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ANGEL OF THE DARK - SIDNEY SHELDON - Book Review



     Almost a month back, I received a gift voucher from Flipkart.com , and I decided to get some books for my self, of the books that I had ordered, I happened to order ANGEL OF THE DARK - SIDNEY SHELDON

     To begin, Let me tell you - this book wasn't completely written by Sidney Sheldon, Its author is Tilly Bagshawe, who built up this book on some unpublished work from Sidney Sheldon.
Sidney Sheldon - Angel of the Dark (Review)

STORY PLOT:-     The story starts with the first chapter dating to 1996, LosAngeles, where an Old , rich man named Andrew Jakes is murdered and his beautiful young wife Angela Jakes is brutally raped and beaten, then tied to the corpse of her dead husband. The case investigations were begun by Danny Mc Guire, an LAPD detective. But, due to lack of evidences at the crime scene, and the LAPD failing to find the accomplice, the case is closed. The wife (Angela Jakes) was rescued from the crime scene treated at the hospital and then later discharged, following which the young widow disappears from LA - the only witness to this case, leaving back her inheritance to charity. Once the case was closed , everyone decided to move on, but Danny Mc Guire was amongst those who never wanted to give up on this case and swore to himself to find the psychopath behind this case, but en route to find out the mystery he ends up ruining himself
Back at LA, Matt Daley, the estranged son of Andrew Jakes , decides to work upon this case and make a documentary


     9 yrs later, Danny Mc Guire is at France, with a new life, working with the interpol, still unable to forget Angela Jakes and the mystery with the case, until he meets Matt Daley- who is very much curious about his fathers murder. Matt Daley had collected all relevent data's relevant to the case and he happened to analyze on it. What's shocking was three identical killings - similar to the one that happened with Andrew Jakes (his father) had happened across the globe, where an old wealthy millionaire is murdered and his young wife is brutally raped , following which the young wife disappears, leaving away the wealth to charity... The mystery open again, had the murderer struke again ...???

     A year later 2006, a similar incidence happens and Matt decided to fly to Hongkong and meet the widow  (Lisa Baring) of this latest strike, so that he could uncover something interesting from the incidence. Soon the HongKong police send Lisa to Bali where Matt happens to sneak in, and soon as time passes, Matt gets infatuated by Lisa Baring beauty until they are caught by Chinese Police and put on a house arrest. Amidst the house arrest at Bali islands, both Lisa and Matt plan for an escape plan, but one fine morning Lisa finally goes missing like the wives from other cases....

     A few months later, in Mumbai, India- David Ishag an old wealthy Indian tycoon was to marry an young Jewish lady named Sarah Jane, following the instructions and predictions from the murderers insctinct at the interpol Danny Mc Guire comes to India, and follows up on David Ishag, he also warns David Ishag about his wife, which David wasn't ready to accept. Following which, one fine night Sarah Jane along with the murderer try killing David Ishag, but the police happen to reach there on time and end up catching them red handed, during which Matt Daley happens to be at the spot and ends up putting his life at risk.

     The Murderer in this case was ' Francis Mancini ' a.k.a Tony Renalto who was also the lawyer for Andrew Jakes and activly involved in the 3 murders. Also as the case opened up at the Court, it came forward that the widows didnt dissapear, but were all the same. It was Sofia Basta (real name ) who underwent many corrective surgeries and language training to become Angela Jakes, to Irina Anojou ( from a similar murder case in France) to Lisa Baring to Sarah Jane, under the orders from Francis who had misguided her and happened to torture or kill her identical sister who didn't exist. The court summit also put a light that Francis Mancini and Sofia Basta both had some psychological problems. The final decision by the court was that Francis Mancini is the murderer, but Sofia is not guilty, hence Sofia was sent to a psychiatric rehab center.

     A few months later, Matt , who was deeply in love with Lisa (Sofia) finally hooks up with Clarie and they happened to get married (before which he was told that Lisa was dead), soon his life comes back to track, also the documentary is released, on the other side his wife Clarie is also pregnent.  But one fine evening he happens to meet a woman with a known face and a heard voice, it was Sofia (his Lisa ) that he meets at a coffee shop, this time they happen to make an escape plan and finally succeeding in running away to stay happily forever.

MY REVIEW :-
   
    Firstly, must admit that Tilly Bagshawe has done justice to the Sidney Sheldon's story only to a certain extent (it could have been a tip better) . The story is well paced, exciting with some spectacular twists and certainly has that factor to keep the reader hooked and doesn't lag at any point. There have been times, where the story becomes predictable. There have also been some loop holes in the story , which seems to be funny, but it is better to carry on with the story..... Also at the end, the story ends up leaving you reeling and wondering - was justice actually served ??  for the way Sofia escapes even though she was involved in all the 3 murder cases ..?? was it right for Matt to impregnate his newly married wife and run away broke with Sofia??

My Rating - 3.8 /5

--> Sulaiman Sait 

16 comments:

  1. you make it easy to decide its the book suits me or not...thank you

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  2. very good Review :)

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  3. Well, i feel justice wasnt served....she literally got away with murder just bcz she was really beautiful...Matt shouldnt have left Cassie for her.. She is either mentally unstable or a really calculating murderer at the end of the day...As for loopholes, I found that all the widows- Angela, Tracey, Irina and Lisa were reported to have said that their attackers were short and stocky in build but Francis had an excellent physique..What other loopholes did you find?? :-)

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    Replies
    1. It’s not a loophole. It was normal for them/she to lie since they/she were/was Frankie’s accomplice.

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    2. I did not understand why David Ishag was targeted. He was never married. Which naturally implies that he had not abandoned his family for a younger wife. This weakens the motive of the killer(s) on which the foundation of the story was based. I would like to hear other perspectives regarding this.

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  4. This is a good read. Why is it carrying the name Sidney Sheldon, when in no way its closer to his style.
    This is the first time I am reading Tilly bagshawe, luckily this happens to be a good thriller.
    The author lacks creativity that is evident, but some how manages to tell a good story.

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  5. i actually didn't get what happened in the last , i mean in the epilogue .was lisa again back on the trail.
    if anyone knows then please mail me

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    Replies
    1. i did not get it too !!
      Please explain here in reply i f U know..

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  6. Just a small correction. Matt married "Cassie" (Claire was his sister).

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  7. The story is not complete? What is the motive to kill is not clear. How the rich men across different countries were selected. Why did they send money to charity. I couldn't digest that Matt left his family for Lisa. Why was Carlos killed? N there are lot more questions. Generally thriller novel end with a suspense and a question but this book ends with so many unanswered questions which makes it a disaster at the end when compared to other sidney Sheldon's books. I was just reading through to find some answers but couldn't find till the end.

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  8. Other thing that has to noted that Matt left his wife pregnant and ran away with Lisa- the woman he always worshiped for. It's not a surprise that the sequel of the book may have Frankie alive(who knows! probably the author might bring him alive through any other loop holes) and he would plan to kill Matt Daley for leaving his wife and children( they being grown old) with another anonymous character or with the same Sofia so called Lisa Daley for the same reason he had killed the other four rich characters.........Any way a nice fiction to read and a good review..........

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  9. Here's what I speculate-

    At the end the detective that barfs at the sight of the dead body... I think that detective is Danny. The incident takes place months after matt and that bitch sophia fled to Morocco. So I assume that Matt got a plastic surgery and changed his name to Carlos Hernandez , in order to prevent anyone from recognising him and to protect his "LISA" aka Sophia. So when Danny gets ahold of the xeroxes of the legal document... (which by the way would obviously include matt's profile) He gets a funny felling that he's somewhere seen Carlos Hernandez before.(due to the surgery he doesnt recognise matt)

    All in all I think Matt's been killed by someone.

    By the way How's my speculation?

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    Replies
    1. I speculate the same as u. I think sophie murdered matt and she is the real phsycopath. Coz we nvr get to hear francis part of d story

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  10. I don't think Matt was killed.

    He killed Carlos before him and Lisa left to Morocco. Lisa said he was the only other person that knew she was alive. This made him a risk.

    Let's remember Matt was abe to get into Lisa Baley's summer home and David Ishag's home. He tried to plan her grand escape. He's perfectly capable to create crimes of passion so killing Carlos really shouldn't be that surprising.

    Before the epilogue he also says "whatever else he might do in his life, Matt Daley would never, ever put Lisa at risk again"

    Additionally Lisa said Carlos moved before he could pay her back, this plays into the 3 month lease he just signed.

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