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The Night Awakens: A Mystery Writers of America Anthology
The crowned Queen of Suspense, #1 New York Times bestselling author Mary Higgins Clark invites a star-studded cast of authors to share original stories of men and women joined in love...and driven to murder.
Sarah Shankman puts a chilling new spin on payback in "All You Need Is Love." In "Widower's Walk," Joseph Hansen slaps a rancher with a cold wake-up call out on the trail. Loren D. Estleman cuts a honeymoon short when a bride learns she's married to the mob in "Something Borrowed, Something Black." Brendan DuBois drives a brother to the road to revenge in his story, "Sibling Rivalry." In Sally Gunning's "The Perils of Pond Scum," jealousy leads to a murderous extreme. In "Afraid of the Dark," Nancy Pickard exposes the truth behind the headlines as a young love leads to old-fashioned homicide. A panoply of other renowned writers spellbind us with the seductive charms of love, lust, and other lethal attractions.
Sarah Shankman puts a chilling new spin on payback in "All You Need Is Love." In "Widower's Walk," Joseph Hansen slaps a rancher with a cold wake-up call out on the trail. Loren D. Estleman cuts a honeymoon short when a bride learns she's married to the mob in "Something Borrowed, Something Black." Brendan DuBois drives a brother to the road to revenge in his story, "Sibling Rivalry." In Sally Gunning's "The Perils of Pond Scum," jealousy leads to a murderous extreme. In "Afraid of the Dark," Nancy Pickard exposes the truth behind the headlines as a young love leads to old-fashioned homicide. A panoply of other renowned writers spellbind us with the seductive charms of love, lust, and other lethal attractions.
303 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published March 1, 1998
3 people are currently reading
476 people want to read
About the author
Mary Higgins Clark
630 books13.5k followersThe #1 New York Times bestselling author Mary Higgins Clark has written thirty-eight 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. With her daughter Carol Higgins Clark, she has coauthored five more suspense novels. Her sister-in-law is the also author Mary Jane Clark.
Clark’s books have sold more than 100 million copies in the United States alone. Her books are beloved around the world and made her an international bestseller many times over.
Clark’s books have sold more than 100 million copies in the United States alone. Her books are beloved around the world and made her an international bestseller many times over.
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
April 11, 2010
The Night Awakens is an anthology of shorts stories by different authors. They are well done, sprinkled with madness and love. Some are about a jealous lover who wants to kill, others about an overly protective friend who doesn’t want to be left without money. One is about a reporter who hates her job, and how her fear of the dark gives her boss an idea to commit a murder. The other is about an underpaid employee who is abused by his boss and how with a witch helps him get the upper hand. Overall it’s a great read.
June 3, 2014
Not bad. Better than I expected. Some stories were good others not so good.
May 20, 2019
CONTENTS
"Introduction" - Mary Higgins Clark
"The Perils of Pond Scum" - Sally Gunning
"Widower's Walk" - Joseph Hansen
"All You Need Is Love" - Sarah Shankman
"Afraid of the Dark" - Nancy Pickard
"Go Quietly into the Day" - Eleanor Taylor Bland
"Sibling Rivalry" - Brendan DuBois
"The Haggard Society" - Edward D. Hoch
"Something Borrowed, Something Black" - Loren D. Estleman
"The Witch and Uncle Harry" - Angela Zeman
"Delta Double-Deal" - Noreen Ayres
The Night Awakens is one of the more-or-less annual anthologies issued by the Mystery Writers of America. Not all of these have themes, but this one ostensibly does. The back cover says that the editor of this volume, Mary Higgins Clark, writes "brilliant, breathtaking tales that delve into the deepest affairs of the heart, the darkest crimes of passion." And the material on the cover goes on to say, "Now, in that same haunting tradition, [Clark] invites a star-studded cast of top contemporary authors to share original stories of man and women joined in love...and driven to murder."
Some of the stories fulfill that theme, others do not. Two of the stories have no violence at all; one of those does not even include a crime. "Go Quietly into the Day" by Eleanor Taylor Bland is about a little girl who wanders from her Vietnamese community in Massachusetts in search of her favorite teacher, who has had to retire due to illness. The child's mother had died after a long illness and the girl finds her teacher's sickness very upsetting. This is a sweet story, rendered more complex by making one of the main characters an African-American woman who has family problems of her own. (This has the feel of being part of a series, but as far as I know, it is not.)
The other story without any mention of violence is "The Witch and Uncle Harry" by Angela Zeman, part of Zeman's series about Mrs. Risk and Rachel, two (very) unofficial detectives. Harry is a stamp and coin dealer who works for "the witch," a woman who bullies him constantly. Harry has fallen in love, but a secret in his life may keep him from a happy marriage.
In two of the other stories, the love is not romantic, but rather between siblings. One of these is Brendan DuBois's tale "Sibling Rivalry." A brother and sister have had scant contact for years, but now the brother has moved back to New England to be near his sister. The sister is a police officer; the brother is...not.
The other siblings, in "The Haggard Society" by Edward D. Hoch, are also a brother and sister, long separated and now meeting again. The brother has some mysterious connection with an organization that appears to be devoted to the writings of author H. Rider Haggard.
I believe that Hoch makes a deliberate reference to the 1935 film version of The Thirty-Nine Steps. In that film, the secret of the nefarious plot is revealed when at a public event the hero asks the man who has the information,
"What are the Thirty-Nine Steps? Come on! Answer up! What are the Thirty-Nine Steps?"
And the man begins to reply,
"The Thirty-Nine Steps is an organization of spies, collecting information on behalf of the foreign office of..."
He is shot before he can speak further.
In "The Haggard Society," at a public meeting the sister asks,
"What is the Haggard Society?"
The brother replies,
"The Haggard Society is a criminal conspiracy to provide arson for hire, using anonymous agents to carry out contracts arranged by Martin Grist and his wife."
And then someone attempts to shoot the brother.
"Something Borrowed, Something Black" is a very disappointing story by the talented author Loren D. Estleman. A couple's honeymoon is interrupted by former business associates of the groom, whose former business is not what the bride has been lead to believe.
Nancy Pickard once wrote an excellent story titled "Afraid All the Time." Her story in this anthology, "Afraid of the Dark," is, I think, not nearly as good. A female reporter is assigned to do a story on ghost towns in Kansas, some of which are underground, stays at an inn in an exotic animal farm, gets involved in a murder, and falls in love. There is a nice giraffe at the farm.
In "The Perils of Pond Scum" (a terrible title) by Sally Gunning, a woman goes to a remote lake with her physically abusive lover, who turns out to be more dangerous than she thought. But luckily there is another guy in the next cabin... This could have been a much better story.
Hack Bohannon is a rancher and former law officer in a series by Joseph Hansen. In "Widower's Walk," Bohannon is convinced that a man accused of murder is not guilty. This is one of the best stories in the book.
"Delta Double-Deal" by Noreen Ayres is also an entry in a series. Cisroe Perkins is a private investigator in Houston. In this story, he is hired to find his female client's brother. He does that easily, but then the brother is murdered. Almost all the characters in the story are African-American and Cisroe, who narrates, records the dialogue in this manner:
"Some women go outta they way to find somebody ta whack 'em... Ever' body got a choice wever to walk in dry socks or piss in they boots and whine about it."
This story was nominated for a "Best Short Story" Edgar Award.
My favorite story in the book is Sarah Shankman's "All You Need Is Love." Every time that the woman who is the main character has loved anyone or anything, things have gone wrong. She became something of a recluse. Forced by circumstances to find a new place to live, she finds both a house and a man that she loves. And, as she says, "One does what one has to do, for love."
The cover, depicting a body dripping blood onto a heart, is by Ben Perini.
This is not a great collection, but some of the stories are quite good.
"Introduction" - Mary Higgins Clark
"The Perils of Pond Scum" - Sally Gunning
"Widower's Walk" - Joseph Hansen
"All You Need Is Love" - Sarah Shankman
"Afraid of the Dark" - Nancy Pickard
"Go Quietly into the Day" - Eleanor Taylor Bland
"Sibling Rivalry" - Brendan DuBois
"The Haggard Society" - Edward D. Hoch
"Something Borrowed, Something Black" - Loren D. Estleman
"The Witch and Uncle Harry" - Angela Zeman
"Delta Double-Deal" - Noreen Ayres
The Night Awakens is one of the more-or-less annual anthologies issued by the Mystery Writers of America. Not all of these have themes, but this one ostensibly does. The back cover says that the editor of this volume, Mary Higgins Clark, writes "brilliant, breathtaking tales that delve into the deepest affairs of the heart, the darkest crimes of passion." And the material on the cover goes on to say, "Now, in that same haunting tradition, [Clark] invites a star-studded cast of top contemporary authors to share original stories of man and women joined in love...and driven to murder."
Some of the stories fulfill that theme, others do not. Two of the stories have no violence at all; one of those does not even include a crime. "Go Quietly into the Day" by Eleanor Taylor Bland is about a little girl who wanders from her Vietnamese community in Massachusetts in search of her favorite teacher, who has had to retire due to illness. The child's mother had died after a long illness and the girl finds her teacher's sickness very upsetting. This is a sweet story, rendered more complex by making one of the main characters an African-American woman who has family problems of her own. (This has the feel of being part of a series, but as far as I know, it is not.)
The other story without any mention of violence is "The Witch and Uncle Harry" by Angela Zeman, part of Zeman's series about Mrs. Risk and Rachel, two (very) unofficial detectives. Harry is a stamp and coin dealer who works for "the witch," a woman who bullies him constantly. Harry has fallen in love, but a secret in his life may keep him from a happy marriage.
In two of the other stories, the love is not romantic, but rather between siblings. One of these is Brendan DuBois's tale "Sibling Rivalry." A brother and sister have had scant contact for years, but now the brother has moved back to New England to be near his sister. The sister is a police officer; the brother is...not.
The other siblings, in "The Haggard Society" by Edward D. Hoch, are also a brother and sister, long separated and now meeting again. The brother has some mysterious connection with an organization that appears to be devoted to the writings of author H. Rider Haggard.
I believe that Hoch makes a deliberate reference to the 1935 film version of The Thirty-Nine Steps. In that film, the secret of the nefarious plot is revealed when at a public event the hero asks the man who has the information,
"What are the Thirty-Nine Steps? Come on! Answer up! What are the Thirty-Nine Steps?"
And the man begins to reply,
"The Thirty-Nine Steps is an organization of spies, collecting information on behalf of the foreign office of..."
He is shot before he can speak further.
In "The Haggard Society," at a public meeting the sister asks,
"What is the Haggard Society?"
The brother replies,
"The Haggard Society is a criminal conspiracy to provide arson for hire, using anonymous agents to carry out contracts arranged by Martin Grist and his wife."
And then someone attempts to shoot the brother.
"Something Borrowed, Something Black" is a very disappointing story by the talented author Loren D. Estleman. A couple's honeymoon is interrupted by former business associates of the groom, whose former business is not what the bride has been lead to believe.
Nancy Pickard once wrote an excellent story titled "Afraid All the Time." Her story in this anthology, "Afraid of the Dark," is, I think, not nearly as good. A female reporter is assigned to do a story on ghost towns in Kansas, some of which are underground, stays at an inn in an exotic animal farm, gets involved in a murder, and falls in love. There is a nice giraffe at the farm.
In "The Perils of Pond Scum" (a terrible title) by Sally Gunning, a woman goes to a remote lake with her physically abusive lover, who turns out to be more dangerous than she thought. But luckily there is another guy in the next cabin... This could have been a much better story.
Hack Bohannon is a rancher and former law officer in a series by Joseph Hansen. In "Widower's Walk," Bohannon is convinced that a man accused of murder is not guilty. This is one of the best stories in the book.
"Delta Double-Deal" by Noreen Ayres is also an entry in a series. Cisroe Perkins is a private investigator in Houston. In this story, he is hired to find his female client's brother. He does that easily, but then the brother is murdered. Almost all the characters in the story are African-American and Cisroe, who narrates, records the dialogue in this manner:
"Some women go outta they way to find somebody ta whack 'em... Ever' body got a choice wever to walk in dry socks or piss in they boots and whine about it."
This story was nominated for a "Best Short Story" Edgar Award.
My favorite story in the book is Sarah Shankman's "All You Need Is Love." Every time that the woman who is the main character has loved anyone or anything, things have gone wrong. She became something of a recluse. Forced by circumstances to find a new place to live, she finds both a house and a man that she loves. And, as she says, "One does what one has to do, for love."
The cover, depicting a body dripping blood onto a heart, is by Ben Perini.
This is not a great collection, but some of the stories are quite good.
May 15, 2021
I guess I am not a short-story person. I did not enjoy most of these stories.
June 18, 2020
Some of the stories were really good, some of their endings were not that good.
My favorites are " The perils if pound scum", "Afraid of the dark", "Go quietly into the day", "All you need is love", " Sibling Rivarly" and " The Haggard society".
My favorites are " The perils if pound scum", "Afraid of the dark", "Go quietly into the day", "All you need is love", " Sibling Rivarly" and " The Haggard society".
May 19, 2019
I’ve had this assortment of short stories on my shelf for eons. Some were great and others were ... not.
September 15, 2019
ok book
May 5, 2021
Nice garage sale find
May 30, 2021
I absolutely love Mary Higgins Clark and when I came across this book I was excited. Then I started to read it and realized she didn’t write one single story in it. All the stories couldn’t hold my attention. I thought the stories were horrible. So if you love her books, great. Just don’t bother with this one.
April 1, 2025
Il y a dans ce recueil de nouvelles, comme j’ai pu le lire dans d’autres commentaires, des écrits de qualité très inégales. Étonnamment, puisque ça a quand même été publié par Marie Higgins Clark, je dirais que 50 % sont plutôt médiocres, voire carrément mauvaises. Par exemple, une affaire de famille qui était catastrophique. Heureusement, certaines nouvelles sortent du lot.
July 20, 2024
DNF'ed it. 2.5 ⭐
It's short and not bad but most of the stories were too slow for short novels. I didn't really know where it was going until I reached the end and some didn't even feel like thrillers. A couple of good stories in there tho.
It's short and not bad but most of the stories were too slow for short novels. I didn't really know where it was going until I reached the end and some didn't even feel like thrillers. A couple of good stories in there tho.
November 27, 2024
Like most anthologies, these stories varied widely in appeal. Of the ten stories, I rated one 1 star, two 2 stars, four 3 stars, one 4 stars, and two 5 stars. My favorites were the stories by Hansen, Shankman, and Hoch.
December 23, 2021
Nice set of short stories
January 21, 2022
Read this collection of short stories years ago
May 13, 2022
Love these short stories!
May 16, 2022
sOME WERE OUTSTANDING; SOME WERE SOSO. DEPENDS ON YOUR PERSONAL PREFERENCE.
September 18, 2022
Ce n'est pas un thriller
July 19, 2025
I choked down the first 5 stories and I cant bring myself to read anymore. The best part of this book was the introduction.
June 29, 2010
I liked the authors in this anthology, read like old school mysteries, right to the point, solid storylines, and very little romance to take away from the plot. A good book to read when you're in a reading rut or can't decide what to read next.
June 23, 2009
A pretty good collection of short stories introduced by Mary Higgins Clark. I especially enjoyed "All You Need Is Love" by Sarah Shankman.
February 18, 2010
A collection of short stories by various authors. Very disappointed. None of the authors have the depth or talent of Mary Higgins Clark.
October 10, 2011
I enjoyed this collection of short stories, all by authors I had never read before.
October 13, 2013
a great compilations of different writers in mystery-murder genre that introduced by the mystery-suspense queen writer- Ms. Mary Higgins Clark..^_^..hope you like it because I really do..<3..
January 13, 2014
A collection of mystery short stories: some very amusing and some fall flat. An interesting read all in all.
Read
March 19, 2015It was ok. It was a good book for me to read at the time as work was very busy and the stories were short.
Read
August 23, 2018Read "Sibling Rivalry" by Brendan DuBois
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews