Rating: 
Summary: Suspense and realism from start to finish!
Review: Terrific! When some copyeditor wrote 'compelling' on this jacket flap, they weren't kidding. And a genuine cliffhanger ending. I enjoyed every page. Oh, and I liked the way the antagonists discovered the ... well, I'd better not say for fear it'll sppoil the story for other readers. Very clever. (Oh these antagonists are sooo devious.) Personally, I recommend that everyone in the USA and Canada read this book (other countries are invited, too) if they want a really super story with super-real characters. I liked Rachel, the protagonist and I think every reader will identify with her -- like her, root for her, want everything to come out all right. And there are other characters, some of whom I dislike (ranging from mild distaste to downright contempt) but this is what the author intended, so I guess that helped make it a better story.
Rating: 
Summary: Katherine Clark's character development is outstanding!
Review: The primary plot of Steal Away is compelling enough; the frantic and suspenseful search for a missing child practically turns the pages by itself. The real gem of this story, though, is Katherine Clark's use of powerful sub-plots. The characterization and relationships in this book are so dynamic and plentiful: Rachel's somewhat telepathic connection with her missing son; the adulterous liaison between Rachel's husband and sister; the underscored spark between Rachel and Detective Gallagher; The uninvited bond between Rachel and the biological father of her son...they go on and on. Obviously, the primary plot line demands resolution and gets it. Unfortunately, the sub plots are what really drive this book and hold the reader's focus - and demand resolution just as fervently, something Clark fails to deliver. I inhaled this book from the first page and had the impression at the end that my copy must be missing the last 15 or so pages! How can Clarke justify introducing such intricate relationships and parallel story lines, and then just leave the reader hanging on everything but the main plot - ironically, the one thread where the reader is likely to guess the outcome anyway!
Rating:
Summary: Every parent's nightmare come true...
Review: This book sure garnished mixed reviews! Some loved it while others hated it. I thought it was pretty well done. Not all of us are heros or heroines. Many women and some men are only forced to act on their lives only when confronted with situations out of their ability to control, such as one that arises in this book. A child is snatched by strangers, and the ability of those strangers to take that child is given by those who love that child the most. In WWI America they had these advertisements saying "Loose lips sink ships." The carelessness of an aunt, the lack of observation by parents at sports and dance situations, the lack of concern most people show for their neighbors and often their friends help lead to a child disappearing. It is absolutely imperative that people understand that most children who are kidnapped are kidnapped by family or acquaintances. Stranger abductions like this are rare, but they still frighten parents and grandparents. It is easy to judge the mother, Rachel, for being weak and bowing too much to her husband's whims. I've met women like this, but when confronted by problems, they often shine. They also learn things about themselves and about their families, their husbands that they chose to ignore. Rachel persists. She badgers, she shucks her life of all the unimportant societal standards in order to find her son. My big problem with this book was not with the characterization. We are all different, and the author was portraying someone who had chosen to ignore the things that were wrong about her family and about her life. For the most part the plot was strong, but I thought the ending was curt. It left too much up in the air. Karen Sadler
Rating: 
Summary: Ugh!
Review: This is possibly the worst book I've ever read. I literally was skimming the pages 1/2 way through just to get to the conclusion. The female "heroine" is so weak kneed and pathetic it's amazing she can tie her shoelaces by herself not to mention track down her missing son! She kept complaining how everyone thought of and treated her as a crazy person and honey! if the loony bin fits...! I realize this was a first book attempt and heaven knows I don't have the talent for writing but if you read this book just go in with eyes wide open.
Rating:
Summary: Ugh!
Review: This is possibly the worst book I've ever read. I literally was skimming the pages 1/2 way through just to get to the conclusion. The female "heroine" is so weak kneed and pathetic it's amazing she can tie her shoelaces by herself not to mention track down her missing son! She kept complaining how everyone thought of and treated her as a crazy person and honey! if the loony bin fits...! I realize this was a first book attempt and heaven knows I don't have the talent for writing but if you read this book just go in with eyes wide open.
Rating:
Summary: Infuriating "Heroine"
Review: This may be the most annoying book I've ever read. The main character, with whom the reader should at least sympathize, made my skin crawl. She represented every negative stereotype of women ever perpetrated. She is inept, ineffectual, irritating. She was so useless as a mother that I didn't care who kidnapped her son -- he'd be better off with anyone but her. Her "poor pitiful me" demeanor, her delight in her own incompetence, her willingness to tolerate emotional abuse from her husband (abuse that, frankly, I wanted to inflict on her myself) made this reader hope that she would be done away with before the book's end. I am amazed that a woman writer could and would create such a caricature of a character, much less hang a novel on an idiot like this.
Rating:
Summary: Infuriating "Heroine"
Review: This may be the most annoying book I've ever read. The main character, with whom the reader should at least sympathize, made my skin crawl. She represented every negative stereotype of women ever perpetrated. She is inept, ineffectual, irritating. She was so useless as a mother that I didn't care who kidnapped her son -- he'd be better off with anyone but her. Her "poor pitiful me" demeanor, her delight in her own incompetence, her willingness to tolerate emotional abuse from her husband (abuse that, frankly, I wanted to inflict on her myself) made this reader hope that she would be done away with before the book's end. I am amazed that a woman writer could and would create such a caricature of a character, much less hang a novel on an idiot like this.
Rating:
Summary: Not suspense -- Aggravation
Review: This was one of the absolute worst -- and most annoying -- cast of characters I've ever had the misfortune to stumble across. The heroine is a weak, 'poor me' whiner who I now firmly believe deserved everything she got just by virtue of her own 'talk-show mentality' choices. Her husband is a self-serving, egotistical, condescending jerk who's sleeping with his own sister-in-law in his own house, and his idiot wife can't even manage to summon enough outrage to stop petting his poor pounding forehead. By the middle of the book I was sincerely hoping that whoever stole the astoundingly unimaginative and inept kid would come back in the middle of the night and kill the whole family, just to put them -- and me, as the reader -- out of my misery. Have women's expectations really sunk so low that betrayals by husbands, sisters and mothers are considered the norm now and are perfectly acceptable quality traits in the hero? And that heroines are just as dense and pathetic at the end of the book as they are in the beginning? Ugh. A major exercise in frustration.
| 
