See my review of If Tomorrow Comes for the story of receiving these books from my grandfather at a very young age, and falling in love with them, hard.

These two books really did set me up for failure where Sheldon was concerned. None of the other books by him that I've read have come even close to capturing this magic. I quit trying after a few, so I wonder if he has any other treasures buried in there.

This book is even better than I remembered. It's apparently been longer since I read this one than I had If Tomorrow Comes, so there were even a few surprises I had forgotten about. Kate Blackwell is brilliant, and cunning. She's manipulative, and spoiled, and head strong. And she's everything I ever wanted to be when I grew up.

When the world starting talking about blood diamonds, and the horrible things happening in South Africa, I realized I already knew from reading this book. Diamonds have never held much sway with me, because of this book. Pretty to look at, not worth owning.

Sheldon writes like I want to write. There's no two ways around it. Clever, and cunning, and so many twists you get knocked onto your ass. Kindness is rewarded, treachery is punished, vengeance. is. had. And it's oh, so satisfying.

After re-reading both of these, it's still really hard to pick a favorite between the two. But If Tomorrow Comes is imminently more re-readable, so I'm pretty sure this one falls to number two. A comfortable number two.