Master of the Game

Master of the Game
Sidney Sheldon

One of Sidney Sheldon’s most popular and bestselling titles, published in ebook format for a new generation of fans.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…Sidney Sheldon is one of the most popular storytellers in the world. This is one of his best-loved novels, a compulsively readable thriller, packed with suspense, intrigue and passion. It will recruit a new generation of fans to his writing.

SIDNEY SHELDON

MASTER OF THE GAME

COPYRIGHT (#ulink_fcb8389c-effd-52f1-a72d-838bbc17e8f8)

HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street, London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk (http://www.harpercollins.co.uk/)

First published in Great Britain by Collins 1983

This edition published in 2010.

Copyright © Sheldon Literary Trust 1982

Sidney Sheldon asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

This novel is entirely a work of fiction.

The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

HarperCollinsPublishers has made every reasonable effort to ensure that any picture content and written content in this ebook has been included or removed in accordance with the contractual and technological constraints in operation at the time of publication.

Source ISBN: 9780006472612

Ebook Edition © APRIL 2012 ISBN: 9780007370610

Version: 2016-03-17

DEDICATION (#ulink_65cb844b-71ea-5799-b2b0-b74ae5c4226a)

For my brother,Richardthe Lion-Hearted

EPIGRAPH (#ulink_403b8fb0-dabe-5191-b3f8-1b89ddfaafaa)

‘And hence one master-passion in the breast, Like Aaron’s serpent, swallows up the rest.’

– ALEXANDER POPE

Essay on Man, Epistle II

‘Diamonds resist blows to such an extent that an iron hammer may be split in two and even the anvil itself may be displaced. This invincible force, which defies Nature’s two most violent forces, iron and fire, can be broken by ram’s blood. But it must be steeped in blood that is fresh and warm and, even so, many blows are needed.’

– PLINY THE ELDER

CONTENTS

Title Page (#u4648ecf2-c8bc-5a78-9f3f-091989fbe30d)

Copyright (#ub506a8c6-c4b8-5af2-ae70-91555afce974)

Dedication (#uf576f8bc-1327-5c15-9154-98991e5b62be)

Epigraph (#u4b40710f-97d0-53b7-a4bc-0421c91c27bc)

Prologue (#u8373ec37-70bc-5bab-84e9-755c5481a0e2)

Part One (#ucc7906c0-8bbd-54d7-8d1d-9c5b750b51de)

Chapter One (#u91c8892e-9c2c-5402-9631-4e2f4712bbb2)

Chapter Two (#u3033f6b0-077b-5ee0-b1ba-a9add6f5bc2a)

Chapter Three (#u0ff753de-22c8-5a79-ba5e-7ab7dbf4c6a8)

Chapter Four (#u11d0d0ff-d5f4-5bf7-8813-b3d0760d8e7f)

Chapter Five (#ub27e61ee-9750-5e12-9a41-bcfbb81452ff)

Chapter Six (#ua7eb16e2-245e-5664-86cf-ee9f2c32a97e)

Chapter Seven (#ub871d00f-19d4-536c-b798-f207b242d0b3)

Chapter Eight (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Nine (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Ten (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Eleven (#litres_trial_promo)

Part Two (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twelve (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Thirteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Fourteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Fifteen (#litres_trial_promo)