The Second Time Around

By: Mary Higgins Clark

Narrated by: Jan Maxwell

Length: 8 hrs and 6 mins

Publisher's summary

In a novel that reaffirms her reputation as "America's Queen of Suspense," Mary Higgins Clark delivers a gripping tale of deception and tantalizing suspense.

Nicholas Spencer, charismatic head of the medical research company Gen-stone, involved in the development of an anticancer vaccine, suddenly disappears. His private plane crashes en route to Puerto Rico, but his body is not found. Early results of the vaccine seemed highly promising. Yet, coinciding with Nicholas Spencer's disappearance comes news that the FDA is denying approval. Then follows the shocking revelation that Spencer had looted Gen-stone of huge sums of money - including the lifetime savings of people who had risked every penny they had.

Marcia "Carley" DeCarlo, the 32-year-old columnist for the Wall Street Weekly, is assigned to cover the story. Carley is the stepsister of Spencer's wife, Lynn, an aggressive PR woman and socialite, whom she dislikes and distrusts.

The day after news of her husband's disappearance rocks the financial and medical world, Lynn attends a meeting of the stockholders of Gen-stone, flaunting expensive clothing and jewelry. Accused of having participated in the scam, she appears indifferent to the anger and despair of the people attending, among them a man whose child has cancer and who is now about to lose his home. That night, she narrowly escapes death when her mansion in Bedford, New York, is set on fire. She turns to Carley, begging her to use her investigative skills to prove that she was not her husband's accomplice. As Carley proceeds with her investigation, she is confronted by seemingly impenetrable questions: Is Nicholas Spencer dead or in hiding? Was he guilty or set up? Why the sudden reversal in medical opinion of the vaccine from recognition to condemnation?

And as the facts begin to unfold, she becomes the target of a dangerous group involved in a sinister and fraudulent scheme. The Second Time Around is Mary Higgins Clark at he...

©2004 Mary Higgins Clark (P)2008 Simon and Schuster

Excellent!!!

This book kept my interest from start to finish and was one of Mary Higgins Clark's best books and as usual Jan Maxwell was excellent!!

Enjoy it

Mary Higgins clark has her unique style obviously printed on this book, and even I enjoyed it at some extent I felt like something was missing. The end was rushed, and this time some things were way too obvious different than other of her books.

Believe in Miracles

We ,throughout the ages,have been
Trying to find cures for cancer but
Without succsess.would'nt be wonderful if that was in our future.

One of Her Bests!!

I was literally in the dark until the last few minutes!! Very well written and performed by Jan Maxwell. I highly recommend this book!

The very best of MHC!

You won’t easily guess the ending to this one!
All of her books are great but in this one Mary Higgins Clark outdid herself!

Another success

Enjoyed the subject matter. As usual, Jan Maxwell performed beautifully. I love listening to Mary Higgins Clark books because I don't dread the content. Mary has romance without sex, and you're in anticipation about what's going to happen next. There's no obscene language and the heroines always have good moral fiber. I've been reading her books for over 20 years and will continue to read them as long as she keeps writing clean and classy stories.

A really fun read

This is Mary Higgins Clark doing the stuff I love. This is the story about a woman unweaving a complex plot and grounding the problem in the experiences of people. I really liked Carly as a reporter as she actually does a lot of solid investigation and putting together details from her research. It was interesting seeing how Carly travels around interviewing people.

There is an entire subplot from an investor that started in an interesting place but I did not like how it resolved near the end. Mary Higgins Clark wrote an interesting character but did not seem sure how to use him. I liked him more early on as a victim of the supposed fraud and how that impacted his relationships to other people instead of what he became at the end. Not a deal breaker just a choice I disliked. It felt like a distraction from the far more interesting story of this conspiracy Carly and her coworkers unravel.

Overall, I felt this book had solid tension, a good mystery, and some really interesting moments. Good voice acting as always from Jan Maxwell and excellent production values.

Excellent Story

I loved this book! Mary Higgins Clark never disappoints. Each chapter builds upon the next and the intensity does too.

The narrator was outstanding as well. I highly recommend this book for mystery and romance advocates!!

Always great to read Clark

Great handling of whether or not Nick Spencer was good or a conman. Maybe a few too many villains, though Ned is truly icky. Clark really knows how to creep us out 🤣 but always makes the ending so cathartic. Jan Maxwell can do no wrong as narrator-she nails every character. It’s not the Mary Higgins Clark Experience without her!

Better than ever

Would you listen to The Second Time Around again? Why?

Probably not, that's not my habit for any of the books.

What other book might you compare The Second Time Around to and why?

Well written, nicely plotted story.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes, great story that moved quickly.