Master of the game

Mystery and thriller

First published: 1982
Print length: 495 pagesWarner Books, 1986

Description

On her ninetieth birthday, Kate Blackwell stands among the world’s wealthiest and most powerful women, receiving public tributes while confronting the private ghosts behind her fortune. Her family story begins with a diamond prospector and an Afrikaner merchant clan, then expands across four generations as the McGregor-Blackwell empire passes through ambitious and divided heirs. Moving between South Africa and the international business world, the saga traces how wealth acquired through ruthless determination becomes both inheritance and weapon. Blackmail, murder, family rivalry, and the hunger for control shape a dynasty whose members repeatedly mistake possession for security. Kate remains its commanding center, measuring the survival of her empire against the damage required to build it.

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

Brisk

Tone

Dark · Melancholic · Suspenseful · Tense

Structure

Framed · Multiple timelines

Focus

Character · Plot · Relationships

Emotional intensity

4 / 5

Reading complexity

1–5 · higher means more demanding

Writing: 2 / 5
Ideas: 2 / 5
Structure: 3 / 5
Background knowledge: 1 / 5

Themes

AmbitionFamilyLegacyObsessionPowerWealth

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.

If Tomorrow Comes Apple Books

Book details

For the print edition listed above.

Publisher: Warner Books
Language: English
ISBN: 9780446341851

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