Where are the Children Now is the tepid follow-up to Mary Higgins Clark's 1976 classic, Where Are the Children by the late Clark and bestselling author Alafair Burke.

It's been 40 year since Melissa and her brother ,Mike, were kidnapped then rescued by their mother, Nancy. Melissa is now a lawyer and a successful host of her own true crime podcast. She is also engaged to her fiancé and excited over being stepmother to Charlie's daughter, Riley.
After Melissa marries Charlie, she finds her in the same situation as her mother when Riley goes missing. Melissa also like her mother is accused of being behind Riley's disappearance. Melissa along with her family the police try to track down Riley. Melissa is now on the side of the fence which makes her even more determined to bring Riley home.

Everything is here that is expected in Mary Higgins Clark novel such as a strong heroine with a big heart, men with questions motives, and the finale where the culprit is revealed.

The problem is that there is no sense of danger or suspense. The original source is one of the most terrifying books that I ever read.. Here the story moves at comfortable pace, which makes more of a leisurely read then a gripping thriller.

There may been a lot of reasons why Clark decided to follow-up to her breakout title. She could've had a broader scope for both her characters and story.

Where Are The Children Now is yet another example of follow-up that does nothing more then makes you want to go back and read the original source material.

Where Are the Children Now? Is an intense follow-up to her book Where Are the Children? It follows the story of Melissa who had a horrible thing happen to her when she was abducted and abused as a toddler and she is going through something similar to her mom when her step-daughter, Riley, goes missing and she is one of the top suspects.

This story had lots of twists and turns. You spend the entirety of the book trying to figure out who did it. Where is Riley? Is she ok? One of the intriguing things about these books is you are given the answers throughout the book if you can catch them. She leaves you in suspense until the very end. You must guess the answers, but did you guess every part of it or did something evade you. Although, this writing style can be confusing for some since it does jump around between characters, I find I like reading from everyone’s point of view. It all ties together nicely in the end.

I gave this a 4/5 stars and will definitely read more by her as I have in the past. I would recommend for anyone who likes suspense and likes to try and figure out who did it.

I received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.
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I loved the first book in this series, that I read years ago. I had to reread it to refresh my memory! I was excited to read this book when I found out about it! I did really enjoy it! Did not disappoint! I would definitely recommend this book!

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the ARC! The author did a fabulous job revisting the characters from the first story. This is definitely an edge of your seat, do not stop reading mystery/thrill ride. The author did a great job honoring the original author of the first book.
Will recommend!

When Mary Higgins Clark passed away, I was so sad thinking I would just have to rely on her extensive body of work for my mystery enjoyment. Luckily, this gem was in the works! Where Are the Children Now exemplifies why Mary Higgins Clark was the “queen of suspense.” Her coauthor-ship with Alafair Burke only serves to make her stories even better. As a sequel to her first and best selling book Where Are the Children, this book takes the reader on just as many twists and turns. I admit I devoured it in a day because it was so hard to put down.

The mystery is laid out in Mary Higgins Clark’s signature fashion introducing all the characters including the mysterious would-be killer’s point of view. In the first book, Melissa and Mike were children and the victims of a cruel kidnapper. Now all grown up, Melissa is a successful attorney with her own podcast and getting ready to marry. Devastated after her father’s death, she agrees to go to counseling to not only deal with her grief but also the unresolved issues of her kidnapping. This is where she meets her future husband whose wife died in a tragic accident in Norway and is survived by two year old daughter Riley.

Despite her brother’s misgivings, Melissa marries Charlie and takes on the role of stepmother. When Riley goes missing in circumstances eerily similar to Melissa’s own kidnapping, she’s viewed as the number one suspect. In a race against time, Melissa tries to use every means necessary to find her stepdaughter and prove her innocence before it’s too late.

I have to say this mystery pulled me in and kept me guessing the whole time. The authors do a fantastic job casting suspicion on everyone, even Melissa herself. The suspense builds and builds until the dramatic, shocking conclusion that I honestly didn’t predict. It’s a fantastic sequel to the original and a must read for Mary Higgins Clark fans.

Don’t worry if you haven’t read the original Where Are the Children, this can definitely be read as a standalone. The authors do a fantastic job providing enough detail from the previous novel that readers can easily be brought up to speed. I received an advanced complimentary copy from the publisher via NetGalley. All opinions are completely my own and voluntarily given.

Content warning: mentions of child abuse, mild infrequent swearing, mild violence.

I have always loved Mary Higgins Clark. Her books were amongst the first I started to really get into as a teen. This book is the sequel to "Where are the Children". It kept me guessing until the end with some shocking surprises. There is a lot going on in this book and the past is influencing the present situation. There are lots of secrets and lies

What a blast from the past! Where Are The Children is the first book I read by Mary Higgins Clark. Where are the Children now takes place forty years later and Mike and Missy (Melissa) are once again in peril. Melissa is a well know lawyer turned successful true crime podcaster and has just married the man of her dreams, Charlie. Charlie lost his first wife in a tragic accident and is a single father to three year old Riley. When Riley is kidnapped it’s not too long before Melissa is the prime suspect. With her vast knowledge is it possible she’s guilty. In true Higgins fashion, Burke takes us back to the first novel through memories and writes a compelling sequel. This one brings back warm fuzzies. Thank you to Simon and Schuster and NetGalley for an ARC of this book.

Thrilled to see this sequel to one of my favorite Mary Higgins Clark books, Where are the Children Now? did not disappoint.​
When the Queen of Suspense died in 2020, Where are the Children? (first published in 1975) was in its 75th edition in paperback and since 2005 has sold more than 1.5 million copies in all formats.​
Clark’s longtime collaborator and co-author of her Under Suspicion series, Alafair Burke, a New York Times bestselling author herself, perfectly honored the original story that launched Clark’s career.

Burke brings us the first book's protagonist, Nancy Harmon, in the midst of a move after the death of her husband and her children, Mike and Melissa, all grown up and in the center of a life or death mystery of their own that echoes the family’s traumatic past. ​
In true Higgins Clark-fashion, Burke keeps the readers guessing with surprise plot twists until the very end. Long live the Queen of Suspense thanks to Alafair Burke.

I highly recommend Where are the Children Now? for all Mary Higgins Clark fans and anyone one who enjoys thrilling suspense.

I received this advance reader copy from Simon & Schuster, courtesy of NetGalley. This review is fair and impartial.

I thoroughly enjoyed this sequel to "Where Are the Children." Having read the first book many, many years ago, it was helpful to have some of the story "recapped" in "Where Are the Children Now." It's certainly not necessary to have read the prequel to understand what is going on in this story. I found it to be fast paced and suspenseful and loved that there were some twists and turns that I didn't see coming. Alafair Burke did an excellent job bringing in some "modernity" to the original story but keeping it true to Mary Higgins Clark. Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

Who doesn't love a Mary Higgins Clark book?? The queen of suspense has done it again with a follow up to her book Where Are The Children?. Alafair did a fantastic job in continuing the legacy of Clark with the sequel to this book. Almost four decades ago Nancy was accused of killing her two children. Nancy was finally cleared and went on to have two more children who were kidnapped and held. Luckily the children were rescued just before they were killed. Years later her daughter that was kidnapped and rescued faces the same fate she did years earlier when her own daughter is kidnapped. This book is a wild suspense ride and a definite read for anyone.

Forty years ago, Nancy Eldredge suffered some of the worst imaginable torments a mother could possibly endure. After being convicted for the murder of her two children, Peter and Lisa, she was released on a technicality. In an effort to make a fresh start for herself, she moved across the country, changing her name and appearance and eventually finding love again in Cape Cod.

Happily married once more, the last thing Nancy expected was for her new offspring, Mike and Melissa, to go missing while playing in their own yard. When the police and press found out about her past, she became the prime suspect in their disappearance, too. Her ultimately successful struggle to get her kids back forged a strong family bond, even if every member of her family continues to deal with the aftermath in their own way.

Mike, her eldest child, is a firm proponent of dealing with everything head-on. A college drop-out who went on to captain ships in the Caribbean, he’s both disciplined and laid back. His younger sister Melissa was spurred by what happened to pursue a career in criminal justice, even as she prefers to think as little about her trauma as possible, opting to “choose happiness” instead:

QUOTE
To Mike, that wasn’t happiness. Happiness, he believed, required honesty. Happiness could be messy, and even painful. If you never feel pain, how do you appreciate its absence? If you’re never afraid, how do you know comfort? But Melissa wanted to live in her perfectly controlled Melissa bubble, brushing off any unwanted emotions as “drama.” Was that why she was marrying a man she’d only known for ten months–to convince herself that she was still happy?
END QUOTE

After the death of their dad, Melissa finally starts going to therapy. In group counseling, she meets handsome widower and single dad Charlie Miller. The two hit it off so well that they decide to marry less than a year after meeting. It helps that Charlie’s three year-old daughter Riley is a ray of sunshine, captivating practically everyone who meets her.

So when Riley goes missing one day, it’s all of the Eldredges’ worst traumas come roaring back to life. At first, it looks like Riley might have just wandered off while she was supposed to be napping. When it becomes more and more clear that someone took her, suspicion quickly falls on Melissa and her family.

As the cops probe harder at her and Charlie’s pasts, separately and together, Melissa gets some tough love from a friend who was also once a high-powered attorney:

QUOTE
When Melissa was finished, Katie did not mince words. “He needs a lawyer. Now. Two hours ago, in fact.”

“I am a lawyer,” Melissa said.

“Sorry, but a lawyer who’s objective. Not his wife.”

“You’re acting like you think Charlie did something wrong. And the police will think we’re guilty if we start calling defense lawyers. I think he should just call [Riley’s estranged] grandparents himself. They should know she’s missing. And then the police can dig into us as much as they need to. There’s nothing to find.”

“Are you listening to yourself? You know better than that. That’s how innocent people end up arrested.”
END QUOTE

As Melissa tries to navigate her way out of this nightmare, she’ll uncover shocking truths about some of the people she loves the most. Will she be able to rescue her beloved stepdaughter from the clutches of a killer, despite her own breaking heart?

Wow, I did not expect this to be as twisty as it was! I wasn’t very familiar with Mary Higgins Clark’s oeuvre before reading this book – I hadn’t even read her seminal Where Are The Children? which not only chronicled Nancy’s original ordeal but also arguably founded the psychological suspense genre – but found this sequel to be incredibly satisfying as a stand-alone novel. It does have a ton of spoilers for the original book, so definitely read that first if you’re already planning to.

Even if you’re not, this is a terrific page-turner all on its own. Alafair Burke does such a great job with Ms Clarke’s material, updating it for the 21st century. I’ll admit that I did think it a bit odd that Nancy kept calling her fully grown daughter “beautiful”, in a way that suggested that it was the accomplished Melissa’s most important attribute. That aside, the narrative was immersive and the twists and betrayals truly surprising, leaving me guessing until the last few pages. Overall, this is an elegantly crafted, highly entertaining thriller that absolutely deserves to be on the shelf with the rest of the Queen Of Suspense’s best-selling novels.

I read the original WHERE ARE THE CHILDREN many years ago. I've read it a couple of times since then too. So when this title came on my TBR list, the "5 star" bar was set very high. But since it's Mary Higgins Clark, of course, the bar was met and exceeded. We meet the same cast of characters, the children are now adults with lives and families of their own. When when a child is suddenly missing, the pace and the tension ramp up quickly. Clues are woven into the story but they can lead to some surprising twists along the way. Overall, it almost seems a crime to only have 5 stars to give this book.

I have never read a book in one sitting until now! To say that Where Are The Children Now is unputdownable is an understatement! Wow, what a ride. This book has everything and you will be so invested in the story that you won't be able to stop reading! The loss of Mary Higgins Clark leaves a huge hole for readers, but Alafair Burke did a phenomenal job of finishing this book. You'll be trying to guess what's happening in this one until the very end and the end will blow your mind! Trust me, you need to read this book.

This book takes place four decades after the first book. Nancy is much older in this book and her two children, Melissa and Mike, are adults. Melissa and Mike were the young children who were kidnapped in the first book. They are both still dealing with their traumatic past, but Melissa has never really gotten help for her memories and nightmares. Melissa is a famous podcaster dealing with true crime after being a lawyer for a bit. She is in love with a man that she met in a therapy group and they are getting married. Melissa will be a stepmom to 2 year old Riley, a sweet girl in love with Peppa Pig. Mike doesn't like that Melissa is getting married so quickly as she hasn't even known her fiancé for a year. There's something about Charlie that Mike just doesn't like.

Melissa just wants to be happy, married, and a stepmom. The wedding goes well and the honeymoon in Italy even better. Everything seems to be perfect in Melissa's life and she couldn't be happier. As time goes by Melissa is getting worn down by work and life. She feels tired all the time and when she sleeps she has terrible nightmares about her kidnapping. She has someone writing horrible things about her and her podcast online. This is concerning to Melissa as her podcast depends on having a strong online presence. This one person makes snide comments every time Melissa posts. Melissa and Mike are helping Nancy pack up her Cape Cod house as she wants to relocate to the Hamptons. Nancy has purchased a house there to be closer to her daughter and family. Mike and Melissa are driving a U-haul with Nancy's stuff in it from the Cape to the Hamptons. Their goal is to get their mom's house set up nicely before she arrives. Riley is with her father.

When Melissa and Mike arrive at the house they unload the U-haul and start setting up the house. Riley joins them as Charlie has to go out of town for work. After a couple of days working, Melissa takes Riley to the local park. She stopped to get an iced coffee first as she is so tired she can barely function. She enjoys seeing Riley so happy. She sits on a bench and checks her phone, writing to her good friend. When Melissa looks up she sees a strange woman speaking to Riley! Melissa goes over and confronts the woman who tells her she's a fraud, a terrible mother who wasn't watching her child, and a horrible person who doesn't deserve to have anything nice. The woman then takes off into the woods. Melissa gathers Riley up and they head to the car. Melissa is really shaken by the encounter and has no idea who that woman was.

When they get home it's almost Riley's nap time and Melissa is thrilled as she's having a hard time keeping her eyes open. She puts Riley down for a nap beside her and Melissa lies on top of the bed. She immediately falls into a deep sleep dreaming horrible dreams. The next thing Melissa knows, Mike is shaking her and asking where Riley is? Melissa is so tired she can't wake up, she can't move, and she can't speak. After a couple minutes of Mike trying to help her stand and wake up, Melissa is finally able to utter the words "call the police". Riley is nowhere to be found and it seems like she either wandered off on her own or someone has taken her! This can't be happening to this poor family again!! How is Melissa going to be able to tell Charlie that his daughter is missing? Melissa feels so guilty, like it's all her fault! She doesn't understand why she's so tired and didn't hear anything.

The police come and take a statement from Melissa. They get a description of what Riley was wearing, a photo of Riley, and that she was taking a nap before she disappeared. Will the police be able to find Riley? How will Charlie react to his daughter disappearing on Melissa's watch? Will this trigger Nancy with terrible memories from her past? Does this have to do with that woman from the park? Will Riley be okay? This book will keep you reading until you've finished it. What a fantastic sequel to one of the best books by Mary Higgins Clark. Enjoy every moment! I rate this book 5 stars and give it my highest recommendation! I'd like to thank NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for an advanced copy of Where Are The Children Now in exchange for a fair review. #WhereAreTheChildrenNow

When I was younger, Mary Higgins Clark was my absolute favorite author. Somewhere in the mid 2000s, though, her writing shifted and I stopped reading her new releases. When I learned a sequel to Where Are the Children was coming out, I went back and forth on reading it. I reread the original (which is still a fantastic read) in preparation, which I now think I shouldn't have done. Where Are the Children Now just doesn't compare. I realize I'm in the minority, but truthfully this didn't read like a MHC book. I haven't read any of Clark and Burke's other collaborations, and I probably won't. I guess the reality is that some stories just don't need sequels.

Melissa and her brother Mike are trying to heal and move on from their abduction when they were children. Melissa is now a lawyer turned successful podcaster. She has recently married and had a young stepdaughter, Riley. While Melissa and her brother, Mike, help their mom, Nancy, move, Riley goes missing. They use their own abduction experience to find Riley and save her from the trauma they still struggle with.

Burke does a fantastic job bringing the mystery and intrigue from the first book back.

Unreliable narrators bring red herrings, suspense, and apprehension towards everyone. There are twists and turns throughout the book.

There is also an honest look at the effects of trauma and the reality of online bullying.

If you've never read the first book or it's been over a decade (or more) you can pick this one right up with no problem. I read the original book 2 decades ago and it's stuck with me, but this filled in some of the details I may have forgotten. Even better, I loved that this could he read as a standalone, introducing new readers to Mary Higgins Clark's work.

Mary Higgins Clark was my very favorite author and Where Are the Children was my favorite of her books. Honestly, having read probably a thousand books since I read it so long ago, I did not remember the story, only that it held me in suspense and I could not put it down. Alafair Burke you knocked this one out of the park. You brought the reader up to speed on the first book and then lead us happily into the future so seamlessly. Your writing style with chapter endings causing the reader to read “just one more chapter” are so on par with Mary Higgins Clark’s style of writing. I could not put this read down and stayed up way too late reading “just one more”. I found myself pleading with the characters, much as I would in real life if I knew them. I loved the characters and the settings, having grown up spending every summer on Cape Cod.
Many many thanks to you Alafair Burke for writing this book and creating new memories of a favorite author and book, Simon & Schuster, and NetGalley for affording me the absolute pleasurable opportunity to read an arc of this just published magical gem. I urge all who loved Where Are the Children to read this amazing sequel. I will definitely be looking for future books by Alafair Burke.

Alafair Burke does an outstanding job of continuing Mary Higgins Clark’s first book! This novel has the same tone as MHC and drew me into the story right away since the characters featured are the children who were kidnapped in the original book. Now, they are all grown up and Melissa has just gotten married with a ready made family, a young stepdaughter who is precocious. Just as expected, Riley disappears while Melissa is napping and her disappearance brings back all of the old nightmares. There are some real twists in the fast-paced plot that were totally unexpected as well as numerous red herrings to lead me down false trails about who the villain was. I enjoyed the family drama that was well portrayed and the emotional scenes that had me almost in tears, not knowing what was happening to poor little Riley. The book was intriguing and kept me engaged with the characters and the clues. I thoroughly enjoyed this walk down memory lane and even read the first book again in order to prepare for this one. I can assure other readers that although the first book is a must read at some time, you don’t need to read it before you can enjoy this one. The author makes sure that you know the backstory of the main characters and builds on that story to create the new one. I highly recommend this book as it kept me captivated from the first page to the satisfying conclusion.
Disclaimer
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255, “Guidelines Concerning the Use of Testimonials and Endorsements in Advertising.”

This book is a great read! It's full of twists and turns and will keep you turning the pages to see what happens next. If you enjoy a book that will keep you on the edge of your seat and guessing until the end, grab this book!
I received a complimentary copy from Simon & Schuster via NetGalley and was not required to write a review. All opinions expressed are my own.

What a way to honor Mary Higgins Clark! This book is so good. It can be read as a stand alone as they give a recap to the first book so you don’t necessarily need to read it.

It was so nice to see the old characters from the first book and see what has been happening the past 40 years. This book is mainly about Melissa and the disappearance of her 3 year old step daughter, Riley. Who took her, where did she go, how did she disappear she was in a locked house.

This book was a page turner. I didn’t want to put it down. I throughly enjoyed this book and definitely would recommend it.

Thank you to Alafair Burke, Simon & Schuster, and Netgalley for allowing me to read an advanced digital copy in exchange for a honest review

Where Are The Children Now by Alafair Burke and Mary Higgins Clark is a thriller in which a child gets snatched from a woman who had been snatched as a child and has horrific nightmares because of it. Melissa has just gotten married to a terrific guy. She met him at a grief group that she had joined after her father died. He was there because he’d lost his wife. It all happened fast but she was so in love with Charlie, and with his daughter, Riley, almost three years old. Her brother Mike had come to the wedding, although he was not convinced it was a good idea. Melissa believed that one chose to be happy. Mike thought she was ignoring her past and living in a fool’s paradise. Her mother was there, and her best friend, Katie, both over the moon for her. It all happened in a flash: she and Riley were at the park when Melissa saw a stranger approach Riley. She was up and over there in an instant. The women said something cruel to her, but she just blew it off and went and retrieved her coffee and returned home. They were both tired so when Riley went down for a nap, so did Melissa. Later, when Mike woke her up, he asked her where Riley was. That was how it began.

The evidence was stacking up against her. She knew she hadn’t harmed Riley but even she looked at what the police were gathering and wondered. It was a well-written thriller with the pieces coming together slowly. Melissa was an interesting character, still traumatized from the time she had been kidnapped and abused at three years old. She was relatively well adjusted, even following the breakup with her fiance, Patrick, over a year ago. It hurt, but she mad herself be happy. Then she met Charlie. The people who had Riley were playing the long game and they had though it all out. It was a well-written book, piggybacking on Melissa and Mike’s own story which Clark had written earlier. The characters were strong and the plot was frightening, just as it was supposed to be. Melissa was a lawyer and had a true crime podcast. She knew how to investigate and the reader was with her every step of the way. Good book.

I was invited to read a free e-ARC of Where Are The Children Now by Simon & Schuster, through Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are mine. #Netgalley #SimonAndSchuster #AlafairBurke #MaryHigginsClark #WhereAreTheChildrenNow