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The Other Side of Midnight

The Other Side of Midnight

List Price: $37.95
Your Price: $23.91
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Master in storytelling
Review: Sydney shows his talent again with this book about two women obsessed with a man.
You have this sweet girl who is betrayed by his husband but still insists on his love, and the selfish and ambitious actress who ran across the man in dispute at an early age and, since that moment, centers her life in resuming their love story.
Sheldon keeps the suspense during the whole book and you just can't stop reading the last chapter until the end.
I gave it 4 stars because it is not a masterpiece, but I assure you it's pretty good entertaining.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Hook-Line-And-Sinker!
Review: **Beware** Reading this novel will make you abandon all things that you hold dear (food,sleep,kids). I finished this novel in one day. I could not believe it! It was that good and that shocking!

I will use just two word to describe it 'EXQUISITELY AWESOME'. Pick up the sequel Memories of Midnight!
Don't forget to breathe!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Now here's a good book. . . .
Review: The Other Side of Midnight - Sidney Sheldon

A Review

Know this, reader, before you dare read this book: Once you start reading this book, your attention will be on it alone, and you will, without a doubt, be reading it to the exclusion of all other activities until it is finished. This general rule applies for all of Sidney Sheldon books, and with good reason.
The first Sheldon book I read, Rage of Angels, became my favourite single book of all time. At the time, I was a fantasy genre only fan, but as soon as I read it, I knew that fantasy would not be the only genre I would read. Well, that was only several months ago, and now I'm reading other books by Sidney Sheldon, and others such as Michael Crichton, Nora Roberts as J.D. Robb, Anne Rice, Janet Evanovich, and Iris Johansen. Since Sidney Sheldon was the first author that got me into all books non-fantasy, I highly respected him and his writing.
After reading Rage of Angels, I read four other Sidney Sheldon books. (His newer ones, none of his older ones!) They were all good, but none of them compared to, what I thought, was the best book of all time, Rage of Angels. Recently I purchased the Other Side of Midnight to discover what his other older novels were like.
I just finished The Other Side of Midnight last night (I stayed up reading until nearly midnight, even when I wasn't supposed to!), and I am speechless. That night, I nearly cried in awe of how sad but great the book is. Truly, Sidney Sheldon is a legend and a prodigy of literature.

The Other Side of Midnight is not just a book. It is nothing short of an epiphany. Reading it, I kept on forgetting that this book was written nearly three decades ago! (!973). This book is a flawless work of art, a masterpiece of writing and up to this day still one of the best fiction books of all time.
Part of the reason I liked Rage of Angels so much was because Sheldon writes in a fashion so that one is really emotionally attuned to the main character. TOSOM was mildly different. When (Name removed so that no spoilers are given) dies near the end, I sighed in a depressed way, and continued on. That was all. But that alone gives some indication towards how powerful this book is. When one reads as much as I do, one becomes almost indifferent to the joys, struggles, and deaths of characters in books.
When I reached the end of TOSOM, I shrugged and put the book back on my shelf. I wasn't tired, but I didn't want to wake up anyone else in my house by selecting another book to read in the morning. And then, as I lay in bed with the lights out, I reflected on how incredible this book is. It is flawless, and without a doubt, a contender against Rage of Angels for my favourite book I've ever read. One cannot begin to imagine how emotionally powerful this book is. Or should I say powerfully emotional? Both.

What are my complaints? Well, like all Sidney Sheldon books, I hated the cover art. (Okay, let me explain something: nearly every Sheldon book has two different kinds of covers: one with the predetermined, default artwork on it. This artwork is usally made up of various objects reflecting elements in the book: roses, glasses, needles, etc. The other type of cover is a cheap, uncreative picture of a woman lying sideways, facing the reader, but in black and white, and very indistinguishable as to appear in some way, enigmatic.) The cover of my copy of TOSOM was as such. Why did I particularly despise the cover? Well, earlier this year one day, when I was looking at Sidney Sheldon books in a second hand bookstore, (Don't worry, I would never get any second-hand books!) I saw a really old copy of TOSOM. And yet, if I saw it again this day, I would buy it in an instant. Barely and vaguely I can recall the cover art (The shadows of two individuals, a woman and a man, against a sun rise/set, in a very beautiful setting!) And yet clearly I can remember the art to be undetailed and simple. I think this art was done with the movie in mind. (Yes, there is a TOSOM movie. Yes, it came out a while ago. No, I have not seen it. Yes, I am going to see it.) After reading the book, and bringing that cover art back into my mind, it sort of influenced my mind in a peaceful, serene, blissful even!, but sad way.

There is nothing left for me to say, except that this book and Rage of Angels are the two most influential books I've ever read. What one reads slowly changes that one's outlook and perspective on things, and although some books do it less or more than others, TOSOM is possibly out of all the books I've read the one that has had the most profound effect on me.
I'm not even enjoying writing this review by now. To me, it seems that my review interferes and violates the near-holy sacredness with which I now worship this book. That is because I feel my own writing talents, even though I am only writing a review for the book, cannot begin to accurately describe how unbelievable TOSOM truly is. This book is undeniably powerful to a nearly overwhelming extent.
All I can say is that one, after fully reading this review, would be an utter fool not to read The Other Side of Midnight, if he or she has not already read it.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Trashy but fascinating
Review: Sidney Sheldon focuses on the trashy as does authors such as Jackie Collins or Judith Krantz, however I must say that he has a grandiose, eloquent style of writing that neither of those two could ever match. The story is somewhat cliched--a scorned woman out to wreak havoc on the man who wronged her at any cost--but the angles and motivations injected into this tale make it above the norm. I have seen the movie and I have to say that the book is much better (as is usually always the case). One thing that struck me as I read it, and I'm sure it will strike others as well, is that Sheldon almost certainly based Noelle physically on Catherine Deneuve. I also found interesting the Mata Hari-like ending . . .In all, an engrossing rags-to-riches tale gone wrong about the destructiveness of unbridled vengefulness and all-consuming passion which would make an interesting read for anyone.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: couldn't put it down
Review: this is one of the better books i've ever read. its got everything you vould ask for : hate, violence, love, fear, lust, revenge, sex, self concept. Noelle and Cathrine captivate the audience. you get into thier caracters and when its over, you get rather upset, and its got a great ending that leaves you hanging. Read it, trust me, you'll like it.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Both sides are snazzy
Review: OK, here's a book you'll like. I have just two complaints, and I'll get them out of the way quickly: 1. The sex scenes are hokey. And 2. At one point a horde of bats attack our heroine in a cave. Not likely. We don't need more bad publicity for our furry, little friends. Almost all of them mind their own business, and they are vital to the ecosystem. Even vampires sneak up on their sleeping victims. They do not attack en masse.

But, I digress...our cast includes Catherine Alexander, a good, beautiful, naive woman; Noelle Page, a bad, beautiful woman, really dreadful; Bill Fraser, a great guy who deflowers young Catherine (but that's OK with her); Larry Douglas, a debonair flyboy with nary a scruple in his handsome head; and Constantin Demiris, a Greek billionaire with a definite taste for revenge! I'll say no more.

Here's the deal: Catherine and Noelle are both born in 1919. Catherine, from Chicago, grows to young adulthood, somewhat naïve. Noelle, from Marseille, France, grows to young adulthood somewhat naïve too, but early on she falls in love with Douglas, who inadvertently twists her. He beds her and dumps her, and she never recovers. She turns into a cold-hearted Harpy...plotting revenge for years! Catherine, on the other hand, falls in love with an older man, Fraser, a stolid Washington bigwig, but she too later falls under the hypnotic spell of the devilishly passionate Douglas who, by the way, is an ace fighter pilot in WWII. How romantic for a tender, impressionable young woman! No wonder they can't resist: a fighter pilot with handsome, chiseled features and a devil-may-care attitude. A male fatale.

OK, so we have parallel stories for a while. Caring Catherine and Fraser in Washington. Noxious Noelle, who becomes a famous actress with a string of influential lovers, in Europe. But remember this: Noelle is plotting revenge on Douglas, the cad. Noelle finally takes up with Demiris, and maneuvers Douglas into being hired as the Greek's personal pilot. At this point, the two stories move closer, ending in Greece, spiraling down a slippery slope of murder schemes, failed plots, romantic nights, successful plots, mountains in the clouds, rickety foot-bridges, bottomless volcanic lakes, terror in dark caves, hokey sex, stunning Mediterranean vistas...all that stuff.

It's a well-crafted yarn, and it has a dilly of an ending. Certainly blindsided me. Probably will do the same for you, but maybe you're sharper than I am. It's possible.

We have some good secondary characters, the best of whom is Colonel Mueller, a bald, albino, homosexual Gestapo officer. Unlike everybody else, he was not blinded by Noelle's charms. Of course not, he's gay. Did she escape his clutches? You'll just have to read the book and see. I recommend it to you. Trust me on this.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: CHILLING
Review: I have been an avid reader for most of my childhood, teenage and now "adult" life but never have I read such an exceptional piece of fiction. Sidney bounces you around Europe along with his characters & takes you on a chilling ride into their minds, hearts & bodies. AN ABSOLUTE "MUST READ"

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The best!
Review: Atfirst I thought it was just going to be one of thoes mushy goshy romance novels, but once I started reading it, I couldn't put it down! It is just full of suspence and it keeps you on your toes. You can really feel for both Noell and Cathrine. I love how you just just feel the jelousy and greed. I highly recomend it.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: a great introduction to his books!
Review: When I picked up this book for the first time, I was a little unsure about reading Sidney Sheldon's books. I was unsure because my only favorite author at that time was V.C. Andrews and I had never read any of his books. However, when I started to read this book, I realized that his style is nothing like Andrews. He has much more tension and backstabbing in his book.

Anyway, I read this book when I was in high school and I still think about it today. I was not very happy when Larry decided to cheat on his wife with Noelle.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The Other Side of Midnight Review
Review: This book is another one of my favorites from Sidney Sheldon. From chapter to chapter, page to page, you just can't put the book down. There are twists and turns, and you'll find yourself saying "Oh my gosh!" half the time. It is truly a great book. Don't forget to buy the sequel to this book - "Memories of Midnight."


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