Lenni Reviews: Sidney Sheldon's The Tides Of Memory by Tilly Bagshane


Political dramas aren’t really my thing. Real politics are dramatic enough and I find their considerable lack of elves, dragons, or space ships terribly disturbing. But while such books aren’t in my book queue, I cracked this book open with an equally open mind.


The novel follows Alexia De Vere, wife of Teddy De Vere and ruthless political darling of the United Kingdom’s conservative party. As the newly appointed Home Secretary (a position I hadda look up because I wasn’t exactly sure what a Home Secretary does), her hard ball stance on illegal immigrants and sentencing laws has earned her a sizable number of enemies. So, one can hardly be surprised when bodies start piling up around her.


Bagshane has some tight writing here and the characters are believable to the point where you can be annoyed by them. I had trouble identifying with Alexia not because she wasn’t written well, but because she’s a spoiled rich woman who seems to have nine lives when her mistakes come to bite her in the ass. I was curious about the outcome and it kept me reading to the end but didn’t keep me up late or anything. It’s pure and fun escapism, enough to keep me turning the pages and I’m an admitted avoider of thrillers and mysteries.

This book wasn’t good enough for me to go chasing down the other books by the same author(s) but it was a fun ride while it lasted. If you’re in to light political thrillers with a twisting plot and a fair amount of drama, you won’t be disappointed.