The Sky Is Falling [Mass Market Paperback]

Sidney Sheldon (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 2001

The Winthrops are America's royal family, and its Prince Charming is the sexy, charismatic Gary Winthrop. Now the man on his way to becoming the Senate's brightest new star is found murdered in his home-the latest in a series of incidents that have killed five members of the family in a single year. One of the last people to see Gary Winthrop alive is Washington anchorwoman Dana Evans. She makes it her mission to investigate these seemingly random tragedies, little realizing that her search will sweep her across several continents, place her and her young son in grave danger, and lead her to a truth that will astound the world.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Dana Evans, who made her first appearance in Sidney Sheldon's The Best Laid Plans, is a spunky, good-looking, young Washington TV journalist who's recently returned to the nation's capital from the Balkans, where she adopted a handicapped war orphan who's having trouble adjusting to life in America. But that doesn't keep Dana from following a story all over the world, from Washington to Aspen, Nice, Juneau, Dusseldorf, Rome, Brussels, Moscow, and Siberia. Each of these brief visits is like a postcard--a local landmark or two, an interesting local restaurant (at least in the European venues), and another piece of the puzzle, which has to do with why every member of a venerable, old Washington dynasty has died a violent death in the last year. It seems strange that in a media-savvy city like Washington, no one but Dana has noticed there's a pattern in the rapid extinction of the Winthrops or even whispered the words family vendetta. But that's why pretty, young girl TV reporters were invented, at least by Sheldon.

As Dana sets out to investigate the distinguished career of the Winthrop family patriarch, her lover Jeff, a sports anchor at her station, is called away to administer aid and succor to his former wife, a beautiful model who's realized, too little and too late, that she never should have dumped him. And Kemal, the 12-year-old orphan, is being drugged by his baby sitter, who's in cahoots with at least one set of bad guys. Dana hasn't noticed how tractable the temperamental boy has become recently because she's been dressing up like a two-bit Russian tramp to infiltrate a secret weapons base in Siberia... Do you hear the words movie locations? But all's well that ends well, as it usually does for Sheldon's heroines, and in the meantime you've learned where the five-star hotels are and what to order in a famous restaurant in Rome. A slick, commercial, slightly thin tale told by a craftsman of the genre. --Jane Adams --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Efficiently brisk and reliably suspenseful, Sheldon's (Tell Me Your Dreams, etc.) 17th novel demonstrates that this veteran master of commercial fiction has not lost his touch. Freshly returned to Washington, D.C., from a stint reporting in Sarajevo, TV newscaster Dana Evans (introduced in Sheldon's The Best Laid Plans) struggles to cope with her new adopted son, troubled 12-year-old Kemal, whose parents and sister were killed in the fighting. Back on the job, Dana interviews youngish millionaire Gary Winthrop, the scion of a Kennedyesque clan, only to learn the next day that the prospective Senate candidate and philanthropist has been murdered in his Washington townhouse. Unbelievably, Dana is the only person who finds it odd that five members of the Winthrop family have died violent deaths in the last year. Despite this weakness in the plot, Sheldon crafts a page-turner that takes Dana on a worldwide quest from France, Germany and Italy to Alaska and Moscow as she pursues her hunch that all the Winthrop deaths are related. Deceased family patriarch Taylor Winthrop, she discovers, was a manipulative, unscrupulous businessman, politico and womanizer with many enemies. And the senior Winthrop's connection to the real-life Siberian underground city of Krasnoyarsk-26 and its production of plutonium proves the source of the family's wealth and their ill fortune. A love triangle involving Dana, sports anchor Jeff Connors and his ex-wife, internationally known model Rachel Stevens, seems gratuitous, tossed in merely to add plot texture, but it does provide some viable moments of romance and schmaltz. When the villains behind the killings turn against Dana as she comes closer to the truth, the tension builds and holds right through to a seven-alarm finale. Agent, Mort Janklow. 750,000 first printing; Literary Guild and Doubleday main selections; Mystery Guild featured alternate; People Book Club alternate; 6-city author tour. (Sept.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing (July 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446610178
• ISBN-13: 978-0446610179
• Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 1.2 x 6.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (128 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #251,937 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Best known today for his exciting blockbuster novels, Sidney Sheldon is the author of The Best Laid Plans, Nothing Lasts Forever, The Stars Shine Down, The Doomsday Conspiracy, Memories of Midnight, The Sands of Time, Windmills of the Gods, If Tomorrow Comes, Master of the Game, Rage of Angels, Bloodline, A Stranger in the Mirror, and The Other Side of Midnight. Almost all have been number-one international bestsellers. His first book, The Naked Face, was acclaimed by the New York Times as "the best first mystery of the year" and received an Edgar Award. Most of his novels have become major feature films or TV miniseries, and there are more than 275 million copies of his books in print throughout the world.

Before he became a novelist, Sidney Sheldon had already won a Tony Award for Broadway's Redhead and an Academy Award for The Bachelor and the Bobby Soxer. He has written the screenplays for twenty-three motion pictures, including Easter Parade (with Judy Garland) and Annie Get Your Gun. In addition, he penned six other Broadway hits and created three long-running television series, including Hart to Hart and I Dream of Jeannie, which he also produced. A writer who has delighted millions with his award-winning plays, movies, novels, and television shows, Sidney Sheldon reigns as one of the most popular storytellers of all time.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The Sky Is Falling Review, October 3, 2000

By 

Maria K. Chan (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Sky Is Falling: A Novel (Hardcover)

If some of you haven't noticed, this book's characters comes from his other book "The Best Laid Plans." You don't need to read that book to know who the characters are, but it helps because it will give you more background information. Anyhow, I thought the plot was interesting, and no doubt a page-turner (especially since I finished it the same day I bought it) however I'm sorry to say that this book was not all that great compared to his other books. In my opinion, it seems like he's losing his touch. I can't exactly figure out what it is, but the book seems to be missing something.. and I guess I didn't get the "fullfilment" at the end that I usually get when reading his books. Anyhow, Sidney Sheldon is one of my favorite authors, so if this is the first book you've read from him, check out his other books, they're awesome! =)

37 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars SPELLBINDING...TOUGH TO PUT DOWN, September 12, 2000

By 

Nick G - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Sky Is Falling: A Novel (Hardcover)

World famous for their goverment service, the Winthrop's, are America's royal family, but as the fifth death ends the family name, Washington anchorwoman, Dana Evans, believes there is something strange surrounding the deaths.

As Dana begins her investigation she uncovers evidence that is shocking, and on her quest to uncover the truth, she will enter into a game of cat and mouse that will take her around the world, bringing her closer to a diabolical killer.

Dana must outwit her pursuers, to expose the truth, and save the life of her son.

"The Sky Is Falling" is vintage Sheldon; fast-paced, exciting, well-written, and always entertaining.

Sidney Sheldon is praised as being the "master of the storytelling game", and deservedly so...he grabs the reader immediately, and pulls them along for a ride they will hate to see end.

If you are looking for a novel you can't put down...grab this one!

A MUST read!

Nick Gonnella

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars One DUHHH after another!, March 12, 2002

By 

Andrea (Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Sky Is Falling (Mass Market Paperback)

Right from the beginning of listening to this audio book, I was astounded by how ridiculous the writing was. ("A woman in her FIFTIES with PREMATURELY grey hair". HUH???) Then I got into the plot.

Geez, an entire family of wealthy, philanthropic, high-profile, Kennedy-types is wiped out by "accident" within ONE YEAR, and not only is no one suspicious, but when the heroine dares to question it, is met with skepticism and called a "chicken little". And by experienced journalists yet. One would have thought that a full-fledged government investigation would have been launched after the second "accident".

The protagonist, Dana, follows the story all over the United States, Europe and Russia, with not a single objection from her bosses. Are absences and budgets never a consideration?

As she travels world-wide, her interviews consist of two or three obvious questions, amateurishly phrased and never followed up. Onward to the next country, where this is repeated. This is supposed to be an experienced journalist? I cringed in frustration.

From one plot-hole to another, with one dimensional characters, unbelievable dialogue and a ridiculous, unsatisfying ending, Sheldon once again proves that he is the most over-hyped hack in the English language. Aimed at North America's typical low-brow audience, this book will not disappoint the average reader, who will likely follow it up with one of Danielle Steel's latest literary disasters.

...