Sidney Sheldon's Mistress of the Game

October 26, 2009
Bagshawe masterfully channels Sheldon in this sequel to his Master of the Game
. A generation has passed and Kate Maxwell's grandchildren are ready to take control of the family business. With such ruthless protagonists, each more conniving and underhanded than the last, Bagshawe creates a suspenseful atmosphere in which anything can happen. Such a novel is a narrator's playground, and the gifted Karen Ziemba delivers. She portrays each character in a fresh and original light, while maintaining Bagshawe's slightly soap opera feel. Upbeat and intense, Ziemba invites listeners to come and play, and it's never been more fun. A Morrow hardcover (Reviews, June 29).

The sequel to the late Sheldon's MASTER OF THE GAME picks up with the lives of the Eve and Alexandra's Blackwell's children, Lexi, Max, and Robert and their internecine battle with each other to take over the family business, Kruger-Brent. Karen Ziemba reads with her smooth voice softening the hard edges of each of the Blackwell clan. She ably captures the brains and drive of Lexi and Max as they implement their schemes against each other. Ziemba shifts her intonation as characters and locations change amid scenes of murder, kidnapping, violent sex, and cutthroat business dealings across the globe. While the story stands on its own and provides a tell-all perspective of its larger-than-life characters, there's not a likable person among them. M.B.K. (c) AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine