Dancing in the Dark [Hardcover]

Mary Jane Clark's latest thriller, "Dancing in the Dark," follows the same formula that has earned her a devoted following for years. She picks an interesting location; this time, the setting is beautiful Ocean Grove, New Jersey. Ocean Grove is both a mecca for tourists who love water sports and a place of historical interest. Clark's attractive and admirable heroine is Diane Mayfield, a single parent by default. Diane's husband, Phil, is a white collar criminal who is serving time at a federal correctional institution, leaving his wife to play the roles of mother, father, and breadwinner for their two children, Michelle and Anthony.

Diane is forced to cancel a much anticipated family vacation to the Grand Canyon when, Joel, her boss at KEY news, orders her to cover a breaking story at the Jersey shore. A young lady named Leslie Patterson has been found bound and gagged after disappearing for three days. The police are convinced that Leslie staged her own abduction. Joel wants Leslie to prepare a segment on "girls who cry wolf" for her newsmagazine show.

Diane drags her reluctant children to Ocean Grove, and the story she has been sent to follow becomes more and more complicated. Another girl goes missing and is subsequently found dead; there are a whole host of suspects who could be behind the abductions. Among them are a mentally disturbed man, the boyfriend of the two victims, and a harried husband who has been quarreling more and more with his wife. Red herrings pile up and the reader is kept guessing until Clark comes up with a truly surprising ending.

"Dancing in the Dark" has brief chapters, spare writing, and sharply delineated characters, including an incompetent psychiatrist, a heartbroken real estate agent, and a woman who lives with her children in a tented community known as the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association. Clark nicely integrates Ocean Grove's scenic setting into the narrative, and the story moves along at a fast clip. One of the sad themes of the book is the epidemic of anorexia in Ocean Grove. Young girls are starving and mutilating themselves in an effort to gain control of their lives and their inner pain. Without trivializing this serious issue, Clark shows how difficult it is to treat these young women and what a tremendous toll their illness takes on their helpless families. Another theme is the predatory nature of the media. Whenever and wherever tragedy strikes, the television cameras start rolling. "Dancing in the Dark" is an engrossing story by a talented author who knows how to keep her readers hooked until the final page.

Keys News Correspondent Diane Mayfield is getting ready to take her kids to the Grand Canyon. Instead her boss insists she cover a news story, about "girls who cry wolf", in Ocean Grove, New Jersey. Allowed to take her family, Diane is torn between her job and her kids. Local girl, Leslie Patterson had claimed that she was kidnapped for three days. Fortunately, she was returned safely but no one believed her because of her history of emotional problems. However, another young woman Carly Neath is kidnapped and is discovered dead days later. Diane and her news crew are right on top of the story. Dr Messinger, Larry Belcaro, Jonathan Richey, and Shawn Ostrander are seemingly tied in to the investigation. In the meantime, Diane struggles with discovering her daughter's own problems and tries to keep her emotions in check when her son goes missing. So many characters and so many stories are adeptly resolved in the end. A lot of tough issues to contend with as the chapters fly by

Having been an unquenchable reader of Mary Higgins Clark I have tried numerous authors to find anyone that holds my attention and still leaves me wanting more when the mystery is solved. No one has done that for me until I picked up the first Mary Jane Clark book. Each time the new one came out I seized it immediately always expecting that this one could not possibly be as good as the last one. Each time, I am pleased to say, it was every bit as exciting and challenging. It hurts me terribly to say this, but after reading this last book I just have to face the fact that a new queen has taken the throne and the crown. If you are reading this and have not read all of Mary Jane Clarks work, I warn you, you too may have to conclude that she is as good as Mary Higgins Clark, if not a bit better.

Sorry Mary. I still love ya!!!

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