Book Review: The Naked Face

The first novel by Sheldon is about a psychoanalyst (Dr. Stevens) who is trying to escape death as a mafia boss tries to get him murdered for fear of his secrets getting spilled. Several people die in the quest instead, and in vain as the doctor had no secrets revealed to him by the mafia mob’s wife (Anne). In the end, the doctor survives, and so does Anne. But Sheldon leaves the chemistry between Anne and Dr. Stevens as an incomplete thread. I don’t know if a sequel was ever written about them. There are several twists and turns along the way and you would keep wondering about the suspects as does the protagonist. Although justified by the police not supporting him, I have always wondered how these novels and films make overnight detectives out of ordinary people. I smell bollywood masala here.

The story is gripping and did leave me wondering why I had stopped reading Sheldon. I also liked the book instantly since the protagonist was a psychoanalyst. It is one of the rare books where a therpay session has been described fairly well. Although not a very short book, but you would want to read it in one sitting. I did not but it was still a fairly quick read, which may be owing to my lack of time.