I am definitely a lifelong Mary Higgins Clark fan and I'm happy to see this work hit the shelves. Not to spoil the first, but once again, a child has gone missing and a parent is the main suspect.

As far as sequels go, this pulled in the drama, suspense, and emotion from the first while still being a fresh story.

I reread the first book again since it had been so many years ago, but this second book does a great job catching you up. It gets 5 stars from me! I really enjoyed how this was made more modern (i.e. the podcast). This gets a 5 star rating from me!

I remember reading the first book years ago and hoped this one would live up to the suspense of that one. It does! The characters are good (though there are a lot of them and sometimes it takes a minute to remember who is who) and the story is excellent. To me, the ending was totally unexpected. I love it when a mystery stumps me!

Who else can bring back a well-known story from 40 years ago and still make it all end with a bang? This story is great and finishes a story I didn't even realize how much I truly wanted more to.
Now I want to go back and read both of them again. Run to get this book and read it. You won't regret it!

I have been reading Mary Higgins Clark's novels since I was a child. My sister and I would spend our summer vacation at our grandparent's house in the middle of nowhere, Michigan; population 720. My grandparents had plenty of property for us to explore, and that we did, but when the temperature would approach sweltering, you could find me curled up on the couch in front of the fan with one of my grandmother's books. She must have stumbled across one of those subscription services they had back in the day where you paid them $x.xx every month and they would send you the latest hardcover thriller from your favorite authors because she had a copy of everything James Patterson and Mary Higgins Clark published up to that point in time. 11 year old me was a bit of a literary snob (and a feminist in the making) and turned up my nose at Patterson and his overly macho male leads. So I spent my summers reading and rereading Clark's work, despite the fact that these creepy tales would send me scurrying to the safety of my grandparents' room in the middle of the night with a pillow and a blanket to sleep on their floor.

"Where are the Children?", the prequel to this novel, was one of my absolute favorites. I was a little hesitant when I learned that this novel was written by Alafair Burke after Clark's death. But I have to say that I was really impressed by how true Burke was to Clark's voice. I highly recommend picking this one up, although rereading "Where are the Children" before diving in is pretty much mandatory.

Great story and well written. It starts with the main character getting dumped and finding a new love with a daughter. Their relationship moves so quickly. They help her mom to from cape cod to Long Island where her new step daughter Riley goes missing. As the police investigate she becomes the main suspect.

Where are the children now is a sequel of sorts for Mary Higgin's Clark book Where Are The Children. I was so excited to read this book, as I recall really enjoying Where Are The Children, and all of the twists and turns of that novel where Nancy Harmon lost her two children to murder, was convicted of the crime and let go on a technicality. She changed her name and life to begin again, only to have history repeat itself and her kids disappear, with her racing against a clock to find them before worse horror befalls them. Where are the Children Now has Nancy as a side character, and her daughter Melissa takes center stage in this book. Her stepdaughter goes missing in this book and again, the story makes it look to others like Melissa might have wanted her stepdaughter to disappear, so she could have her newlywed husband, all to herself.

Unfortunately, I had a hard time putting my disbelief aside while reading this novel. It certainly provided its share of twists and turns, but the story for the beginning seemed weak to this reader. What is the likelihood that another child in this family would be kidnapped? I mostly liked the character of Melissa and her husband Charlie. They didn't feel like the most developed characters, but I certainly felt for their plight. I found Nancy to be lacking in this novel and for the most part, she was only there to link the past to the present. Beyond that, she really did not serve much of a purpose to this novel. While I enjoy the twists and turns in a novel, especially when they come as a surprise, most of the twists in this novel felt contrived. I would say more about this, but I do not want to give anything away to other readers. I am sure this book will be loved by some. For this reader, I was left disappointed at the end of the book. Perhaps my expectations were too high and that was a bit of a set-up

Thanks to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest review. .

Where are the Children Now? is an excellent suspenseful read. Great characters and a great sequel. Alafair Burke does a wonderful job keeping the spirit of Mary Higgins Clark alive and well.

This is a wonderful way to wrap up a classic Mary Higgins Clark novel! Thank you to Alafair Burke for doing such an amazing job! It’s 40 years later and Melissa is happily married with a 3 year old step child. While her husband is out of the country, their child goes missing inside locked home. Great development of characters with a plot good twist at the end. Thank you to net galley and the publisher for an ARC of this book

I've been reading Mary Higgins Clark since I was a child. Literally. I think I read Where Are the Children when I was in fourth grade. And while that might not be typical 4th grade reading, I was hooked. My favorite of all time was Weep No More My Lady, which takes place at an exclusive spa. I must have read it 20 times throughout junior high and high school.

In Ms. Higgins later years, she wrote with Alafair Burke, and I always found the books to hold the same charm as when Higgins wrote by herself. Pants were "slacks" and descriptions of the characters also depicted a nice conservative 80's career woman. And it was part of the charm. I've loved every single one of her books I've read.

While Where are the Children Now was written in the style of the late Mary Higgins Clark by Alafair Burke, it does Ms. Higgins proud. If you've always loved books by Mary Higgins Clark, check this one out. It will bring back all the feels.

Oh what an awesome who done it! It’s a page turner at its very best! I love Mary Higgins Clark’s books but I think this one is my favorite so far. You need to pick it up very soon and give it a read! Thank you for writing such great books!

Where are the Children Now? is a five star book by my standards. How nice to have a follow up on Where are the Children. I met Mary Higgins Clark at a book and author luncheon that was held at the Wigwam Resort in Litchfield Park, Arizona. The event was completely memorable and of course a huge success. Readers came from several different states just to hear her speak and purchase a signed copy of as many books as they could carry. I still have my signed editions, and one was Where are the Children! I never dreamed I'd have the opportunity to meet MHC let alone shake her hand. It was an honor.

I read the earlier book when it originally came out years ago, so decided to try this one. I guess, like so many others, the story really did not stay with me. Which gave me a bit of difficulty understanding this one as I read. The author regularly makes references to things that occurred in the earlier story, with little or no elaboration. It makes for difficult understanding when you keep referencing a book that was published and read many years ago, and I was surprised the author, whose books I have regularly read and enjoyed, chose to do this. The plot was also almost the same as the earlier book. Thus, I had a tough time getting into the book and almost put it down as one of those I just would/could not read. However, I kept at it. The story follows a now adult Melissa who has met and married Charlie, a young widower, and becomes step-mother to his daughter Riley. As in the last book, Riley disappears I and the story follows along the same lines as the earlier one. This one has a different ending, however, and one that was a bit surprising to me.

I am not sure why the author chose to do a follow-up this many years after the original book was published, as I am not sure why anyone would think that I could remember a story so many years when I read so many books as many others do. I also was surprised at the plot, which was basically the same as the earlier book’s plot, though this story did bring in a lot from the earlier book and managed to tie it in well, making this story a good follow-on. I also did not take to Melissa, the main character. From the outset, I figured there was something odd about Charlie, her husband, and his sister. I also did not particularly like them. I found Melissa’s one-time relationship with Patrick, which had ended leaving Melissa quite upset (which was part of the story) interesting as the story unfolded, and I wish it could have been a bigger part of the story. Thde book was okay, but, in my opinion, not up to her other books. Still, it was not that bad and could be a good read for the right person, just not me. I received this from NetGalley to read and review.

As many fans probably can agree, Mary Higgins Clark is a nostalgic favorite. And I read her on and off from my teens until she passed away. In my humble opinion, the author's best book of all I ever read of hers was Where Are the Children. That book was rough to read and it held very few punches. All her books after it felt like she was aiming very hard at being a clean version of a Lifetime movie of the week. And that isn't a bad thing. I got used to it and those books became palate cleansers for me from when I read heavier or grittier books. But Where Are The Children was the book that was the bar by which I measured all of her other books in terms of quality.

I would say that Where Are The Children Now is definitely in keeping with the post 2000's MHC books. It was entertaining, but not memorable. I went into it with high hopes since Alafair Burke does write books that can match the intensity of Where Are The Children, so I thought this sequel might give Burke a chance to shine with a legacy. It didn't quite do that for me, but I did appreciate that the book genuinely felt like a Mary Higgins Clark book. I just wish it had been unrelated to her best one!

Where Are the Children Now was a great trip to back to Cape Cod area and reunite with Nancy and her children, Melissa and Mike. The sequel didn't disappoint! Melissa's stepdaughter is kidnapped while she sleeps and she is the primes suspect. Her mother and brother Mike try to help her in finding the truth along with characters from the original book.
Like all Mary Higgins Clark books, there was suspense to keep the reader guessing and the twist at the end was a surprise to me. While I loved the story, I did not enjoy how many details of the original book took up the content of this book as the story would be complete without all the details. Overall, it was a great read and follow up.
I received a complimentary copy of Where are the Children Now thanks to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster, but all opinions are my own.

This is by far the best book to come from the Mary Higgins Clark and Alafair Burke collection. It has the pacing and plot of MHC’s earliest releases. I may be biased as a longtime fan of both writers, but Alafair Burke dazzles in paying homage to and refreshing Higgins Clark’s legacy.

Decent book, good characters, good twists and turns throughout to keep you questioning and guessing. Unfortunately, the fact this was billed as a sequel to one of the greatest suspense stories ever didn't work for me. The original Where Are the Children is just too damn good to even attempt to write a sequel. This should have been a stand-alone book with different character names and a few alterations, instead of being billed as a sequel. And yes, I know I'm in the minority in thinking this.

But other than that, it was an average read with decent characters and good twists and turns throughout to keep you questioning and guessing. The characters were okay - Melissa alternated between being interesting and annoying. But none of them really grabbed me and made me connect with them at all. The storyline was good, if not predictable in parts. Ultimately though, nothing really stuck with me. As I write this review after a fair amount of time has passed since reading it, I find myself struggling to remember key parts of the storyline. If you're wanting an average mystery-suspense story with generally good characters for a quick read, this one will do the trick. It just didn't do enough for me to get me excited.

I have been a fan of Mary Higgins Clark ever since I can remember, She helped foster my love of a great suspense novel. Her books always kept me on the edge of my seat and were free of language which I always appreciated. I was so excited when I saw that a sequel to Where are the Children (which was always a fave of mine) was being released. It did not disappoint. The book grabbed my attention quickly and held it until the end. Let me just say that it was an ending I did not see coming.

Some might be wondering if it is necessary to read Where are the Children before reading this one. The answer is no. I have read it, but it had been so long that I didn't really remember much about it. There is enough of a summary of the first book in the beginning that readers will not be confused.

Thank you Simon & Schuster and Netgalley for a copy of this book. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.

I recently listened to the highly successful prequel to this, Where are the Children?, and found it underwhelming. I had higher hopes for this one, however, since MHC has had decades to improve and I like Alafaire Burke good enough.
Unfortunately, this was a letdown. The dialogue is just as bad as it was in the first book, even with another author to help out. For example, they’ve got attorneys explaining how the law works to other attorneys just to make sure we (the readers) get it. We do. It’s not that hard. Also, the plot points are ridiculous, and the antagonist is obvious right from the get-go.
Thanks to #netgalley and #simonandschuster for this #arc of #wherearethechildrennow in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book. Mary Higgins Clark was one of the all time best mystery writers. Alafair Burke did a great job of carrying on her legacy. This was a great sequel and a fitting tribute!