Thank goodness this one was better than Tilly Bagshawe's last Sheldon effort, Angel of the Dark....but I still didn't enjoy it as much as her first effort, After the Darkness.
SIDNEY SHELDON'S THE TIDES OF MEMORY starts off with intrigue as you witness the drowning of a little boy on a summer day in Maine. Murder charges, cover ups and pay offs, etc. ensue.
Fast-forward some 35+ years later, and we're in the high offices of British government, where Alexia De Vere has just been appointed Home Secretary, much to her own surprise. (And this was also QUITE a stretch in this day & age, given her past...)
As the plot unfolded, and we learn how the Maine happenings tie into the present-day events, I felt the plot began twisting so much that it strangled itself!
I do like that the Sheldon signature of a strong female lead is back (was sorely missing from Angel of the Dark), but I didn't find Alexia sympathetic enough to root for, even by the end. What she did was unforgivable, and Sidney Sheldon's heroines were always women you could understand, because they had good reason for their dogged determination, or one-track minded pursuits. But I found the exploits of Alexia, Billy, Edward, et al, to be a bit too over-the-top, even for Sheldon fare.
So overall this story was, at times, a page-turner; but by the last 1/3, it just became a mish-mash of psychotic, exaggerated and cartoon-ish plot twists and turns that felt pretty anti-climatic for the Sheldon brand. B-/C+
Miss you, Sidney!
★
(¯`·.·´¯) (¯`·.·´¯)
`·.¸(¯`·.·´¯)¸ .·
×°× ` ·.¸.·´ ×°×
SIDNEY SHELDON'S THE TIDES OF MEMORY starts off with intrigue as you witness the drowning of a little boy on a summer day in Maine. Murder charges, cover ups and pay offs, etc. ensue.
Fast-forward some 35+ years later, and we're in the high offices of British government, where Alexia De Vere has just been appointed Home Secretary, much to her own surprise. (And this was also QUITE a stretch in this day & age, given her past...)
As the plot unfolded, and we learn how the Maine happenings tie into the present-day events, I felt the plot began twisting so much that it strangled itself!
I do like that the Sheldon signature of a strong female lead is back (was sorely missing from Angel of the Dark), but I didn't find Alexia sympathetic enough to root for, even by the end. What she did was unforgivable, and Sidney Sheldon's heroines were always women you could understand, because they had good reason for their dogged determination, or one-track minded pursuits. But I found the exploits of Alexia, Billy, Edward, et al, to be a bit too over-the-top, even for Sheldon fare.
So overall this story was, at times, a page-turner; but by the last 1/3, it just became a mish-mash of psychotic, exaggerated and cartoon-ish plot twists and turns that felt pretty anti-climatic for the Sheldon brand. B-/C+
Miss you, Sidney!
★
(¯`·.·´¯) (¯`·.·´¯)
`·.¸(¯`·.·´¯)¸ .·
×°× ` ·.¸.·´ ×°×
This book started off strong, with a lot of Sidney Sheldon's interesting plot twists, but it quickly turned into a jumble of contrived, convoluted plots that made absolutely no sense. Having gotten 7/8ths through the book, I couldn't wait to find out the ending, so I skimmed through the last 80 pages. Worst book ever!Absolute drivel!
