Nighttime Is My Time

The idea is that a former nerd is killing a group of women who were mean to him 20 years ago when they were in high school. Five of the women have already been handled, and it’s down to two: Laura and Jean (who doesn’t actually fit into the mean girl category, but has some guilt by association). As for the killer? Well there’s five potential suspects.We get multiple perspectives as we’re introduced to a myriad of characters. I for one love the initial confusion that comes with trying to learn who everyone is and what their possible motives could be; I’m someone who tends to figure out red herrings and whodunnit quickly, so I like having multiple suspects. With the X-Ray feature on kindle, it’s easier to get a quick snapshot of who a character is if you’ve forgotten between chapters. However, it got long in the tooth in the beginning as MHC made attempts to apply incriminating elements to each character.If I wasn’t such a fan of MHC, I probably would have DNF’d this earlier on in the book. I read the novel slowly, around 30 to 50 pages a day initially. The styling of the characters’ dialogue and inner thoughts was weird to me, and the development of the story felt slow and plodding. Some of that could be because this novel is 20 years old, so some references and forms of communication are dated (e.g. Jean is receiving threats via fax); however, I’ve read other old works of MHC, and they had a faster pacing right out of the gate. Finally, around halfway into the story, the reading picked up for me and I became completely engaged.The second half of this book is very good. I ended up reading 200 pages in one day once I got to that point. Even though I figured out who the killer was 25% into the story, the last several chapters leading up to the reveal were still gripping as I waited to see if I was right. I also loved the epilogue.

It's difficult to take the main villain seriously. Even making him a homicidal maniac can't add enough weight to not see the owl stuff as absurd. A couple of the characters are interesting, but many of them are flat and not well developed (I'm not referring to peripheral ones--I mean supposed main ones). I've avoided this book for years because I couldn't get past the first chapter and the villain's ridiculous persona. I finally read it and am very glad I didn't pay to do so...if I could, I'd give it no stars at all.

This is the 14th. book by MHC that I've read, and it's certainly one of the best. I love the way she chooses the settings for her books, and this one in set in the West Point area. The characters are at a reunion of their high school, all of them being honored for their achievements. All of them have their own little dirty secrets, and throughout the book MHC throws out enough red herrings to keep us in suspense till the last couple of pages. I can't understand how some reviewers "knew" who the killer was before the end. There was no early give-away at all. Of all the books by MHC I've read, this one has the most exciting ending. I actually had tears in my eyes at the end--- it was a tender ending-- but I don't want to give it away.

If you look at my order history you can tell that I am a Mary Higgins Clark fan and she lives up to her reputation in this book.

I liked this book. I am a huge fan of MHC and have been reading her books for 20+ years. I did not know who the killer was until it was revealed in the end (always a +), but I had trouble remembering what each of the characters did for a living as I got more and more into the book. There are a lot of characters to keep track of as most of MHC books are written that way. And for that reason, I gave it 4 stars.

This Mary Higgins Clark novel has some of the same characters as in her previous books, along with new folks that will keep you guessing just who the murderer is. I have loved this author over the years, and was fortunate enough to see her when she visited Salt Lake City several years ago. I want her to keep writing forever! She has my continued loyalty for any books of hers in the future.

I don't want to give away any spoilers so I'll let you figure it out on your own but pay attention near the begining. Mary Higgins Clark writes a lot of books often and although all different, they hold a similar theme, so to speak. Murder myster, strong female lead, a lot of close calls, female lead and a man falling in love in two minutes, etd. Perfect for readers who don't overthink books and just need something to take their mind off things, as most of Mary Higgins Clark books can do (she produces a lighter read than other murder mystery writers). I enjoyed the book anyway but was a little disappointed when I found out something near the end that was laid out too easy for me.

Love her books.

As a braille proofreader, I tend to come across a lot of bad writing. Mary Higgins Clark falls into this category.There are several problems, as I see it, with the writing of this book. One is the way Clark handles thought processes. This is not an example from the book, but illustrates my point:Wow, thought Jean, It still amazes me that, as a girl growing up with two parents who hated each other, thus not affording me the loving environment one feels children should have, and given the horror of discovering the man I loved was dead, both of which must have scarred me severely emotionally ... And so on. The past is told through thought, and it just seems inauthentic to me.Another problem I had was with the ending itself. I will not reveal it, but with a good mystery, the reader is left thinking, "I should have figured that out." This is not the case with Nighttime. In the case of this book, the author seems to have (badly) penned a story, and at the end just picked one character whom she decided would be the murderer. Rather than provide clues to lead readers to the murderer, all she did was mislead and provide a few dead ends.It's a bad writing style, it assumes no intelligence on the part of the reader, and I do not recommend it.

Have read several of MHC books straight off and found all of them real page turners. Sadly this is not the case here. It just seems to drag on and on and I found myself regularly checking to see how much longer until the end (if I start a book I have to finish it). When I finally discovered 'whodunnit' I found couldn't really care less - I was just glad the book was (almost) at the end.

Keeps u guessing right to the end. Characters that u love or loathe, what's not to like (except perhaps some of those awful names .... Howie! ? 😀 on to the next fascinating Higgins Clark murder mystery. Highly recommended

This book is full off different twists and turns. It kept you gripped from beginning to end. What I liked about it was you didn't know who the killer was till next he very end.

Hiw does Mary Higgins Clark do this, entrhralling reading and kept me guessing until the end. Changed my mind so often and in the end didn't get it right. Thoroughly enjoyable.