A Stranger Is Watching

This early Mary Higgins Clark thriller raises questions about capital punishment and the justice system as it builds suspense. As the execution of a man convicted of his wife's murder nears, the fiancée and son of attorney Steve Peterson are kidnapped and stashed in a hidden room at New York's Grand Central Station. The kidnapping leaves Peterson doubting his friends and neighbors, and raises doubts about the impending execution. Richard Ferrone reads the mystery with a sinister voice that creates an air of menace and a chilling mood. The kidnapper's plan, which may have seemed unlikely in 1977 when this novel was published, may strike some listeners as too believable in the current climate of terrorist threats. J.A.S. (c) AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine

A young mother's murder, witnessed by her only child, a kidnapping and a perverted psychopath--these are the potent ingredients Mary Higgins Clark mixes up and presents in one of her trademark thrillers. However, Mary Peiffer does a poor job of delivering this bag of tricks. Peiffer's vocal choices are annoying, particularly when her tone of voice doesn't match the text. The accents and speech patterns of the street people, who have an important role in the story, sound like comic relief. Eventually, everyone sounds the same; however it is a gripping story. S.G.B. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine