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No Place Like Home
No Place Like Home
Author: Mary Higgins Clark
In a riveting new thriller from America's Queen of Suspense, a young woman is ensnared into returning to a place she had wanted to leave behind forever -- her childhood home. There, at the age of ten, Liza Barton had shot her mother, trying desperately to protect her from her estranged step-father, Ted Cartwright. Despite his claim that the shoo...  more »
Info icon
ISBN-13: 9780743264891
ISBN-10: 0743264894
Publication Date: 2005
Pages: 384
Rating:
  • Currently 3.9/5 Stars.
 254

3.9 stars, based on 254 ratings
Publisher: Simon Schuster
Book Type: Hardcover
Other Versions: Paperback, Audio CD
Reviews: Member | Amazon | Write a Review

Top Member Book Reviews

scrapbooklady avatar reviewed No Place Like Home on + 472 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 4
Clark's books have been reduced to simplistic, predictable formulas with little innovation or creativity to spark them to life. Even the villain was predictable given Clark's over-worn habit of repeatedly choosing the same character type as the villain.

The plot depends on a series of highly improbably coincidences bordering on the absurd. The characters are stereotypes from her previous novels. Clark does remain exceedingly good at writing a flowing, rhythmic narrative. At times I found myself yelling at the heroine because she made so many dumb moves guaranteed to have a bad outcome.

Clark remains one of my favorite authors, but I feel she didn't work very hard earning her paycheck on this book.
reviewed No Place Like Home on + 149 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
Clark's clever use of a bit of New Jersey real estate code fits perfectly into her usual formula for minting bestsellers in a novel about past deadly secrets coming to haunt the present. At One Old Mill Lane, in Mendham, N.J., 10-year-old Liza Barton wakes to find her stepfather, Ted Cartwright, attacking her mother, Audrey. Liza grabs a gun in defense, but in the ensuing melee Audrey is killed and Ted is wounded. Dubbed "Little Lizzie Borden," Liza is taken away and almost convicted of murdering her mother and attempting to kill the lying, scheming Ted. Twenty-four years later, Liza, now known as Celia Foster Nolan, has just been presented with a surprise birthday present from her new husband, Alex: the house at One Old Mill Lane. Alex doesn't know Celia is really Liza, and he doesn't know the house's grim pastâbut thanks to a real estate code obligating agents to notify prospective buyers if a house could be considered "stigmatized property," he's about to find out about the latter at least. As Celia fights to keep her dark secret hidden, their real estate agent turns up dead. More folks are killed and Celia comes under suspicion. But in typical Clark style, most of the characters look a little guilty. Some readers will get annoyed by Celia's tendency to do things that reinforce the cops' suspicions, but Clark's steadfast fans will suspend all necessary disbelief and play along
reviewed No Place Like Home on + 193 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
This one was one of the best. could not resist the desire to keep turning the pages. Ignore the need to do the chores, just read the words and enjoy.
reviewed No Place Like Home on + 10 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Mary Higgins Clark did it again! This book kept me in surprise the whole time and always had me guessing who did "it?" If you like her other books you must read this one. This lady has a talent for suspenseful writing.

The story is about a litte girl, Lizzy, who accidentally shoots her mother trying to protect her from the stepfather. The murder is ruled an accident but town gives her the name Lizzy Borden. She is adopted by new parents who change her entire identity and allow her to begin a new life. As an adult she is widowed with a son but is happily remarrying a lawyer who gives her a huge gift... the house she killed her mother in!
carolceltic avatar reviewed No Place Like Home on + 41 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
love this book ... awesome story my first book by her not my last.
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bookdeejay avatar reviewed No Place Like Home on + 132 more book reviews
The murder of a fifteen year old girl haunts the whole family. When the killer has served his time, her sister does everything she can to keep him in prison. His wealthy family can pay off as many people as they want, but that won't make him innocent. Laying the blame on a simple minded man won't do it either. She cannot let him harm anyone else. Her obsession with proving his guilt to the world bears fruit when she discovers that this wasn't the first time he killed. Things get dangerous for her before she proves he is what she always believed him to be, a cold-blooded murderer. With the proof comes peace and some healing of her family.
reviewed No Place Like Home on + 3 more book reviews
great book. MHC is one of the best. She out did her self once again. Made you feel as you were there.
reviewed No Place Like Home on + 320 more book reviews
MHC. Need I say more
reviewed No Place Like Home on + 92 more book reviews
This book had so many twists and turns. I suspected everyone and couldn't put it all together until the very end. I like that, the suspence, the danger, the conclusion!
bookworm01 avatar reviewed No Place Like Home on + 138 more book reviews
Absolutely fantastic book! I loved the Lizzie Borden angle!
reviewed No Place Like Home on + 12 more book reviews
This book was interesting. I liked it, but It seemed a little far fetched. But, then that's why it's a work of fiction and not reality!
tigers9494 avatar reviewed No Place Like Home on + 49 more book reviews
This one is my #1 Mary Higgins Clark book! Sometimes it takes me a while to read a book, but I dove right in to this one & loved it!
reviewed No Place Like Home on + 23 more book reviews
I really enjoyed reading this book. It had a lot of suspense for me. I had to keep reading, and just when I had thought I new who the killer was something would happen to that person. Great ending! A must read
reviewed No Place Like Home on + 10 more book reviews
Mary Higgins Clark is a great storyteller. I really enjoyed this book from its first page to the last. Great plotting, plenty of action and intrigue. A must read!
reviewed No Place Like Home on + 50 more book reviews
Ten year old Liza Barton shoots her mother while trying to protect her from her violent husband - Liza's stepfather. While the death is ruled accidental, the tabloids still compare Liza to the child murderess Lizzie Borden. Liza's adoptive parents change her name to Celia and try to erase all traces of her past. Widowed after a brief marriage in which she had a son, Jack, she remarries a young lawyer. Celia is happy until, on her birthday, he presents her with a gift - the house where she killed her mother. On moving in, they find the words LITTLE LIZZIE'S PLACE - BEWARE painted in red letters on their lawn. When the real estate agent who sold the house to her husband is murdered, she becomes a suspect. As she struggles to prove her innocence, Celia and her little son are being stalked by the killer.

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People/Characters
Liza Barton (Primary Character)

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