I am Malala by Malala Yousafzai – Book Review

Pour lire cette critique en français, cliquez ici s’il vous plaît

Publisher’s write-up:

‘On Tuesday 9 October 2012, she almost paid the ultimate price. Shot in the head at point-blank range while riding the bus home from school, she was not expected to survive.

Instead, Malala’s miraculous recovery has taken her on an extraordinary journey from a remote valley in northern Pakistan to the halls of the United Nations in New York. At sixteen, she has become a global symbol of peaceful protest and the youngest ever nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize.

I am Malala is the remarkable tale of a family uprooted by global terrorism, of the fight for girls’ education, and of Malala’s parents’ fierce love for their daughter in a society that prizes sons.

It will make you believe in the power of one person’s voice to inspire change in the world.’

The incident that took place on 12^th October, 2012 had taken the world by storm. It was just another mundane day for the teenage blogger / activist, Malala Yousafzai who was returning from school when all of a sudden; her bus was stopped by two men who posed a question to everyone, ‘Who is Malala?’ and before too long she was shot at point blank range and in no time, tehreek-i-taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for the attack.

The autobiography, co-authored by the well-known British war correspondent, Christina Lamb covers events from Malala’s birth till her recovery from the bullet wounds. I loved the way in which the book started with description of the incident which put her into global spotlight and moves into the story with a very strong closure on the prologue – ‘”Who is Malala?” the gunman demanded. I am Malala and this is my story.’

To begin with, I’d say the story was structured very well with clear temporal and situational demarcation. In most autobiographies, the lack of this feature is the problem that readers usually face (though, to be fair on them others, Malala just had to cover fourteen years). The first part of the autobiography is on her life in Swat before the entry of taliban, and begins with her father celebrating her birth, which is unusual considering how Pashtuns are a society that prizes sons. Then she goes on to describe her humble origins where money was scarce and her father was pursuing his dream of starting a school in Mingora, the largest town in the Swat valley and the eventual beginning of the realisation of the dream – describing the founding of Khushal Public School (named after the family’s first son, Malala’s younger brother) and how it grew step by step. Malala drew inspiration from her father and developed similar ideologies, be it on the emphasis on education, the love for poetry, oratory, devotion to Islam and also with regard to the disagreement with taliban’s interpretation of the same. It was also good as to how; sufficient focus was shown on giving a reader an insight into the history of the Swat valley (I fail to understand how she feels it is a valley of peace when it is a part of the Pashtun tradition to carry a rifle with them), the history of Pashtuns, their traditions (The Pashtunwali code), the history of Pakistan (need not be very relevant for a reader like myself considering I’m from the neighbouring country and I don’t need any further insight, but certainly for all useful for all the readers outside South Asia).

The second phase of the autobiography was my favourite where she beautifully brings out the gradually changing environment in Swat with the entry of the taliban. I had always wondered as to how the taliban had such a strong support among the locals, be it Helmand, South Waziristan or Swat Valley, Malala gave me the answer as to how the warlords portray themselves as pious people to begin with and win the minds of the people and then, eventually get on with their own agenda. That transition in Swat valley was brought out very well during the second phase as to how taliban gradually began to exploit the trust that the locals had in them and whatever they had taken for granted, such as attending school, singing, dancing, films, television were all banned by them, virtually making the locals prisoners in their own valley (such restrictions would certainly be difficult for someone like Malala considering she is a fan of Western works like Twilight).

The third and fourth phase are what people all over the world know better, that is, the shooting and the aftermath, the only irony that the reader could enjoy is this was possibly one scenario where the Pakistani Army and the Government were on the same page, that is saving Malala at any cost.

The only negative aspect I found in the book was the involvement of Christina Lamb; while I presume she’d have done a commendable job in fine-tuning the work and editing (after all, good editing is when the reader doesn’t get to feel the editor’s work), however, the originality was lost. While I’m sure that giving an insight into the politics and history of Pakistan would’ve been her work which was one of her positive contributions but at the same time, with the reader easily able to spot who wrote what isn’t exactly a good sign. For instance, Malala, who doesn’t even know where Birmingham is, there is no way she could’ve made a comparison between the radius of the earthquake in Pakistan in 2005 covering an area close to the size of the US state of Connecticut. I personally feel that the book would’ve been much better had it fully been her own which would’ve been the easiest way of conveying her thoughts and ideologies to the reader.

What makes me really admire Malala is her courage – contrary to the popular belief that she got famous only because of being shot by the taliban; she has been campaigning on this issue for a really long time which is what had brought her into their radar. However, despite the threats that she received, neither her father nor did she budge, and instead, she threw her pseudonym off and started appearing on TV – a sort of courage that is hard to find. Another reason why I admire her is her agenda – that is education for all, irrespective of gender. I’ve known activists who run a single point agenda on girls’ education whereas totally ignoring the other 50% of the population, especially when there are a considerable number of children being denied the privilege of education in that 50% and Malala is certainly not one such activist and certainly runs a much broader agenda and I hope she continues to campaign for the cause even though she is in a place far away from her home where she longs to return (which I guess is unlikely, considering all the appalling conspiracy theories that I hear in the neighbouring countries – even in well-known newspapers).

On the whole, I’d say that this book is an excellent read on all grounds, the content, information, the way in which her experience was presented, her language (I don’t know to what extent Christina Lamb is involved, while I know that Malala speaks English very well, I can’t really comment much on her writing skills) and was completely worth the money that I had paid for it. I’d also like to thank the publisher who cleverly hid Kashmir in the map of Pakistan that was shown for the reader’s comfort before the prologue because had they taken any stance on the demarcation, even if they had plotted the actual jurisdiction, I might have not had the privilege to read the book in my country of residence considering how 31 issues of the British magazine, The Economist was banned back in 2009 over the same issue.

As always, I shall not rate an autobiography, however, I’d say that it is an excellent read which could be recommended to anyone. 

Have a nice day,

Andy

The Shadow Throne by Aroon Raman – Book Review

Publisher’s write-up:

'A mysterious murder at the Qutub Minar triggers a call to ace journalist Chandrasekhar from his cop acquaintance, Inspector Syed Ali Hassan. The victim is unlike anyone Chandra has ever seen: a white Caucasian male who has all the looks of a throwback to Greek antiquity. Soon after, Hassan calls in to report the case has been taken away from him – in all likelihood by RAW – the Research & Analysis Wing, the uber-agency of Indian intelligence.

What began as a murder enquiry soon morphs into a deadly game of hide-and-seek within the shadowy world of Pakistan’s ISI and India’s RAW; and Chandra, his friend history professor Meenakshi Pirzada and Hassan find themselves in a race against time to avert a sub-continental nuclear holocaust. As the action moves to its hair-raising climax in the Hindu Kush mountains of Afghanistan, Chandra must face up to the fact that Inspector Hassan is not all that he seems …'

The Shadow Throne is a conspiracy thriller with a glimpse of history written by Aroon Raman. It didn’t take me too long to get intrigued by the write-up of this book – with a touch of history (including a history professor for a protagonist), a murder, cross border conspiracy and of course, with the plot also moving into Afghanistan.

It had an excellent start, with the author giving the reader a full insight into the main protagonist – Chandrasekhar (whose part is narrated from a first person perspective) – a middle aged widower bereaved by the recent untimely death of his wife who is a freelance journalist based in Delhi, passionate about his profession. And once the character introduction was done, the action began in no time, with Chandra getting a call regarding an unusual murder at Qutub Minar – with the victim being one of the descendants of the ancient Indo-Greeks. But, the murder is linked to a much greater conspiracy involving multiple factions including RAW of India, Xiphos Soter (a group of Indo-Greeks in Afghanistan trying to reclaim their past glory) and the ISI of Pakistan with India facing a potential nuclear threat. It all comes down to Chandrasekhar and Syed Ali Hassan (an inspector in Delhi Police) to go all the way to Afghanistan serving both India and Pakistan and to stop the nuclear threat against all odds and are in the process helped by Meenakshi Pirzada, a history professor and a friend of Chandra’s late wife.

I felt this novel had the perfect start, as aforementioned, giving an insight into the protagonist and then, straight, going on to the crux of the novel without beating about the bush. The reason why I’m a little sceptical about trying out new age Indian authors is primarily because of clichéd mundane plots being presented in sub-standard language but thankfully, I had a pleasant surprise with this novel. I enjoyed the author’s language and the description of the scenes of the novels, and thanks to his emphasis on detail, I had no issues in visualising the novel. Another great aspect of this novel is the good research – with the author having to touch up on a wide range of things, such as the border security along the Line of Control between India and Pakistan, nuclear missiles, the Indo-Greeks and their practices, the internal functioning of intelligence agencies, Afghanistan, etc. It was also great to see the character of Hassan and Chandra develop so well during the course of the novel bringing out the complexities so well. However, the best part I felt about this novel was, that despite all the write-up, Pakistan / ISI is not the enemy. When I initially read the publisher’s write-up, I thought it was one of those Pakistan bashing stories which sell so well in India (not sure about books, certainly in films) but thankfully, it wasn’t and in fact, it was pleasing to see such collaboration that one would just hope for it to happen outside a work of fiction, too.

However, despite all the positives, one disappointing thing about the novel was that the Afghan setting, in my opinion wasn’t utilised well enough. I’d have enjoyed the novel a lot more had the author touched more upon the surroundings at Ghazni and the journey to Bamiyan, even if it had extended the novel by another twenty pages. While the character development of Hassan and Chandra was excellent, at the same time, Meenakshi could’ve been given some attention too as I could never connect with her very much, as a reader – seemed more like one of those sundry characters who give a couple of vital clues and just fade out.

While I read comparisons of this with Dan Brown, I wouldn’t stop at that, I also found an element of Henry Rider Haggard in his work, regarding a lost race with huge dreams and touch of Alistair MacLean, as far as the action (and needless to say, the protagonist surviving against the unlikeliest of odds). It was pleasing to read such an excellent piece of work from a modern Indian author and I wish to read more of his works. To summarise, this is a fabulous debut and I wish to read more of his works.

Considering the plot, the pace, the language, the character development and the research involved to put together the 320 page ‘page-turner’, I’d give this book an eight in my scale.

Rating – 8/10

Have a nice day,

Andy

The Istanbul Puzzle by Laurence O’Bryan – Book Review

Publisher’s write-up:

‘Sean Ryan is horrified to learn that his colleague and friend Alek Zegliwski has been savagely beheaded. His body is found hidden near the sacred archaeological site of Hagia Sophia in Istanbul.

When Sean arrives in city to identify the body, he is handed an envelope of photographs belonging to Alek and soon finds himself in grave danger. Someone wants him dead – by why?

Aided by British diplomat Isabel Sharp, Sean begins to unravel the mystery of the mosaics in the photographs and inches closer to snaring Alek’s assassin. But evil is at work in Istanbul and when a lethal virus is unleashed upon the city, panic spreads fast across Europe. Time is running out for Sean and Isabel. They must catch the killer before it’s too late…’

The Istanbul Puzzle is the first novel in Laurence O’Bryan’s Puzzle series featuring Sean Ryan, a widower working at The Institute of Applied Research, Oxford.

It begins with the murder of Alek Zegliwski, an employee at the Institute of Applied Research, Oxford. The murder attracted a lot of attention considering how he was beheaded in Hagia Sophia. This brings his closest acquaintance into the scene, Sean Ryan, the director of the institute and by entering the scene; he ends up risking his own life as Alek’s assailants are willing to do anything to let the murder remain a mystery. However, this doesn’t worry Sean in anyway whatsoever, and is equally determined to unravel the mystery behind his colleague’s death and is helped by British diplomat in the process. The story is narrated by Sean in first person (his parts). 

A one liner I’d say for this book is that the write-up on the back-cover flatters to deceive. While it starts very well, with a barbaric beheading followed by Sean Ryan urgently heading to Istanbul to investigate the scene and ends up getting attacked on the same day with Isabel coming to his rescue. However, with that, everything came to an end. The author was too much in awe of Hagia Sophia, the friendly nature of the Turkish public and Hagia Sophia and ends up describing every brick of the city with such details that he gets lost in proceeding with the plot. In fact, the sub-plot on the planning of the bio-war turned out to be much more interesting and considering the end, I’m in a dilemma as to decide which is the plot – Alek’s murder or the sub-plot describer here but owing to the number of pages occupied by the former, I’d advisedly use that description for the latter. It gets nowhere till Sean and Isabel find an ancient manuscript beneath Hagia Sophia, giving a glimmer of hope to the reader that things are going to get interesting from thereon but then, it flattered to deceive too, like the overall write-up and in fact, the find had no real impact in the story, in the end.

However, some praise worthy aspects of the novel are is the description of Istanbul as aforementioned. Upon reading this, your urge to visit the city where the cultures of East and West merge would just be on the rise considering the picturesque descriptions of the various monuments such as Hagia Sophia, Topkapi Palace and Hagia Eirene (though I don’t know why the Blue Mosque was completely ignored) and the Bosphorous. In fact, I’d rate it as a good travelogue with a story in the background. The way in which the author brought out the rising trust between Sean and Isabel was also good – rather than putting up with another love at first sight, Isabel falls only out of growing respect for Sean and also made a good combination together considering Sean’s tenacious and Isabel’s pragmatic approach.

However, while I found the coordination between Sean and Isabel to be praise worthy, however, I felt that as a reader, I couldn’t involve myself with any of the characters individually and in fact, Sean was even quite ignorant (well, how could someone be totally in the dark about a mass demonstration that was going to take place in his city of residence, especially with it being reported in the news for so many days). Moreover, the number of loose ends were a way too many beyond the tolerable limit for a thriller – just to name a few; the search at Sean’s house in Fulham – who did it and why was it done? Ultimately, it had no impact on the plot, either. The visit to Iraq is quite similar where they find no significant lead and the only result of it was the death of the Greek Orthodox priest (not to mention, there were several other similar pointless deaths – such as… well, nearly every acquaintance of Sean in Turkey). And to top it all, this list isn’t even exhaustive. Perhaps, the only justification for the loose ends is that there is a sequel but I guess following this, I’m hardly motivated to read it, following this novel.

While I had been reading that this work could be compared to that of Dan Brown’s, it inevitably led to a huge disappointment as it wasn’t even half as good as The Da Vinci Code with the only similarity being the occurrence of a murder in the prologue and historic references to happenings during an ancient era. I had very high hopes on the author’s work myself considering his tweets and the contents he shared in his blog that I was too keen to only read a story of his; only to be deceived, in the end. To my fellow readers – don’t read this expecting a The Da Vinci Code style thriller – have your expectations really low.

I had been looking for this novel for a really long time and considering the scarce availability of it in my country of residence, I bought it from a neighbouring country and considering my expectations, the effort I took in hunting for this novel, and it was a huge disappointment. I hope something better in the sequel, in case I find the sudden motivation to read it.

I’d be generous enough to award The Istanbul Puzzle a 4/10 (only for the description of Istanbul).

Rating – 4/10

Have a nice day,

Andy

A Tricky Game by Seraphima Bogomolova – Book Review

Publisher’s write-up:

‘A Tricky Game is a psychological novella telling the story of a young enigmatic woman, who finds herself involved in an edgy game of three men, whose genuine intents, second agendas, and secret longings become closely intertwined with her own destiny, creating unexpected twists that place her in front of challenging life choices.’

A Tricky Game is a psychological thriller novella written by Seraphima Bogomolova featuring a young woman, Angela Moreaux, who is facing too many uncanny incidents in her life.

It begins with Angela entering into a professional agreement with Kazimir Stankevitch, a Russian aluminium magnate, who fancies the former. Little does she realise the dangerous game she is entering into and gets shot in the very same evening.  On the other end, a certain person is concerned only about her security and brings in more players into the game by summoning one of her former business associates to keep an eye on her. Eventually, as events unfold in the most drastic fashion, Angela is left with difficult choices to make, regarding her life. 

The diversity of the novel was the first intriguing factor – a troubled woman in the world of business, a clash between two billionaires, a pro-communist regime housekeeper still reminiscing the Soviet era, and an element of romance in between all these and all other aspects which intensified the tricky game. The concise, yet complex nature of this novel is another aspect of this novel which could be appreciated for wherein an average reader can finish the book in in 90 minutes with full concentration (since you’d need it).

 Unfortunately, there are some disappointing aspects about this novel too and I’d start with Angela’s character – seemingly arrogant and too confident of herself; not the best of characteristics you’d expect in an ideal protagonist. Also, the length of the novel is also an enemy, considering how, I felt the ending, while it was beautiful, it was also a little abrupt, closing out only one aspect of the game. Another rather trivial issue I had was with editing; where it had some obvious typographical errors (which I’m sure would’ve been corrected by now for the subsequent editions). 

On the whole, I’d say that this story is ideal if you want some good, quick read and especially if you happen to be a fan of psychological thrillers, I’d say this would be an enjoyable read and could also be used to kill time while waiting for flight, or appointments or anything else.  On the whole, I’d say that this book was a good read, and I’d award it a solid six on ten.  

Rating – 6/10

Have a nice day,

Andy



Killing Wall Street by Sanjay Sanghoee - Book Review

Publisher’s write-up:

‘Killing Wall Street is a timely thriller about the terrible consequences of corporate greed and the unimaginable power of working class rage.

Catherine is a working class single mother who is living on the edge of a breakdown. After the financial crisis ruins what little is left of her life, she decides that she has had enough, and plots a shocking revenge against the system that has victimized her.

FBI Agent Michael Sands barely comes off a big case and is immediately put in charge of a very strange investigation. Someone is killing high-profile CEOs, bankers and lawyers connected with a multi-billion dollar merger, and the agent must figure out how to stop the killer. But as Michael investigates, he discovers that the victims were all hiding a deadly secret.

The stakes keep escalating for both Catherine and Michael as they encounter the frightening reality of financial power and are confronted with impossible moral choices at every step.’

Killing Wall Street is a thriller novel written by the former investment banker, Sanjay Sanghoee. It features Catherine, a struggling single mother caught in the economic crisis and ends up facing a pay cut. Totally frustrated, she decides to direct her frustration on the system that has put her into this position, and begins by targeting a particular merger involving a series of frauds and vested interests. On the other side is FBI agent Michael Sands, who is investigating the murders of high profile people in the corporate world.

The author narrates Catherine’s story in first person, something that I liked as I could easily analyse her character owing to that. Her outburst at the present system expressed through excellent analogies was something that I particularly enjoyed in this novel. Moreover, the author had hidden so many aspects of her life brought out at the right time, adding to interesting twists in the tale. Michael Sands too, was an interesting personality who threw away an aristocratic life in order to create his own identity. The characters were my favourite part of the novel. Added to that, Catherine’s meticulous planning of her murders (a middle aged person learning technology particularly was described very well along with her increasing confidence and efficiency in execution following each murder.

On the other hand, it was a naïve notion from Catherine that killing those involved in ONE corrupt merger deal could reform the whole financial system and create a better tomorrow for her daughter. Moreover, a couple of important things were left unexplained, creating a loose end (I can’t reveal it; it’d end up as a spoiler). The ending of the novel was rather shocking (although not exactly abrupt or bad) and you’d lose all the respect that you had for Catherine all along (and yet again, I’m not at liberty to disclose why).

To conclude, I’d say that I thoroughly enjoyed reading this novel and it is always good to read a novel from an author who is from the same field as you’d get the facts straight from the horse’s mouth. This book would be thoroughly enjoyed by those who love crime novels based on events in the financial circle. Weighing the pros and cons as stated earlier, I’d award this book a seven on ten.

Rating – 7/10

Have a nice day,

Andy

Damian Garcia: PhD Drug Smuggler by Chris Mosquera – Book Review

Publisher’s write-up:

‘This is the story of Damian Garcia, and the international drug trade in opium and hashish, by PhD graduate students in New York City, circa 1972. It is about love, friendship, family, loyalty, and an extremely discreet and very lucrative international drug smuggling business plan, with the financial returns totalling in the many millions of dollars.

The business plan was a new combination of opium and hashish product, the family branded as O/H. The targeted demographics were graduate students, nurses, doctors, accountants and attorneys. O/H became the professionals’ drug of choice worldwide.

O/H grew to become the largest and most profitable international drug smuggling enterprise unknown to all but a few. Those that knew would never tell; that was the family code.

The book is through the eyes of Damian Garcia, looking back in another day, when life was more trusting, the social and political climates were more interconnected, and personal relationships truly mattered.’

Damian Garcia: PhD Drug Smuggler by Chris Mosquera features five PhD students in the year 1972 – Damian Garcia, Vash Gupta, Roger Rajiv, Howard Pavel, Maurgerite Nguyen and Lori Wilson, living together as a family in a dilapidated apartment desperately lacking funds. Suddenly, an idea strikes them – mixing opium and hashish into a single product and make quick money. This story is mainly about how they develop this business model which has the potential of dealing in millions and unlike traditional drug dealers, these five friends are intelligent students specialising in a particular field who don’t want to have anything to with ‘gangster stuff’.

What I liked about this book was the fact that highly educated people were in this business with each of them knowing what exactly they were talking about. The pace is also something to be appreciated as it got into the crux of the story within the first five pages. The characters were built well – bringing out how each of them value friendship and relationship and are willing to do anything to preserve that. I liked the diverse nature of characters in the book – with characters from India, Tunisia, Italy, Soviet Union, Canada and Puerto Rico and how Damian intelligently exploits for his drug business. The book is also well researched, considering that it involves facts about various countries, their culture, etc. People who enjoy reading about business models would like this book and since I fall under this category, doubtless, I had a good experience, and managed to finish the book fairly early, with respect to my standards (of being a slow reader). 

On the other side, I also felt that the group of friends had a very weak opposition, just the law and thus, managed to get on with what they wanted to do. Moreover, despite the name of the novel, till around page 150, it seemed as though, Vash Gupta was the most important character which is for more than half the novel. And Damian’s repeated use of ’360 degree view’ in nearly every sentence of his could be annoying for some readers. Historical fiction being one of my favourite genres, I’d have liked it better if the time of the novel (1972) had a greater relevance.

On the whole, I’d say that this is a good read – could satisfy many readers as it involves multiple elements: family, friendship, relationship, love, travel and business. I believe the author is planning a sequel which justifies the rather abrupt end of this novel and that is something I’d look forward to read. Weighing the pros and cons, to conclude, I’d award this book a rating of seven. 



Rating: 7/10

Have a nice day,
Andy

Before Terror Strikes by William Michael Seddon Sr. – Book Review

Publisher’s write-up:

‘What would you do if you found yourself taking sniper fire in a parking lot? Or shopping in a crowded mall when someone begins spraying automatic weapons fire? What if you were picking up your luggage at the airport, and someone started throwing hand grenades… ? What would you do?

There’s no denying it – we live in an era of terror, but we can prepare ourselves for life-threatening scenarios. BEFORE TERROR STRIKES: Learn The Tactical Mindsets and Skillsets Necessary To Survive A Terrorist Event Before It Occurs is simply a necessity for this day and age. Written by a certified anti-terrorism specialist, this book is a concise but precise and incredibly educational guide that teaches anyone from an average citizen to an elite trained professional how terrorists think and how not to be their passive victim, frozen by fear. By learning how to act and react in life-threatening situations – whether you travel within or outside the country or are simply going about your daily business – you can help protect yourself from getting seriously hurt or even killed. This is a book that could save your life.’

‘Evil prevails when good people sit down and do nothing’ – Edmund Burke, Irish philosopher

We live in an era of terror – the publisher putting it up in an absolutely straighforward fashion but nevertheless, is the reality. The danger with terrorists is that they have no rules and there is no guarantee that you may not be the victim as they strike anywhere – airports, shopping malls, et cetera. Former US Marine, William Michael Seddon Sr. has written a guide on tactical mindsets and skillsets that we all need to learn in order to prevent ourselves from being victims of terrorist attacks, or once you are in it – what to do to protect yourself during one. Author goes over the mindset of a terrorist, of a victim, and extensively covers the antiterrorism preventive measures and countermeasures.

The author exhausts nearly all the common possibilities by giving practical ‘what if’ situations which you and I come across everyday. Useful illustrations were also given regarding avoiding shrapnel injuries, gunfire and safety in subways. The book provides the insight on how terrorists think, it teaches not just to avoid terrorist attacks, but to think tactically, which is useful anywhere. Author mentions some very interesting facts about the human mind and some enlightening quotes from famous people across centuries. This book is a must read before any travel, as it provides sufficient details regarding identifying a terrorist and measures to take in order to prevent yourself from getting into a life-threatening situation, and if you are in the middle of it – measures to take to protect yourself from terrorists. It is even more useful for US citizens as the author has given some specific US related tips such as the services provided by the embassy.

The best part about the whole book is that it is concise – 165 pages within which most common situations are exhausted. A good reader might need less than an hour to go through the entire book and it would provide her / him a basic idea on how to protect themselves. I think this book could also be a useful guide if someone has some project to do on terror attacks and safety during a terrorist attack.

This is one of those books where it doesn’t end with reading it. After reading it, you have to take it into real life situations and act accordingly. Only then you can claim that you have understood the contents of the book.

I don’t think it is all that appropriate to rate non-fiction, especially something of this nature, but I have this to say – it is an excellent guide and is a must read in the era that we live in because, counterterrorism is a life or death matter.

Have a nice day,
Andy

Yes, Prime Minister by Jonathan Lynn and Antony Jay: Season 1 (2013) – Review

Yes, Prime Minister was a popular British sitcom of the 1980s written by Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn. Now, after all these years, it has been revived and finally, the Yes Prime Minister fans get to see Hacker, Sir Humphrey and Bernard again.

In this: Prime Minister James Hacker is portrayed by David Haig; the Cabinet secretary, the sly Sir Humphrey Appleby is portrayed by Henry Goodman and the Principal Private Secretary to the Prime Minister, Bernard Woolley is portrayed by Chris Larkin. The character of Dorothy Wainwright, the Prime Minister’s political adviser in the earlier series, has a higher role in this revival, under the name Claire Sutton, played by Zoe Telford.

From left to right: Claire Sutton (Zoe Telford), Sir Humphrey Appleby (Henry Goodman), James Hacker (David Haig) and Bernard Woolley (Chris Larkin)

Jim Hacker is facing the biggest challenge as Prime Minister – a divided coalition, a plunging European economy and is also heading an EU meeting which is going nowhere. Hacker is desperate to arrive at some compromise in the EU conference and win public confidence. A former Soviet state, Kumranistan (fictitious) comes to their rescue, offering a $10 trillion loan secured against future oil purchases but, there are a lot of negotiations to be done before the deal could be arrived at and this is what the first season is about.

I’m a BIG fan of the Yes Minister/ Yes Prime Minister series that was shown in the 80s and when there was news of an attempted revival, it got me very excited. It was good to see Hacker, Humphrey and Bernard back in the screen, although done by different actors and it was initially difficult to even accept the new actors in the old roles. There was good comedy in throughout the show, but it was nowhere close to what the previous show had and some of the dialogues were even repeated, from the earlier show. The issues that Hacker was dealing with, was also contemporary, such as the EU debt crisis, Scottish independence referendum, the debate of Britain joining the Euro, etc.  One thing that I particularly liked about the revived series is that it had continuity and had the flow of a story, something that was lacking in the erstwhile series (in fact, I had started watching that from season 2).

That said, I’d also have to say that I was thoroughly disappointed with this, where I doubt whether there is any scope for a Season 2. While Humphrey and Bernard retained their respective personalities, it was terrible of them to change Hacker’s attitude and behaviour where he very frequently blows the top whereas in the earlier series, despite Humphrey stalling policies and avoiding answers, Hacker never got angry at him or screamed. Then, I found the TV interviews highly unprofessional and artificial –they hardly gave an impression that Hacker was actually doing a formal interview for a television channel. Then, the season was short, with just six episodes – while it is true that the original series too had only seven episodes per season, it lacked continuity but when you’re trying to create a story of this sort with six episodes of half an hour each and every episode connected to each other, it would inevitably lead to an abrupt end this was no exception.

As a purely individual series, without drawing any comparisons with its predecessor, the series wasn’t bad per se and it had its good moments and if anyone who has watched the new series after having watched the previous one – one suggestion – treat this is an independent series and that the names are a mere coincidence because when you are going to set standards based on its predecessor, you’d end up being disappointed.

I’m looking forward to the second season, if there is one and I hope there is an improvement. Despite my suggestion viewers who are planning to watch based on this review, I did the exact mistake of comparing this with its predecessor and because of that, I’d only award it a four on ten.

Rating – 4/10

Have a nice day,

Andy

Doctor Bob by Lodewyk H.S. Van Mierop – Book Review

Publisher’s write-up:

‘This is the true story of “Doctor Bob”, who was born in Java from Dutch parents, and grew up fascinated by nature and science. As a teenager during the Pacific War, he and his family – and all Dutch nationals – were interned in concentration camps for over two years by the Japanese, suffering beatings, starvation, and other physical deprivations. He was not allowed to continue his education, except for a requirement to learn Japanese, which none of the internees had any interest in and thus sabotaged. After the war he was able to complete high school and medical school in Holland and spent the next seven years on a visitor’s visa in Albany, New York, having been accepted for a surgical residency.

From there, Doctor Bob faced a bureaucratic nightmare. With a Dutch passport, blond hair, and green eyes – and no visa – he was considered Asian under US law, and the US had no immigration quotas for Asians. Despite a series of immigration hurdles, which included emigrating to Canada, he was finally able to settle in the United States, where he became a researcher in cardiovascular embryology and the pathology of congenital heart disease. As a board-certified pediatric cardiologist, Doctor Bob witnessed the birth and growth of cardiac surgery in children’.

Doctor Bob is an autobiography written by the world-renowned physician Lodewyk H.S. van Mierop. I don’t usually read autobiographies but this person had an interesting and inspiring story to tell – a life that has revolved around Japanese concentration camps in the Far East, college in Europe and fame and career in the US.

The author begins by describing his place of birth and where he spent his early days – the erstwhile Netherlands East Indies (present day Indonesia). That was one good thing about this book – before going deep into a place, the author gave a full introduction about the place – its history and culture (be it Indonesia or Japan) making it much easier for the reader to understand and visualise.

Being in India, I’ve read countless accounts from natives of former colonies but this is the first time, I’m hearing something from a settler, something that I found really interesting – giving me a different perspective into the whole thing. Another equally interesting aspect of is that you get a first-hand account of the World War II and concentration camps rather than the partially fabricated articles you’ve from journalists. Moreover, the author too has other interests which he describes in detail – on collecting butterflies, breeding fish, maintaining snakes as pets – one can learn a lot about each one of them. I liked the occasional reference to politics – it reminded of the time the author was talking about.

Then comes the difficulty for a person whose knowledge on the author’s profession is next to nothing. Till the 330^th page (approximately), it was mostly about the events surrounding his life but then, it completely shifted focus to his profession. Surely, the author’s inputs on thoracic surgery or paediatric cardiology would’ve been informative to any medical students or doctors, I could hardly understand a word of it (something for which the author could hardly be blamed) and hence, couldn’t notice the gradual changes in practices and the technological inputs in the medical profession.

On the whole, I’d say that reading this book was a good experience – I came to know about a very interesting person, the author that is and; I’ve a lot more information now than what I had before I had read the book. This book would be particularly enjoyed by people who are related to the profession (not excluding others) and if they also happen to be interested in history, it would be a delightful reading experience.

I wouldn’t rate a book describing real life incidents but I’ve this to say – it is well presented and the author has compiled his life events very well.

Have a nice day,

Andy

Interview with Charles L. Fields, the author of The Molina Curse

I got the chance to interview Charles L. Fields, the author of The Molina Curse - the fifth book in the Charles Stone mystery / thriller / travel series. This is the conversation we had and I hope you enjoy going through the interview.


Andy Anderson: Before going into the interview, can you tell us about yourself, for our readers?

Charles L. Fields: I am 77 years young. My wife and I have an ocean front home in the the fishing community of Gloucester, Massachusessts and winter in Sun City West, Arizona. My careers have been varied,bizarre to say the least, and include being a Marine Engineer.Lobster Dealer,Sculptor and Author as well as a World Traveler. This has provided a deep well of experiences.



AA: What inspired you to create Charles Stone thriller series?

CLF: After writing my memoirs, Many Lands Many Hearts I realized much was left out,so I created an alter-ego in Charles Stone. Through this protagonist I can fill the voids and create fictional excitement.


AA: What was your basis for creating the characters in the series – pure imagination or based on people you’ve met or was it a combination of both?

CLF: They are a combination, but mainly pure imagination.



AA: What do you think separates the Charles Stone series from the rest of the novels in this genre?

CLF: It is obvious to the reader this series is multi-genre in that it incorporates Mystery/Thrills/Suspense/Travel and Dining experiences.  



AA: Do we get to meet Charles Stone again, or, in other words, are you planning a sequel? If yes, would it also involve Charles’ legal profession? 

CLF: Yes. Charles Stone will be retained again by the Franklin Life Insurance Company. This time it will involve encounters with extreme survialists and terrorists in the Northwest area of the Unites States.



AA: What is the advice that you’d like to give to aspiring authors (including myself)?

CLF: Be free and loose. Tap into your self consciencious and let the creative juices flow. Write about people and places you know. Avoid long descriptive passages.

Thanks a lot for sparing your time and doing an interview with Astute!


Have a nice day,
Andy

The Molina Curse by Charles L. Fields – Book Review

Publisher’s write-up:

‘The Molina Curse is the sequel to Tainted Dish and the fifth book in the Charles Stone Travel / Mystery / Thriller series. The protagonist faces several assassination attempts and a life threatening encounter in Australia’s Outback. His dog, Daisy is reintroduced along with characters from previous stories. The reader will be reminded of our country’s history through walks on Boston’s Freedom Trail. The Molina Curse provides tantalizing moments “Down Under”, as well as aboard a cruise ship from Sydney to New Zealand, Tahiti, Fiji and Hawaii. A love affair is tested and Charles Stone’s life is in peril throughout until the curse is lifted by complying with mysterious forces within the Vatican. Stone’s final act of involvement with the dark side of the Papacy is one of the most bizarre in all works of fiction. Unfortunately The Molina Curse ends on a sad tragic note.’

The Molina Curse is the fifth novel in Charles L. Fields’ Charles Stone series. It is not ideal when you choose a book off the shelf, and it happens to be the sequel to some book, especially if it is as far as five. Unfortunately, that is exactly what I did, falling for the global and historical elements in the publisher’s write-up without paying attention to the fact that it was the fifth in a series.

Nevertheless, I can assure you, that this could pretty much be a stand-alone and I enjoyed the challenge of imagining a prologue, which I believe isn’t too difficult. Coming to the plot, Charles Stone, an advocate who has had several adventures across the world in the past, is finally beginning to put it all behind him and concentrating on his love affair with Janice – with whom he has planned a trip to Australia and New Zealand. But, he lures trouble again – with Charles having a role in Frank Molina’s assassination, the latter’s associates are desperate for revenge and chase him to ensure that his trip Down Under would be his last.

As a history enthusiast, I loved conversations during the walk in Boston’s Freedom Trail – highly informative, especially for a foreigner like myself. This book could also be intriguing for travellers – as the story goes across several picturesque locations in the world such as the Ayers Rock, Great Barrier Reef, and Tahiti among various others. And for those who’ve already read the series, you may enjoy Daisy’s return. The food lovers too, might enjoy the description of the various cuisines that is described in this book (unfortunately, I happen to be a vegetarian). The last, it had the thriller element too, with a good cat and mouse game between the deceased Frank Molina’s associates and Charles Stone.

The pace of the novel might be the only demotivating factor for those who are reading this as a stand-alone because till page 100, the story was going nowhere and was only concentrating on characters from the previous books. The other issue is not the story but the publisher’s write-up which effectively is a short summary of the whole story and if you plan to read this book, don’t read too much into that write-up.

From what I could understand, I guess there is still room for a sequel and it’d be interesting to see Charles Stone again.

For its thriller plot mixed with other diverse elements such as history / travel, I’d award this book a seven on ten.

Rating – 7/10

Have a nice day,

Andy

Cadaver Blues by J.E. Fishman – Book review

Publisher’s write-up:

‘When smoking-hot Mindy Eider walks into the office with a foreclosure notice directed to her elderly Uncle Gunnar, cynical debt man Phuoc Goldberg at first sees her as little more than the source of this month’s rent payment. But beguiled by Mindy’s beauty and innocence – not to mention her breasts – Phu gets sucked into playing detective, venturing from a small town near Wilmington, Delaware, to the snow-choked Pocono Mountains to dank mushroom farms closer to home. At every turn, his unkind prejudices are proved wrong: his assumptions about young blacks, about beautiful women, about fat people, and about his own demons. And before long, Phu finds himself seeking much more than debt relief for Mindy’s wayward uncle. In fact, the debt man won’t end this fiasco looking for cash relief, but for cadavers.’

Cadaver Blues is the first book featuring J.E. Fishman’s character Phuoc Goldberg (Phu) – an American of Vietnamese origin, debt consultant by profession based in Delaware, someone who is very sensitive about his name, owing to its actual Vietnamese pronunciation and also has a problem in controlling his temper. He is approached by Melissa Eider (Mindy), who drove all the way from Minnesota in search of her elderly uncle Gunnar Karlson – who has defaulted on his debts and his bank is about to acquire his house. Phuoc initially is only interested in his consulting fee to fulfil his obligations regarding the rent but eventually, he gets more involved and even starts playing detective, with him trying to find Karlson along with Mindy.

This story was narrated by Phuoc – from a first person perspective and I enjoyed that, as I don’t come across such books too often. Moreover, I found this to be a different kind of detective story, with hardly any professionals involved which was rather interesting. Like in any other good mystery novel, it had a fair share of twists and turns, very good ones, if I may say so. The most enjoyable part of the whole thing was Phuoc’s character – his sarcasm and cynical approach did contribute to lighter moments, even during the more serious phases of the novel. The change in Phuoc’s attitude was shown well – one significant thing I found, as mentioned by the publisher – ‘his assumptions about young blacks’, I’ve always believed that nobody is going to change just because you tell him /her to dismiss their racist thoughts, instead, they certainly would, if they’re pleased with the attitude of even one member from the community / race. Apart from that, I enjoyed the description of the various settings in the story, especially the mushroom farms.  

However, on the other side, the starting in this book was slow. Yes, Mindy was introduced immediately and Phuoc also tried his best to retrieve the house but, for the first 150 pages, I felt that it was going nowhere. I don’t know whether changes have been made in the subsequent publications but I did find a couple of editing mishaps in my edition. Moreover, I found Mindy to be a way too compassionate, which at times, didn’t sound very practical. 

Cadaver Blues has laid a strong foundation for the Phuoc Goldberg Fiasco. However, I’m not sure whether in the sequel (Ruby Red Dead), Phuoc is going to have a challenge in his profession or again, somewhere outside the scope of his work. I’d just have to wait.

I award good books, or sometimes even average books, a six but since I enjoyed this book far more than so many of those books for which I’ve given a six rating, I’d give it a seven on ten.

Rating – 7/10

Have a nice day,

Andy

Borgen: Season 3 by Adam Price – Review

(Couldn't find a better picture, probably because the BBC is yet to release it)

Here is the review of the much anticipated finale of the Danish political drama, Borgen. If you haven’t watched the previous seasons, the reviews of season 1 and season 2 are available in this blog.

Birgitte Nyborg loses the election; Lars Hesselboe is the prime minister. She is back in the corporate world and Jacob Kruse is now the head of the Moderate Party. However, she is not satisfied with the policies of the current government and is unable to stay away from politics for too long. She challenges Kruse for leadership in the Moderate party, unsuccessfully and then, floats her own party with some MPs, with Katrine Fønsmark as her spin doctor. 

[The New Democrats (excluding Erik Hoffman and Bent Sejrø) - From left to right: Jon Berthelsen, Katrine Fønsmark, Nete Buch, Søren Ravn and Birgitte Nyborg]

This is an angle that I had been longing for, in Borgen, for the reason that the viewers have had the opportunity of seeing Birgitte only as the prime minister and never as a member in the opposition and so, finally, we have it. The New Democrats, as her party was called, attacked the government with regards to several policy decisions and towards the end, also had a good election campaign. Torben Friis had a far more significant role in this, and the focus was on the squabbles with the new young programme director, Alexander Hjørt. I liked the fact that it had a lot more TV interviews, lot more confrontations and focus on personal lives of individual politicians became less in this season of the series. 

However, I wanted to see more of Laugesen in this season, but yet again, he had such a trivial role, even less than what he had in the previous seasons. Episode six was very disappointing, and it was more like filler as all it had was Søren Ravn, an economist and a former communist joining the New Democrats and the media hounding his past. Moreover, I never understood as to why the writers wanted to make Birgitte Nyborg more and more like Helle Thorning-Schmidt – first female prime minister of Denmark (though, Thorning-Schmidt achieved it after Nyborg did) and with a British partner (Jeremy Welsh and Stephen Kinnock, respectively). But the most significant drawback of the whole thing is the lack of Kasper Juul, whose role was minimal, with only his thirty second appearances in the programme of TV1, ‘Juul and Friis’ and also, Katrine wasn't even half as good as Kasper at the job of being a spin doctor. 

The finale, to summarise, had good content in its episodes (barring 6), with Nyborg leading a small party, trying to have a say in Danish politics. The finish was not exactly noteworthy but it wasn’t abrupt either, and every important character was given a closure barring Kasper Juul and to an extent, Philip Christensen. 

I’d put this at the same level as season two with a rating of eight on ten. I’d also be writing a summary on the whole series, soon, which would naturally contain spoilers.

Curtain!

Rating – 8/10

Have a nice day,

Andy

Artemis Fowl and the Atlantis Complex by Eoin Colfer - Book Review

Publisher's write-up:

'Criminal mastermind Artemis Fowl has summoned an elite group of fairies to Iceland. But when he presents his invention to save the world from global warming, he seems different. Something terrible has happened to him.

Artemis Fowl has become nice.

The fairies diagnose Atlantis Complex [that's multiple-personality disorder to you and me] - dabbling in magic has damaged his mind. And now the subterranean city of Atlantis is under attack from vicious robots and nice Artemis cannot fight them.

Can fairy ally Captain Holly Short get the real Artemis back - before the mysterious robots destroy the city and every fairy in it?'

Artemis Fowl and the Atlantis Complex is the seventh and penultimate book in the Artemis Fowl octet written by Eoin Colfer. The reviews of the previous six books are available in this blog (check 'List of Reviews').

In this, Artemis Fowl has invented with a device to save the world from global warming and invites an elite group of fairies to Iceland, to present his device. However, disaster strikes, Artemis Fowl is not being himself as he has been diagnosed with Atlantis Complex; symptoms of which are that he doesn't trust anyone, including Butler, starts counting numbers and is obsessed with the number five. Added to that, they come under attack from dangerous amorphobots, designed by Foaly, reprogrammed by someone else into devastating killing machines. To top it all, there is no Butler to protect them, Artemis is crazy and his alternative personality is just a crazy teenager madly in love with Holly.

For a start, this book's humour element was higher than the other books in the series owing to the fact that all along, it was only Mulch, who was the comical relief but now there is Orion Fowl, Artemis' alternative personality (although, Orion is just crazy, and not witty like Mulch). But for that, this book was disappointing. The plot was dull, had no content and the language of the author has had a clear deterioration over the years which is getting more and more colloquial. Despite this being my second reading of the same, it still took a long time and sometimes, this book lulled me to sleep in no time. I see this book as nothing more than a filler just to elongate the series and I hope, the finale is not as disappointing as this.

I'd rate this book a poor four on ten.

Rating - 4/10

Have a nice day,
Andy