Master of the Game | Book Review | 1982 | Sidney Sheldon

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Sidneey Sheldon was an author most famously known for his crime and thriller novels.

Sheldon had started his writing career with Broadway plays. He also wrote scripts for movies and television. In fact, at the age of twenty-one, Sheldon won an Oscar for writing the critically acclaimed comedy, The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer.

It was only after turning fifty did he start writing his present-day classics like The Naked Face, Stranger in the Mirror and If Tomorrow Comes. His books have a dramatic flair to them, often ending in big, unexpected twists. It is for this reason that many regard him as one of the greatest thriller writers of all time.

Sheldon breathed his last in 2007, though his legacy continues to inspire budding and seasoned writers alike the world over.

SYNOPSIS

Master Of The Game is a book about ambition and family legacy. The protagonist, Kate, has  inherited not only her father’s thriving business but also his ambition. The story sees Kate’s father pursuing the diamond rush in Africa to get rich. His gripping tale of struggle and triumph serves as an inspiration for Kate to follow in his footsteps, resulting in a life motivated by hunger for more power.

All her life, she has been neck-deep in deceit and manipulation. Yet she is celebrated as a woman of elegance and great beauty. On her ninetieth birthday, she looks back on the life she has lived and contemplates how to leave behind the legacy she has spent her entire life building.

WHAT WE LIKED ABOUT MASTER OF THE GAME (CONTAINS SPOILERS)

Master of the Game begins from a memory. The protagonist reminisces about her life and remembers her father, whose struggle kick-started the family business. It was his efforts that made their names synonymous with power. Over the course of the book, the readers are taken on a memorable journey. In fact, the thrill begins even before the protagonist is born.

The success story doesn’t end with the demise of Kate’s father; it is merely the beginning. Kate’s unusual behavior as a child, which she carries into her adulthood, serves as a great background to the ladder she climbs to expand the empire her father left behind. The readers aren’t always privy to her intentions and this adds another thrill of discovery when something is revealed.

Another chilling aspect of Kate’s personality is that she doesn’t let love control her; she is single-mindedly committed to her one and only goal. She manipulates the people she has known all her life to keep her company, Kruger-Brent, running. Not even her children or grandchildren are immune to her tactics. Master of the Game is a multi-generational story, where each new generation becomes another fold in the story’s fabric. However, at the heart of it all is always, always Kate Blackwell.

WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN BETTER ABOUT MASTER OF THE GAME

The story begins on a gripping note and ends on a mischievous one. While Sidney Sheldon’s works are known for their dramatic climax, this book is different – in a good way. There is absolutely no negative, neither in the storytelling nor the plot itself. The book even has a sequel, Mistress of the Game, which tries to take the story forward as Kate’s next generation inherits the flourishing business.

QUOTES

The future was clay, to be moulded day by day, but the past was bedrock, immutable.

Power. If you had power, you had food. You had medicine. You had freedom. She saw those around her fall ill and die, and she equated power with life. One day, Kate thought, I’ll have power. No one will be able to do this to me again.

They had broken his legs, but he could crawl.

CONCLUSION