Master of the Game
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Author | Sidney Sheldon |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Thriller, Novel |
| Publisher | Warner Books |
| Released | 1982 |
| Released in English | 1982 |
| Media Type | Print (Paperback and Hardback) |
| ISBN | ISBN |
| Preceded by | Rage of Angels |
| Followed by | If Tomorrow Comes |
Master of the Game is a 1982 novel by Sidney Sheldon. The story is about a single family, and how that family has created one of the biggest empires in the world. But beneath the respectfulness and glamour of the company; who will realise that it was build from blackmail and deceit? And how murder plays a powerful part in the company? One of the best novels by Sidney Sheldon, Master Of The Game had captivated readers all around the world with its tantalizing web of deceit
The story is separated into five sections, Jamie 1883-1906, Kate and David 1906-1914, Kruger-Brent Ltd 1914-1945, Tony 1946-1950 and Eve and Alexandra 1950-1975
Contents |
[edit] Jamie 1883-1906
The first section is about Jamie McGregor, Kate's father. Jamie was a very poor eighteen year old who left his family to travel to the diamond field, in order to search for a better life. When he bought some prospecting equipment from Salomon Van der Merve, a very rich and powerful man, he got cheated out of his remaining money and tortured and beaten. He swore revenge on Salomon Van Der Merve. Jamie found out about a diamond field owned by Salamon so he began to plan how to steal the diamonds. He was helped by Banda, a black former slave of Salamon's who helps Jamie due to the fact that he wants revenge against Salamon, due to the fact that he raped Banda's 13-year-old sister, which caused her death from a miscarriage of Van der Merve's child. After Jamie stole the diamonds, he got richer and more powerful and he began to plan Salamon's downfall. He seduced Salamon's daughter and made her pregnant. This humiliated Salamon badly and lost him his business. Soon Salamon became bankrupt and was forced to sell the diamond field of Namib, not knowing that was the field that Jamie made his fortune from. After he sold the diamond field he lost the will to live and committed suicide.
Salamon's daughter, Margaret Van der Merve, still loved Jamie despite him humiliating her father. Jamie paid her no attention until he realised he needs a son. He married her to get his son back. Soon after that, Margaret got pregnant again and gave birth to a girl named Kate. When his son got kidnapped and killed by workers who were unhappy about Jamie's companies working conditions; Jamie got a heart stroke and became a "vegetable". Jamie was taken care of by Margaret and died one year after the stroke.
[edit] Kate and David 1906-1914
This is the story of how Kate Blackwell grew up, and of her infatuation with a man twenty-two years her senior, David. This chapter of the book is mainly based upon the childhood of Kate and the growing of the company under Margaret McGregor and David Blackwell. David Blackwell was hired by Jamie at the age of sixteen, when he saw the boy come to one of Jamie's mines, to help his father. David's rise to power was mostly described in the first section of the book.In her childhood, Kate was very uncooperative and caused trouble for her mother. She hated school and all she'd wanted to do was fight. The only person that could control her was David. At the end of this section, Margaret began to wonder how the company could fall into the hands of the most mischievous girl she had ever seen. There was a very significant part of this section. When the Boers went to war and lost against the British (The Boer War), Margaret and Kate went to a prison camp, which they miraculously survived. Kate, after seeing the harsh conditions which they had to live in, vowed to herself that she would become so powerful that she would never have to go to them again. It was that determination that, later on, made Kruger-Brent Ltd one of the most powerful companies in the world.
[edit] Kruger-Brent Ltd 1914-1945
This is one of the most important sections of the story. In this section, the main focus of the story has to do with the growing of Kruger-Brent Ltd into a massive billion dollar empire.
The section starts off with the police hunting for Banda, who had escaped jail and was falsely convicted of killing a jail guard upon escape. Kate helped Banda escape the police and she was reprimanded by David, because he feared for the stability of the company if Kate was caught. Kate is now the head of the company after her mother's death from cancer a few years beforehand. After her mother's death, Kate becomes very determined to continue the company; as opposed to the second section when all she wanted to do was cause mischief. As opposed to boarding school, when she just messed around; when Kate went to business school she listened carefully, due to the fact that she wanted to make her company into one of the most powerful in the world.
[edit] Blurb
For business tycoon Kate Blackwell, power and success in a man's world have become a deadly game-a game of which she is the master. Now ninety, Kate is confident her dynasty will prosper-but will anyone ever know how murder and madness were the price of that success. Throughout her life, she has manipulated events with the skill of a consummate player. But even Kate Blackwell cannot win on every score...
[edit] References
| Preceded by: Rage of Angels |
Sidney Sheldon Novels 1982 |
Succeeded by: If Tomorrow Comes |
