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WE'LL
MEET AGAIN centers on Molly Lasch, a Connecticut socialite newly
paroled after serving five and a half years for murdering her husband,
and Fran Simmons, a TV reporter recently returned to New York City.
Upon Molly's release, she requests that Fran, host of a true crime
television show, investigate Gary Lasch's murder. Molly,
herself, has publicly vowed to unearth her husband's real killer
and clear her own name.
As Clark's 18th novel of suspense, WE'LL MEET AGAIN, unfolds in
typical fashion, enlisting such standards as a horrible crime, circumstantial
evidence and a cast of characters quick to judge yet slow to look
beyond the obvious. In short, rotating chapters we learn the histories
and internal dilemmas of several characters, including a few red
herring villains. Unable to remember the night of the murder, Molly
accepted a plea bargain rather than fight the overwhelming evidence
that suggested she killed her unfaithful husband in a fit of rage.
Her memory is beginning to return and she is eager to get to the
bottom of the events that sent her to prison. While investigating
the Lasch case, Fran begins to question the events surrounding her
own father's suicide following his apparent embezzlement of $400,000
from the Greenwich library fund.
Once again, Clark asserts her skill as a consummate storyteller.
The tale moves quickly through the lives of the various characters
without letting up on the pace. Fran and Molly's investigations
call in several key players from Gary Lasch's hospital and his co-owned
HMO including a former nurse, business partners and old friends. Some
of these characters allude to illegal activities in both the HMO
and the hospital. Activities that may have cost patients their lives.
Complicating matters further, the real killer is attempting to silence
those who know about the illicit activities and pin the new murders
on Molly, as well. Unable to focus on reality, Molly succumbs to
severe depression. Her state of mind is perhaps the most frustrating
part of the story. Under stress, Molly Lasch goes into a trancelike
state wherein she is aware of little and remembers nothing. It was
this problem that led to her original conviction and might lead
to another. Only Fran Simmons stands between Molly and returning
to prison to complete her original 10-year sentence.
Of course, the women don't fully appreciate the extent of the danger
they are in. Clark masterfully interweaves the plot, plus Molly
and Fran's backstories, to set each up as separate victims, of separate
villains, in two completely separate masquerades.
In the end, WE'LL MEET AGAIN, will prove to be another solid offering
from Clark. It is a grim and intriguing tale of greed and murder,
lacking violence and sex, but with a pinch of romance. It's the
kind of whodunit where you don't know who the killer is until you're
told.
--- Reviewed by Sofrina Hinton
(c) Copyright 1999, The Book Report, Inc. All rights reserved.
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