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    Silent Night
    Silent Night
    Silent Night
    Ebook187 pages3 hours

    Silent Night

    By Mary Higgins Clark

    3.5/5

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    About this ebook

    Mary Higgins Clark, the "Queen of Suspense," has crafted a very special holiday story about a child's courage in the face of danger, and the power of love. Charged with menace and thrilling suspense, it is the #1 New York Times bestselling author's gift to readers for all seasons.

    When Catherine Dornan's husband, Tom, is diagnosed with leukemia, she and their two young sons travel with him to New York during the holiday season for a lifesaving operation. On Christmas Eve, hoping to lift the boys' spirits, Catherine takes them to see Rockefeller Center's famous Christmas tree; while there, seven-year-old Brian notices a woman taking his mother's wallet. A St. Christopher medal tucked inside the wallet saved his grandfather's life in World War II, and Brian believes with all his heart that it will protect his father now. Impulsively, Brian follows the thief into the subway, and the most dangerous adventure of his young life begins...
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSimon & Schuster
    Release dateMay 25, 2000
    ISBN9780743206273
    Author

    Mary Higgins Clark

    The #1 New York Times bestselling author Mary Higgins Clark wrote over forty suspense novels, four collections of short stories, a his­torical novel, a memoir, and two children’s books. With bestselling author Alafair Burke she wrote the Under Suspicion series including The Cinderella Murder, All Dressed in White, The Sleeping Beauty Killer, Every Breath You Take, You Don’t Own Me, and Piece of My Heart. With her daughter Carol Higgins Clark, she coauthored five suspense novels. More than one hundred million copies of her books are in print in the United States alone. Her books are international bestsellers.

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    Reviews for Silent Night

    3.5/5

    19 ratings11 reviews

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    • 5/5
      I've never read any of Mary Higgins Clark's books but now I know what I've been missing. This was fast paced and heart felt. A great mystery that I had no idea where it was leading. The best kind, in my opinion.
    • 3/5
      Ramping up for Christmas and getting into the holiday mood but lets throw in a bit of suspense in the mix. As in many Christmas mysteries, there's struggle, redemption, hope and suspense. As most are novellas, they're often short. This book was all of those things. For me, most novellas always leave me feeling a bit cheated. I long for greater character development and backstory. But if it's a quick read you're seeking for a cozy Christmas dinner sit by the fire, then this would certainly fit the bill. I certainly enjoyed the story and hope you will too.Synopsis:Mary Higgins Clark, the "Queen of Suspense," has crafted a very special holiday story about a child's courage in the face of danger, and the power of love. Charged with menace and thrilling suspense, it is the #1 New York Times bestselling author's gift to readers for all seasons.When Catherine Dornan's husband, Tom, is diagnosed with leukemia, she and their two young sons travel with him to New York during the holiday season for a lifesaving operation. On Christmas Eve, hoping to lift the boys' spirits, Catherine takes them to see Rockefeller Center's famous Christmas tree; while there, seven-year-old Brian notices a woman taking his mother's wallet. A St. Christopher medal tucked inside the wallet saved his grandfather's life in World War II, and Brian believes with all his heart that it will protect his father now. Impulsively, Brian follows the thief into the subway, and the most dangerous adventure of his young life begins...
    • 1/5
      My review from Amazon:I was given this book as a gift from my mother so felt obliged to read it. I'm sorry I wasted my time. The plot was unbelievably thin with nary a twist. I could tolerate that if the book contained compelling characters but alas MHC clearly went to the character store and ordered "one worried mother, one hard-boiled cop with a heart of gold and one - no make that two - brave little boys". Add to that writing so ordinary that had this book been submitted by Mary Smith instead of Mary Higgins Clark, it would have been sent back with a note to try adding a metaphor or two. In fact, the manuscript would have been sent back with a form letter.I can't account for the 5 star reviews here but if your reading level is above Dick and Jane, skip this and turn to Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" for a truly delightful holiday tale.
    • 4/5
      Holiday themed novels are expected to be a bit syrupy and fluffy, and this one is definitely a holiday novel. Still, this is also a child-abduction thriller in which a kid wanders off and accidentally lands himself with a fugitive on the run towards Canada. Of course, few holiday novels have sad endings, so it is no surprise that the reader can guess roughly how the book will end as soon as the plot is established. Overall I liked this book and would definitely recommend it for folks wanting some light reading while traveling during the holiday season.
    • 2/5
      Good little suspense tale but not, by far, her best book.
    • 2/5
      I have never read a book by Mary Higgins Clark. I've purposely avoided her books, as I have w/books by James Patterson, Debbie Macomber and other similar authors. I see people reading these books on the subway, and they line the bookshelves at Stop & Shop. I've always dismissed them. But is it right to dismiss things you've never examined or at least perused?

      And so a few days ago, my mother brought me this book. She'd read it, said "it wasn't great literature but it's an intriguing story." And b/c it takes place at Christmas time, and b/c my mother said, "here read this." I thought, "OK, I will". I read the story in one day, and I have to concur, this is not literature. It's an intriguing story, w/a fast moving plot, unrealistic dialogue and loose ends too neatly tied up in the end. It's superficial characterizations. It's fluff. Entertaining though it is. It didn't teach me anything, didn't leave me inspired or give me new insights.

      One thing I will say about Mary Higgins Clark- at least she doesn't resort to foul language or hyper-sexual romances. I've had enough of her though, And so..I will continue walking right past those aisles at the Stop & Shop.
    • 4/5
      This was a very easy read. Read the entire book on the flight from home in the US to my corporate offices in the UK. I liked the suspense factor of the book. It was a very interesting story, somewhat predictable, but entertaining nonetheless.

      How all the characters in the story meet up is pretty unbelievable but I guess that the author hopes you will leave it to chance. The story is about a family who starts off in crisis. Tom Dornan is in the hospital with Leukemia. Catherine and her two sons Brian and Michael are visiting Dad in NYC when a chain of events happens that twists their world into turmoil.

      I would recommend this book to anyone. It is very entertaining. I feel it would make a great TV Movie.
    • 5/5
      I absolutely loved this Christmas themed suspense story. It was fast moving from the start and it kept me in it's grip till I finished it this early morning. I don't think I could have gone to sleep without finishing it. I love how it all fell together at the end. Wonderful.
    • 4/5
      Silent Night by Mary Higgins ClarkLove Christmas tales and this will be my first book by this author. The family is in the city for an emergency surgery for their father and the mother drops her wallet. Those who find it have plans on how to spend the money.A St. Christopher medal that had saved the grandfather's live during the war. The young child follows the woman who has taken the wallet....Story also follows others, and we learn about how they play a part in all this. What I liked about this story is it's the holidays and people relatively have good thoughts to one another.The plot doesn't follow the usual predicted line where you know what's gonna happen. Lots of twists and I like how the detectives help with the clues they have and those of ones they learn about. Really liked this book and will find others of the author to read.I received this book from National Library Service for my BARD (Braille Audio Reading Device).
    • 3/5
      This was an impulse Christmas read and it was exactly what I wanted: short and sweet. Though truthfully, the only thing Christmas has to do with the story is to act as a setting. It’s not like the bad guy has some big moment of redemption. Regardless, it was a quick little read that hit the spot.
    • 4/5
      This was an easy read. Was a very good fast paced book. All at once Catherine and Tom, Cally and lil Brans lives are all changed all due to Jimmy breaking out of prison and shooting a guard. ..not giving spoils but a very good book .

    Book preview

    Silent Night - Mary Higgins Clark

    Praise for the Queen of Suspense

    MARY HIGGINS CLARK

    AND

    SILENT NIGHT

    SILENT NIGHT is an exciting, touching, and very short novel by one of America’s finest mystery writers. It’s a quick read and can strengthen and inspire the faith in all of us.

    —Beverly Glass, Lexington Herald-Leader

    Ms. Clark’s simply drawn characters and cliffhanger plotting are at their most effective in SILENT NIGHT.

    —Tom Nolan, The Wall Street Journal

    A wonderful story for the Christmas season and a great candidate for gift giving. . . . suspenseful and fast-paced.

    —Sally Kuzenski, Baton Rouge Advocate

    Mary Higgins Clark’s brand of romantic suspense has won her a large army of fans. . . . Nobody brews it better.

    —Robert Wade, The San Diego Union-Tribune

    Ms. Clark is a natural-born storyteller. . . . She taps into some elemental fear that really gives you the willies.

    —Marilyn Stasio, The New York Times Book Review

    "Clark, one of the most beloved suspense authors, has created a very special story about the healing power of love and of a child’s faith. SILENT NIGHT is written with great warmth, yet set against a background of imminent menace and great suspense. . . ."

    —Valerie Ryan, Price Costco Connection

    "Mary Higgins Clark [is] the mistress of suspense [with SILENT NIGHT]."

    —Digby Diehl, Modern Maturity

    "SILENT NIGHT’s ominous pacing starts quickly and ends with a lump-in-the-throat, tear-filled finish. The character of Catherine Dornan is poignant and believable. . . . The plights of the mother, son, and even the thief are heart-stopping and keep the pages turning. For those who cannot seem to finish a novel, this is a book for them. Not only is it excellently crafted—but Clark makes every word count."

    —Columbia Daily Tribune (MO)

    Few contemporary suspense writers have achieved the balance that Clark has in her books. Her works include high doses of suspense and mystery.

    —Clara G. Herrera, San Jose Mercury News

    "With SILENT NIGHT, Clark reveals herself to be appealingly attuned to the holiday spirit and the frosted rainbow of emotions it evokes. . . . Clark’s Christmas gift to her readers keeps faith both with the Yuletide spirit and the conventions of a classic mystery."

    —Mystery Guild

    Mary Higgins Clark . . . [is] the Mother Superior of American suspense fiction.

    —Patricia A. Eller, The Virginian-Pilot

    Mary Higgins Clark is popular because she writes about universal emotions and relationships. She tells suspenseful stories about nice people . . . [and] creates characters about whom we care and with whom we can identify. . . .

    —Roy E. Perry, Nashville Banner

    Mary Higgins Clark is rightfully considered the reigning queen of modern suspense. . . .

    —Carolyn Tillery, Mostly Murder

    When Mary Higgins Clark begins one of her masterful tales of suspense, the room becomes quiet. Everyone draws closer to the fire and the magic begins.

    —Patricia A. Jones, Tulsa World

    CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP

    For Joan Murchison Broad,

    and in memory of Col. Richard L. Broad,

    with love and thanks for all the

    marvelous times we shared.

    St. Christopher, patron of travelers,

    pray for us, and protect us from evil.

    1

    It was Christmas Eve in New York City. The cab slowly made its way down Fifth Avenue. It was nearly five o’clock. The traffic was heavy and the sidewalks were jammed with last-minute Christmas shoppers, homebound office workers, and tourists anxious to glimpse the elaborately trimmed store windows and the fabled Rockefeller Center Christmas tree.

    It was already dark, and the sky was becoming heavy with clouds, an apparent confirmation of the forecast for a white Christmas. But the blinking lights, the sounds of carols, the ringing bells of sidewalk Santas, and the generally jolly mood of the crowd gave an appropriately festive Christmas Eve atmosphere to the famous thoroughfare.

    Catherine Dornan sat bolt upright in the back of the cab, her arms around the shoulders of her two small sons. By the rigidity she felt in their bodies, she knew her mother had been right. Ten-year-old Michael’s surliness and seven-year-old Brian’s silence were sure signs that both boys were intensely worried about their dad.

    Earlier that afternoon when she had called her mother from the hospital, still sobbing despite the fact that Spence Crowley, her husband’s old friend and doctor, assured her that Tom had come through the operation better than expected, and even suggested that the boys visit him at seven o’clock that night, her mother had spoken to her firmly: Catherine, you’ve got to pull yourself together, she had said. The boys are so upset, and you’re not helping. I think it would be a good idea if you tried to divert them for a little while. Take them down to Rockefeller Center to see the tree, then out to dinner. Seeing you so worried has practically convinced them that Tom will die.

    This isn’t supposed to be happening, Catherine thought. With every fiber of her being she wanted to undo the last ten days, starting with that terrible moment when the phone rang and the call came from St. Mary’s Hospital. Catherine, can you come right over? Tom collapsed while he was making his rounds.

    Her immediate impression had been that there had to be a mistake. Lean, athletic, thirty-eight-year-old men don’t collapse. And Tom always joked that pediatricians had birthright immunization to all the viruses and germs that arrived with their patients.

    But Tom didn’t have immunization from the leukemia that necessitated immediate removal of his grossly enlarged spleen. At the hospital they told her that he must have been ignoring warning signs for months. And I was too stupid to notice, Catherine thought as she tried to keep her lip from quivering.

    She glanced out the window and saw that they were passing the Plaza Hotel. Eleven years ago, on her twenty-third birthday, they’d had their wedding reception at the Plaza. Brides are supposed to be nervous, she thought. I wasn’t. I practically ran up the aisle.

    Ten days later they’d celebrated little Christmas in Omaha, where Tom had accepted an appointment in the prestigious pediatrics unit of the hospital. We bought that crazy artificial tree in the clearance sale, she thought, remembering how Tom had held it up and said, Attention Kmart shoppers . . .

    This year, the tree they’d selected so carefully was still in the garage, its branches roped together. They’d decided to come to New York for the surgery. Tom’s best friend, Spence Crowley, was now a prominent surgeon at Sloan-Kettering.

    Catherine winced at the thought of how upset she’d been when she was finally allowed to see Tom.

    The cab pulled over to the curb. Okay, here, lady?

    Yes, fine, Catherine said, forcing herself to sound cheerful as she pulled out her wallet. Dad and I brought you guys down here on Christmas Eve five years ago. Brian, I know you were too small, but Michael, do you remember?

    Yes, Michael said shortly as he tugged at the handle on the door. He watched as Catherine peeled a five from the wad of bills in her wallet. How come you have so much money, Mom?

    When Dad was admitted to the hospital yesterday, they made me take everything he had in his billfold except a few dollars. I should have sorted it out when I got back to Gran’s.

    She followed Michael out onto the sidewalk and held the door open for Brian. They were in front of Saks, near the corner of Forty-ninth Street and Fifth Avenue. Orderly lines of spectators were patiently waiting to get a closeup look at the Christmas window display. Catherine steered her sons to the back of the line. Let’s see the windows, then we’ll go across the street and get a better look at the tree.

    Brian sighed heavily. This was some Christmas! He hated standing in line—for anything. He decided to play the game he always played when he wanted time to pass quickly. He would pretend he was already where he wanted to be, and tonight that was in his dad’s room in the hospital. He could hardly wait to see his dad, to give him the present his grandmother had said would make him get well.

    Brian was so intent on getting on with the evening that when it was finally their turn to get up close to the windows, he moved quickly, barely noticing the scenes of whirling snowflakes and dolls and elves and animals dancing and singing. He was glad when they finally were off the line.

    Then, as they started to make their way to the corner to cross the avenue, he saw that a guy with a violin was about to start playing and people were gathering around him. The air suddenly was filled with the sound of Silent Night, and people began singing.

    Catherine turned back from the curb. Wait, let’s listen for a few minutes, she said to the boys.

    Brian could hear the catch in her throat and knew that she was trying not to cry. He’d hardly ever seen Mom cry until that morning last week when someone phoned from the hospital and said Dad was real sick.

    *   *   *

    Cally walked slowly down Fifth Avenue. It was a little after five, and she was surrounded by crowds of last-minute shoppers, their arms filled with packages. There was a time when she might have shared their excitement, but today all she felt was achingly tired. Work had been so difficult. During the Christmas holidays people wanted to be home, so most of the patients in the hospital had been either depressed or difficult. Their bleak expressions reminded her vividly of her own depression over the last two Christmases, both of them spent in the Bedford correctional facility for women.

    She passed St. Patrick’s Cathedral, hesitating only a moment as a memory came back to her of her grandmother taking her and her brother Jimmy there to see the crèche. But that was twenty years ago; she had been ten, and he was six. She wished fleetingly she could go back to that time, change things, keep the bad things from happening, keep Jimmy from becoming what he was now.

    Even to think his name was enough to send waves of fear coursing through her body. Dear God, make him leave me alone, she prayed. Early this morning, with Gigi clinging to her, she had answered the angry pounding on her door to find Detective Shore and another officer who said he was Detective Levy standing in the dingy hallway of her apartment building on East Tenth Street and Avenue B.

    Cally, you putting up your brother again? Shore’s eyes had searched the room behind her for signs of his presence.

    The question was Cally’s first indication that Jimmy had managed to escape from Riker’s Island prison.

    The charge is attempted murder of a prison guard, the detective told her, bitterness filling his voice. The guard is in critical condition. Your brother shot him and took his uniform. This time you’ll spend a lot more than fifteen months in prison if you help Jimmy to escape. Accessory after the fact the second time around, when you’re talking attempted murder—or murder—of a law officer. Cally, they’ll throw the book at you.

    I’ve never forgiven myself for giving Jimmy money last time, Cally had said quietly.

    Sure. And the keys to your car, he reminded her. "Cally, I warn you. Don’t help him this time."

    I won’t. You can be sure of that. And I did not know what he had done before. She’d watched as their eyes again shifted past her. Go ahead, she had cried. Look around. He isn’t here. And if you want to put a tap on my phone, do that, too. I want you to hear me tell Jimmy to turn himself in. Because that’s all I’d have to say to him.

    But surely Jimmy won’t find me, she prayed as she threaded her way through the crowd of shoppers and sightseers. Not this time. After she had served her prison sentence, she took Gigi from the foster home. The social worker had located the tiny apartment on East Tenth Street and gotten her the job as a nurse’s aide at St. Luke’s–Roosevelt Hospital.

    This would be her first Christmas with Gigi in two years! If only she had been able to afford a few decent presents for her, she thought. A four-year-old kid should have her own new doll’s carriage, not the battered hand-me-down Cally’d been forced to get for

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