The Stars Shine Down [Mass Market Paperback]

Sidney Sheldon (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 1993

In THE STARS SHINE DOWN, Sidney Sheldon returns to the powerful and classic themes that have made him one of the world's most popular bestselling authors. And in Lara Cameron, he has created his most memorable, richly drawn heroine to date. Lara is America's Princess, the power behind the tallest building on earth, a self-made billionaire who towers over a traditionally male domain, an icon of glamour and accomplishment to men and women everywhere. Beautiful but insecure, ruthless yet vulnerable, Lara has struggled brutally to achieve it all -- yet still wants more. And in a dazzling global setting from London to New York, from Reno to Rome, she will find everything she has ever desired and won -- her fortune, her fame, the man she loves -- swiftly and shockingly imperiled.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Imagine Donald Trump as a drop-dead gorgeous woman and you'll have an approximate image of Lara Cameron, the heroine of Sheldon's latest--barely tepid--potboiler. A super-successful real estate developer, Lara has made millions of dollars--and a few enemies--in her ascent from a childhood of deprivation to the upper echelons of the business world. When she falls in love with a renowned concert pianist, she sets about "winning" him as she would a prime piece of waterfront property. But her ties to a lawyer with Mafia connections and her shady way of doing business threaten her happiness and eventually her income and reputation. In settings that vary from Canada to Chicago and New York, bestselling novelist Sheldon ( The Other Side of Midnight, Rage of Angels ) brings real zest to the high-stakes poker game that provides the novel's backdrop. But his pancake-flat characters are as insubstantial as the paper fortunes that drive the real estate business. Moreover, the characters have an annoying tendency to speak in overwrought cliches; sounding for all the world like Scarlett O'Hara, young Lara laments, "Someday . . . I will have my own land, and no one--no one--will ever take it away from me." Frankly, by the final chapter, readers won't give a damn. First serial to Cosmopolitan; Literary Guild main selection.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Kirkus Reviews

It may conclude in 1992, but Sheldon's latest is sheer 80's excess--the compulsively readable, sin-laden saga of a tycooness who's part Donald Trump, part Leona Helmsley. Though Sheldon's recent heroines (Memories of Midnight, etc.) have been sexy saints, his earlier leading ladies had a crueler edge--just like young Canadian Lara Cameron here, who in a series of canny real-estate deals uses her body as well as her wits to climb out of backwater poverty. With $3 million in her pocket, Lara moves to Chicago, multiplies her fortune, and, in 1984, takes on N.Y.C. There, even as she puts up a Monopoly board's worth of hotels and office buildings, including the world's tallest; battles sexism in the industry; and proves wildly generous to her employees, Lara reveals a darker side--slapping one worker; drugging prospective investors with Valium; harassing tenants by turning their building into a de facto homeless shelter; bedding mob lawyer Paul Martin. Is Sheldon depicting the evolution of a monster? Not at all--for outweighing these flaws, he hammers home, are Lara's ``independence and courage, her talent and vision and generosity.'' And her loneliness, dispelled by marriage to star pianist Philip Adler, the perfect icing on Lara's cake. So where's the drama? It comes in spades in the late 80's, as the market crashes: Lara's fortune dwindles; her ex-secretary writes a tell- all book; and the law starts poking into the casino that Lara set up with Paul Martin's crooked help, and into the attack by a thug- -hired by a jealous Lara?--who cut Philip's wrist and career. Can it be that, like another hotel queen, Lara will end up wearing stripes? Don't bet on it. Savvy Sheldon knows that nothing becomes the rich and famous like a little scandal, and that a faux-morality tale like Lara's needs an upbeat ending to play big--as this one will, right to the top. (Literary Guild Dual Selection for November) -- Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing (September 1, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446364762
• ISBN-13: 978-0446364768
• Product Dimensions: 4.1 x 1.1 x 6.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #375,728 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

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A true Inspiration, October 30, 2009

By 

Daniel - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Stars Shine Down (Mass Market Paperback)

This book, the star shines down tells about the life of Lara Cameron, who made her way through success by achieving one of the top world site builders over a traditionally male dominant society. Lara is the daughter of a boarding house owner in Glace Bay. She suffered lot of hardships to attain the ultimate success as a real estate performer. She becomes a successful real estate developer by converting an old hotel into an ultra model luxury hotel. She even had to make love with so many people, ruthless yet vulnerable to get her living. Coming from a poor family in Nova Scotia, She promised to herself to gain more power to show her father that he was wrong. In a global setting in many places she has ever desired and won. By doing all this she attains the pinnacle of success, but as days pass by she started losing them, and came back to her initial stage of her living, but yet had the strong support of her love and other working staff. The thrill and fun of the reality industry, the care for the staff and the true love which finds her back and the staff staying by her side are some of the interesting twists in the story. This book deals with the conceptual ideas of a young girl which turned into a dream by which she was made as a wonderful artist to avail her pride. The authors view for women to get her heights inspired me in the ways to develop the abilities in any such manner as Lara did. As it describes in a promotional manner the girl wanted to make her site the world's most used one for acquiring knowledge. This book would be the most inspirational one for every woman to achieve amongst any situation. Read it and get inspired.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Very disappointed, August 24, 2006

By 

V. Bagley "iggystar" - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Stars Shine Down (Mass Market Paperback)

I generally like Sheldon's "beach" reads. Usually great fun which decent premises. I'm not hard to please. However, this offering was dismal.

Storylines were picked up and dropped without resolution. Most of the characters were grossly underdeveloped or mere stereotypes. You know going into a Sheldon book that it's not going to be an English Lit assignment, but this one was weak in comparison with his other selections.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Flat, but fast, July 6, 2006

By 

L. Stevens "fantasy lover" (Upstate NY, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Stars Shine Down (Mass Market Paperback)

This book was something that I read in one day, just to pass the time. I really didn't care about the characters, and Lara seemed just too unreal to be true. She was too much of Scarlet O'Hara in her dealings with a real estate world dominated by men. I only finished it to find out what crisis happened that gave her an empty birthday party, but when I finally came to the end, it wasn't too satisfying.