5. Rage of Angels (1980)
There`s definitely nothing angel-like to lawyers, given as most of us have that picture in our heads comparing them to sharks dressed in suits, carrying around black suitcases, however, when the lawyer is a sexy, young career woman, you might reconsider your opinion.
When the story begins, Jennifer Parker, gorgeous and witty as always, is barely a novice lawyer full of ambitions, but it seems like her career will end before it even begins when she becomes the escape goat in the mafia`s game. Being framed up for bribery, she loses her job but that doesn`t discourage her to pursue justice.
Her Quest
Is to clear her name, she allies with young lawyer Adam Warner who is soon convinced of her innocence. With Adam`s help, Jennifer begins to rise again, her determination to succeed attracting Moretti`s attention onto her. Now instead of framing her for the felony, the head of the mafia wants to convince her to join his side as the Family consigliere. Not only will she become successful as a lawyer, but she`ll also romance her way into the heart of both the angel, Adam, and the devil, the irrespirable mafia don.
Sheldon knows how to write a page-turner. His characters are absorbing and the action never stops. What we`d expect in a romance novel is that the man and woman get romantically involved, have a problem and break up and then make up and live happily ever after. But Rage of Angels sets off a different tone, taking you on a rollercoaster ride of life that will touch your heart. The character is beautifully built right in front of you, but the story ends on a rather neutral note, leaving you craving for more.
4. Windmills of the Gods (1987)
If mystery and romance is what you`re looking for, this book doesn’t come short in either one of them. Don’t let yourself be set aback by the possibly sluggish-paced beginning of the novel, as it will soon grow to be the hectic whirlwind that is the many character’s life.
Mary Ashley used to be a normal university professor, married to a country side doctor, until one day. It`s all set in motion by an unexpected phone call from the White House. One minute she is a housewife having dinner with her family, the next the President calls and offers her an ambassadorship in Romania, behind the Iron Curtain. For most people this would be the opportunity of a life time, but Mary declines it in favour of her husband`s medical practice.
Car Accident
However, when he suddenly dies in a suspicious car accident, Ashley decides to accept the job in order to fill the newly created void in her life. But not all our dream jobs turn out to be dreams, and she all of a sudden finds herself checking over her shoulder for everyone who might be conspiring against her. Espionage, kidnapping and terror are all that fill the hole in Mary`s heart as she is torn between two powerfully attractive and enigmatic men, one of which will help her and one of which she ends up realising might be the mastermind behind the mysterious assassination threat that`s been floating over her head ever since she stepped foot in Romania.
Windmills of the Gods may very well be one of the greatest suspense stories Sheldon has ever written. It’s not as dynamic as his other books, but it has a certain element of surprise that kicks in every now and then, making you even more hooked up on the story than before. The tension between the main protagonists just keeps growing as they venture deeper into the world of politics and its darkest, well-kept secrets and every choice you make decides your survival amidst greedy interests and deceits in a game of life.
3. Nothing Lasts Forever (1994)
The title seems a bit unoptimistic, but this novel tells the gripping tale of three women doctors, a brilliant insight into the lives of the Medical fraternity with its love, hate and friendship. In times of need, we refer to doctors as Gods, but underneath that, they are just as human as the rest of us, ravaged and torn by the same emotions and sufferings.
This medical thriller presents three women trying to prove their worth in a career field mostly dominated by men. We see their hopes, their dreams and desires, as well as the chaos that suddenly infiltrates into their lives. Dr. Paige Taylor did what we might call an act of kindness towards a patient, but when she inherited a million dollars from the very patient, the D.A. called it murder. Dr. Kat Hunter swore men out of her life, until she accepts a risky bet with possible deadly consequences. Dr. Honey Taft knows that in order to climb the career ladder, she’ll have to make use of more than just her brains.
Plot Twists
This novel suffers from a bad case of classic Sheldon plot twists. One day you`re cutting edge into the medical field, the next you`re facing death penalty, you`re about to get the hospital shut down, or worst case scenario, you`re dead. Racing from the life-and-death decisions of everyday hospital life to the tension-packed murder trial, Nothing Lasts Forever lays bare the ambitions and fears of the three young women.
The plot is a real thriller of suspense. From beginning to end, you are hooked until the very end! Three roommates and various aspects of their lives unfold before us with all they`ve had to endure from the first time they stepped into the hospital, until their becoming full-fledged doctors, as well as their downfalls. We are not only mere spectators, we`re also allowed to enter the story and feel as if we`re taking part in their lives, as if we were neighbors or friends. You are literally involved into building up a relationship with the three main characters. Many critics have argued that Sidney`s books were losing their sparkle, but with “Nothing Lasts Forever”, he had managed to make a full come-back and give their fans something to look forward to reading.
2. Master of the Game (1944)
Master of the game has a plot that might seem a bit farfetched but bottom line, that doesn`t make it less desirable to read about. In the spotlight is Kate Blackwell, who is celebrating her ninetieth birthday together with friends and family. Not that there would be anything wrong with old age, but we`re more likely to read a book about a seductive, beautiful, young woman, rather than an elderly one. So what was in Sidney`s mind when he wrote this? This book treats things in a different manner than the rest.
Kate is matriarch of her family and head of her father’s business empire. She is pictured as the symbol of success, having turned her inheritance into an international conglomerate, but on her birthday, as she looks over her family members, she is not focused on who is there, rather she`s thinking at the ghost of the people who aren`t. As the pages turn under our eyes, the story is told through a number of flashbacks belonging to different members of Kate`s family.
It all begins
With her recalling the first days of her company, when it had just barely started.We`re brought up to date with how Kate`s father struggled to survive, and how he ended up making a fortune out of a diamond mine in South Africa. Kate is born only years after this and because of a riot that takes place, she loses her family and all her father had managed to achieve, thus resulting in her obsessive desire for power so that she will never feel helpless again. She then attends business school and is determined to get her hands on her father`s company, turning it into a global success.
As you might expect, someone who is as thorough in her business life, will be even worse with her family. Kate exerts absolute control over her husband`s and their child`s, and later on her two granddaughter`s lives and she would stop at nothing to get things work in her way. Money turn out to be truly able to buy everything for her. With a life full of turning points and challenges, we reach the moment of the “present day”, when Kate is surveying the family she had manipulated and dominated for so many years, mostly out of love and ambition. She looks back on her life and asks herself “Is she the Master of the Game?”
1. The Best Laid Plans (1997)
What`s best about this particular novel is that it brings together two equally determined people in a tug of war over power and revenge, and as hard as it is to admit it in public, these topics are some of the most interesting to read about. The Best Laid Plans tells the story of Oliver Russell and his broken heart fiancée. And from this piece of information alone, you know you have a hit on your hands.
Oliver Russell, the handsome governor of a small southern state, is one step away from fulfilling his life`s ambition, to rise to the office of the President of the United States. In the other corner of this ring is Leslie Stewart, building up her very own media empire with only one plan in her mind, to destroy Russell at the very peak of his career, on the eve of his most dazzling triumph.
The Characters
Seem pretty simple, their minds only set on one goal, but we have to give credit that this book offers us much more to read about than the mischievous plotting of a betrayed and enraged woman. She might appear as the “bad guy” in this whole story, but we must remember that women are in the spotlight of all Sidney Sheldon novels, so we can`t judge her too badly without knowing the full story.
This novel brings you a story of blazing ambitions and unexpected plot twists that will make you hold your breath waiting to turn the page. It will make you feel like you`re about to witness one horrible accident, you`re at the same time scared to see what happens, but for some reason you cannot look away no matter what. Oliver is fighting his battles to win his seat in the White House, while Leslie has come up with a plan to make him wish he`d never been born. But when you think about it, how many of our “best laid plans” have ever come to be as smoothly as we had planned them to be? What both the characters will slowly find out, is that no matter how perfect a plan may seem, it can always go astray and have some of the deadliest consequences.
The Best Laid Plans will give you an insight into America`s most powerful and at the same time, ruthless, institutions, the world of politics and mass media, for what is politics without its scandals and corruption. You might start reading out of curiosity, but it`s the suspense and drama that will keep you breathlessly reading until the very end.