Are You Afraid of the Dark? by Sidney Sheldon｜Last piece of legendary page turner

(4, February, 2023)

１．Prologue

I have read Are You Afraid of the Dark?(2004), a thriller novel by Sidney Sheldon, the final piece in his career.
It is recommended for readers like following;

This article will bring you information of the novel, my review as an English learner and the relationship chart of main characters. The chart is my original one which will help you understand who is the key person in the story in advance. I hope it will make your reading fun. You can view some sentences quoted from the book so that you will see how difficult(or easy) to read this book.

【読了】
シドニィ・シェルダンのAre You Afraid of the Dark? (邦題「異常気象売ります」)を原書で読み終えました😀

夫を亡くした2人の女性が巨大組織に立ち向かうスケールの大きなミステリー小説📚
英語学習を兼ねて読むならおすすめです。https://t.co/wPhT8augIa#英語 #多読 #洋書#洋書多読 pic.twitter.com/leRhthta17

— みっちー@英語学習ブロガー (@michi1009_t) January 25, 2023

２．Book Information of Are You Afraid of the Dark? by Sidney Sheldon

Title	Are You Afraid of the Dark?
Author	Sidney Sheldon
Publisher	William Morrow
Issued in	2004
Number of pages	337 pages
Number of words	88,830(appx.)

Reference：Wikipedia: Are You Afraid of the Dark? (novel)

・Rough Plot

Several people related to global think-tank Kingsley International Group(KIG) have accidentally passed away consecutively. In France, Canada, US, Japan and Switzerland… Are they all related? Who is behind them?
Kelly and Diane, two widows who lost their husbands, ex-worker of KIG, by mysterious accidents, know each other and struggle together to find the truth. They seek help from CEO of KIG, Tanner Kingsley and his brother Andrew, but are they allies or enemies?
During their journey for the truth, someone tries to shoot them; their lives are in danger many times. After all, what is the truth behind consecutive cases? Can they find it alive?

Sheldon’s thrilling story, evolved all over the world as usual. Don’t miss his career final piece.

・Review as Tadoku learning material

Are You Afraid of the Dark? is written in simple English. If your TOEIC score is around 750, you can read it. You can check quotes from the book in the following chapter.
The English in Sheldon’s books is basically simple, so I like it. Yet, you will encounter some difficult words in every few pages, where you need to guess the meaning. This process will develop your English brain, ‘Think in English’. If you totally get lost in the story by too many difficult words, you should stop reading and find other books that will suit your English comprehension level. This is the way Tadoku learning works; Tadoku means Reading a lot in Japanese.

・Quotes

This chapter brings you 4 quotes from Are You Afraid of the Dark? by Sidney Sheldon.

✅From the scene when Diane heard her husband’s death from the lieutenant.

Diane stared at him for a long moment, then slowly shook her head. ‘You have the wrong person, Lieutenant. My husband is at work, in his laboratory.’

Sheldon, Sidney. Are You Afraid of the Dark? (p.18). HarperCollins Publishers. Kindle 版.

✅Introduction of Kelly, another main character who lost her husband.

Kelly had been born in Philadelphia, the illegitimate daughter of Ethel Hackworth, a black maid who worked for one of the town’s most prominent white families.

Sheldon, Sidney. Are You Afraid of the Dark? (p.56). HarperCollins Publishers. Kindle 版.

✅About consecutive accident cases, related to KIG, an international think-tank.

‘All those people were murdered, and each one had a connection with KIG. The company is owned and run by Tanner Kingsley. He’s the President and CEO of Kingsley International Group, Chairman of the Presidential Science Committee, head of the National Advanced Planning Institute, and on the Defence Policy Board at the Pentagon. I think you and Greenburg had better have a talk with Mr Kingsley.’

Sheldon, Sidney. Are You Afraid of the Dark? (pp.92-93). HarperCollins Publishers. Kindle 版.

✅Japan. Conversation in which Tanner tried to headhunt Akira Iso.

Akira Iso put down his chopsticks. ‘Mr Kingsley, in Japan, when we work for a company, it is like a family. And when we can no longer work, they take care of us.’ ‘But the money I’m offering you –’ ‘No. Ai-shya-sei-shin.’ ‘What?’ ‘It means that we put loyalty above money.’

Sheldon, Sidney. Are You Afraid of the Dark? (p.200). HarperCollins Publishers. Kindle 版.

・My impression｜3 star among 5

Story-wise, my review for Are You Afraid of the Dark? is 3 star among 5. Like other Sheldon novels, the story evolves quickly like a roller coaster (Page Turner). And the scenery is worldwide including my home country Japan. However, location difference doesn’t work well in the story this time; each cases are not well connected to each other. And the Japanese character Akira Iso was too stereotypical in modern times Japan, which was regrettable for me.
Details are a little rough, but Sheldon fans can enjoy his typical thriller story. So it is recommendable for those who are intermediate English learners as well as Sheldon fans.

３．Main Characters, Relationship Chart of Are You Afraid of the Dark? by Sidney Sheldon

In Sheldon’s Are You Afraid of the Dark?, you will see numerous characters, but you don’t need to remember each one such as attorneys, lieutenants, guardman, and old friends of main characters etc. Don’t miss main characters listed in the chart below. It helps you hang in the story without getting lost.

→View Larger Image

４．Epilogue

This article brought you information about Are You Afraid of the Dark? by Sidney Sheldon, as well as Review for English learning, my review, quotes and Characters’ Relationship Chart. As usual, Sheldon’s thrilling page turner novel was enjoyable for me. It is recommendable for Intermediate English learners as well as Sheldon fans.
However, my favorite Sheldon novel is The Sky is Falling. My article about the novel follows.

Tadoku Learning｜Sidney Sheldon's ''The Sky is Falling''～Book Review & Relationship Chart(28, August, 2022) I've read a novel titled ''The Sky is Falling'...

If you are going to read Sheldon for the first time, start with Master of the Game or The Sky is Falling. These 2 are my recommendations.

If you are already a Sheldon fan, his last piece would be a good read too.

Fin.