I first read Sheldon’s If Tomorrow Comes (ITC) several years ago, which in itself is quite a funny story – when I say funny, I don’t mean in a hilarious way, more in a ‘oh really’ kind of way.
I was working in a famous catalogue shop and the manager used to bring her old novels in and leave them in the staff canteen, ITC being one of them. While having lunch one day I picked it up, turned to a page and started reading. Well, I got so engrossed I took the book home and started reading it from page one.
I loved it.
I love the characters.
I loved the story.
And I loved the premise.
It had me captivated from the get go. It tells the enthralling tale of Tracey Witney, an ambitious young lady with everything going for her. Tracey’s life falls apart and she finds herself convicted of a crime she didn’t commit and sentenced to life on the wrong side of a prison cell door. Tracey’s guile and character lead her to make the best of her new life and without giving anything away she eventually gains her freedom.
Next stop – revenge.
Tracey develops into one of the worlds top con artists, meeting Jeff Stevens along her way who becomes her love interest.
ITC develops into a romping tale of these two con artists as they travel the world, ripping off the ruthlessly rich and avoiding the authorities as they go.
When I found Chasing Tomorrow (CT) in my local supermarket I read the back page and saw it was a sequel to ITC. Given how much I loved ITC you can imagine my delight.
What I didn’t know at the time was that it wasn’t written by Sheldon.
I saw the name Tilly Bagshawe on the cover, which I admit did confuse me. It wasn’t until I finished the book I did a little research and found out Sheldon had died around 10 years ago. Initially I thought that perhaps Sheldon and Bagshawe had co-written the book.
But that clearly wasn’t true, Sheldon being dead and all.
Bagshawe has written several books under the Sheldon mantel, probably comissioned to keep the name going and the money flowing due to her similar writing style.
Anyway, as I say, I knew nothing of all this background when I bought Chasing Tomorrow, and I feel that worked it my favour.
I loved Chasing Tomorrow.
Granted, I was a little surprised at some of the time leaps, 10 years being quite a big jump. I kind of felt I’d missed out on so much of the character’s interim growth.
Nevertheless, I soon got used to it, and it didn’t throw me off enough to lose interest, far from it.
It allowed for the distances between characters to seem more real.
CT picks up where ITC finished and tells the ongoing story of Tracey Witney and Jeff Stevens.
There’s actually not an awful lot I can say without spoiling the story, and it’s a story I wouldn’t want to spoil, especially considering how well written it was.
This book begins quite steadily, however the end scene of part one has you wondering and almost screaming out, hoping it doesn’t go where you suspect it will.
The middle of the book is a mixture of acceptance and confusion as you start to wonder how all the developing threads will pull together.
The end, well, what I can I say. I was so gripped I read the last hundred or so pages in one shot. It’s fast paced and like a good film where you’re screaming at the screen, I found myself doing similar with the book.
Sheldon’s and by default Bagshawe’s work falls into the spectrum of ‘trashy’ novels, but I for one don’t know how or why they’re called trashy.
They’re damn good stories, written in a captivating and engaging way, and I for one am all for them.
*CS*
I’m not going to post any book links for this one, simply because you can find it all over. Also, it seems unfair posting an Amazon link when I got mine in Morrison’s.
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