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Book details

The Naked Face

by Sidney Sheldon

Published 1973176 pagesISBN 978-0-3302-3766-6

***''The Naked Face'' is Sheldon's First Novel*** ***The psychiatrist's couch holds many secrets. Can it also hold the key to a series of murders?*** John Hanson—murdered in the street in a gruesome but apparently arbitrary attack. Carol Roberts—tortured and left to die in agony. ***In this chilling game of cat and mouse, psychiatrist = Judd Stevens must trust no one, especially none of his patients.*** Could the killer be Teri Washburn, Hollywood starlet, thrown out of Tinseltown in scandalous circumstances? Or could it be Harrison Burke; a top business man and disturbed paranoiac? Or possibly Alexander Fallon, a crazed evangelist determined to avenge all sin in the world? ***ABOUT AUTHOR: Best known today for his exciting blockbuster novels,*** Sidney Sheldon is the author of The Best Laid Plans, Nothing Lasts Forever, The Stars Shine Down, The Doomsday Conspiracy, Memories of Midnight, The Sands of Time, Windmills of the Gods, If Tomorrow Comes, Master of the Game, Rage of Angels, Bloodline, A Stranger in the Mirror, and The Other Side of Midnight. Almost all have been number-one international bestsellers. ***His first book, The Naked Face,*** was acclaimed by the New York Times as "the best first mystery of the year" and received an Edgar Award. Most of his novels have become major feature films or TV miniseries, and there are ***more than 275 million copies of his books in print throughout the world.*** ***Before he became a novelist, Sidney Sheldon had already won a Tony Award for Broadway's Redhead and an Academy Award for The Bachelor and the Bobby Soxer.*** He has written the screenplays for twenty-three motion pictures, including Easter Parade (with Judy Garland) and Annie Get Your Gun. In addition, he penned ***six other Broadway hits*** and created three long-running television series, including Hart to Hart and I Dream of Jeannie, which he also produced. ***A writer who has delighted millions with his award-winning plays, movies, novels, and television shows, Sidney Sheldon reigns as one of the most popular storytellers of all time.***

Beyond its central premise, the book can be read through the connected lenses of Fiction. Those themes offer useful points of attention as the characters, ideas, or world develop, especially where the book complicates the expectations of its primary category.

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What the reading experience may hold

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Themes to notice

Fiction

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Content notes

Catalog signals suggest warfare and conflict, violence, death, or criminal harm. These notes may not be complete; consult a publisher or reader-supplied guide when detailed warnings matter.

These notes are inferred from available catalog information and may not be complete. Check a publisher or reader-supplied guide if you need comprehensive warnings.

Reading experience

Dark tone · Urgent pace

Works well for a focused weekend or a few concentrated sittings.

Who it may suit

A good fit if…

Readers who want a thoughtful experience and enjoy noticing the connections beneath a book’s surface story.

At a glance

This book's DNA

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ToneDark
LuminousDark

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Spoiler-Free Emotional Arc

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Spoiler-free
12345
PeakRelative emotional intensity
The Naked FaceSidney Sheldon
Powerful5/5

This visualization is an interpretive estimate based on catalog description, categories, tone, pace, and content signals. It does not describe specific scenes.

Before you choose

A quick reading snapshot

Edition facts and catalog signals to help you decide whether this book fits what you want to read next.

Reading lengthA shorter read176 pages in this edition
Publication eraEarlier publicationFirst published or edition dated 1973
Primary categoryFictionExplore similar books below
ISBN-13
978-0-3302-3766-6
Language
English
Edition record
OL10487585M
BookenDeX editorial lens

A more thoughtful way into this book

This guide uses the edition details and category signals above to help you choose deliberately. It does not replace the author's work or a full review.

Good to know

Works well for a focused weekend or a few concentrated sittings.

Begin with its place in Fiction, then notice where the book resists that label.

Try this reading approach

Read for connection, not completion.

Mark one passage that sharpens the book's central concern and one that complicates it. That tension often reveals more than a quick summary.

Three questions to carry with you

  1. What does the central character want, and what do they misunderstand about that desire?
  2. Which detail or relationship changes how you interpret the story?
  3. What feeling or question does the book leave with you after the plot moves on?

Editorial framework by Wesley Bryan, BookenDeX Founder and Editor.