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A Stranger Is Watching
by
Ronald Thompson knows he is not guilty of the murder for which he is about to be executed. There are only two days left to unmask the real villain - a terrifying psychopath who has killed before and has unfinished business with his victim's family.
Paperback, 322 pages
Published
2005
by Pocket Books
(first published 1977)
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Showing 1-30
A Stranger is Watching is a very simple story, but the killer here is not given God like status. He needs to work hard so as to avoid being brought in by the New York police. Eventually bad luck, plus some hard work on behalf of those people on the angels' side, literally catch up with him.
I think that the author will never kill a main character, unless the latter has died in the past, viewed via flashbacks. It's kind of understandable, it makes sense. The blow of death is softened, because the ...more
I think that the author will never kill a main character, unless the latter has died in the past, viewed via flashbacks. It's kind of understandable, it makes sense. The blow of death is softened, because the ...more
خليفة أجاثا كريستي؟؟.. بل أشد، تملك موهبة رائعة، أجاثا رواياتها رتيبة، قليلة الشخصيات، إلا من إثنتين أو ثلاث كمحور الأحداث، أما مارك كلارك فتنتقل من مشهد إلى آخر كأحداث فيلم سينمائي مثير، لا تُنهي مشهد دون أن يحتوي على الإثارة في آخر سطوره.
أجاثا تفتعل الجريمة وتختم بكشف المجرم، أما ماري فتخبرك بالجريمة وتعرفك على القاتل من أولى الصفحات، فلا تمل من التكملة لمعرفة كامل الحكاية.
رون، شاب متهور وبدأ في العودة لاتزانه، جريمة افتعلها بغير وعي جعلته المشتبه الوحيد في قتل نينا، يراقب القاتل الحقيقي محا ...more
أجاثا تفتعل الجريمة وتختم بكشف المجرم، أما ماري فتخبرك بالجريمة وتعرفك على القاتل من أولى الصفحات، فلا تمل من التكملة لمعرفة كامل الحكاية.
رون، شاب متهور وبدأ في العودة لاتزانه، جريمة افتعلها بغير وعي جعلته المشتبه الوحيد في قتل نينا، يراقب القاتل الحقيقي محا ...more
When I first read this, I started and then forgot to stop. What it lacks in some qualities it makes up for with the fact that there is no right place to take a break and put it down. I started it one school night and had to stay up until three to finish it. Don't tell my parents.
Mon premier Mary Higgins Clark et sûrement aussi mon premier policier. Je me souviens ne pas avoir réussi à le lâcher tant que j'avais pas lu le dernier mot. Une grande écrivaine à suspense!
Okay, so I needed a book to read....still can't get my hands on the book club book.........so I raided Zach's bookshelves. He likes Mary Higgins Clark and buys them at the .25 cent library sales. He said his teacher read this to them in 10th grade. I had never read any Mary Higgins Clark, as popular as she is. I was hooked! Very well-written and fun suspense story. And yes, I was able to fall asleep. I was worried about that since all of my reading time is usually at night.....as a result I ofte
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يا رباااااااااااااااااااااااه
كمية تشويق وإثارة كبيرة للغاية
ماري هيغينز كلارك اصبحتي من الكتاب المفضليين بالنسبة لي
رواية مشوقة واحداث متسارعة تجبرك على الاستمرار في القراءة
اسلوب الكاتبة في الانتقال بالمشاهد وكأنك تتباع فيلم هوليوودي
تستحق الخمس نجمات
كمية تشويق وإثارة كبيرة للغاية
ماري هيغينز كلارك اصبحتي من الكتاب المفضليين بالنسبة لي
رواية مشوقة واحداث متسارعة تجبرك على الاستمرار في القراءة
اسلوب الكاتبة في الانتقال بالمشاهد وكأنك تتباع فيلم هوليوودي
تستحق الخمس نجمات
I chose to read the book "A Stranger Is Watching" by Mary Higgins Clark. This book follows the story of a man named Steve as well as his son Neil and Steve's girlfriend Sharon. One day when Sharon is watching Neil alone, a mysterious man only calling himself "Foxy" kidnaps them both. From then on, the story follows individual characters ranging from Steve to Sharon and even Foxy himself as Steve tries to save his girlfriend and his son. We are given several viewpoints of the situation through th
...more
Mary Higgins Clark pretty much never disappoints. I was actually surprised to find that this was originally published in 1977. It was only when I found myself asking why the characters were using payphones rather than cell phones that I looked up the publication date.
A good, fast-paced mystery. I picked it up off my shelves of books I pick up at thrift stores for $0.25-$0.50 while trying to decide what to read next, knowing it would only take me a day or two to finish. It was an engrossing stor ...more
A good, fast-paced mystery. I picked it up off my shelves of books I pick up at thrift stores for $0.25-$0.50 while trying to decide what to read next, knowing it would only take me a day or two to finish. It was an engrossing stor ...more
المرة الأولى التي أقرأ فيها رواية للكاتبة الأمريكية ماري هيجنز كلارك ..
اعتدت على كتابات أجاثا كريستي البوليسية وهي البارعة في هذا المجال ..
الرواية لم تعجبني كثيرا ..
فهي ضعيفة من وجهة نظري وايضا
مكتوبة وكأنها فيلم
..
فنحن نقفز بين " اللقطات " أقصد الأحداث ..
وهي طريقة صعبة المجاراة ..
المهم انها تتحدث عن قضية إعدام شاب ..
ليتبين عبر الرواية انه بريء ..
مع وجود قاتل متسلسل وقنبلة وقضية اختطاف .
قصة اعتيادية في الكثير من الأفلام الأمريكية .
اعتدت على كتابات أجاثا كريستي البوليسية وهي البارعة في هذا المجال ..
الرواية لم تعجبني كثيرا ..
فهي ضعيفة من وجهة نظري وايضا
مكتوبة وكأنها فيلم
..
فنحن نقفز بين " اللقطات " أقصد الأحداث ..
وهي طريقة صعبة المجاراة ..
المهم انها تتحدث عن قضية إعدام شاب ..
ليتبين عبر الرواية انه بريء ..
مع وجود قاتل متسلسل وقنبلة وقضية اختطاف .
قصة اعتيادية في الكثير من الأفلام الأمريكية .
A minha estreia com MHC, em versão bolso. Muito bom
Het boek speelt het zich af in een tijd, dat er nog geen mobieltjes zijn. Maar dat doet niets af aan het verhaal. Het leest heerlijk weg. De spanning blijft er voortdurend in.
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I liked the overall concept of this book, but some parts of the way it was executed caused me to feel a bit disappointed. I have read books by Clark in the past that I loved, so I was taken aback when I found this book to be different than expected and overall disappointing. The time frame got a little confusing when going back and forth between the different characters. And there were even times where I became confused about who was speaking. Granted, these are small aspects of the story, but t
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A Stranger is Watching
I have to admit that this is the first book I have ever read a book by this famous author. I love mysteries so I don't know how I have missed such a classic writer. I am only reading it because it was left in a holiday apartment I am renting.
I could not put this book down. It is fast paced, you feel empathy for all the characters as Clark, brings them all to life with their tales from the past and heart wrenching stories. I could visualise Grand Central Station, from the gr ...more
I have to admit that this is the first book I have ever read a book by this famous author. I love mysteries so I don't know how I have missed such a classic writer. I am only reading it because it was left in a holiday apartment I am renting.
I could not put this book down. It is fast paced, you feel empathy for all the characters as Clark, brings them all to life with their tales from the past and heart wrenching stories. I could visualise Grand Central Station, from the gr ...more
Jul 25, 2013
Anne
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
mystery lovers
This book was quite good. Alexandra's 3 year old son was kidnapped two years ago which ended in the destruction of her marriage because her husband blamed her for the kidnapping because of the young babysitter she hired. This book has a lot of twists and turns and some good mystery and a surprising ending. I enjoyed it.
Hee, hee, it was fun seeing the pricing in this book from 1977. The sentence said, "he had paid $140 (at which point I'm thinking, Wow, only $140 a night for a hotel in NYC) for THREE nights at the Biltmore Hotel across from Grand Central Station." Other than prices giving away the book's year of publication this was classic Mary Higgins Clark suspense.
Ok, that's a great book, alright. But I "only" give 4 stars because of the stereotypes in this book: to quote only 1 of them: in Grand Central Station,the description. The women run to go home to prepare dinner and are anxious to be late, and the business men going home earlier because of (something).
I'm sorry but morally I can't give 5 stars, don't resent me.
I'm sorry but morally I can't give 5 stars, don't resent me.
Spannend!
My all-time favorite of her books.
Excelente, la pluma de esta escritora es magnifica, una trama con suspenso hasta el final.
El tema de la pena de muerte deja mucho que pensar.
Me ha gustado mucho.
El tema de la pena de muerte deja mucho que pensar.
Me ha gustado mucho.
Just like every book I read of this majestic author, It was literally unputdownable.
Mar 26, 2019
Freeves
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
mary-higgins-clark-standalones
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
Last Saturday, while I was dusting my bookshelf, I just realized I have some bunch of new books I haven't read yet. I know I want to read some good ol' MHClark book so I just blindly picked what book to read, and it's A Stranger is Watching!
This story started with the culprit's POV, as usual, no name dropping and that's when the guessing game started. What I always love about MHC's stories is that we got to act like a real detective and gather all the information so we could guess who's the bad ...more
This story started with the culprit's POV, as usual, no name dropping and that's when the guessing game started. What I always love about MHC's stories is that we got to act like a real detective and gather all the information so we could guess who's the bad ...more
Dec 22, 2017
Art the Turtle of Amazing Girth
rated it
liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
mary-higgins-clark
Not so much a whodunit as a will they find them in time.
The kidnapper/killer is introduced early on, not by name, but we honestly have no hope of learning who it is until late in the story.
There's a good undercurrent story here of a woman struggling to win over her new boyfriend's son. The little boy lost his mother a few years earlier, and as such has closed off from the world. It's touching how they attempt to bond and survive.
Lally, the woman who lives in the train station, is unnecessary to ...more
The kidnapper/killer is introduced early on, not by name, but we honestly have no hope of learning who it is until late in the story.
There's a good undercurrent story here of a woman struggling to win over her new boyfriend's son. The little boy lost his mother a few years earlier, and as such has closed off from the world. It's touching how they attempt to bond and survive.
Lally, the woman who lives in the train station, is unnecessary to ...more
This is a story I wasn't sure I would enjoy. Usually anything short of almost 400 pages isn't nearly developed enough for my tastes. I quickly learned that this was not the case. Ms. Clark can quickly and what is seemingly effortlessly spin a tale that captures your attention and holds it throughout. I was in awe of her ability to tell the story from each individual character's viewpoint, and do not regret picking up this short read.
Steve Peterson lost his wife to a brutal murder, and Ronald Tho ...more
Steve Peterson lost his wife to a brutal murder, and Ronald Tho ...more
A Stranger is Watching is an interesting book on a few levels, but mostly that it is so unabashedly anti-capital punishment. Like most readers, I like my personal views to be exalted in fiction. I am being cheeky, mostly. Clark does a nice job with the plot as it moves at a rapid case and no one acts too idiotically in order to stop things from happening. The only reason that I can't give it a four-star rating (although I definitely give it a three and a half star rating) is because I cannot bel
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Plot is MHC signature: different characters and slowly building up the story till everything comes together for the ending.
Steve is a widower with a son. His wife was killed at home which the son witnessed and where an innocent young man was jailed and about to be executed for the murder.
Fast forward to two years when the execution is about to happen, Sharon, the one he has his eye on had been kidnapped along with Neil, his son.
The events leading to the end of the story are all fast and a bit ...more
Steve is a widower with a son. His wife was killed at home which the son witnessed and where an innocent young man was jailed and about to be executed for the murder.
Fast forward to two years when the execution is about to happen, Sharon, the one he has his eye on had been kidnapped along with Neil, his son.
The events leading to the end of the story are all fast and a bit ...more
I find that Mary Higgins Clark has changed her way of writing, nowadays it looks like detective novels but back then it was a psychological thriller. I finished this book in a few days. I remember reading it when i was young and being scared. Today i m not as scared but i actually couldn’t close the book before i knew what would happen in this end. I finished this book in 3 days... and read most of it tonight. It’s not the best book to read before bed as i couldn’t drop it and now it’s 4am. It i
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I really enjoyed this plot. Loved how it focused in detail on one central plot and really dove into the characters development. Written in the 1970s I don't know if that helped with the depth of writing, it felt fully plotted and not rushed like most books nowadays.
Superb thrilling plot and was deliciously unravelled so at times you really didn't know whether they'd discover Nina's real murderer in time. Brilliant book, thoroughly enjoyable
Superb thrilling plot and was deliciously unravelled so at times you really didn't know whether they'd discover Nina's real murderer in time. Brilliant book, thoroughly enjoyable
I didn't go into this book with any expectation and so I was pleasently surprised. A good thriller with interessting characters. Although, I have to say, there is only so much, that you can do on such few pages. So no imense charcter building or shooking plott-twists can be expected. But if you like you're average thriller, this is one of the good ones.
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Mary Higgins Clark, #1 international and New York Times bestselling author, is the author of 46 books and counting: she’s written thirty-three suspense novels; three collections of short stories; a historical novel, Mount Vernon Love Story; two children’s books, including The Magical Christmas Horse; and a memoir, Kitchen Privileges. She has also written five holiday suspense novels with Carol Hig
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“In her room death would come as a friend, a friend with cool gentle hands . . .”
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