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Are You Afraid of the Dark? : A Novel Hardcover – September 14, 2004

by Sidney Sheldon (Author)

4.3 1,488 ratings

Part of: Sheldon, Sidney (1 books)

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All around the globe, people are being reported dead or missing.

In Berlin, a woman vanishes from the city streets. In Paris, a man plunges from the Eiffel Tower. In Denver, a small plane crashes into the mountains. In Manhattan, a body washes ashore along the East River. At first these seem to be random incidents, but the police soon discover that all four of the victims are connected to Kingsley International Group (KIG), the largest think tank in the world.

Kelly Harris and Diane Stevens—young widows of two of the victims—encounter each other in New York, where they have been asked to meet with Tanner Kingsley, the head of KIG. He assures them that he is using all available resources to find out who is behind the mysterious deaths of their husbands. But he may be too late. Someone is intent on murdering both women, and they suffer a harrowing series of near escapes. Who is trying to kill them and why?

Forced together for protection, suspicious of each other and everyone around them, and trying to find answers for themselves, the two widows embark on a terrifying game of cat and mouse against the unknown forces out to destroy them.

Taut with suspense and vivid characterization, full of shocking twists, and with an unnervingly realistic premise that could alter all of our lives, the long-awaited Are You Afraid of the Dark? is Sidney Sheldon at the top of his game.

From Publishers Weekly

Two gorgeous widows go up against a nefarious multinational think tank in this airbrushed but goofily entertaining thriller by perennial bestseller Sheldon (The Sky Is Falling; Tell Me Your Dreams; etc.). Four scientists working for the New York–based Kingsley International Group have died or disappeared within 24 hours. Wolfish top boss Tanner Kingsley vows to find the perpetrator; meanwhile, stunning artist Diane Stevens, wife of a just-murdered KIG scientist, and supermodel Kelly Harris, whose husband has likewise been killed, find themselves under attack by mysterious strangers. Diane and Kelly form an uneasy alliance, though both spend most of their time ruminating on their wonderful (now dead) husbands: "I want to feel you stroking my breast.... I want to imagine that I can hear your voice saying that I make the best paella in the world...." The plot is straightforward: people are killed, women are in peril and an evil CEO (Tanner, gasp!) has a plot to take over the world. His technique involves controlling the weather, and in an intriguing short afterword, Sheldon explains the very real possibilities of just such a scenario. The on-the-lam ladies, Kelly and Diane, escape every assassination attempt with ridiculous ease, and other characters appear and disappear simply in order to get the author out of one plot pickle after another. Still, despite (or because of) Sheldon's blithe unconcern for logic and his just-add-water relationships, this is a breezily pleasing read.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Readers don't expect literary genius from Sheldon, but they do expect to be entertained, and once again the popular TV-producer-turned-storyteller delivers the goods. When four top scientists at the imposing think tank KIG wind up dead in four different parts of the world, is it coincidence? Two of the victims' wives--the elegant artist, Diane, who just testified against a Mob boss, and the gorgeous model Kelly, who flew to New York from Paris at the behest of her dead husband's boss--inadvertently meet, and they find themselves connected because someone is apparently trying to kill them, too. It could be the Mob underlings who promised retribution against Diane for having testified against their Godfather. Or is it possible the women's husbands were so deep into their secret project for KIG that they may have been a threat to its secrecy, and now the wives must die, too? This novel is short on character development and long on cliched literary techniques, but it is, nevertheless, the best kind of guilty pleasure. Mary Frances Wilkens
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About the Author

The late novelist and screenwriter Sidney Sheldon remains one of the world's top bestselling authors, having sold more than 300 million copies of his books. Are You Afraid of the Dark? is his most recent in a long line of huge bestsellers. He is also the only writer to have won an Oscar, a Tony, and an Edgar. The Guinness Book of World Records heralds him as the most translated author in the world.

Part of series

Sheldon, Sidney
Print length

352 pages
Language

English
Publisher

William Morrow
Publication date

September 14, 2004
Dimensions

6.25 x 1.75 x 9.5 inches
ISBN-10

0060559349
ISBN-13

978-0060559342
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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ William Morrow; First Edition, First Printing (September 14, 2004)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 352 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0060559349
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0060559342
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.35 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.25 x 1.75 x 9.5 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #793,413 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #21,205 in Women Sleuths (Books)
- #27,011 in Romantic Suspense (Books)
- #34,837 in Suspense Thrillers

Customer Reviews:
4.3 1,488 ratings

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Sidney Sheldon

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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.

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4.3 out of 5

1,488 global ratings

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Latasha Mitchell

One of my sons reads

Reviewed in the United States on December 30, 2023

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My son loves this author.

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HeyJudy

A contradiction in every way

Reviewed in the United States on January 3, 2006

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ARE YOU AFRAID OF THE DARK?: A NOVEL is a contradiction in every way. It's silly--but it's compelling. It's absurd--but it's also totally believable. It's too short, even sketchy--yet it tells its story fully. And it's riveting entertainment.

In the hands of a lesser author, AFRAID might seem to be just a shlocky novel. Yet if this is garbage, it's garbage in the hands of the world's greatest living master of popular fiction.

Briefly, the novel is about an evil villain who is attempting to control the world by controlling...well, it's not fair to give away any secrets. The book certainly could be re-worked as a screenplay for James Bond--except that the good guys who conquer the evil are female.

There's quite a bit of information here, just blurted out in expository paragraphs, or spoken by the characters in long speeches. This technique would seem amateurish except, hey, it's Sidney Sheldon!

I'm no longer young, and Mr. Sheldon had won his Academy Award a full decade before I was born. In the years that followed, he also won a Tony Award on Broadway, and several Emmys for television. He's the man who was responsible for I DREAM OF JEANNIE, THE PATTY DUKE SHOW, HART TO HART.

Writing a book like AFRAID OF THE DARK has to be easy for a man of this much talent and this much skill. He probably is able to phone in his manuscript with one eye closed and one arm tied behind his back--and he may have done just that.

Still, because this author is the master of his art that he is, even with this novel's silly faults, it is a fascinating and plausible story. And someone's put some serious research into crafting the vehicle of evil.

According to his biography, Mr. Sheldon was born in 1917. This means that he's an old-fashioned kind of guy and, in ARE YOU AFRAID OF THE DARK, he's written an old-fashioned kind of thriller. Read it and enjoy a master at work.

9 people found this helpful

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He's Back!

Reviewed in the United States on March 28, 2006

Verified Purchase

I am glad that Sidney is back. Most of his book are guaranteed to be a quick and fun read but some of his latest book have taken off on a different path and although I enjoyed them I was in no hurry to reach an end.

This book reminds me of Sidney's Windmills of the Gods and The Doomsday Conspiracy. This is story about how the head of the world's greatest think tank has murdered at least 3 of his top scientist because they figured out that his latest invention was not meant to save the world but to help him control the weather and in the process become richer and more powerful.

What's great about this story is that although the villains have the most high tech surveillance equipment, money and power behind them, they are always one step behind the two heroines of this book, Diane and Kelly. These two women befriend each other when they realize that their husbands were murdered by their employer. Once they realize this, the book is great roller coaster ride in which you are rooting for Diane and Kelly to outsmart the bad guys. Guess what, no surprise there as the girls outwit the bad guys each and every time. The fun of this book is trying to anticipate their next move.

3 people found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

Good

Reviewed in the United States on August 31, 2013

Verified Purchase

I forgot how fast moving Sidney Sheldon wrote. Definitely a book to read. A bit predictably but still enjoyable quick read.

One person found this helpful

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Mimi18

Even better the second time!

Reviewed in the United States on August 29, 2021

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I read this years ago and it is even better the second time around. Sidney Sheldon was a fabulous writer and his books are timeless.

3 people found this helpful

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Dora

Addictive

Reviewed in the United States on August 7, 2021

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An amazing book! There won’t be an option to put it down. The author is very good, I definitely recommend.

One person found this helpful

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Diane and Kelly's Excellent Adventure

Reviewed in the United States on October 20, 2004

Verified Purchase

Sidney Sheldon's latest novel follows in the tradition of his previous best-sellers and his fans will not be disappointed. This time out, we learn that several key employees of an international think tank have been horribly and mysteriously murdered. Two of their widows, Diane Stevens and Kelly Harris, join forces to uncover the truth and find themselves marked for death as well. We follow the intrepid ladies from New York to Europe and back again in a race against time to find the one responsible for killing their husbands, all the while being watched by a power-hungry madman who wants to control the world.

Sheldon specializes in breezy dramas featuring beautiful, strong, and infinitely resourceful young women; in this story, we get two of them - naive artist Diane and cynical supermodel, Kelly. There are frequent flashbacks to reveal details of their lives as well as insight into the villain's twisted mind. The ladies find themselves in mortal peril countless times, and they come out of each sticky situation by using their brains, pluck, and good-old-Sidney Sheldon girl-power.

If you like Sheldon's lightweight but often exciting brand of chick-flick-type novels, you will enjoy "Are You Afraid of the Dark?"

Kona

16 people found this helpful

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bgqueen

Sidney never ever disappoints. A true winner from start to finish

Reviewed in the United States on August 2, 2017

Verified Purchase

Oh my, where to start. This book is the best book I've read in such a long time. I had every emotion while reading it. The two main characters are so relatable and likeable. I recommend this book to everybody.. it's in no way raunchy like a lot of books are now a days.

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