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Critic's Corner
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BEFORE I SAY
GOODBYE Reviewed by:
Patricia Ann Jones This time out Clark delves into the mystery of psychic phenomena and communication with the dead. If this seems a departure from her previous books, it is. Yet, the lady always has an ace up her sleeve. "Before I Say Goodbye" is no exception. Nell MacDermott like her great-aunt Gert, possesses psychic gifts, which her grandfather, former congressman, Cornelius MacDermott dismisses as flights of fantasy. When Nell was 10 years old, she knew the exact moment that her parents were killed in an airplane crash. She knew because both came to her at her boarding school. She didn't actually see them, but felt her mother kiss her cheek and her father run his fingers through her hair. Instantly, the child realized they had come to say goodbye. Another time she felt her parents come to her. This happened on a post- Christmas holiday in Hawaii with her grandfather. Nell was swimming in the beautiful blue waters when she was caught in a riptide and pulled out to sea. She screamed for help, but there was no one to hear her. Suddenly, she sensed her parents' presence, and miraculously found herself pushed toward shore and safety. She didn't tell her grandfather about this visit as he would only scoff at her for such nonsense. As a grown woman married to Adam Cauliff, an ambitious, young architect in New York City, Nell is persuaded to run for her grandfather's old seat in Congress. Adam, who has a difficult relationship with the 82-year-old former congressman is furious that his wife has gone against his wishes. He is adamant that she not involve herself further in politics and particularly that she does not spend so much time with her grandfather. Is it jealousy or something darker that prompts Adam's desire to keep his wife out of the lime light? Nell and Adam quarrel over the issue and he storms out of the house. Later the same day, Adam's yacht, the Cornelia II, is blown apart by a bomb in New York harbor. Aboard at the time, was Adam, his assistant Winifred Johnson, Sam Krause, a builder of questionable reputation, and Jimmy Ryan, a construction foreman. Absent was influential real estate broker Peter Lang, who had missed the boat due to a minor traffic accident. Prior to the meeting aboard the yacht, Adam had sent Winifred to his home to get from Nell his briefcase and a navy blazer. When Nell sees Winifred, she is seized with a foreboding that Winifred is about to die. Nell tries to dismiss the feeling, but it refuses to go away. Then, when the boat explodes and all aboard are presumed dead, Nell is devastated. Even with her rare gift of extrasensory perception, Nell is much too intelligent to accept most of the claims made by many so-called psychics and is skeptical about her Aunt Gert's involvement with mediums. Nevertheless, night after night, Nell waits for some sign from her husband, but none is forthcoming. Why didn't she sense Adam's presence at the time of his death? Why hasn't he come to say goodbye to her? Was it because they parted in anger? The story evolves at such a fast pace, putting the book down becomes unthinkable. Clark holds your imagination with a story so gripping and full of suspense the pages almost turn by themselves. Each character is minutely drawn embodied with full credibility. The medium, Bonnie Wilson, that Aunt Gert insists Nell visit adds an element of ever deepening mystery. I've reviewed at least 15 of Clark's previous works and found this one of the most fascinating. The author's sense of timing, the way she foreshadows and teases her readers is often almost more suspense than the mind can bear. Yes, clues come fast and furious. Many are red- herrings, but which? Who is telling the truth, and what has actually transpired aboard the yacht? Why were Adam and his co-workers murdered? Most important to Nell, why has Adam not contacted her from the other side? Clark offers a story rife with thrills and spills and manages to wrap the whole package up to a startling resolution. A conclusion which left me with only one unanswered question. Considering the complexity of this convoluted plot that in itself is a miracle. "Before I Say Goodbye" is yet another pearl Clark can add to her 21 worldwide bestsellers. ### |
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