Product Description

Mary Higgins Clark, America's most beloved writer of suspense, has crafted a very special story about a child's courage in the face of danger, and the power of love....

When Catherine Dornan's husband, Tom, is diagnosed with leukemia, she and their two young sons travel with him to New York during the holiday season for a lifesaving operation. On Christmas Eve, hoping to lift the boys' spirits, Catherine takes them to see Rockefeller Center's famous Christmas tree, where seven-year-old Brian notices a woman taking his mother's wallet. A St. Christopher medal tucked inside the wallet saved his grandfather's life in World War II, and Brian believes with all his heart that it will protect his father now. Impulsively, Brian follows the thief into the subway, and the most dangerous adventure of his young life begins....

Charged with menace and thrilling suspense, Silent Night is Mary Higgins Clark's Christmas gift to readers for all seasons.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #58810 in Books
• Published on: 1996-11-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 192 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Clark's suspenseful Christmas tale spent 13 weeks on PW's bestseller list.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
YA?It is Christmas Eve in New York City when Brian, a determined seven year old, follows the thief who took his mother's wallet, hoping to retrieve the St. Christopher's medal that he believes will save his father, who has leukemia, just as it saved his grandfather in World War II. However, the child is kidnapped by a vicious escaped convict who needs a hostage. The central characters come to life rapidly as the fast-moving story quickly builds suspense. Teens will appreciate the realistic, paradoxical description of the relationship between Brian and his older brother: caring, concerned, and name-calling at the same time. Although readers know that the ending will be a happy one, they won't expect the coincidences and the touching holiday details.?Claudia Moore, W.T. Woodson High School, Fairfax, VA
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Clark's latest, a svelte 160 pages, crams lots of intensity and suspense into little space. The story is about seven-year-old Brian Dornan, whose leukemia-stricken dad is convalescing in a New York hospital. Brian, walking to the hospital with his mom, sees a woman pick up the wallet his mother has accidentally dropped. The wallet contains a St. Christopher medal that Brian is convinced will help make his dad okay again, so when the woman takes off, Brian follows. Unfortunately, the woman is Cally Hunter, sister of escaped convict Jimmy Siddons, who winds up taking Brian hostage. There's the requisite dose of what's-gonna-happen suspense and an ending that's smarmy and unsurprising, but Clark's legion of fans seem to tolerate those qualities easily. This smooth novelette is certain to be popular in spite of--or possibly because of--its tendency to sound like a cross between a Danielle Steel story and a TV movie. Emily Melton

Customer Reviews

GOOD HOLIDAY READ!
Catherine Dornan appears to have it all--a comfortable lifestyle, a loving husband and two wonderful little boys. Then her physician husband falls ill with a life-threatening illness. The boys' grandmother gives them a St. Christopher medal--that saved her husband's life in World War II--and instructs them to give it to their father, and it will make him well. Although skeptical, Catherine Dornan does as her mother instructs and places the St. Christopher medal in her wallet for safekeeping. Little Brian Dornan however, the youngest of the two boys, is relying on that medal to make his father well again. So when he spots a woman pick up his mother's wallet from off of the ground while at Rockefeller center listening to Christmas carols, he takes off in hot pursuit. Brian has no idea what is waiting for him when he finally catches up with the young woman; and it soon becomes clear to Brian that St. Christopher may save not only his father's life--but perhaps his own.

DYB

One Of Her Best
This is one of Mary Higgins Clark's best books. Although short, it packs action and suspense onto each and every page. The child-hero was terrific--a real boy any of us could identify with. I really cared and I thank the author for that. I just wish Ms. Clark would stop making her female heroines (i.e., the child's mother) so physically gorgeous! Can't we have someone ordinary for a change?

The powers of love, faith, and courage.
The powers of love, faith, and courage have rarely been tied together in an exciting suspense story. But in the novel "Silent Night" by Mary Higgins Clark, she managed to do just that.

The setting in Christmas Eve in New York City. After Tom Dornan arrives there to recieve a life-saving operation for his leukemia, his wife Catherine and two sons come to visit from Omaha. While Catherine and her two boys watch a musician on the street, Catherine's youngest son, Brian, witnesses someone taking her wallet without her realizing it. The wallet had a St. Christopher medal in it that saved his grandfather's life in World War Two. Brian hopes that giving it to his dad will save his life as well.

Brian follows the woman to her apartment and gets caught up in something far bigger than he expected. When kidnapped by escaped murderer Jimmy Siddons, Brian find's his courage and faith tested in this heartwarming novel that is great for all ages.