Book Review: Sidney Sheldon's After the Darkness by Tilly Bagshawe

Grace Brookstein is young, beautiful and the wife of billionaire Lenny Brookstein when the US stock market goes into a terrifying free fall. Oblivious and seemingly unscathed, Grace continues her charmed life, until the death of her husband in a tragic sailing "accident" forces her to face reality. Was it possible that Lenny had conned thousands of people out of millions of dollars to live like a king, and how much did Grace know?
Untangling a spiralling web is vicious lies and well planned deceit, Grace soon puts her own life in danger in an attempt to prove her innocence.

Tilly Bagshawe writing as Sidney Sheldon is excellent, this book is full of glamour, sex, intrigue and mystery. I have never actually read a Sidney Sheldon book but I shall be catching up with his other books, what a great way to continue his legacy by introducing new readers to his writing in this way.
After the Darkness is set in the recent crash of the US stock market so obviously it is extremely relevant to readers who have watched the real life events unfold across the world. Lenny Brookstein runs a Hedge fund which in itself is shrouded in mystery. Tilly Bagshawe explores how many people benefited from extraordinary wealth without ever questioning where it came from.
Grace Brookstein embodies this unquestioning nature, married to Lenny and surrounded by glamour, wealth and opulence, she never once stopped to wonder where all the money came from as she was too busy spending it. All of this changes though with Lenny's death and I loved seeing the transformation in Grace. She is stripped of everything with no-one to turn to for support and the interesting part of the story is that she doesn't necessarily mourn the loss of wealth but instead begins to look at the simplicity of life without it. Grace's first instinct is to gain the truth, this sends her on a terrifying journey where she is constantly putting her own life at risk.
I read After the Darkness in one day as I didn't want to put it down. Each twist and turn just left me wanting more, I would highly recommend this excellent book.

Many thanks to Harper for sending me a copy of this book to review, it is published today.