If Tomorrow Comes

Mystery and thriller

First published: 1984
Print length: 416 pagesMorrow, 1985

Description

Tracy Whitney begins as a successful Philadelphia bank manager engaged to a wealthy heir. After her mother is deceived by the New Orleans Mafia, Tracy is drawn into a conspiracy involving the gang’s leadership. Corrupt legal authorities help send her to prison, where she loses her former life and suffers severe abuse. Once she survives, Tracy resolves to take revenge on those responsible for destroying her life. That campaign leads her into an international world of elaborate thefts and deception across Europe, transforming her into a professional con artist. Her criminal career grows more complicated when she becomes romantically involved with fellow con artist Jeff Stevens.

Reading profile

About this profile

Collected’s assessment, not reader ratings. Complexity runs from 1 (least demanding) to 5 (most demanding).

Writing: How much attention the sentences and language require.
Ideas: How much interpretation or abstract reasoning the book asks of you.
Structure: How much you need to keep track of speakers, timelines and connections.
Background knowledge: Prior knowledge needed to follow the book, beyond what it explains.
Emotional intensity: Emotional pressure, from gentle (1) to intense (5). Separate from difficulty.

Writing style

Descriptive · Dialogue-driven · Direct

Pace

Fast

Tone

Dark · Playful · Romantic · Suspenseful

Structure

Linear

Focus

Character · Mystery · Plot

Emotional intensity

4 / 5

Reading complexity

1–5 · higher means more demanding

Writing: 2 / 5
Ideas: 2 / 5
Structure: 2 / 5
Background knowledge: 1 / 5

Themes

ClassCrime and punishmentJusticeLoveRevengeTransformation

About Sidney Sheldon

Sidney Sheldon brought a dramatist’s sense of scene and momentum to romantic suspense, having worked first in Broadway and motion pictures before turning to bestselling novels after fifty. His fiction favors direct, dialogue-driven prose, rapid reversals, and plots that move through courts, boardrooms, prisons, and international settings. At their center are often determined women forced to navigate institutions controlled by hostile or corrupt men. Tracy Whitney in If Tomorrow Comes is framed and imprisoned before remaking herself as an ingenious con artist, while Jennifer Parker in Rage of Angels rebuilds a legal career under pressure from organized crime and political ambition. Sheldon also worked on a broader dynastic scale. Master of the Game moves across four generations and several countries, placing Kate Blackwell at the center of an empire sustained by inheritance, rivalry, blackmail, and murder. Whether following a revenge scheme or a family struggle, he advances the story through confrontations and escalating complications, keeping character and relationships tightly bound to the machinery of plot.

Master of the game Apple Books

Book details

For the print edition listed above.

Publisher: Morrow
Language: English
ISBN: 9780688042172

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