All around the globe, people are being reported dead or missing. In Berlin, a woman vanishes from the city streets. In Paris, a man plunges from the Eiffel Tower. In Denver, a small plane crashes into the mountains. In Manhattan, a body washes ashore along the East River. At first these seem to be random incidents, but the police soon discover that all four of the victims are connected to Kingsley International Group (KIG), the largest think tank in the world. Kelly Harris and Diane Stevens—young widows of two of the victims—encounter each other in New York, where they have been asked to meet with Tanner Kingsley, the head of KIG. He assures them that he is using all available resources to find out who is behind the mysterious deaths of their husbands. But he may be too late. Someone is intent on murdering both women, and they suffer a harrowing series of near escapes. Who is trying to kill them and why? Forced together for protection, suspicious of each other and everyone around them, and trying to find answers for themselves, the two widows embark on a terrifying game of cat and mouse against the unknown forces out to destroy them. Taut with suspense and vivid characterization, full of shocking twists, and with an unnervingly realistic premise that could alter all of our lives, the long-awaited Are You Afraid of the Dark? is Sidney Sheldon at the top of his game. Readers don't expect literary genius from Sheldon, but they do expect to be entertained, and once again the popular TV-producer-turned-storyteller delivers the goods. When four top scientists at the imposing think tank KIG wind up dead in four different parts of the world, is it coincidence? Two of the victims' wives--the elegant artist, Diane, who just testified against a Mob boss, and the gorgeous model Kelly, who flew to New York from Paris at the behest of her dead husband's boss--inadvertently meet, and they find themselves connected because someone is apparently trying to kill them, too. It could be the Mob underlings who promised retribution against Diane for having testified against their Godfather. Or is it possible the women's husbands were so deep into their secret project for KIG that they may have been a threat to its secrecy, and now the wives must die, too? This novel is short on character development and long on cliched literary techniques, but it is, nevertheless, the best kind of guilty pleasure. Mary Frances Wilkens Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved All around the globe, people are being reported dead or missing. In Berlin, a woman vanishes from the city streets. In Paris, a man plunges from the Eiffel Tower. In Denver, a small plane crashes into the mountains. In Manhattan, a body washes ashore along the East River. At first these seem to be random incidents, but the police soon discover that all four of the victims are connected to Kingsley International Group (KIG), the largest think tank in the world. Kelly Harris and Diane Stevens—young widows of two of the victims—encounter each other in New York, where they have been asked to meet with Tanner Kingsley, the head of KIG. He assures them that he is using all available resources to find out who is behind the mysterious deaths of their husbands. But he may be too late. Someone is intent on murdering both women, and they suffer a harrowing series of near escapes. Who is trying to kill them and why? Forced together for protection, suspicious of each other and everyone around them, and trying to find answers for themselves, the two widows embark on a terrifying game of cat and mouse against the unknown forces out to destroy them. Taut with suspense and vivid characterization, full of shocking twists, and with an unnervingly realistic premise that could alter all of our lives, the long-awaited Are You Afraid of the Dark? is Sidney Sheldon at the top of his game. The late novelist and screenwriter Sidney Sheldon remains one of the world's top bestselling authors, having sold more than 300 million copies of his books. Are You Afraid of the Dark? is his most recent in a long line of huge bestsellers. He is also the only writer to have won an Oscar, a Tony, and an Edgar. The Guinness Book of World Records heralds him as the most translated author in the world. Are You Afraid of the Dark? By Sheldon, Sidney William Morrow & Company ISBN: 0060559349 Chapter One In downtown Manhattan, in courtroomthirty-seven of the Supreme Court Criminal Term building at 180Centre Street, the trial of Anthony (Tony) Altieri was in session.The large, venerable courtroom was filled to capacity with press andspectators. At the defendant's table sat Anthony Altieri, slouched in a wheelchair,looking like a pale, fat frog folding in on itself. Only his eyeswere alive, and every time he looked at Diane Stevens in the witnesschair, she could literally feel the pulse of his hatred. Next to Altieri sat Jake Rubenstein, Altieri's defense attorney.Rubenstein w