From Publishers Weekly
The latest novel by the veteran author ( If Tomorrow Comes, etc.) is a fast-paced thriller. Upon taking office, idealistic President Paul Ellison inaugurates the "people-to-people" program, intended to establish America's ties with Iron Curtain countries. Instead of naming an experienced diplomat as ambassador to Romania, Ellison selects wholesome Mary Ashley, instructor of Eastern European political science at Kansas State University. Mary initially declines the post, but after her husband dies in a suspicious car crash, she warily accepts Ellison's offer in an attempt to quell her overwhelming grief. Unwittingly, Mary has placed herself in peril, for a sinister covert organization of right- and left-wing tycoons and politicians called Patriots for Freedom intends to abort Ellison's project by lethal means. To kill Mary in Romania, these code-named extremiststheir identities aren't divulged until the novel concludeshire Angel, a terrorist infamous for for barbarity, skill, and dedication. Sheldon's characterizations are slick but involving, and the action escalates to an electrifying final scene. Adding depth are descriptions of harsh Romanian life, the agony of widowhood and the foreign service initiation process. Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
In the world of political intrigue and espionage Sheldon's work is far from Le Carre or even Ludlum. But he can spin a fast-moving tale and give it a few twists. Here an international cabal of politically powerful right- and left-wingers seeks to destroy President Paul Ellison's plan to strengthen relations with Iron Curtain countries. Ellison's program is to start in Romania, and for ambassador he selects Mary Ashley, political science professor, wife, and mother who has seldom been outside Kansas in her 35 years, but whose writing has caught Ellison's eye. Sheldon strains credulity severely along the way, notably in murders masked as accidents, and Ashley's gaffes on the Washington diplomatic scene are glaringly inconsistent with her shrewd negotiating in Bucharest a few months later. But the story speeds along and the epilogue is a chiller. Michele Leber, Fairfax Cty. P.L., Va.Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Windmills of the Gods ANNOTATION
Spy thiller about an Iron-Curtain ambassador marked by death by the world's most proficient assassin.
FROM THE PUBLISHER
America's best-selling novelist has created the breathtaking story of a woman trapped by a diabolical international conspiracy. The action races from the President's Oval Office to the hot Latino beat of Buenos Aires to the romance of Paris and Rome to the shadowy dangers of Bucharest.
Caught in the web of this chilling tale is Mary Ashley, a bright young professor of Eastern European studies at Kansas State University and mother of two, who is appointed the United States ambassador to an Iron Curtain country. Even before she takes up her post she is marked for destruction by unseen and powerful enemies, including Angel, an accomplished assassin who has never failed to carry out a murder contract.
Alone and a stranger in a foreign country, Mary Ashley finds herself involved with two dynamic men: Mike Slade, a tough career diplomat who is her deputy chief of mission; and Louis Desforges, a doctor attached to the French embassy. But soon she comes to believe that one of them is out to kill her.
In Windmills of the Gods Sidney Sheldon has written a gripping drama with compelling characters that remain forever etched in the reader's mind. It is a tale of a woman's heroism against an unknown terror spanning the whole arena of international intrigue.
FROM THE CRITICS
Publishers Weekly
The latest novel by the veteran author ( If Tomorrow Comes, etc.) is a fast-paced thriller. Upon taking office, idealistic President Paul Ellison inaugurates the ``people-to-people'' program, intended to establish America's ties with Iron Curtain countries. Instead of naming an experienced diplomat as ambassador to Romania, Ellison selects wholesome Mary Ashley, instructor of Eastern European political science at Kansas State University. Mary initially declines the post, but after her husband dies in a suspicious car crash, she warily accepts Ellison's offer in an attempt to quell her overwhelming grief. Unwittingly, Mary has placed herself in peril, for a sinister covert organization of right- and left-wing tycoons and politicians called Patriots for Freedom intends to abort Ellison's project by lethal means. To kill Mary in Romania, these code-named extremiststheir identities aren't divulged until the novel concludeshire Angel, a terrorist infamous for for barbarity, skill, and dedication. Sheldon's characterizations are slick but involving, and the action escalates to an electrifying final scene. Adding depth are descriptions of harsh Romanian life, the agony of widowhood and the foreign service initiation process. (February 10)
Library Journal
world of political intrigue and espionage Sheldon's work is far from Le Carre or even Ludlum. But he can spin a fast-moving tale and give it a few twists. Here an international cabal of politically powerful right- and left-wingers seeks to destroy President Paul Ellison's plan to strengthen relations with Iron Curtain countries. Ellison's program is to start in Romania, and for ambassador he selects Mary Ashley, political science professor, wife, and mother who has seldom been outside Kansas in her 35 years, but whose writing has caught Ellison's eye. Sheldon strains credulity severely along the way, notably in murders masked as accidents, and Ashley's gaffes on the Washington diplomatic scene are glaringly inconsistent with her shrewd negotiating in Bucharest a few months later. But the story speeds along and the epilogue is a chiller. Michele Leber, Fairfax Cty. P.L., Va.
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