Oct 28, 2004 11:53 PM
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(Updated Oct 28, 2004 11:53 PM)
Hey Friends,
It is another quick, suspense filled and absolute thriller by Sidney Sheldon. The master story teller does it again, he keeps it doing again and again. This story binds people.
This is typical Sidney Sheldon, fast paced, drama-suspense-thrill killer trio novel. And the most important thing is that it has a very good and equally satisfying sequel in Memories of Midnight.
It is a story of a girl named Noelle Page. She is very beautiful and born to a poor fisherman. She is so beautiful that people say she is a princess and not belongs to smelly and stinky and poor place of fishermen.
As she grows, she becomes more beautiful. Her father tries to trade her to a local fat, ugly businessman. Then only this princess realizes the reality of life, that there are no free lunches. She takes the money of that businessman and goes to Paris.
There she finds a handsome US fighter pilot Larry Douglas and both of them fall in love but Larry betrays her and without telling her he returns to his base, leaving her pregnant with his son. One must note that the background of the novel is in World War II.
Noelle keeps thinking about Larry, that he will return one day but all her dreams are shattered and finally she aborts that baby after 7 months.
Parallel to Noelle Page, another story is going on. She is a girl named Catharine. She is born to a poor father and mother. Her mother dies and her uncle comes to her father and offers a hob to him. She gets admission in a university, wins a scholarship and goes to study far away from her father.
After completing her course she finds a job as a secretary in Public Relations department. Her boss?s name is Bill Fraser. (William Fraser, actually).
She comes close to Bill and they started to date. They like each other and are thinking of marriage however no one has proposed till yet. Larry Douglas is a good friend of Bill, he meets Catherine and instantly falls in love with her. Larry enjoys an image of a Casanova. But he settles with Catherine.
On the other side, Noelle becomes an actress, a successful one in France. She wants her revenge to Larry. She makes relations with powerful people and finally becomes mistress of Constantine Demiris who is a very powerful person in Rome. He is a business tycoon, a powerful conglomerate who makes and destroys governments.
Noelle conspires and when Larry is out of job after WW II, she manages to make him the pilot of personal fleet of planes of Demiris. She however keeps her name out of all the stuff that it is she who actually arranged the job.
And then she seduces Larry, who obviously has forgotten her. She attracts Larry, he commits adultery, finally he agrees to murder Catherine with Noelle. Noelle actually plans first to kill Catherine which Larry will do for her, and then she intends to kill Larry which Constantine will do for her. But Demiris comes to know about the secret affair of Noelle and Larry. This man is in love with Noelle and he can not bear the betrayal of Noelle.
Finally Demiris decides to take his revenge. He traps both Noelle and Larry and then makes the judge execute them both.
And here is the read shock. Noelle and Larry are executed for murder of Catherine but Demiris manages to save her. He saves her and hides her in some monastery for nuns far away from Rome. His mistress and pilot are executed for murdering a woman who is alive!!!!
Man this is too much. Hail Sidney! You were really something.
Besides the title of the novel is very well chosen, Noelle and Larry attempt to murder Catherine at midnight, but this was the other side of midnight; they never knew she was safe and sound asleep in a cozy bed in a distant monastery.
I am spellbound to explain how much entertaining this novel is. Go and read for yourself, this is a completely satisfying experience. Worth your money and time.
Recommended.
Mr. Gautam.
