In The Doomsday Conspiracy (1990), Sheldon showed concern about what unscrupulous businessmen were doing to the environment. No such concern is mentioned in The Stars Shine Down, although real estate developers are potentially as destructive as the villains of the earlier novel. Lara Cameron would be quite capable of erecting one of her office buildings or apartment houses in a pristine forest or on the site of a national monument. Sheldon presents how real estate developers operate, for he has studied the business with his customary thoroughness. Lara leads a glamorous life, but Sheldon does not try to make her lovable or even particularly likable. Rather, she survives by being more ruthless than any of her competitors.