Product Description

The "Queen of Suspense," Mary Higgins Clark, and bestselling author Carol Higgins Clark -- the acclaimed mother/daughter duo behind the bestseller Deck the Halls -- reunite in their second holiday treat, a heartwarming tale of redemption and love.

Sterling Brooks has been cooling his heels in the Celestial Waiting Room for forty-six years, waiting for admission to heaven. Finally, just days before Christmas, he's summoned before the Heavenly Council and found unworthy; throughout his life he had been hopelessly self-absorbed. To redeem himself, he is given the chance to go back to Earth and find someone to help.

At New York's Rockefeller Center skating rink, Sterling encounters Marissa, a heartbroken seven-year-old whose father and grandmother have been forced into the Witness Protection Program; they had overheard two gangsters hatch a sinister plot to collect money from a debtor. Able to travel through time and space, Sterling devises a master plan to reunite little Marissa with her family in time for Christmas. Along the way, he discovers within himself what it takes to earn his wings.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #127886 in Books
• Published on: 2002-11-01
• Released on: 2002-10-29
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 256 pages

Review
The Virginian-Pilot Blends suspense and redemption. -- Review

Review
"A dynamic team."-- People

Atlanta ConstitutionThese bestselling authors blend suspense with a heartwarming story....

Los Angeles TimesA new spin on It's a Wonderful Life....

San Antonio Express-NewsConsume in one sitting with a tumbler of hot mulled wine.

The Virginian-PilotBlends suspense and redemption.

Toronto StarA combination of slapstick and suspense [that] turns out to also be a tale of redemption and insightful observations on how our society has changed in forty-six years.

Richmond Times-DispatchA cheerful holiday tale.

About the Author
Carol Higgins Clark is the author of nine previous bestselling Regan Reilly mysteries. She is coauthor, along with her mother, Mary Higgins Clark, of a bestselling holiday mystery series. Also an actress, Carol Higgins Clark studied at the Beverly Hills Playhouse and has recorded several of her mother's works as well as her own novels. She received AudioFile's Earphones Award of Excellence for her reading of Jinxed. She lives in New York City.

Her website is www.carolhigginsclark.com.

Mary Higgins Clark's books are world-wide bestsellers. In the U.S. alone, her books have sold over 85 million copies.

She is the author of twenty-seven previous suspense novels. Her first book, a biographical novel about George Washington, was re-issued with the title, Mount Vernon Love Story, in June 2002. Her memoir, Kitchen Privileges, was published by Simon & Schuster in November 2002. Her first children's book, Ghost Ship, illustrated by Wendell Minor, was published in April 2007 as a Paula Wiseman Book/Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.

She is co-author, with her daughter Carol Higgins Clark, of four holiday suspense novels Deck the Halls (2000), He Sees You When You're Sleeping (2001), The Christmas Thief (2004) and Santa Cruise (2006).

Mary Higgins Clark was chosen by Mystery Writers of America as Grand Master of the 2000 Edgar Awards. An annual Mary Higgins Clark Award sponsored by Simon & Schuster, to be given to authors of suspense fiction writing in the Mary Higgins Clark tradition, was launched by Mystery Writers of America during Edgars week in April 2001. She was the 1987 president of Mystery Writers of America and, for many years, served on their Board of Directors. In May 1988, she was Chairman of the International Crime Congress.

Customer Reviews

DYNAMIC DELIVERY OF A YULETIDE THRILLER
The Clark ladies are a formidable literary pair, often co-authoring to offer double dips of pleasure for mystery loving readers. Now, they've taken a leaf from the classic Christmas film "It's A Wonderful Life" and spiced it with danger. Carol Higgins Clark gives authentic voice to their story.

Sterling Brooks might be everyman--except for the fact that he's in heaven's anteroom, where he's been waiting for almost 50 years for admission to heaven. In his case patience isn't its own reward, and the Heavenly Council proposes a test for him. Sterling must return to Earth and prove his Pearly Gates eligibility by helping someone else.

Where to start but Manhattan and the Rockefeller Center skating rink? There he finds a woebegone seven-year-old, Marissa, whose family has been placed in the Federal Witness Protection Program due to the threats of the murderous Blodgett family. It is the Christmas season and Marissa is separated from those she loves.

It does take some work and thought on Sterling's part but, of course, the tale has a happy ending. After all, even almost-angels have mysterious powers.

Check Your List Twice Before You Buy
Sterling Brooks is marking time in the celestial waiting room watching everyone else get their wings. As a lawyer during life, described as the kind of person who was first in the lifeboat, who never went out of his way for anyone and who was too smug and self-absorbed to notice what was going on around him (trial lawyers won't like that portrait of one of their own), it's not going to be easy for Counselor Brooks. Summoned by the Heavenly Council and informed that his only chance for admission will be his participation in an earthly experiment to recognize someone with a problem and help them solve it, Brooks is off to earn his wings. Transported back to Rockefeller Center during the holiday season, Brooks doesn't have that much time to help seven year old Marissa get reunited with her father and grandmother. The road to heaven may be paved with good intentions; but Brooks' trip takes him to the underworld of gangsters Junior and Eddie Badgett who have scared Marissa's father and grandmother into the witness protection program because of something they know.

While this book may fly off the shelves this holiday season because of its authors' following, it's not destined to take up residence next to Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" or Capra's "It's A Wonderful Life" in this reviewer's holiday collection. Sure, it's probably not expected to be a classic, but even as an afternoon read with Mel Torme crooning in the background and the chestnuts roasting on an open fire, it's a disappointment.

There's not enough humbug in me to say don't read this book during a free moment in the holiday rush. It is short at 199 pages. It's just that I think mother-daughter authors Mary Higgins Clark and Carol Higgins Clark could have done much better if they lightened up on the sugar coating.

Awesome suspense
I don't give book reviews but here goes. This one will get you to sit straight up, no slouching. My wife told me my eyes would be so wide open at times... and she was right. I can't see why anyone would not enjoy this good writing. Mary has a very real and capturing way. We have all seen movies and read books about the person who needs to do the good deed on Earth to gain rights to Peter's gate, but this one is arousing. I am not a regular reader of Mary's, my wife is, she also says this is intense. I want to recommend another book my wife ordered here, and is as satisfying, SB 1 or God By Karl Mark Maddox.