinister forces have something shady to do with the Iraq War, Reacher is there to put the world back on the right path. The excitement in Nothing to Lose never lets up. Bones will break and worse before he’s done, but with Reacher on the case we know things will turn out fine.

- Verna Suit

This review appeared in the Summer 2008 issue (#105) of Mystery Scene.

Posted in Jack Reacher, Lee Child, Reviews, Thriller, Verna Suit | 1,518 Comments »