Sidney Sheldon has always been one of my favorite authors. I have read several, if not most of his books – the first being “The Naked Face” which I was able to read during high school. After being exposed to his distinctive type of writing in that novel, I found myself wanting to read more of his books.

Last Christmas, I received two Sidney Sheldon paperbacks from an officemate during our gift-giving party. However, due to my hectic schedules, I was only able to read the books a few months ago.

Between the two books, I liked this novel more, maybe because I prefer a clear-cut and distinct hero or heroine in the role of a protagonist. While the other book (to be reviewed later) has a more omniscient view of the main characters – good or bad; more unpredictable twists and a more suspenseful plot, I found “Are You Afraid of the Dark” to have all the key elements of a typical Sidney Sheldon novel I’ve come to love – gripping suspense, courageous heroines, and touching love story.

Are You Afraid of the Dark?

• Genre:  Suspense
• Number of pages: 398
• Author:Sidney Sheldon

The Plot

The story unfolds with the violent and mysterious deaths of four people in four different cities across the world – Berlin, Paris, Denver, and New York. Although shrouded in mystery, all the fours deaths initially appeared to be unrelated, as all the victims died from different causes. Nothing seemed to link the four deaths together, except for the fact that all four men worked for the various global branches of the same company – an extremely powerful environmental think tank, the Kingsley International Group (KIG).

The wife of the one who died in Berlin was kidnapped and killed too at the start of the story. Although single, Gary Reynolds, an expert pilot whose plane crashed in Denver, had a sister who was very close to him, and who was later killed too. Mark Harris, who apparently leaped to his death from the observation deck of the Eiffel Tower, had left a wife, Kelly Harris, a black supermodel working in Paris. The fourth man who died, Richard Stevens, whose body was found lying at the East River’s edge, also left a widow, Diane Stevens, an artist. Richard Stevens’ death was at first thought to be linked to the Mafia, as a note implying Mafia connection, was found on his pocket. The connection was quite valid at first as Stevens’s wife, Diane, was a crime witness who recently testified against a Mafia lord in a murder case.

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As the story goes deeper, the two widows, Kelly Harris and Diane Stevens were unwittingly brought together in their desire to dig into the deaths of their husbands. They accidentally met at the head office of KIG in New York when both of them were called by the company CEO, Tanner Kingsley, who asked if their husbands discussed their work with them.

Diane approached Kelly outside the building and asked if they could talk. But when they were at a café, they saw Diane on TV testifying against Anthony Altieri, the head of the mafia who was set free and was vowing to clean up a few debts. That scared Kelly and told Diane that she did not want to be associated with her. She hurriedly left Diane who reluctantly followed her to the door when two gunshots were fired at the table which the two women had occupied. Kelly then ushered Diane to her hotel limousine and told the driver to drop Diane at her apartment. The limousine was about to leave when they heard Diane a loud scream from Diane as soon as she entered her apartment. Kelly went in to investigate and Diane said that her husband’s briefcase which she left on the table was gone. Kelly told her to call the police, and when Diane did so and the police are coming, Kelly immediately left for her hotel.

However, when Kelly was in her hotel room, somebody was trying to get inside pretending to be room service. So she called security and asked to be escorted outside where she got into a cab. With her wits, she was able to ditch the car that followed her and was able to reach Diane’s apartment safely.  Kelly asked Diane to tell the mafia to leave her alone as she had nothing to do with Diane and left for her hotel to go back to Paris. But when Kelly was nearing her room, somebody approached her with a gun and brought her outside. She saw a policeman nearby and with her wits, escaped again by getting the policeman’s attention.

Kelly went back to Diane’s apartment and told her that they need to talk with Mr. Altieri to ask him to leave them alone. Escorted by Greenburg, the policeman who came to protect Diane, they went to see Mr. Altieri whom they found to be dying with cancer. Altieri told them that he was not responsible for the attempts in their lives and that he did not care whether Diane lived or not, as he was busy making peace with God due to his inevitable death.

When the women and Greenburg left, all of them were convinced that Altieri was telling the truth. So Greenburg asked if they knew of someone who would be interested in killing them, but the ladies were at a loss for answers.

When Greenburg left Kelly and Diane in the latter’s apartment, both women decided to talk at last. They both came to realize that there may be something in the deaths of their husbands, that somehow the deaths were connected. But the only connection they could establish was that their husbands both worked for the same company. Kelly said that perhaps their husbands were working on a top secret project, and that whoever was behind their deaths believed that they have told their wives about it.

When they found out that the police car supposed to be stationed outside Diane’s apartment was gone, and that the detectives assigned to her were transferred to another precinct, that made them realize the gravity of their situation. That Reminded Diane of Greenburg’s question: Did Richard Stevens, her husband say or do anything unusual prior to his death? Diane then remembered her husband mentioning of going to Washington to see somebody. What’s unusual about it was that he insisted to go alone when she often accompanied him. Then Kelly recalled that her husband, Mark, was also planning to go to Washington prior to his death – and he wanted to be alone too.

The plot goes deeper as the two female protagonists raced against an unknown powerful enemy who had killed their husbands and who’s now trying to silence them as well. Soon, they discovered that they need each other and had to pull their wits together in order to survive. They realized they had to put aside their personal grief, resentment and reluctance to depend on each other if they were to live and uncover the faceless adversary stalking their every move.

My Own Take on the Novel

Teeming with the usual gripping suspense the Sheldon way, “Are You Afraid of the Dark” offers a good, exhilarating journey down the mysterious and intriguing lanes of science fiction, politics and human frailty.

The characters of Kelly Harris and Diane Stevens were masterfully established. The plot was riddled with enough twists and suspense to make up for a fascinating read. This is one book you really could not put down – truly another wonderful offering from the master storyteller.