Customer Reviews

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

Having been a fan of some of Sidney Sheldon's earlier novels, I always considered his greatest achievement to be "Master of the Game." A sprawling, multi-generational page turner that charts one family's rise from abject poverty to the heights of a financial dynasty--"Master" traversed the globe from the diamond mines of Africa to the international boardrooms and bedrooms of the elite. Unforgettable characters like Jamie McGregor, the "Master" Kate Blackwell, and her twin granddaughters Eve and Alexandra have stayed with me for over 20 years!

So with curiosity, I picked up Tilly Bagshawe's "Sidney Sheldon's Mistress of the Game." I'm not a huge fan of this recent trend of publishers branding sequels (with different authors) in this way. I'm too cynical to find much meaning in this commercial appeal--I'm sorry, but this is not Sidney Sheldon's book no matter how large his name looms on the cover. However, Bagshawe does a nice job keeping the spirit and pacing of her predecessor alive.

Picking up with Eve and Alexandra (albeit briefly) late in life, "Mistress" is essentially about their offspring. Sexy, scandalous, and moving at breakneck speed through the years--this is the quintessential beach read. There's murder, molestation, betrayal, fraud, kidnapping, addiction and everything in between. Fun and superficial, this is entertainment for entertainment's sake. Often times, I wished for a bit more substance. The leaps in time prevent any real connection to the characters, but things do slow down at pivotal moments. I enjoyed "Mistress" and had a good time revisiting some familiar places with some old friends. But unlike "Master," if you ask me about "Mistress" in twenty years--I don't expect this tale to endure quite so vividly!

This was a painful book to read. I can appreciate that the author and the publishers were trying to keep Sidney's spirit alive by writing this sequel, but they should have taken a lot more time to come up with a better effort. I feel like this book was only written to exploit Sidney's longtime fans. That is the only reason I can think of that garnered the excuse to release this book. It's full of cliches, it's cheesy, its devoid of character delevolpment, and the plot is tacked together from various previous Sheldon novels. Don't waste your money. I will remember this the next time a "Sheldon" book is released.

Like many other Sidney Sheldon's fans, I was very much looking forward to and excited about reading the sequel to one of Sheldon's masterpieces. This novel however was a sad attempt of creating that sequel. One of the things I enjoy about reading a Sheldon's novel is the build-up and the suspense of the plot, which he then always ended with a clever & satisfying revelation. Unfortunately, although the author of this novel tried to provide a similar experience, it failed horribly. The plot outlined many build-ups, but the revelations were lame. The timeline of events also raised my eyebrows, since it made it sound so easy and fast for people to become millionaires.
The ending was definitely disappointing, no satisfaction, like it trailed off in the middle of nowhere.
Overall, I feel sorry that Sidney Sheldon's legacy is tainted by this author. As one of Sheldon's big fans who have read every single novels he'd written, I hope this author's next attempt (After The Darkness) will be a lot better, or just stop writing using Sheldon's name.

While it was a clever idea to create a sequel to Sidney Sheldon's Master of the Game, Tilly Bagshawe's poor writing, random organization, and lack of integrity to the original characters had me bored and barely able to finish the book.

From what I could ascertain, it seemed that Ms. Bagshawe was working from a bare bones outline of Master of the Game, and indeed some of the book was a recap of the original book. But there was so much that didn't fit and so much that was resolved without struggle.

Frankly, I am astounded that this book earned a starred review. As a big fan of this genre and especially of Sidney Sheldon, I thought I would devour it. Instead, I was frustrated by pedestrian writing, unrealistic plot twists, and characters acting without rhyme or reason.

My advice? Save you money, go to the library, and check out the original Sidney Sheldon books. There's no comparison. Sidney Sheldon was truly Master of The Game.

I have read every Sidney Sheldon book and this doesn't even come close. I am so very disappointed in Tilly Bagshawe. Sidney Sheldon must be turing over in his grave! He would never exploit children and the suspense was not even there. I wish I hadn't spent my money on this garbage

This book was terrible. The story would have been better if the molesting children was left out. I only read half the book and put it down. It was disgusting. Sydney Sheldon would never have written this. Would not recommend to anyone.

I have enjoyed all of Sidney Sheldon's books except for this one. No way did he write this. Maybe the first sentence and Ms. Tilly Bagshawe took over... and did it poorly. She wrote that she wanted to honor his memory with this book but she did not come close.

Sheldon fans should avoid reading this book. While there is plenty of drama and negativity, few if any of the characters are well developed and/or spark the reader's sympathy.

This author takes every relationship that has the potential to be rewarding and twists them into something negative. When all else fails, kill off one of the couple and spend the next 30 pages reading how the surviving spouse is free-falling into an emotional abyss. Throw is some incest (cousin on cousin) and plenty of pedophile descriptions and the wonderful story continues. The love/romance scenes are poorly written and lackluster.

Then, after ruining many of the original characters and taking us through the lives of the next generation, this book is concluded with the thought process that there is room for another sequel.

If you *must* read this book, borrow it from a local library. You will regret paying money for it.

Some sequels are meant to be skipped or ignored. This is one of them.

Tilly Bagshawe wrote a perfectly acceptable sequel to "Master of the Game," but no one has the hand of the old master. Some of the characters seemed quite different from what you would have expected from the original novel, particularly Peter Templeton. In many cases, they behaved without a great deal of explanation or motivation. However, this was certainly not a boring book. A novel with Sheldon's quick, swooping twists? No. A decent beach read that will keep you interested? Yes.

A real fan of Sidney Sheldon's works - I wish I hadn't set eyes on this story! I always wonder what is going on with the Author when they introduce vile sexual deviations into a storyline ... well, perhaps the target audience was for those who don't think child sex abuse, torture, etc etc etc is deviant. I stopped reading a few chapters in - and from reading other reviews I'm glad I did. This is an awful book - don't spend your money.