Reckless (Tracy Whitney #3) by Tilly Bagshawe writing as Sidney Sheldon

 

Synopsis :

#1 New York Times bestselling author Sidney Sheldon’s most popular and enduring heroine—Tracy Whitney of If Tomorrow Comes and Sidney Sheldon’s Chasing Tomorrow—finds herself caught in a nefarious and far-reaching scheme involving international terrorism and corruption in this compelling thriller packed with heart-stopping twists and breathtaking action

Once upon a time, Tracy Whitney was one of the best thieves in the business. Then she settled down and had a child—a beautiful, bright, mischievous boy who was the center of her life. Tracy planned to spend the rest of her days quietly, living anonymously deep in the stunning Colorado mountains, devoted to raising her son. But tragedy forces her to face her greatest nightmare. Now, with nothing left to protect, this superb con artist, jewel thief, computer wizard, and cat burglar returns to the hunt, more dangerous, ruthless, and reckless than ever.

The world faces a new terror threat from Group 99, a diverse collection of global hackers intent on the
collapse of capitalism and private wealth and the creation of a new world order. When the group turns to violence—kidnapping an American investigative journalist, shooting a British military hostage, and blowing up an international industrialist—the mysterious woman pulling their strings, a wily and wealthy American known only as Althea, becomes the CIA’s most sought criminal.  But their only hope of finding her is a woman with a dark and dangerous past of her own. A woman who has also successfully evaded detection by the authorities around the world: Tracy.

Convinced that Althea is behind the deadly act that shattered her life, Tracy sets out on a global hunt to flush out her prey. But as she soon discovers, the truth is as elusive as her target. Hampered by corruption, lies, and enemies masked as allies, Tracy will be pushed to the brink, where she must face her darkest demons. All of her experience tells Tracy that the answers are right in front of her—if only she can look at the clues in the right way.

Propelled by an unquenchable thirst for revenge, and with the fate of so many resting in her hands, just how reckless will Tracy become when she has nothing left to lose?

This is what I say :

Make no mistake. This is written by Tilly Bagshawe. Not by Sidney Sheldon.  It's Tilly Bagshawe writing as Sidney Sheldon and continuing Sidney Sheldon's legacy and the universe of Tracy Whitney.

A bit of history. Sidney Sheldon wrote If Tomorrow Comes in the 80s. It's one of the best selling titles of Sidney Sheldon and it's one of my favourite titles.  I think I read more times than I can remember. I gave my thoughts on it 10 years ago here.

Sidney Sheldon passed away in 2007.  His estate then commissioned Tilly Bagshawe (a renowned author in her own right) to wrote a few sequel for his famous titles and Chasing Tomorrow which was a sequal for If Tomorrow Comes was one of them.  Like all businesses, potentials are there especially among fans of Sidney Sheldon and new fans, Tilly churned out more titles, some hits, some misses.

Reckless is the third title in the Tracy Whitney universe.  I read Chasing Tomorrow 5 years ago and I quite forgot about this third book and it was only recently that I came across it and a few new titles that Tilly wrote as Sidney Sheldon.

I quite like Reckless but at the same time I noticed a  lot of misses and also loopholes in storyline and plot.  I quite know how the story would take us but there's a bit of surprises also.  All in all while there's elements of Sidney Sheldon, it's just not the same if it was written by the master himself.  I kinda wish the estate will not continue Sidney's legacy as somehow whole the intention can be good, it can backfire as the it wasn't up to par.

I also wish that this would be the last of Tracy Whitney and they would just let her live her life in peace.