It could have been 5 stars but I found the beginning somewhat slow-paced. But the story, as a whole, was good.I would like to talk about some of the characters...Edward. What happened to him was heartbreaking. An innocent party that took the "fall" for the benefit of others.Groza. Below was what happened to him/his family..."Scenes of his wife and his daughter being raped seared through his brain. It was a gang rape, and the laughing soldiers went from the woman to the child, their pants pulled down, waiting in line for their turn. Marin Groza strained against the stool as though bound to it. As the whip fell again and again he could hear the screams of his wife and daughter begging for mercy, choking on the men’spenises in their mouths, being raped and sodomized at the same time, until the blood started pouring out and their cries finally trailed off."Harry Lantz. If I remembered it correctly, he was the one having threesome. Well, at least he enjoyed his sex life before he forced himself to bed Nuesca. The distance he would go for money would have been funny if not pathetic. Too bad he wasn't as clever as he thought he was.Mary Ashley. She proved her worth. Excelled in a place dominated by "male chauvinist pigs". Knows how to play dirty and turn a situation to her benefit. Smart woman. Smart woman until she fell in love. Falling in love was her downfall. Wait. Let me amend that. Falling in love WITH THE WRONG MAN was her downfall. If she intended to trust no one, then she shouldn't make an exception. Emotions cloud judgment. She made herself believe all the things Louis said just because she thought he loves her. What a joke. Sabi nga nung lola ko nung nabubuhay pa sya, "Walang ikalawang glorya". And in this case, I agree with her.Louis, Mike Slade and Stanton. I am happy with myself. I know this is just a book. That they are just fictional characters but I was freaking glad that I pegged all three of them correctly. Even if what I was reading at a certain moment contradicted with what I thought their characters were, I stood by my assumptions. For Louis, For Mike Slade, And for you, Stanton, All in all, I really, really, REALLY liked it.Oh! I forgot someone. Ben Cohn. The ever adorable Ben Cohn. Who the hell name their penis ARTHUR? Why Arthur out of all names? Or, in the first place, why name his penis? He was weird. Too nosy for his own good. And as they say, curiosity killed the cat.
Sidney Sheldon is like comfort food for me. I get intrigue, I get a fair bit of romance and I get entertainment. In this outing, the story is that of 1980s, Cold-War Romania. Naive Kansas professor Mary Ashley has been tapped to be the new ambassador as part of the President's ambitious people-to-people program. How can she bring her Midwestern aesthetic to the hard world of international politics? Windmills of the Gods is very of it's time with regard to life behind the Iron Curtain. That was a while ago now, and it's hard for some of us to remember just how cloak-and-dagger things were in those days. We have different cloaks and daggers now, which make the Iron Curtain ones seem somehow more innocent....In any event, there were some things by which I was completely unsurprised, and others that were entirely unexpected. I loved that I didn't see certain plot twists coming, and that even when I knew that something was coming, I wasn't sure how it was going to arrive. It's fluff, but it's fun fluff, and it's just what I need on a grey day to clear out the cobwebs and lighten the mood.
What do You think about Windmills Of The Gods (1994)?
This novel was spilt into three 'books' with the second and third being a lot better than the first. The first 'book' was setting up the whole novel and plot, this was fine, but I felt that it was a bit too disjointed. It jumped from one person to the other and then back, there were a series of names that I couldn't keep track of, different political terms and affiliations, relationship and sub-plots.By the second book I had pinned down who everyone was and actually realised that the first book, though not entirely action packed, had nicely set me up for the impact of the second and third. We began to see a development in Mary's character and she became our primary narrator, and this was where the novel came into its own.Mary was like most of Sheldon's female narrators, strong, independent and incredibly compelling. Once she had me hooked on her story I just couldn't stop reading. There were times when I was sympathising with her, shouting angrily at her, laughing with her... but she had me with her the whole time. I read 457 in about four hours, and Lord help me, but when it finished I needed more! Not just a good read, but a brilliant read.
—Kelly
I was introduced to the reading world with Fanfictions around 7 years ago. So naturally I did not read the classics first. My mom dad told me how good Sydney Sheldon was, but I always kept it away because I thought I cannot read anything that isn't atleast partially romance. A friend of mine gifted me the book and that got me to read this. I was absolutely hooked. It took me time to reach the initial 60 pages, but after that I couldn'rt put it down.Surely going to go ahead for other sheldon books!
—Vaishnavi
I have never liked Sidney Sheldon before. But after reading her novels consecutively, i learned to appreciate her works at full blast. She's an easy to understand writer. No highfalutin words, no overdescriptions, just fitted for an average reader. i also liked how she made WOMEN heroes of her novels and how she leaves her readers at awe and question: WHAT HAPPENED AFTER? that we wish there's a part 2 of that novel.Likewise, i loved how she connected her stories. very relevant, very current, something that we can relate to. we know her stories were really happening in some parts of the globe and that's really nerve-shaking. At the end of every work she made, i learned to love this author :)
—Kristin
