Warte, bis du schläfst

by Mary Higgins Clark, Andreas Gressmann (Übersetzer)

Zehn Jahre ist es her, dass Carolyns Bruder von einem Tag auf den anderen spurlos verschwand. Um der quälenden Ungewissheit über sein Schicksal endlich ein Ende zu bereiten, beginnt Carolyn zu recherchieren. Sie stößt auf ein fürchterliches Verbrechen in der Vergangenheit – und auf einen Täter, dem sie bereits viel zu nahe gekommen ist.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Thriller, Suspense, Mystery Thriller, Crime, Audiobook

416 pages, Paperback

First published April 8, 2008

About the author

The #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.

Reviews

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book, though the ending was disappointing. The author spent so much time building up to a finish, that when the finish came, it was quite a let down. I'm not talking a little let down, I mean really disappointing. The kind of thing where you finish reading and then look for the rest of the pages that obviously fell out of the book. She left the final scene until pretty much the last chapter. But then there was so much to finish off that it just said, "Okay, all these people are dead, all the bad guys are dead, and no, it doesn't matter that there was so much more going on in the book, we are just trying to finish inside our allotted pages so this is what you get."

I loved how the story got you involved, but if you are a reader who won't be able to separate your feelings about the ending from your feelings about the whole book, then you don't want to read this one.

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Charles MacKenzie Jr (Mac) went missing ten years ago. He had his whole life in front of him a senior at Colombia University who was about to graduate and go onto Duke University Law School. The bazaar thing is that every year Mac phones his mother on her birthday, his birthday and Mother’s Day he assures her that he is alright then hangs up before answering any of his mother’s questions.

Carolyn is Mac’s sister who is twenty six who is determined to find out where her brother disappeared to and why he never came back. Her search will lead her into another world of the unknown to people who have also gone missing who choose that life and of people who are no longer living. Will Carolyn find out where Mac has been all this time or will his disappearance remain a mystery?

An intriguing and enjoyable read that will keep you guessing to the end. Recommended.

[Ken · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’ve only recently come across best selling America author MHC because of the recent publication of I've Got My Eyes on You which I thoroughly enjoyed.

Finding a bestselling author with an extensive back catalogue can be a blessing or a curse, your second pick must be a good one...

I spotted three titles in a discount bookshop and obviously had to get them, the other titles being:
I’ve Got You Under My Skin
The Lost Years

This had the most interesting premise.
Caroline’s brother Mack disappeared 10 years ago and the only contact that the family has from him is a yearly phone calls on Mother’s Day.

I like crime stories with short chapters as they’re easier to enjoy during the working week, but with the inclusion of more and more characters dropping into the story it soon become unnecessarily convoluted and dull, I just lost interest.

I’m willing to give her another try and just hope that I’ve been a tad unlucky with my selection.

[Marchelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I always like Mary Higgins Clark because I know what I am getting. Since I have read so many of them, I am getting better at predicting who the "murderer" is, but I still find that I can't stop turning the pages to find if my guess is correct. She is a clean writer and gives me just enough suspense without making me too scared.

[Readaholic Jenn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mary Higgins Clark is truly the queen of suspense. This is such a great book. I love the characters and the ending is perfect.

[Misty · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't love nor hate this book.

I did like that the book was a page turner. I liked the short chapters allowing me to read 5 minutes here or 10 minutes there. I did like that it was an easy read for the situation I was in. I liked that the author included so many suspects. I did feel creepted out by the murderer thinking in first person. I did think it was blood and guts clean for a murder mystery.

I was disappointed in the main character, Carolyn. She wasn't very characteristic of what I imagine a privileged, graduated Columbia law student, want to be DA (indicating to me a fighter, self assured, slightly arrogant, hard working, driven-kind of girl), New Yorker would be. This girl had no sense of self preservation (as all NY women have to consider constantly). I didn't feel like she was investigating and thinking to match her education and experience working for a judge. She almost seemed more like a high school graduate to me-inexperienced, naive, not real assertive....

I thought the book was a little on the predictable side.

I also thought the epilogue was not very complete about tying up all the lose ends.

And, to learn Carolyn married Nick-again, high schoolish. To think of where she was in her life and where she wanted to go I was disappointed in this match. I thought he seemed like a stereo-typical club owner hitting on all the girls. I didn't see a lot of integrity in him. I thought he could of been more forthright with the police. It didn't help that as a college students, Mack-his best friend, didn't didn't think to highly of him for his sister.

[Siobhan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel as though the Mary Higgins Clark books are good for quick reads.

For me all her books seem to be three point five star books. They’re good if you want something quick to read and yet I never seem to enjoy them as much as I love other authors. They’re sort of just there for when I want something quick to read.

I think my main problem is that they all seem to be a lot of the same, in my opinion. Whether it is simply due to the selection of her books I have read or whether such is the case all over I cannot say. However, I only really recommend them if you want something quick.

For me they’re never all that gripping and I never really connect with the characters. Whilst she is good at making you question characters it is still quite easy to work out the mysteries well in advance. That is probably my biggest issue: the predictability of her books.

As I’ve said, for me they’re nothing spectacular but they do pass the time.

[Marie desJardins · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was one of the most boring books I have ever tried to read. It just drags, and rambles, and jumps around from character to character, without ever moving forward.

And in the end, the beloved brother who's been mysteriously bopping around and only calling once a year on Mother's Day IS DEAD ANYWAY, but the bad guys have been PRETENDING TO HAVE HIM CALL ON MOTHER'S DAY because WHO THE FRACK KNOWS WHY?? (Admittedly, I probably missed the reason why, because I could only force myself to read about a quarter of the book before I started skimming, and then just jumped ahead to the last few chapters to see whether there would have been any point in finishing it, WHICH THERE WASN'T.

Stay away. Stay far away.

[Rick · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked this up to see if I could decipher the key to Ms. Clark's longstanding success. I'm done and I still can't say I've deciphered that key. Formulaic with a very anticlimactic and unsatisfying ending...I can't recommend it. And I am certain Ms. Clark will weep bitter tears over this review as she counts her millions on her private jet.

[Devs :) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just finished my first 5 star read for 2021! It was so good! I was very skeptical about reading it, since I didn't like the previous Mary Higgins Clark book I read. But this was so much different and I loved it. Yes towards a 100 pages in I started suspecting one person in the book, and yes that person was involved in the crime. But the other person, no.. I didn't even imagine. I loved how it ended, everything where it should be. Was great!✨

[Tristi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fans of Mary Higgins Clark know she has her formula. Her first four books didn't seem to be as formulaic, but ever since then, there are certain things we watch for. The mentally-incompetent person who knows something, but is being protected and told to shush, and when they finally talk, it's the clue to the whole case. We watch for the mentions of clothing and food (during the 1980's, the heroines wore capes and boots, and ate pasta and crusty bread with green salad and wine) We also know that it's the person we trust the most that has something to do with the crime, and it's the love interest that the heroine doubts, and then ends up with. So, because we know all this, why do we keep going back for more?

Despite the formula that we all know by heart, Clark captures our imagination with the variety of settings in which she places the formula. In this book, Carolyn, our main character, has a brother named Mack who disappeared ten years ago. He calls every Mother's Day to tell his family not to worry, but he's not ready to come home. This year, though, Carolyn becomes angry at Mack's selfishness and tells him she's going to find him. Mack sends her a note, telling her that she must not try to find him. This further fuels her determination, and sets off a chain of events that drive a wedge between Carolyn and her mother.

I pegged the bad guy pretty much from the first, but it was interesting to see all the little threads come together, including one element I hadn't figured out. No, I'm not giving clues -- you'll have to read the book.

I enjoyed the story quite a bit and would have given it another star had it veered away from the formula a bit more. I haven't been really surprised by a Clark in years, but again, I enjoy the interactions of the characters and I appreciate the clean storylines and suspense without graphic descriptions. Clark is a legend, and for good reason.

[Terri ♥ (aka Mrs. Christian Grey) · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s been a while since I’ve read a MHC book. However, I wasn’t surprised to enjoy it.

Though there was very little if any in the way of romance, it wasn’t needed. I spend much of my time guessing who done it until I didn’t.

This was a solid read with a solid narrator.

[Francesca Hurley · Rating 5 out of 5]

this is a really good book. when mack disappears, the police suspect he's the reason why 4 other young women disappear in the next ten years. so when mack sends his sister a note saying not to look for him, it just make carolyn all the more determined. i wont spoil the ending, but i suggest that if you like to read about missing people or such, then it's a good book to read.

[Kelley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Couldn't put it down

[Just Me · Rating 1 out of 5]

Mary Higgins Clark should have stopped writing books when people stopped wearing dungarees. Seriously. She called them that.

[Sylvia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book!! Great story!! Love this author's books!!

[Richard Dominguez · Rating 3 out of 5]

My first read of a Clark novel, it was ok

[Erica · Rating 2 out of 5]

Predictible. I think her books have really gone downhill but I'll continue to read them I'm sure. I have read all of her books to date. She churns them out too quickly...a good fluff book though I guess.

Summary from Amazon:
It has been ten years since twenty-one-year-old Charles
MacKenzie Jr. ("Mack") went missing. A Columbia University senior, about to
graduate and already accepted at Duke University Law School, he walked out
of his apartment on Manhattan's Upper West Side without a word to his
college roommates and has never been seen again. However, he does make one
ritual phone call to his mother every year: on Mother's Day. Each time, he
assures her he is fine, refuses to answer her frantic questions, then hangs
up. Even the death of his father, a corporate lawyer, in the tragedy of 9/11
does not bring him home or break the pattern of his calls. Mack's sister,
Carolyn, is now twenty-six, a law school graduate, and has just finished her
clerkship for a civil court judge in Manhattan. She has endured two family
tragedies, yet she realizes that she will never be able to have closure and
get on with her life until she finds her brother. She resolves to discover
what happened to Mack and why he has found it necessary to hide from them.
So this year when Mack makes his annual Mother's Day call, Carolyn
interrupts to announce her intention to track him down, no matter what it
takes. The next morning after Mass, her uncle, Monsignor Devon MacKenzie,
receives a scrawled message left in the collection basket: "Uncle Devon,
tell Carolyn she must not look for me." Mack's cryptic warning does nothing
to deter his sister from taking up the search, despite the angry reaction of
her mother, Olivia, and the polite disapproval of Elliott Wallace, Carolyn's
honorary uncle, who is clearly in love with Olivia. Carolyn's pursuit of the
truth about Mack's disappearance swiftly plunges her into a world of
unexpected danger and unanswered questions. What is the secret that Gus and
Lil Kramer, the superintendents of the building in which Mack was living,
have to hide? What do Mack's old roommates, the charismatic club owner Nick
DeMarco and the cold and wealthy real estate tycoon Bruce Galbraith, know
about Mack's disappearance? Is Nick connected to the disappearance of Leesey
Andrews, who had last been seen in his trendy club? Can the police possibly
believe that Mack is not only alive, but a serial killer, a shadowy predator
of young women? Was Mack also guilty of the brutal murder of his drama
teacher and the theft of his taped sessions with her? Carolyn's passionate
search for the truth about her brother -- and for her brother himself --
leads her into a deadly confrontation with someone close to her whose secret
he cannot allow her to reveal

[Kim · Rating 2 out of 5]

Having read several Mary Higgins Clark books I can say this is not one of my favorites. The plot line was a little bizzare and weak. A man disappeared and for ten years calls his family once a year, on Mother's Day. It appears that he hangs up if questioned during the call and only says what he wants to say. It was obvious to me early on that there was something strange in the calls and I was right. The answer was a little surprising, but only because there were severall plausible characters and not many that I could truly like as a good person.

[Noella · Rating 3 out of 5]

Spannend boek, tot het einde worden een heleboel personen verdacht van de ontvoering en mogelijk moord op verschillende personen. Maar wat ik in andere reviews al las, is inderdaad waar: het einde, de ontknoping, wordt in enkele bladzijden afgeraffeld. En dit vond ik wel een serieus minpunt, alhoewel ik het boek graag gelezen heb en het verhaal best wel goed is.

[Bruno · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5*

Mais um cartucho policial de Mary Higgins Clark que não me deixou desiludido, o final apanhou-me totalmente desprevenido, os suspeitos eram muitos! Gostei!

[Aerykah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Would have probably given this 4 stars of I had liked the ending better. As it is though, I'm left feeling a bit let down. It's almost like I haven't actually finished the book yet...


Note of Warning: For the readers out there who are looking for a clean/Christian read, this is not Christian fiction-- there isn't any sex or anything, but there is some bad language in this book.

[Héléna.O · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75/5

First time reading Mary Higgins Clark's books (aka Queen of Suspense).
Easy to ready (even if English isn't your mothertongue!) with a good and catching plot, and great characters.

However, to me, the mix all of these good ingredients failed to make it a sensationnal book.

Indeed, the reveal of the killer is disappointing and nothing help us to investigate properly to find him (which, personally, I love to do). Moreover, like other reviews of this book, it seems like we are rushing to reach an ending point to the mystery which made me feel event more bitter and frustated by the end.

N.B.: In a near future I'll try to read another Mary Higgins Clark's book (already have a few of them on my bookshelf.)

[Becca Younk · Rating 3 out of 5]

What I like about this book is that it doesn't dwell on the main character's thoughts and feelings constantly, it keeps the action moving and the camera rolling through multiple people as the plot thickens and then unravels. What I didn't like was the reveal. I don't know, it was just sort of a letdown. And the last chapter really felt like a juvenile epilogue: And they all lived happily ever after.

[Doreen Del Rosario · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sad, but true, this is the first Mary Higgins Clark mystery I’ve ever read. This is the way they should be written—multi-layered, intricate plot, the reader guessing until the very end, only to find out you’re wrong. I’ve never been a big mystery fan and find many of today’s writers overrated. Now that I’ve finally read one of the queen’s books, I’ve got some serious catching up to do. And I read it in 4 days!

[مهشید · Rating 2 out of 5]

در مجموع، مشکل این نویسنده گره‌گشایی‌های ضعیف داستانه که اثر رو کم ارزش می‌کنه .شروع داستان تا نیمه جذاب و قابل کشش بود‌. اما گره‌گشایی منطق ضعیفی داشت.

[Alexie LD · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tres bon mais la fin est bof, semble vraiment rushed

[Carlo Hublet · Rating 3 out of 5]

Je ne me rappelle pas si j'avais déjà lu cette auteure connue de la planète entière. Pour combler ce vide, choisi un roman au hasard. Plaisant..Ecriture simple, directe, vivante. Et une intrigue qui accroche, une soeur qui tente de retrouver un frère disparu depuis dix ans mais laisse des messages une fois l'an. Pas de grande surprise, mais délassant. Dommage que la fin soit trop "deus ex machina" et bâclée.

[Mitch Reynolds · Rating 4 out of 5]

Where Are You Now? (2008) by Mary Higgins Clark is an enthralling read which holds your interest throughout.

The plot follows 26-year-old law graduate Carolyn MacKenzie whose older brother Mack went missing ten years previously. However, each year she and her mother receive a message on Mother’s Day from Mack. In the decade since Mack has mysteriously disappeared, seemingly out of nowhere, Carolyn’s and Mack’s father has passed away in the 9/11 attacks. Following a possible sighting of her brother and a note left by Mack warning Carolyn to stay away, Carolyn is on a mission to find out what really happened once and for all and to try to put some closure on the torment and pain she has felt since he has been gone. Her mission brings her into much danger from those who don’t want her poking her nose into the past and finding out secrets related to Mack’s disappearance and for their own reasons separate from it. While Carolyn begins her investigations, a young woman Leesey Andrews goes missing and it soon becomes apparent that the two cases are connected in one way or another.

I really like Carolyn as a character. I think her passion and strength drives a lot of this book forward and you find yourself rooting for her to complete her mission and find some peace. The plot is incredibly engrossing and flows with a gorgeously interesting ease from page to page. The cast of suspects is wide and we learn so much about each of them as well as the family and those missing. My only downside to this book is that I could partly work out from the page I met one of those involved that they were involved. Not meaning to give too much away but there is one than one person involved. I got one part of it and I felt it was very obvious. That was a shame because otherwise this book is splendid but sadly the killer cannot be obvious and one part of this reveal was from very early on. However that aside, I found this a very enjoyable read. I loved the main character which really made the book very character-driven in a way which I absolutely love. I couldn’t stop turning the pages and hearing more about these characters’ lives and what they were hiding.

A really entertaining page-turner filled with love of family and great descriptions and plot.

[Aini Akmalia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Could you imagine how bizarre the feeling when your brother disappeared all of a sudden, and only make a phone call only on Mother's Day, and assured the family that he's doing well?

Charles McKenzie Jr. (known as "Mack" in this book) disappeared ten years ago shortly after his 21st birthday. Every year on Mother's Day he rings his mother and assures her that he is fine. Even when his father died on 9/11, he didn't emerge from hiding.

And now his sister Carolyn Mackenzie has had enough. She is determined to find Mack and when he calls his mother on Mother's Day, she interrupts and announces her intention to locate him.

Her search for Mack triggers a number of events including it seems the disappearance of a young woman, like Mack when he disappeared, on the eve of graduation. The connections with Mack's own disappearance are too coincidental to ignore.

This isn't what I call a "strong" book, but I totally enjoy the whole story. I simply love it. The ending part is so sweet; Mack was found dead because he wanted to take responsibility for what he had done, and Carolyn ended up together with Nick DeMarco and their son was named after Mack's. One of big lessons I learned from this book is how much people appreciate someone that no longer exist around them. You will be automatically flashing back all the sweet memories and his/her good deeds, until sometimes you feel he/she is the best person in the world.

I am a new fan of Mary Higgins Clark (since this is my first read of hers), so will say no more, I just love her books. She's one of the handful of authors I will actually read one by one. I think part of her appeal for me, apart from her speedy plots, are that the main character is always such a nice woman who is independent, capable, honorable, etc - just what I would love to be (or have been).

Yes, the book is formulaic, but for this reader, highly superior and enjoyable formula.