Synopsis (from Goodreads):
Who has not read about—or experienced—with a sinking feeling the fear that someone else out there may be using your credit cards, accessing your bank account, even stealing your identity.
In I ll Walk Alone, Alexandra “Zan” Moreland, a gifted, beautiful interior designer on the threshold of a successful Manhattan career, is terrified to discover that somebody is not only using her credit cards and manipulating her financial accounts to bankrupt her and destroy her reputation, but may also be impersonating her in a scheme that may involve the much more brutal crimes of kidnapping and murder. Zan is already haunted by the disappearance of her own son, Matthew, kidnapped in broad daylight two years ago in Central Park—a tragedy that has left her torn between hope and despair.
Now, on what would be Matthew’s fifth birthday, photos surface that seem to show Zan kidnapping her own child, followed by a chain of events that suggests somebody—but who? Zan asks herself desperately, and why?—has stolen her identity.
Hounded by the press, under investigation by the police, attacked by both her angry ex-husband and a vindictive business rival, Zan, wracked by fear and pain and sustained only by her belief, which nobody else shares, that Matthew is still alive, sets out to discover who is behind this cruel hoax.
What she does not realize is that with every step she takes toward the truth, she is putting herself— and those she loves most—in mortal danger from the person who has ingeniously plotted out her destruction.
Even Zan’s supporters, who include Alvirah Meehan, the lottery winner and amateur detective, and Father Aiden O’Brien, who thinks that Zan may have confessed to him a secret he cannot reveal, believe she may have kidnapped little Matthew. Zan herself begins to doubt her own sanity, until, in the kind of fast-paced explosive ending that is Mary Higgins Clark’s trademark, the pieces of the puzzle fall into place with an unexpected and shocking revelation.
My Thoughts: So, I used to really enjoy Mary Higgins Clark's books (her early work) and would be excited when a new one came out. After the last few I have read, I'm thinking I won't bother reading her books anymore.
I'm not sure what happened here....if I just grew up or if MHC's writing has changed but I do not like the general "voice" of the book. I hate how the characters let you know things that happened in the past by thinking about it. Also, the tone just comes across as childish to me.
Alexandra (Zan) has had an extremely rough life lately. First, her parents are killed on the way to the airport in Rome, Italy. They were on their way to pick Zan up for a visit as she wasn't able to visit them for over 2 years because of her very needy boss. Then, she calls the guy she is seeing and he comes to help her. She ends up marrying him, divorcing him, finding out she's pregnant and when her son turns two, he is kidnapped out of his stroller in Central Park while the babysitter sleeps. Then, to top it off, her credit cards have been stolen and someone is charging up a huge bill. Zan is gorgeous and thin. In fact, if I had to read how gorgeous and thin she was one more time in the book, I was going to throw it out the window. I swear, everytime Zan was mentioned, it was also mentioned that she was gorgeous and thin.
Ted, Zan's ex-husband is livid with her for losing Matthew (their son) and is always blaming her. He's a PR man and so we have to deal with his relationship with an immature singer. He is really very annoying.
Alvirah and Willy, the lottery winners from previous books, are also in this book. That was the only saving grace for me as I love Alvirah.
Zan also lands a job decorating a new apartment complex and meets Kevin Wilson. There really is no romance here at all but Kevin, even though he has never met Zan, instantly believes in her and trusts her. When she is arrested he continues to stand by her. I find this hard to believe that someone would actually do this but I guess it could, maybe, happen.
There are other characters that are, in my opinion, just useless. They are used to fill the pages but have to real part in the story. The story was extremely predictable (I knew who did it at the beginning despite MHC's attempts to throw you off the trail). It was an easy read and would have been a fast read if it held my attention for any length of time but this book was very easy for me to put down and get distracted by stuff like cleaning the bathroom and doing laundry. Yeah, that's how much I didn't like it!
If you like MHC, go ahead and try this book. I may just be burnt out on her. I didn't care for it but it doesn't mean someone else won't love it!
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