Clark, Mary Jane Behrends

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CLARK, Mary Jane Behrends

PERSONAL:

Female. Education: Graduate of the University of Rhode Island.

ADDRESSES:

Agent—Laura Dail Literary Agency, 80 Fifth Avenue, Suite 1503, New York, NY 10011. E-mail—maryjaneclark@maryjaneclark.com.

CAREER:

Writer. Columbia Broadcasting System, Inc., New York, NY, news writer and producer.

WRITINGS:

The Commonwealth of Independent States (juvenile; part of "Headliners" series), Millbrook Press (Brookfield, CT), 1992.

Do You Want to Know a Secret? St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 1998.

Do You Promise Not to Tell? St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 1999.

Let Me Whisper in Your Ear, St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 2000.

Close to You, St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 2001.

Nobody Knows, St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 2002.

Nowhere to Run, St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 2003.

ADAPTATIONS:

Nobody Knows was adapted for audio (unabridged; four cassettes), read by Fran Tunno, Audio Renaissance, 2002.

SIDELIGHTS:

Mary Jane Behrends Clark's first book is a history written for readers in the middle grades. As a news writer and producer, she was well-qualified to write The Commonwealth of Independent States, in which she discusses the Russian Revolution, the formation of the Soviet Union, its breakup, and the former Soviet countries that chose to form the Commonwealth of Independent States. Of these republics, the founding members of Russia, the Ukraine, and Belarus, get the most coverage of their historical, political, and cultural backgrounds. Separate chapters discuss the region's environmental disasters, the role of the grandmother in the Russian household, the dispute between Armenians and Azeris, the "selling" of Russian scientists, and Gorbachev after the coup. Included are color photographs and maps.

A Kirkus Reviews contributor called "particularly interesting" the discussion of Asian republics with their sixty million Muslims and dependence on cotton. The reviewer called the volume "lucid, sympathetic, well-organized, and effectively detailed: a book that gives a real sense of these diverse lands." School Library Journal reviewer Pamela K. Bomboy called the book "a precisely written, well-organized presentation."

Like her well-known former mother-in-law, Mary Higgins Clark, Clark has written a growing list of mysteries, and her first, Do You Want to Know a Secret? benefits from her experience as a television writer and producer. The protagonist is morning coanchor Eliza Blake, a widow and mother who is finding success at KEY-TV in New York when the evening anchor is found dead. As she finds herself sharing his assignments, others are killed, and Eliza fears for the safety of her child and herself. A Publishers Weekly reviewer felt that "the few stereotyped minor characters … don't detract from Clark's refreshing surprise ending, a very nineties version of 'the butler did it.'"

Farrell Slater, a producer at KEY news, is burned out, and her career is dangerously close to being ended in Do You Promise Not to Tell?. She feels that one big story could change that outcome, and her chance comes when Farrell discovers that the Faberge Moon Egg recently sold at auction for six million is a fake. As Farrell and her cameraman become involved in the hunt for the authentic Romanov treasure, with an FBI agent close behind, the meet a Russian woman who insists that she has the real egg in her possession. An artisan is killed in his shop in Little Odessa, and other murders soon follow. Farrell discovers more than she'd hoped for in seeking out the story as secrets of murder, romance, scandal, and intrigue surface. A Publishers Weekly contributor wrote that "the suspense never flags, and the killer's identity remains a secret long into the tale."

Let Me Whisper in Your Ear features KEY reporter Laura Walsh, who becomes suspect when her obituaries of high-profile celebrities are ready to air before their bodies have cooled. Eliza Blake returns in Close to You, and has left her apartment for a house in the suburbs. The new home for Eliza and her daughter proves not to be a safe haven when Eliza begins receiving telephone threats and hate mail, some from stalkers who are genuinely dangerous. A Publishers Weekly contributor called this novel "an excellent psychological thriller that will keep readers pleasantly bound to the page."

Nobody Knows features Cassie Sheridan, KEY's Washington correspondent, who under pressure to produce a newsworthy story, reveals more than she should about a manhunt for a serial rapist who dresses as a clown. One of the three victims is the daughter of the FBI director, and when Cassie reveals her identity, the young woman commits suicide. Cassie is banished to report on the weather in Sarasota, Florida, and her husband, tired of playing second fiddle to Cassie's career, files for divorce. Nothing can revive Cassie's career unless the clown-rapist, nicknamed "Emmett Doe," strikes again.

The next victim is porn star Merilee Quinones, who is not raped but is killed when she surprises the murderer in his clown makeup. Cassie becomes reconnected to the case when she meets Vincent Baylor, a boy who finds Merilee's severed hand on the beach and who has removed a ruby ring from a finger in order to use it to help his poor family, thereby putting him, them, and eventually Cassie in great danger. Among the things that nobody knows is the strength of the hurricane that is bearing down on the area and how it will change the course of the investigation. A Publishers Weekly contributor who reviewed Nobody Knows noted Clark's "compelling characters and intricate plotting."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, February 15, 1993, Janice Del Negro, review of The Commonwealth of Independent States, p. 1046; October 15, 1998, Diana Tixier Herald, review of Do You Want to Know a Secret? p. 407; July, 1999, Emily Melton, review of Do You Promise Not to Tell? p. 1926; August, 2002, Melanie Duncan, review of Nobody Knows, p. 1929; June 1, 2003, Mary Frances Wilkens, review of Nowhere to Run, p. 1709.

Kirkus Reviews, December 15, 1992, review of The Commonwealth of Independent States, p. 1569; July 15, 2002, review of Nobody Knows, p. 973; June 15, 2003, review of Nowhere to Run, p. 819.

Library Journal, August, 2003, Jo Ann Vicarel, review of Nowhere to Run, p. 128.

Publishers Weekly, September 7, 1998, review of Do You Want to Know a Secret? p. 81; June 28, 1999, review of Do You Promise Not to Tell? p. 52; July 1, 2002, review of Nobody Knows, p. 54; November 4, 2002, review of Nobody Knows (audio) p. 23; July 28, 2003, review of Nowhere to Run, p. 79.

School Library Journal, January, 1993, Pamela K. Bomboy, review of The Commonwealth of Independent States, p. 110.