This is as good a book as it gets from this author. We have also reviewed many books from the author earlier : Rage of Angels, Master of the Game or The Sky Is Falling to name but three.
Rhys Williams is a rags to riches boy, rather in the style of Jamie McGregor in Master of the Game. He rises in fortune through hard work from a miner’s son to a senior executive in a pharma company under the tutelage of Sam Rolfe, the owner of the behemoth. When Sam suddenly dies young in an accident, he is left stunned.
Anna Rolfie, a pale and sickly child, meets Walther Gassner, who is clearly a gold digger and marries him. When her kids are born she starts blacking out frequently and also realizes that Walther, incredibly, is jealous of her love for his own children. He wants to leave them forever and go off with Anna. She realizes that he is mad. At this time, he gets a telegram about Sam dying.
Ivo Palazzi, the cheating and playboy husband of Simone Rolfe is having a bruising encounter with drug addicted but spectacular Donatella. He manages to keep them both separate for years but then gets exposed and humiliated by Donatella who blackmails me for a million dollars. As if on cue, he gets news of Sam’s death. She makes life increasingly difficult for him and pushes him into a desperate corner for money, which he will get only if he can persuade Rolfe to be sold.
Helene, another daughter of Sam is a daredevil who snared and married the unassuming Charles Martel and dominates him completely. She is a race car driver among other things. Charles invests in a vineyard with jewels stolen from Helene (replaced with a fake) and loses everything. And she discovers his theft and his cheating and he is even more under her thumb.
Sir Alec Nichols is an heir but is in love with Vivian a great beauty but a tramp, marries her and is also being blackmailed by Jon Swinton because of Vivian’s gambling problems. When he ignores his gambling abductors, he finds that Vivian has been crippled in revenge.
Elizabeth was born to Sam and Patricia. Though the gorgeous looking Patricia married Sam for love and not his money, she finds out that Sam has no interests other than the company, not even her. When Elizabeth is born, she dies in childbirth and Elizabeth is a great disappointment to Sam, who wanted a son to extend his lineage. She finds out about her great grandfather, Samuel Roffe, who started from nothing in a Jewish ghetto to found the empire inherited by Sam.
If you notice, Sydney Sheldon is fond of the rags to riches story against all odds and has recycled this theme in many of his books. In this book itself, it is used twice, once for Samuel and once for Rhys. The author seems to think that with determination and sheer passion, you can rise to the top just by circumstances and impressing people with your talk and determination. This is the inspirational theme that comes again and again in stories of Sidney.
The other thing he uses is repeat scenarios in every book. Here Elizabeth dreams of different scenarios where her father chooses her over her work. In Rage of the angels, different scenarios where the protagonist could have avoided wrecking her legal career right at the start and so on.
There are some moments where Elizabeth feels close to Sam, when she takes over the dance recital and upsets the school but finds that her father, who came to watch it (a rarity in itself) was proud of it.
Samuel aspires to marry a rich man’s daughter (also a Jew also in ghetto) but has to prove himself first. He does so by inventing a serum to cure diseases and sets up a chemist shop that first makes him famous and later, when Jews are allowed to go elsewhere, makes him rich.
Elizabeth is in love with Rhys but he hardly seems to notice her. He treats her to a dinner on her 21 birthday. She inherits her father’s company. When they pressure her into signing off the company, she resists.
When she uncovers a plot to sabotage the company and knows that someone high up is involved, she is now determined to fight but nearly dies when her jeep loses its brake to sabotage which she discovers while driving downhill. When she comes to, the brake seems miraculously OK, making her doubt her own sanity. Alec seems kindness itself and visits her on her own invite.
She refuses to sell and declares herself President of the company on the strength of her majority shares.
When she investigates, she finds that Sam was on the verge of a great discovery that would make millions. She also learns that the bankers are circling like vultures for their money. She manages to put them off for a month.
When pressures increase on the other Roffe’s heirs, Elizabeth has an elevator accident and a smart genius detective, Max Hornung, enters the picture.
One thing you notice in all Sydney’s books is that he does not waste time developing a theme, favouring twists and shocking turns to immersive experience. For instance, here, in one meeting lasting perhaps 20 seconds Max decides that he likes Elizabeth immensely as she ‘sees him as a capable human being’ unlike others who are put off by his physical appearance. Really? And wants to do his best to help her.
While he is unravelling the case in his typical thorough fashion (while appearing bumbling to everyone), the walls close in on Elizabeth. The bankers want to call in the loan, she mourns the death of her assistant in the elevator crash, and her only hope dissolves when the lab where the revolutionary medical test is in progress is destroyed, with her chief scientist apparently burned (while in reality murdered).
The scientist finds motive after motive for the murder on Sam and attempted murder of Elizabeth from all the contenders in the family tree while Elizabeth in desperation names Rhys as the CEO to ward off the circling bank vultures.
Finally, the maid realizes that Walter now has Anna imprisoned in a room and she is in hysterics, accusing him of murdering their children. When the police hears it, they realize that Walter is the murderer and go to his house, only to realize that the reality is completely different and that he is innocent of the murder and attempted murder. That is a classic Sydney stuff.
We also learn that Rhys was with Sam before he was killed and also that he had a fling with Helene once. She is now expecting him to leave Elizabeth or get rid of her and run the company with her. He realizes she would stop at nothing to get what she wants.
When she gets incontrovertible proof from his room Rhy’s room that he is the culprit (the stolen reports were there, locked up) she runs before Rhys returns and reaches her island villa. When the police turn up to receive her she is relieved but at the villa, she seems to get groggy after taking the coffee given by the police inspector.
The story then brilliantly reaches a climax and I don’t have to tell you that the ‘obvious’ suspect – in this case Rhys – is not the real killer. Then who?
Nice ending and you just cannot put this book down when you get to about three quarters of the way through it.
8/10
– – Krishna
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