Silent Night

October 2, 1995
Clark's favored theme of endangered kids (Where Are the Children?, etc.) meshes here with a parable of faith; but, despite swift pacing, the predictability of the story line undercuts the suspense. Catherine Dornan is in Manhattan with her two sons because her husband, Tom, an Omaha pediatrician, is hospitalized there for leukemia and has just had his spleen removed. When a troubled stranger, Cally Hunter, makes off with Catherine's wallet, seven-year-old Brian Dornan doggedly pursues her because the wallet contains a St. Christopher medal that saved the life of his grandfather in WWII, by deflecting a bullet. Brian believes that the medal will save his dad's life, too, as his grandmother has predicted, and he is determined to get it back. Enter Jimmy Siddons, Cally's brother, a cop killer escaped from Riker's Island prison, who abducts Brian, holding him hostage at gunpoint as he heads for Canada in a stolen car. In the finale, as Catherine prays during Mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral, the cops and Siddons, Brian at his side, engage in a high-speed chase, in which the St. Christopher medal becomes vital to the boy's safety. Clark blatantly, if cleverly, pulls all the sentimental strings here, but most readers will find this a heartwarming, affirmative tale of the power of faith. 750,000 first printing; Literary Guild main selection; simultaneous S&S audiotape.

February 1, 1996
YA-It is Christmas Eve in New York City when Brian, a determined seven year old, follows the thief who took his mother's wallet, hoping to retrieve the St. Christopher's medal that he believes will save his father, who has leukemia, just as it saved his grandfather in World War II. However, the child is kidnapped by a vicious escaped convict who needs a hostage. The central characters come to life rapidly as the fast-moving story quickly builds suspense. Teens will appreciate the realistic, paradoxical description of the relationship between Brian and his older brother: caring, concerned, and name-calling at the same time. Although readers know that the ending will be a happy one, they won't expect the coincidences and the touching holiday details.-Claudia Moore, W.T. Woodson High School, Fairfax, VA

September 15, 1995
Clark's latest, a svelte 160 pages, crams lots of intensity and suspense into little space. The story is about seven-year-old Brian Dornan, whose leukemia-stricken dad is convalescing in a New York hospital. Brian, walking to the hospital with his mom, sees a woman pick up the wallet his mother has accidentally dropped. The wallet contains a St. Christopher medal that Brian is convinced will help make his dad okay again, so when the woman takes off, Brian follows. Unfortunately, the woman is Cally Hunter, sister of escaped convict Jimmy Siddons, who winds up taking Brian hostage. There's the requisite dose of what's-gonna-happen suspense and an ending that's smarmy and unsurprising, but Clark's legion of fans seem to tolerate those qualities easily. This smooth novelette is certain to be popular in spite of--or possibly because of--its tendency to sound like a cross between a Danielle Steel story and a TV movie. ((Reviewed Sept. 15, 1995))(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 1995, American Library Association.)