Selected from Windmills of the Gods

This 1991 abridged edition draws from Sidney Sheldon's 1987 Cold War thriller about Mary Ashley, a political science professor thrust into an assassination plot after being appointed U.S. Ambassador to Romania. Sheldon's signature strengths are on display even in excerpt form: propulsive plotting, a female protagonist navigating a world of dangerous men, and the classic thriller architecture of a lone figure against a shadowy conspiracy. The pacing is fast and the tension is built competently. Content clarity is important here: the full novel contains explicit sexual content and mature violence, and even an abridged edition is adult material — not appropriate for children or family reading. Faith-oriented readers should know the moral landscape is Sheldon's commercial thriller world, not a faith-positive one. For adult thriller fans who enjoy Cold War espionage and have no reservations about the content, this delivers what the genre promises.