Daddy’s Gone A Hunting

When a summer novel I have agreed to review appears in my mailbox secured in a brown envelope, I always feel excitement tinged with a bit of trepidation. What will it be?

This year, I received Daddy’s Gone A Hunting, a suspense novel by Mary Higgins Clark. I felt as if my brown envelope had contained a large bag of M&Ms, for me a reliable, satisfying treat. Mary Higgins Clark is the grande dame of suspense novels; hers often include a bit of mystery, a little romance, a plucky heroine, and a title borrowed from an old song. Since her first novel, Where Are the Children? in 1974, Mary Higgins Clark has written over 30 novels, with more than 100 million copies sold in the United States alone. I have read a few of her books over the years, and I can always count on her to tell a good story and hold her reader’s attention.

Daddy’s Gone A Hunting is no exception. The story begins at a family-owned furniture company, where an explosion leaves one young woman in a coma and her sister searching for answers. The novel is appropriate for review in Psychiatric Services because a key character is a Viet Nam veteran whose life has been largely destroyed by untreated posttraumatic stress disorder. The character is skillfully drawn; Clark and her staff did the appropriate homework. This disorder is portrayed accurately, and there is a reasonable description of services available and barriers to care for individuals who are homeless and dealing with psychiatric illness and co-occurring addiction and somatic illness.

I will refrain from giving away the plot, but fans of this author will find that the story does not disappoint. Daddy’s Gone A Hunting is perfect summer reading, great for an afternoon at the beach or a long flight. Grab a bag of M&Ms and sit back and enjoy.