The Doomsday Conspiracy by Sidney Sheldon

I first completed reading this novel in 1996 . The satisfaction of reading this book led me to read it again after 16 years . Until today,  Sidney Sheldon’s novels are widely read all over the world.  Using simple English, Sidney succeeded in crafting great stories that eventually became bestsellers worldwide. Some were successfully adapted into TV series.

In most of his novels  Sidney preferred to use female characters that are depicted as tough, smart and persevere as protagonists.  His preference became a stereotype in almost all of his novels. However, this is one rare occasion where Sidney had chosen to use a man as a leading character in his novel, departing from his normal approach.

The Plot 

Commander Robert Bellamy, an intelligence officer with the US Navy has been assigned by the National Security Agency to track down a group of tourists that witnessed a weather balloon crashing incident in Switzerland. Without any lead to start his investigation, Robert has to apply his experience, wit, skills and cunning abilities to track down each one of them. His mission leads him across the globe in search of them. In course of his hunt, Robert uncovers the truth – it is not a weather balloon crashing incident but of a UFO sighting!

What Robert does not know is that he is being manipulated by an international conspiracy to hide the truth behind the incident. Every single one of the witness successfully tracked down by the veteran spy is eventually murdered in cold blood. And in the verge of completing his mission, he realized that he is being pursued by a lethal force. Framed and betrayed by his allies, Robert who initially the hunter in the game becomes the hunted!

Sidney presented the readers with a gripping and riveting storyline and guaranteed to keep the pages turning.  Although pretty much influence by the clichés of the genre, readers will be captivated by how Robert Bellamy applied ingenious techniques and methods to locate every one of the witness and how to evade capture when he is on the run from the authorities.

Apart from the great story, in another section of the book, Sidney presented the readers with disturbing and shocking true findings about the mysterious deaths of scientists who once participated in a top secret government project.

I simply can’t wait to see this great novel turned into a movie.