Master of the Game

“Business is a game, played for fantastic stakes, and you're in competition with experts. If you want to win, you have to learn to be a master of the game.”
― Sidney Sheldon, Master of the Game

I grew up as a huge Sheldon fan and I have to say "Master of the game" ranks right up there as the cream of the crop in regards to his works.

Like many of his books, this is pretty long but the pages fly by.

It's a historical family saga and tells the story of Kate Blackwell whom you may not like to much or maybe you will.

Kate is a rich and powerful business executive. As the outline of the book explains she is an "enigma." The woman is a complex puzzle and not many, if any, can say they deeply know her.

On the surface this would seem to be a show more character study about this woman. But it is so much more than that.

Kate's dad was a diamond prospector who struck it rich. Her mother was the daughter of a crooked merchant. There are ghosts in Kate's past, enemies that need to be dealt with.

And there is much tragedy, personal victories and deeply poignant happenings.

I have read almost all of Sheldon's books and there is no question but that this is one of the heaviest. Don't read this if you are in a bad or sad mood. I mean it. Some of Sheldon's books are fun but light. This book is spellbinding but dark. Very dark.

I absolutely loved this book and loved reading about the diamond prospecting. Jamie was an utterly fascinating character and much of the book has a cultural slant as a great deal of it takes place in Africa.

There was a follow up which was also good but not AS good. This one however is a must read for fans of Historical fiction, family sagas, cultural reads, or all of the above. show less

I received this book as an hand me down along with a bunch of others, and I am glad I got it. Generally I will read just about anything and will try any author that I have never read. This was the first Sheldon book I had ever read, and I rather liked it. It's just a bit dated as it's a 80's novel, but sometimes classic novels are better than modern ones. This might not be a novel for everybody, but I enjoyed the character of Katherine. She's tough, but at the same time she's all too human and made an mistake that would cost her her son. It's interesting to see how the events of the past come to affect those of the present or even future, and I couldn't help but feel bad for Katherine and the dilemma she faced. Overall a solid and show more enjoyable read if you like a suspenseful family story with a bit of everything. show less

This is Sheldon at his best. The story of the Jaime McGregor, a poor Irishman who set sailed for South Africa to make a fortune with diamonds. After being hustled, swindled, almost killed and left for dead he returns as a ghost settling old scores and making his fortune as a diamond merchant. However, that quest doesn't come without consequences of his actions, such as a wife from his enemy and a son that can't survive his ambition. A stroke takes him out, but his wife continues his legacy as she's conceived Kate, Jaime's daughter he'd never grow to see.

Kate is just like her father, ambitious to a fault and will get what she wants by any means necessary. Like her father her quest to keep the next generation in the company tears the show more family asunder, leaving her in the end without any good prospects for an appropriate heir. Her meddling not only destroys her immediate family, but theirs as well.

This is a roller coaster clusterfuck of first world problems only rich people have, but a guilty pleasure. show less

This was one of those books that I couldn't put down until i finished. The story just captured my attention and didn't let go.

I can't decide which part was more engrossing, Jamie's story, Kate's, Tony's or Eve and Alexandra's, each had storylines that kept me reading nonstop, full of memorable characters: the evil Van Der Merwe, his long suffering but clever daughter Margaret, Banda, who becomes Jamie's good friend in a background of racial turbulence, David Blackwell, Kate's one and only love (next to Kruger-Brent), who went from uncle figure to husband, Dominique, the artist/model who was Tony's first love, Maryann, Tony's wife and mother of Alexandra and Eve, and George Mellis, the charming psychopath. And let's not forget Keith, the show more supposedly insignificant loser that Eve underestimated. No time wasters here.

Sidney knew how to keep the story going, as one set of circumstances leads smoothly to another, such as: Van der Merwe's despicable treatment of Jamie, which leads to his using Margaret as a means of revenge, which Margaret ends up using to her advantage.

Then there's Kate's clever maneuverings to get the man she loves, and her equally clever ones to ensure her son's future goes the way she planned (and the tragedy that results from it, which didn't).

Alexandra and Eve, the good vs. evil twins, could have been a novel to themselves. Time and again, Eve lied, schemed and manipulated, and Alexandra never had a clue, which some people may see as naive, but only reflected her good nature, as well as Eve's skill at deception. (When she and George team up against Alexandra, they sure get what's coming to them.)

I liked the way the book starts out in the present, then flashbacks through the past, to wind up back where it started at the end, it made the whole story more effective.

The last thing I'll say is anyone who reads this won't be disappointed. show less

Kate Blackwell is one of the richest and most powerful women in the world. She is an enigma, a woman surrounded by a thousand unanswered questions. Her father was a diamond prospector who struck it rich beyond his wildest dreams. Her mother was the daughter of a crooked Afrikaaner merchant. Her conception was itself an act of hate-filled vengeance. At the extravagent celebrations of her ninetieth birthday, there are toasts from a Supreme Court Judge and a telegram from the White House. And for Kate there are ghosts, ghosts of absent friends and of enemies. Ghosts from a life of blackmail and murder. Ghosts from an empire spawned by naked ambition!

When I was younger, I loved reading Sidney Sheldon’s books. Mostly they are quick reads, fast paced and give glimpses of uber-wealthy. Of course I had read Master of the Game when it came out in ’82, and I have read it multiple times since. It holds up well even if society and social mores have changed, but the main reason I picked it up to re-read was so that I can read the sequel which Mr. Sheldon’s estate gave Tilly Bagshawe the right to write.

Because this book spans multiple generations and centuries Mr Sheldon has some problematic verbiage when describing life in the late 1800s and early 1900s but there is nothing overly gratuitous about it.

All in all this is a great story with loveable and hateable characters, lots of show more “meat”, angst and psychopathic undertones.

Highly recommend to those who wish to read a right storyline with no unnecessary fluff.

RECOMMEND?
Highly recommend to those who wish to read a right storyline with no unnecessary fluff.

This review appears on my website

Disclaimer
I received via the OverDrive/Libby app from the Harris County Library system. It was read as a Kindle Book. show less

A story of a family spanning for a century of 4 generations.. What started with Jamie McGregor as a diamond hunt in Africa ended up as a full paced adrenaline rushed story with his great grand daughters and amidst this all was an unbelievable portrayal of Kate, a manipulative, self willed and strong hearted woman who carries the whole story with utmost ease and thrill.. No single page got me bored..