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There was a time when Sidney Sheldon ruled the roost of contemporary fiction. Books such as BLOODLINE, THE OTHER SIDE OF MIDNIGHT, RAGE OF ANGELS and MASTER OF THE GAME were all over the place, with sales figures that resulted in self-perpetuating multiple paperback reprintings. Sheldon's recent work hasn't garnered quite the attention that he formerly had, which is unfortunate. As demonstrated by his latest novel, ARE YOU AFRAID OF THE DARK?, the man continues to have the touch.
Sheldon's strength does not lie in his literary craftsmanship --- he'll never be mistaken for Cormac McCarthy --- but in his ability to produce interesting characters that the reader begins to care about from the first introduction, and interweaving those characters into a fast-moving plot. This is especially true of ARE YOU AFRAID OF THE DARK? Don't be surprised to pick up this book one evening and find yourself still reading several hours later, thoroughly engrossed in the goings-on and unable to put it down.
Sheldon wastes no time getting to the heart of the matter in ARE YOU AFRAID OF THE DARK?, which starts off with four murders in four different cities: Berlin, Paris, Denver and Manhattan. The victims have one thing in common --- they all have ties to Kingsley International Group (KIG), a major think tank heavily involved in military research and environmental issues. Artist Diane Stevens and fashion model Kelly Harris, the wives of two of the victims, find themselves reluctantly thrown together by happenstance. A bond slowly but irrevocably begins to form between the two women when it becomes evident that their lives are in danger as well, apparently from the same source responsible for the deaths of their husbands.
Stevens and Harris are way out of their league; nothing in their respective backgrounds has prepared them for anything like this. They accordingly must rely on each other as they are pursued by a seemingly invisible but extremely powerful adversary. The key to everything is the mysterious Prima, which may be a person or a thing, but is a secret worth killing for. When it is revealed that the four recent deaths are tied to a series of supposedly accidental deaths stretching back over years and across distances --- and that are also connected to KIG --- it is merely a precursor to a trail that leads to a danger extending far beyond the lives of Stevens and Harris.
ARE YOU AFRAID OF THE DARK? continues Sheldon's unbroken string of the globe-spanning suspense novels that have been his forte since he began his illustrious career. It merely remains for a new generation of readers to discover his work. ARE YOU AFRAID OF THE DARK? would be an excellent place to start.
--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub
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