Nov 29, 2004 04:15 PM
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(Updated Nov 29, 2004 04:17 PM)
Hi,
I have decided to do a review of all the Sidney Sheldon novels in a chronological manner. Hence I start with his first ? ?The Naked Face?. For all the reviews, I?ll follow the same headings and pattern.
Honestly, I did not find much to write about this one. Its neither great nor boring. It?s a humble starting for Mr. Sheldon.
Year of Publication:1969
Plot Overview :
A young psychoanalyst is trapped in an unsetting no win situation, where one of his patients (a gay) and his secretary (a n ex-prostitute) have been killed. He has all the reasons to believe that both of them have died due to some patient of his and he is next on the list. He has to find out who?. And real fast. Else, either he will be arrested for murder or be murdered himself!!
Time Setting:Contemporary
Profession at Background:Psychoanalysis / Mafia
TriviaThis novel fetched Sidney Sheldon Edgar an Allan Poe Award from the Mystery Writers of America.
My Review:
A very good piece of mystery writing backed by strong reasoning. I enjoyed reading the book thoroughly. The climax was a cliffhanger between the life of a man and using his profession to his own advantage. I wonder, why he did not write any more pure mystery novels after this.
The novel has got the entire massala, starting from a brutal and ruthless killing to the hand of police in crime. It talks of the mafia-law nexus and it also talks of the danger a psychoanalyst is exposed to as he knows too much!!
All credit to Mr. Sheldon as he has made an excellent story out of feeble characters (compared to what was to follow in his other novels) and a very limited surrounding.
Interestingly this is one among the only two novels, wherein the lead character is a male.
Positives:
Strong plot and sequence of events. Good reasoning.
Negatives:
Climax was too predictable.
Memorable Characters:
Unlike other Sidney Sheldon novels, there are not too many memorable characters. The onlyone that I think worth remembering is the short and fat detective.
