Nighttime Is My Time

by Mary Higgins Clark

Hardcover, 2004

Collection

Description

"The definition of an owl had always pleased him: a night bird of prey...sharp talons and soft plumage which permits noiseless flight...applied figuratively to a person of nocturnal habits. 'I am The Owl,' he would whisper to himself after he had selected his prey, 'and nighttime is my time.'" Jean Sheridan, a college dean and prominent historian, sets out to her hometown in Cornwall-on- Hudson, New York, to attend the twenty-year reunion of alumni of Stonecroft Academy, where she is to be honored along with six other members of her class. There is, however, something uneasy in the air: one woman in the group about to be feted, Alison Kendall, a beautiful, high-powered Hollywood agent, died just a few days before, drowned in her pool during an early- morning swim, the fifth woman in the class whose life has come to a sudden, mysterious end. Also adding to Jean's sense of unease is a taunting, anonymous fax she has just received, referring to her daughter, Lily, a child she had given up for adoption twenty years ago, the offspring of a romance between her and a West Point cadet killed in an accident a week before graduation. She had always kept the child's existence a secret, so who has found out? And why the implied threat now? Struggling to conceal her fears, Jean arrives at the hotel where the reunion is being held. One by one she sees the other honorees, including Laura Wilcox, the class beauty, whose dazzling exterior belies the fact that her television career is sinking, and the four men who, like Jean, had spent four bitterly unhappy years at Stonecroft: Carter (formerly Howie) Stewart, an acerbic and successful playwright, once the class nerd; renowned child psychiatrist and talk-show celebrity Mark Fleischman, who has never been able to resolve the pain of his own adolescence; Gordon Amory, a media mogul, hardly recognizable as the awkward boy who was the butt of cruel jokes; Robby Brent, a popular comedian, whose caustic humor emanates from a childhood of rejection. Omnipresent is an old classmate, Jack Emerson, the chairman of the reunion, whose reasons for spearheading the event may be motivated by something other than class spirit. At the award dinner, Jean is introduced to Sam Deegan, a detective obsessed for years by the unsolved murder of a young woman in Cornwall, who may also hold the key to the identity of the Stonecroft killer and the source of the anonymous threat to her child. She does not suspect that among the distinguished people she is greeting is The Owl, a murderer nearing the countdown on his mission of vengeance against the Stonecroft women who had mocked and humiliated him, with Jean his final intended victim. In Nighttime Is My Time, Mary Higgins Clark creates a riveting novel of psychological suspense, penetrating behind the pervading façade of status and respectability to depict the mind of a kille… (more)

Rating

(253 ratings; 3.4)

User reviews

LibraryThing member scoutlee
Having read all of MHC's books, it is difficult to write a so-so review. Overall the book was good, but not as good as her previous novels. I often got the male reunion characters confused and had to re-read the book jacket to keep them straight. This doesn't change the fact that she is still my
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favorite author and I will continue to read all her future books.
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LibraryThing member pandaks
Quick reading and entertaining.
LibraryThing member Moriquen
I must admit that I started this book with rather low expectations. I have recently grown a little tired of detectives and it was the first one I attempted in a while. However I did enjoy it.
The characters seemed well crafted and the story was built up very well. Clark keeps feeding you little
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snippets of information that make you think: I know who The Owl is, but still I was never quite correct. The ending was good, although the epilogue made it just a little 'cheesy' for my taste.
In the beginning I did mix up the names of all the male honorees. They were all a little bit strange and nerdy growing up, so I had problems keeping them apart.
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LibraryThing member redheadish
Clark definately has a way with suspense that I have not read before but I would love to see if she has any romantic suspense as in the 2 books I have read of hers so far the tying up loose ends at the end of her novels only breifly mentions who ends up with who and never seems to bring out the
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tenderness of a relationship!
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LibraryThing member frozenplums
I could not get into this book. I don't know what it was, but it just was not interesting. This is another of Clark's works I feel would have been more entertaining for a parent, or someone of more seasoned years, but for me it was a chore to get through.
LibraryThing member Versha.Bharat
2.5
This was my first MHC book, though I liked the story and suspense element to some extent yet I did not enjoy reading this book much, reason being MHC’s writing style. It became so irksome at times that I just wanted to close the book once and for all but the suspense element pulled me back to
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finish it finally. The story started good with so many (annoying) characters and as the story moves on curiosity increases but after so many build ups about the killer the ending was just plain and disappointing. Overall, all I can say is this book was something new yet unsatisfactory read for me.
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LibraryThing member Aleahmom
I have been reading MHC books for I'd say maybe 25 years. I always can count on looking over my shoulder suspense. This book was a little different, it had a lot of characters to keep track of and the ending I didn't see coming, caught me off guard I was looking at somebody completely different.
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All in all it was a great read.
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LibraryThing member christinejoseph
same as always many plots — many choices for killer. — Okay
Ties up all ends in last chapter

Jean Sheridan, a college dean and prominent historian, sets out to her hometown in Cornwall-on- Hudson, New York, to attend the twenty-year reunion of alumni of Stonecroft Academy, where she is to be
Show More
honored along with six other members of her class. There is, however, something uneasy in the air: one woman in the group about to be feted, Alison Kendall, a beautiful, high-powered Hollywood agent, died just a few days before, drowned in her pool during an early- morning swim, the fifth woman in the class whose life has come to a sudden, mysterious end.
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LibraryThing member Andrew-theQM
I really enjoyed this book, which appealed to me from the very first page. Warning: It is a highly addictive book, which was difficult to put down! This was finished on the same day it was started - although in the early hours of the morning. I like the fast moving paced of books by Mary Higgins
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Clark, and the way they keep you guessing throughout the book about 'Who Did It'. As the book moved on I kept changing my mind about who 'The Owl' was, but still got it wrong. Curses!
If like fast moving suspense books that keep you fully engaged I would recommend this book. Enjoy!
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LibraryThing member Petroglyph
This was my first read by Clark -- certainly an éminence grise in the field -- and I must say enjoyed it. I picked this up because I read was about a class reunion as the setting for a former nerd taking murderous revenge on his onetime bullies, and that is exactly the kind of petty fantasy
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nonsense I can empathise with.

While the reunion part was disappointing, the other plotlines that were introduced picked up the slack. Essentially, the reunion is there to provide a plethora of suspects, and Clark skilfully makes it seem as though they all could be the killer. Of course, tension ramps up towards the end. Nothing surprising, but a quality crime read nonetheless.

So. Not a raving review, but simply a solid whodunnit.
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LibraryThing member KimSalyers
was a good book. love most of mary Higgins clark books
LibraryThing member KimSalyers
was a good book. love most of mary Higgins clark books
LibraryThing member thornton37814
A class reunion provides the backdrop for this novel. A serial killer appears to be at work. Much of the book concerns itself with one member missing and others concerned the last member of a group will be the next victim. I did not enjoy this book. Too much action came from tiresome conversation.
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I never got past apathy for all the characters. I considered abandoning the book several times, but I wanted to read a book by Clark after her death. I obviously picked the wrong one from my library's e-book collection.
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Publication

Simon & Schuster (2004), 384 pages

Original publication date

2004

Pages

384

ISBN

074320607X / 9780743206075

Language

Original language

English
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