Tracy, a young girl who seems to have it all, suddenly has to watch her world break down and sees herself forced into a criminal career...in which she is (despite moral doubts and her classy appearance) very successful. Soon she's in the top league, tricking morally questionable persons into giving her huge amounts of money, stealing diamonds and pieces of art in a very creative way and outsmarting the police forces all over the world. Her biggest competitor is (of course) a just as smart and talented, very handsome young man... ;) It was a nice story to read. I especially liked to be surprised every time Tracy managed to steal something in seemingly impossible ways. At the beginning of the book I never expected the story to take the turns it did and the writing style let you feel with the main character. But then there were a few jobs too many for me and Tracy was all the time depicted as too kind hearted, too talented, too innocently ending up in the life style she chose, everything worked out too perfectly and ended up in a too kitschy way. I enjoyed reading it but I don't think I'll continue with the sequel advertised in the back of the book.

Ich habe dieses Buch als Teenie so geliebt und die Verfilmung auch zigmal gesehen, damals in den 80er/90er Jahren. Und auch im Re-Read habe ich "Kalte Glut" wieder durchgesuchtet. Ich finde Sidney Sheldon schreibt packend und es ist super rutschig zu lesen. OK, die Charaktere sind sehr klischeehaft und einige Elemente sind sehr konstruiert, das hat mir aber den Spaß am Buch in keiner Weise verdorben

I found this book on my mother's book shelf and, already knowing the film, was very interested in also reading the book itself. It fascinated me much more than the films were able to, even despite the actors' stunning performances. The characters were well-developed, the plot was convincing, and the way the protagonist was turned into a criminal had her still left so likeable. I know this book already has hundreds of reviews about how wonderful it is, but I can nothing but support those opinions. If anyone looks for an interesting new book about a strong female protagonist, I can only recommend it to them.