Sidney Sheldon is one of my all-time favourite authors, But this book is one I decided to read again. It took me about 7
hours to finish.
The book is about power, greed, revenge, hatred, deep hatred and strong love. The main character is a greek tycoon who manipulates people with his power, he was not from a rich family, he fought to get to the top. and he showed it in so many different ways. He had everything he wanted, and yet he wanted more, he had eyes and ears in every country possible, no one could hide from him or try to keep a secret from him. He was
married to a wealthy attractive woman from an affluent family, but the only woman he had ever loved was a beautiful
actress, his mistress,who many men desired and loved. But she had a sordid past, and she was on a mission, a mission to destroy the only man
she had ever loved. He was a pilot who had women all over the world. After a weekend romance, they had planned to get married, he had left her, promising to return on the weekend, she bought the dress, and waited for him but she never saw him again, so when she found out she was pregnant with his child, she killed the baby after nurturing her pregnancy for five months, almost killing herself in the act. He was currently married, and he loved his wife dearly, but he had a problem with women. The plot thickened when the actress arranged for the pilot to work for her lover, (the tycoon) and consequently got involved with him. She bought a villa so they could be alone. When the tycoon found out, he first had the co-pilot who told him about it killed in a plane crash.Then when the two (the pilot and the actress) decided that the only way for them to be together was to kill his wife (she had refused to give him a divorce). So they plotted her death, but twice their attempts were thwarted. In the end, she (the wife) found out about it, and ran away. The tycoon saw his opportunity to get revenge, arranged for the pilot''s wife to be rescued by a group of nuns he assisted financially from time to time. He had the actress and the pilot executed, and because his love was so deep for the actress, he decided to befriend the pilot''s widow, have his way with her, and then have her killed. it did not work out as he planned, because his wife committed suicide, framed him and had him arrested. His only hope was a brilliant lawyer who he had tried to have killed by planting a bomb in his house,(because the lawyer had played a pivotal role in the execution of his mistress and her lover, and he was afraid he would talk) but unknown to him he had failed in his attempt. The lawyer was badly scarred and disfigured, but even though he was shocked when he saw him, he gave a silent prayer, because he knew if anyone could get him off, it was this lawyer. The lawyer eventually arranged for him to sign over all his assets to his brother-n law (who hated him as well), with some contingencies. He gladly obliged, thinking that he had one hundred million doollars stashed away into an account somewhere. So the lawyer got him acquitted of the charge, and then he invited him home for a drink, told him that he was in a lot of pain, and couldn''t go on living. The tycoon, shockled out of his wits, asked him how he could do that seeing that he was so rich, after which he told him he had signed everything over to the nuns, and subsequently he drove over the edge of a cliff. I think it is a great book, and if you can read it, you should.