TWIST AND TURNS
BOOK:
MASTER OF THE GAME
BOOK AUTHOR: SIDNEY SHELDON
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
GENRE: THRILLER NOVEL
PUBLISHER: WARNER BOOKS
PUBLICATION DATE: 1982
PLOT
Kate Blackwell, matriarch of the Blackwell
family and head of her father's multinational business empire, Kruger-Brent
Ltd., gathers her family members at her estate in Dark Harbor, Maine following
her ninetieth birthday celebration. She can see the ghosts of her past, but she
refuses to join them until a member of the family is ready to take over her empire.
The novel explains four generations of the empire's rise and Kate's dedication
to the conglomerate.
Kate's father, Jamie McGregor leaves Scotland
for Klipdrift, South Africa to find his fortune in the growing diamond trade of
the 1860s. He is swindled and left for dead by merchant Salomon van der Merwe
but is saved by Banda, van der Merwe's servant, and they steal a fortune in
diamonds from van der Merwe to fund their vengeance against the man who
mistreated them both. A now unrecognizable Jamie returns to Klipdrift under a
new name and impregnates van der Merwe's daughter, Margaret. He announces his
true identity and says he had repaid van der Merwe's "hospitality"
with a present: MacGregor seed in his daughter's belly. The story spreads
through the town, shaming the very religious van der Merwe. Jamie helps the
town thrive, and in the process, gains the power to ruin van der Merwe
financially and drives him to kill himself. Margaret gives birth to a son, and
after Jamie continues to ignore them both she leaves the baby on his father's
doorstep. Jamie grows to love his son and marries Margaret when she threatens
to take the child to America. One-night Jamie drunkenly mistakes his wife for
his mistress, which results in Kate's birth. During the Bantu rebellion, Banda
kidnaps Kate before rebels can take her, but Jamie Jr. is kidnapped and left to
die in the desert. News of this causes Jamie to have a stroke, leaving him
helpless in the care of Margaret, who runs Kruger-Brent with Jamie's right-hand
man, David Blackwell. While captured during the Boer War, Kate realizes the
need for power so she will never feel helpless again.
Kate grows up desperately in love with David,
vowing to marry him one day. After her mother's death, she becomes serious
about running the company and goes to business school. Upon her return from a
trip to America she learns of David's engagement to a woman whose family wants
him to leave Kruger-Brent and run their company. Kate manipulates David into
breaking off his engagement and eventually they marry. Though David is against manufacturing
weapons during World War I, Kate begins to do so after David enlists, causing
tension in their marriage when he returns. She becomes pregnant with his child,
though she also begins to realize her obsession with Kruger-Brent and wonders
if the company is becoming more important to her than her marriage. David is
killed in an explosion in one of the company's mines, causing Kate to
prematurely give birth to Anthony "Tony" Blackwell.
Kate makes Kruger-Brent a global success,
though her demanding nature causes Tony to stutter in her presence. Tony opts
for an art career and after World War II goes to an art school in France. He
shows promise, but Kate pays a critic to negatively criticize Tony's work, leading
him to give up his art and join Kruger-Brent. While in Paris he dated a model
named Dominique but later discovers she was paid by his mother to spy on him,
and he gains the courage to cut Kate out of his life. Kate uses his hatred of
her to manipulate him into marrying Marianne Hoffman so Kate can obtain the
Hoffman electronics empire as well as grandchildren to inherit the company.
Despite warnings from Marianne's doctor about her health, Kate persuades her to
have children, and she dies giving birth to twins. Tony learns of how his
mother persuaded Marianne to carry out the pregnancy at the same time that
Dominique reveals his mother was responsible for the end of his art career.
Tony goes insane and tries to kill Kate to "save her" from the
company. He is lobotomized and sent to an asylum, while Kate takes care of both
the company and her granddaughters, Eve and Alexandra.
Eve, the older twin, is manipulative and
evil, and despises Alexandra, a trusting and sweet girl. Eve secretly attempts
to kill Alexandra several times during their childhood. Kate decides to name
Eve heir to Kruger-Brent but disinherits her when she discovers Eve's true
nature. Eve meets George Mellis, who like her has been disinherited by his rich
family, and they plot to have George marry Alexandra and kill her, leaving
George with Alexandra's fortune while Kate will have no option but to take Eve
back to run the company. Eve manages to help George marry Alexandra, but she
taunts him to the point that he nearly beats her to death. A talented surgeon,
Keith Webster, fixes her face, and Kate reconciles with Eve and plans to put
her back in her will. Eve decides she no longer needs George and decides to get
rid of him. She intercepts Alexandra and prevents her rendezvous with George.
Eve then pretends to be Alexandra and kills him. The police find his body and
build a case against Eve. Keith realizes the truth when Dr. John Harley, the
family's doctor whom Eve visited under the guise of a suicidal Alexandra, says
he was able to tell the twins apart because of Eve's facial scar from her
assault though Keith knows he left no scars on Eve's face and has a post-surgical
photo to prove it. Keith threatens to show the photo to the police if Eve
doesn't marry him, and although she complies she cheats on him openly with a
younger man. Keith refuses to testify at the coroner's inquest and Kate gives
Eve an alibi, believing Eve murdered George but thinking she will punish Eve in
her own way. Before she can do so, Keith deliberately destroys Eve's face
during a laugh line removal procedure, making Eve devoted to Keith in fear that
he will leave her alone with her ugliness. Kate considers this punishment
enough. Alexandra marries George's psychiatrist, Dr. Peter Templeton, and they
have a son named Robert.
Back in the present, Robert, now eight, is a
classical pianist prodigy. Kate tries to meddle with Robert's future, but is
rebuffed by Peter and Alexandra who say Robert will choose his own life and
won't be forced to take over Kruger-Brent. Kate relents, saying she would never
interfere in anyone's life choices. She then offers to introduce young Robert
to a renowned musician as she once offered to help with Tony's art career.
CONCLUSION
I am a big fan of Sidney Sheldon. I have
almost read his books. And Master of the Game is one of my favorite books of
Sidney Sheldon. This book describes about the five generations stories which are
mentioned in a good manner. Not only this, the novel describes about the
relationships with the parents, children and grandparents. Furthermore, the
novel described how the words are manipulated and games can be planned and what
will be the punishment the person deserves if s/he does are mentioned in the
novel.
About the characters, I like Kate Blackwell.
She does cunning plans and evil but has a brilliant mind. Kate
Blackwell’s empire was spawned by pure ambition and greed, and she oscillates
in mind as proud, self-obsessed woman all in shades of grey. Kate’s nothing
short of this combination. This deadly woman goes around shuffling the cards of
her own family members to fuel her naked ambition.
Moreover, I love the character Eve Blackwell:
the way she plans to destroy the live of her identical twins Alexander and how
she plans to get the property of her grandmother. Moreover, she tricky uses men
for her own selfishness.
In conclusion, this book is dramatic with
twists and turns so predictable and at the exact timing. It a page turning,
brilliantly plotted, and attention grabbing. Sidney Sheldon’s
heroines have always been ruthless, powerful, ambitious and brainy. Kate’s
nothing short of this combination. This deadly woman goes around shuffling the
cards of her own family members to fuel her naked ambition.
It’s a story
of passion, manipulation, hardships and betrayal. There are logic holes and no
apparent reason why the characters of the plot behave in an irrational way, but
the pace with the story traveled kept me hooked. Although, the book is long to
read, it's interesting to read the book with twist and turns.
REFERENCE
Comments
Post a Comment