Crashing Down

I just discovered Meg O'Brien about a week ago and decided to give "Crashing Down" a try. I fullfillingly enjoyed the whole novel. It says on the cover "If you like Mary Higgins Clark, then you'll love Meg O'Brien," that is definitely TRUE! She's just as good. The story revolves around a woman named Carrie, who was sexually abused at age eight by her father, who was a pastor, and by a teacher who worked in her father's church. Carrie is now about thirty and has moved away from her hometown. Her father is long dead at this point and she has tried to forget about the teacher who raped her. Carrie's now an prolific author who writes books about abuse and children. She is invited to speak at a function back in her hometown, she nervously accepts. Carrie is even more startled to discover that the main head speaker is man named Christopher. HE WAS THE SAME MAN WHO MOLESTED HER WHEN SHE WAS YOUNG! He is now the new Mr. Rogers, the host and sponsor of a child's program! Carrie is shocked and is determined to bring down this monster before he can abuse more children. She turns to local cop named Nick, but is afraid to give away too much. Carrie goes to confront Chris at the local church but he isn't there and she meets one of Chris's followers, a little girl named Tess, who looks sore and red on her legs. Carrie then discovers that her sister who was a teenager committed sucicide a few months earlier. Is Christopher still molesting little girls or is there another person who follows in Chris's tradition? This is an amazing and somewhat frightening novel of suspense. If you are a fan of Erica Spindler, Helen R. Myers, or Christiane Heggan, then you'll love this book!

Crashing down was an exempelary book and well written. You could feel the turmoil and pain that Carrie Holt was experiencing and feeling.Child abuse was covered up and ignored in the past.It brought forth an enlighment to that ugly situation.The plot, the story,was exciting as well as suspensful.It kept me turning page after page, not wanting to put the book down (but then, all Meg O'Brien's books have that effect on me).I enjoyed this book well enough to read twice I thank the author for a great novel, you could feel the emotions running high.

This book was big fun to read. The heroine, Carrie, was both gutsy and vulnerable. The story was very fast paced making it hard for me to put the book down. The plot deals with a lot of heavy issues, but without self-pity. Carrie takes the attitude that the bad things that may have happened to us as children can be acknowledged from an adult perspective, and that old fears can be turned into a strength that is both formidable and compassionate. Wait til you read the opening scene. It sent chills down my spine. Then get ready for some more as the book goes on. Plenty of action, romance, and a cool, sardonic kind of humor. This book is very uplifting.

Author Meg O¹Brien has had the courage to recall horrible memories from her own childhood abuse and woven them into a tale of suspense through her character Carrie Holt. For nearly 30 years Carrie has lived a life of tangled, unclear emotions and nightmares that won¹t go away. She has not only carried the anger of the abuse, but anger at herself thinking that she was in some way to blame. Now a famous author, Carrie is invited to speak at the Children¹s Festival of the Arts in her hometown of Holly Beach, N. J. Also attending the event is the popular children¹s televangelist, Christopher Breen‹who had sexually molested Carrie when she was only six years old. The face-to-face meeting tears open the locks of the past and Carrie is overcome with the memories that begin to flow out. Being forced to bring into the open the depraved situation she had spent years hiding from‹years plagued with anger, emptiness and denial where her very survival had depended on forgetting and blocking it out‹instantly brings her emotions to a frenzy. In order to bring Breen to justice and prevent him from performing any further unspeakable acts on innocent children, she realizes she must begin to put her vague, ambiguous pieces of memory together and search for the whole truth, even if it means exposing unpleasant secrets within her own family. Meg has done a splendid job of turning her experiences into a suspenseful novel while remaining true to her feelings and memories of her childhood, as well as the problems encountered in her adult years. This is a must read for devotees of stark psychological suspense, as well as for anyone who has ever been associated with child abuse, especially family members. CRASHING DOWN gives excellent insight about, and better understanding of, the mental torture and behavior of the victim. At the same time it leaves the reader feeling uplifted‹a challenge for any author, but one Meg O¹Brien handles beautifully

In 1971 Holly Beach, New Jersey, Christopher Breen, a Sunday School instructor, sexually molests six-year-old Carrie Holden. The trauma of that event remains with Carrie for almost three decades. To bury her deep distress, the best selling author changed her last name to Holt and only returns home to visit her beloved grandmother. However, the last stop on a very successful author tour is her hometown where she is to provide a talk at the Children's Festival of the Arts. The world changes in Philadelphia when she learns that Christopher, a very successful televangelist, is also attending the festival. Carrie prefers to run from her worst nightmare, but her conscience forces her to confront Christopher, who has a large youth following. While challenging her nemesis, Carrie meets and falls in love with police officer Nicky D'Amato. However, that ordeal she suffered as a child haunts her so that she cannot commit to any man. CRASHING DOWN is an angst-laden romantic suspense novel that can be read without destroying the mental well being of the readers. The story line is extremely poignant as one of society's most difficult issues is confronted in a fabulous tale. Author Meg O'Brien pours her heart and soul into the novel as she admits that she is the model for Carrie, leaving readers with a stunner.Harriet Klausner