Sutherland's Rules by Dario Ciriello – Book Review

Publisher’s write-up:

‘All Christian White wants is a quiet life. But between the FDA threatening new regulations which would bankrupt his business, and the challenges posed by his open marriage to Carol, his attractive, younger, bi wife, peace isn’t anywhere on the horizon. And when he receives a letter from Billy, his old chum and sometime guardian angel from their hippie days, asking him to come to London and help him collect a forty-year-old IOU, Christian’s other problems start to look insignificant. Because the IOU is for two hundred and fifty kilos of charas, high-grade hashish from Afghanistan. And Christian owes Billy too much to even consider refusing.’

Sutherland’s Rules is the first thriller novel, or, in fact the first work of fiction written by the author Dario Ciriello. This story features Christian White and the character after whom the book is named after, Billy Sutherland, who are very close friends and are in their sixties now. Christian is leading a relatively peaceful life, running a legitimate business in New York but is threatened by the new regulations imposed by Food and Drug Administration (FDA). But, things change, when he is invited by Billy Sutherland to join him in one last mission, a highly dangerous one. An IOU that Billy signed with an old farmer at Mazari Sharif, Afghanistan, forty years ago was about to mature and was for 250 kilos of hash (cannabis). Despite all the perils at going for it, the two decide to take the change to ‘reminisce the days of their youth’ and they’re to bring the stuff back to the United Kingdom, against all odds.

The best part about the book was Billy Sutherland himself – a person with a very high IQ but has used it all along only to smuggle drugs, that too not usually for sale; made his profile very interesting. The way in which Billy planned the entire operation was the highlight of the novel. The friendship between Christian and Billy was brought out well and I was also pleased with the character building, even with that of the antagonists – the immigrants serving for the British Police force – Detective Inspector Amir Khan and his sidekick, Vladimir. The element of ‘unseen character’, often used in sitcoms although I’ve seldom seen it being used in a book, was used well in this novel – fitting Barraclough into that role, Amir Khan’s superior. Although Barraclough was never involved in an actual conversation, I believe the reader could still easily make out how he’d react in either of the cases – Khan’s success / failure in nabbing Sutherland and his friends. The tiny sub-plot was also a useful digression in the story, that being Christian’s discussions with the CEO of his firm regarding the new FDA regulations. The global element of the novel was enjoyable, with the story going through three continents over two hundred pages and – particularly, the part where it takes place in Afghanistan was my favourite which brought out the author’s diligent research on Afghanistan, their culture and their current plight. I enjoyed the description of Afghanistan and also the author’s take on some of the issues – two which I believe are worth sharing in this review:

‘The terrorists had won. No two ways about it: when a handful of semi-literate cavemen several thousand miles away could upset the lifestyle of an advanced society of hundreds of millions of civilized people, they'd won. Game over. And how? Because we'd become so soft, so afraid, so dependent on faceless structures and institutions to tell us what to do, how to act, what to think, that we actually deserved to lose’ – Page 25

‘”I think (there) will come the day when there are no foreigners, and Afghans rule all Afghans, But, peace, I am afraid that we will not have. For peace, we need more than democracy – we must all be beyond the tribe, beyond religion. This is why the Europeans no longer fight wars against each other. Until we overcome these thing, there cannot be peace”’ – Page 95

This is one of those very few books where I loved both the protagonists and their counterparts; while the former had not been doing anything so honourable, the way in which they approached the same was what made it special. Even the two police officers were good and totally workaholic and took lots of effort in the Sutherland case despite their boss being more concerned about some Estonian gang. A pity that you can't have both the sides winning.

I had wanted to read Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner for two reasons: one being the author’s citizenship – for the reason that most books in my shelf are that of the authors from the British Isles and I wanted to add variety to it by adding books of American authors; and the other one being that I wanted to read a story that takes place in Afghanistan, even if only a part of it takes place in that location. This book, satisfied both those intentions of mine even before I got my hands on to The Kite Runner although as far the first reason is concerned, it is a little complicated in this case, with the author of Sutherland’s Rules being London born, currently living in US and of Italian descent.

To sum it up, I had a thoroughly enjoyable experience reading this book and I’m sure most thriller lovers, too, would love this book. It had a well-written story, moving at the right pace and with a fitting end, which, in my opinion, are the most important aspects of the thriller novel. Going by that, I’d give this book a rating of nine on ten.

External links:

Panverse Publishing

Amazon link

Have a nice day,

Andy

Artemis Fowl and the Opal Deception by Eoin Colfer - Book Review

Publisher’s write-up:

‘Arch-criminal Artemis Fowl has had his mind wiped, and now someone wants him dead.

He remembers nothing of the man-eating trolls and flame-throwing goblins from his past. It might help if Artemis actually read what his much-abused biographer has written.

Because now he needs his memories back – and fast. A certain power-crazed pixie is out for revenge and Artemis’s one fairy ally, Captain Holly Short of the Lower Elements Police, is on the run, charged with murder.

Suddenly everyone is depending on Artemis Fowl: the only human who really scares the People.

And Artemis is depending on a flatulent dwarf.’

Artemis Fowl and the Opal Deception is the fourth novel in Eoin Colfer’s Artemis Fowl octet. The reviews of books 1, 2 and 3 are available in this blog and I’d recommend readers to follow the sequence.

In this, Opal Koboi, the pixie genius is back, and she is seeking vengeance on all those who foiled her earlier plan to conquer the fairy world (in The Arctic Incident) and those in the death list, inevitably include Holly Short, Julius Root, Foaly and of course, Artemis Fowl. Julius is killed in Opal’s plot – that is a disaster by itself but, it was Holly Short who was framed by Opal in the incident and she is charged with murder. Only one person can help her retrieve her LEP career, and also save the fairy world, Artemis Fowl that is, and he retains none of his fairy memories, owing to the mind-wipe and is busy stealing a priceless piece of art in Munich.

This book, in my opinion had a more interesting plot than ever and to the reader’s delight, Artemis old character returns, thanks to the mind-wipe, with him going back to his criminal activities. Moreover, a direct confrontation between Opal and Artemis where the latter is absolutely helpless, and has no contact with Foaly; is a highlight, something which was lacking in the second book. The last, Mulch was ever-present in this book, for a change, he is doing something for Artemis without expecting anything in return. So, on the whole, the vengeance idea was carried out well, with the typical elements of an Artemis Fowl novel in it.

The negative ones I found were that the novel had very long chapters – which is a discouraging factor for someone with my speed of reading. Moreover, the ‘saving the world’ was oversimplified – suppressing the lust of one person amounts to saving the world? I wonder…

On the whole, this is one of the best books in the Artemis Fowl octet (I’m yet to read the eighth book) and deserves a rating of 9/10.

Rating – 9/10

Have a nice day,

Andy

The Artemis Fowl Files by Eoin Colfer – Book Review

Publisher’s write-up:

‘How much do you know about the infamous Artemis Fowl and the People? Become an expert on everything in Artemis’ world, with this hilarious and essential guide to the Artemis Fowl books.

Featuring:

·         Two brand-new short stories starring Mulch, the flatulent dwarf, and the irrepressible elf Holly      Short

·         Interview with all the characters

·         A complete guide to the fairy code

·         A spotter’s guide to the People

·         Fairy quiz: how to tell if you are a dwarf, troll, elf or pixie

·         Map of all fairy transport locations

·         Manual of Foaly’s inventions

·         Fairy word searches and crossword puzzles

·         Interview with Eoin Colfer

FANS OF THE SERIES WON’T WANT TO BE CAUGHT (ABOVE OR UNDERGROUND) WITHOUT IT ….’

Artemis Fowl Files is an ancillary book in the Artemis Fowl octet written by the Irish author Eoin Colfer. It was released during the gap between the release of Artemis Fowl and the Eternity Code and Artemis Fowl and the Opal Deception.

It contains interviews, some puzzles, the Gnommish script decoder, interviews with the characters and the better part of the whole thing, two short stories. One of them is an event that takes place before the start of the series, which is Holly Short’s promotion to the rank of a captain and also her admission into the Recon. The second story, The Seventh Dwarf is a recollection of an event that takes place after the completion of book one but before Arctic Incident where Mulch and Artemis, together, try to steal a tiara.

I found the stories to be good, especially the first one – Holly was her usual self, as good as ever. While the idea of the second one was good, I felt it to be logically inconsistent – for in the Arctic incident, while neither Holly nor Artemis say anything to indicate that they’ve not met during the interim period, nevertheless, one of what Butler said was clearly indicating how he had no idea about Mulch after the Fowl Manor siege.

I found the additions, quite boring, especially when I read it after five years. Yes, when I was a thirteen year old, the puzzles, the flashy diagrams of Foaly’s inventions did have me fascinated but when I read it the second time, I found the interviews dull (did Colfer interview himself or did he get someone else to do it for him?), and I was particularly disappointed with the BIG REVEAL – that is the Gnommish script. Before reading the Files, I expected something different, something a little more complex, like Tengwar in The Lord of the Rings but Gnommish just happens to be the Latin script with different symbols and decoding requires no skill whatsoever.

While I liked the two stories, there is nothing special about this otherwise overpriced supposed ‘ultimate’ guide to the Artemis Fowl books. For the sake of those two short stories, I’d rate it a little more than ‘bad’, to a neither here nor there rating – that is five on ten.

Rating – 5/10

Have a nice day,

Andy

When the Signal Turns Red by Jayanand Ukey - Book Review

Publisher’s write-up:

‘Girish and Prajakta are in love. Very soon Girish will be joining the numero uno IT company of the country. He prepares himself by buying expensive clothes and other accessories he had always dreamed of. He and Prajakta have together planned to build on a good bank balance and then meet each other’s families to talk about marriage, probably after a year or two. Unexpectedly, the families get involved before Girish can join the IT company. Against all odds, the couple manages to convince their family and an engagement date is fixed. But destiny has other things in mind. A global catastrophe mars their plan which leads to the engagement getting annulled.

Will Girish find a way out of his predicament? Will he ultimately win Prajakta’s hand or will he move on in life, learning to live without her?’

When the Signal Turns Red is a romance novel which happens to be the first work of the author, Jayanand Ukey that has been published. I’ve never tried the genre before, but this being a direct request from the author himself, I accepted it.

Girish, a 22 year old who has completed his graduation, is about to join a leading IT company, DCL. He is in love with his college mate, Prajakta, and they wish to get married after working for some years, but, the girl’s parents find out about Girish and the families fix their engagement. However, their plans are in turmoil as both have lost their jobs, owing to the recession and the Prajakta’s father breaks off the engagement.

It is quite a short story, with just 198 pages expressed in simple words, and thus, a person who is really fast at reading might finish reading the book in ninety minutes. However, speed being my inherent limitation, I took me two days to complete the book. I liked it how this was so unlike the other Indian love stories in Indian films, with both the lovers actually being qualified and their parents actually agreeing to their choice without much discussion. The plot was simple and straight forward, without many digressions or sub-plots and the characteristics of the two families were brought out well. Moreover, I liked how the author chose the financial crisis as the background and with the author himself being in the IT sector, he is someone who’d understand it best, the loss of jobs in the IT sector which started in 2008. My favourite part about the whole thing was that I was promised a light read, and it was delivered, with precision.

However, on the flipside too, I’ve a lot of points. While I praised the simplicity of the author’s writing, I found the sentences to be too short, doesn’t even give the reader a chance to enjoy the flow of the words. Moreover, I wasn’t particularly pleased with the character building, even that of the protagonists, Girish and Prajakta. While I liked the background being the financial crisis, I felt the description of the same was over-simplified. And the last being the finish, till then, the story was going normally, events that took place were plausible, but the finish (which I’m certainly not at liberty to disclose), unfortunately was like any other typical Indian film. But I’m sure that for many readers, these points are not so relevant and this book certainly has a strong audience.

Overall, I felt that it was a good attempt from a first time author, who had a good story to tell, but the only bone of contention being that the same could have been expressed better. For coming up with a good idea for a story, my minimum rating is a six on ten. 

Rating – 6/10

Have a nice day,

Andy

Artemis Fowl and the Eternity Code by Eoin Colfer – Book Review

Publisher’s write-up:

‘Artemis Fowl has constructed a powerful new supercomputer using stolen fairy technology, and the last thing he needs is for it to fall into wrong hands. So, when it does fall into the wrong hands – those of ruthless tycoon Jon Spiro – Artemis knows he must recover the device or the consequences will be dire, for humans and fairies alike.

With all danger all around and his bodyguard indisposed, Artemis turns to Captain Holly Short of the Lower Elements Police for help. But can Holly trust Artemis Fowl, fairy public enemy No.1?’

Artemis Fowl and the Eternity Code is the third book in Eoin Colfer’s Artemis Fowl octet. I read this book five years ago, and was in fact, the first full-fledged novel that I managed to read fully which implies that this is the first novel that I read in the octet. I thought this story can very much qualify as a stand-alone, for the reason that I didn’t have any problems in understanding the novel five years ago, but now, after reading it again, I wonder how I managed that. Even if you’re remotely interested in trying the Artemis Fowl series, don’t start with The Eternity Code. The reviews of books; 1 and 2 are available in this blog.

In this, Artemis Fowl has invented a device from stolen fairy technology, the technology he obtained two years ago during the siege of Fowl Manor. C Cube, the name Artemis gave his little device, was far more capable than any device available, to a human. He decides to blackmail an American entrepreneur, Jon Spiro, whose business could be destroyed if Artemis makes his invention commercial. But, Artemis walks right into Spiro’s trap and Butler is fatally injured. Julius Root, realising that fairy technology being in the hands of a person like Jon Spiro could endanger the fairy species, decides to lend Artemis a hand in retrieving the C Cube from Spiro. But, Artemis, this time, doesn’t have Butler with him.

The speciality about this book is that Artemis has an opponent who could match up to his level – which was lacking in the previous books. Indeed, there was Foaly and Opal in the previous books but when it comes to the first book, Artemis had planned the entire thing and had an advantage and in Arctic Incident, Opal could’ve been a good opponent but, she didn’t really have a direct confrontation with Artemis and was only keen on destroying Foaly’s reputation. But here, it was Artemis who was caught off guard and he doesn’t have Butler to protect him. The plot too, was structured well. It was balanced and I guess, this is the first time an Artemis Fowl novel has been split in half, the first half being the attack on Artemis and the latter being Artemis’ counter attack. The story of the previous books was good, no second thoughts about it, but they were predictable, especially The Arctic Incident. However, that element was lost, which is something good in an adventure novel. And of course, none of the good things were compromised, and Mulch’s role in this novel is much bigger than that of the earlier novels, which is good news for a Fowl fan who enjoys the series for the humour in it.

The only thing that I found strange in this book is the fact that Artemis was repeatedly referred to as ‘fairy public enemy No.1’,mainly because this is the book I read first, and it only talks about how he saved the fairies from the Goblin Rebellion and thereby, he was a good friend to the fairies.

First impression is the best impression and Artemis Fowl and the Eternity Code was able to create that first impression.  I was never an avid reader of books, I had always loved stories, but I never had the ability to complete an awfully long book. But thanks to the plot, its pace, the dialogues and the concept of this book that I managed to complete the whole book, in just two days – which gave me the confidence to complete long novels.

Regarding rating, this would comfortably qualify for a nine on ten however; I’d like to take some more things into consideration before coming to the conclusion. I don’t usually give a full ten on ten unless under the rarest of rare circumstances but this happens to be one of them – for the reason that, had it not been for this book, Astute would not be in existence today.

Rating – 10/10

Have a nice day,

Andy

Artemis Fowl and the Arctic Incident by Eoin Colfer – Book review

Publisher’s write-up:

‘It’s all true, every word. Irish criminal mastermind Artemis Fowl has discovered a fairy race living below ground. He has extorted gold from them and the fairy police have been on his tail for supplying power cells to the goblin gangs.

But that’s not the half of it. The Russian Mafiya are holding his father to ransom in the Arctic Circle and only Artemis’s bodyguard, Butler, stands between him and an evil pixie. As an explosive situation threatens the entire fairy civilization, Artemis realizes that even a wicked genius needs help sometimes. And it can come from the most unlikely quarters . . .’

Artemis Fowl and the Arctic Incident is the second book in the Artemis Fowl octet. The Arctic Incident is one year after the kidnapping of Captain Holly Short of the Lower Elements Police; Artemis is now thirteen – a teen. My suggestion to any reader regarding any sequel of any series is to not read the sequel unless you’ve read the previous books. Review of the first book in the octet is available here.

Artemis, in the first book, was brought out as an extremely intelligent person with little or no feelings for anyone. But, the other aspects of Artemis’ life is brought in, during the initial pages of this book, that he too, like any other kid of his age, attends a school (of course, the teachers prefer to not have him) and is worried about his father, missing for the last two years – presumed dead but Artemis gets a lead that his father is held for ransom near Murmansk in Russia by the mafiya.

Meanwhile, the situation underground, too, wasn’t a peaceful one. Goblins of the B’wa Kell are leading a rebellion against the fairies but someone is behind them. They had weapons powered by AAA batteries – which implied that a human was dealing with them. The LEP immediately suspect Artemis, the only human who has outwitted them so far, but they soon realise that he has nothing involvement in the goblin rebellion. Instead, the fairies decide to team up with Artemis; with him given the task of identifying the human link in the chain and in return, the fairies would help Artemis in rescuing his father from the mafiya.

The author used the sequel very well to build the characters that he had left behind. Taking the case of Artemis, the author begins the book at Artemis’ school, informing the reader that Artemis too, like any other boy of his age, attends school. Also, one immediately realises that Artemis is not just a greedy person but is also concerned about his immediate family members, and to rescue his father, he is willing to undertake any amount of risk. It goes to an extent where he even begins to question himself whether he actually had to kidnap Holly, just for some gold. So, it was enjoyable, how the emotional character of Artemis was being built. Moreover, it was really sad that characters such as Foaly, Holly, Root and Mulch had to be the antagonists, in the prequel, but the truce with Artemis was a highlight and the Holly-Artemis combination was really good, both, with their sarcastic sense of humour. Coming to the plot, it was interesting, moving between different parts of the earth (since world isn’t the appropriate term), which always makes an adventure story better.

This book hardly disappoints a Fowl fan in any of its areas, but for the fact that I felt that plot was built like a bubble. Things were moving about gradually, the protagonists’ troubles get deeper, but it was closed so soon, in just approximately thirty pages. However, I’d not say that the finish was in anyway abrupt. I’d rate this book a strong 8/10.

Rating – 8/10

Have a nice day,

Andy

Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer – Book Review

Publisher’s write-up:

‘Twelve-year old Artemis Fowl is a millionaire, a genius and, above all, a criminal mastermind. But even Artemis doesn’t know what he’s taken on when he kidnaps a fairy, Captain Holly Short of the LEPrecon Unit. There aren’t the fairies of bedtime stories – they’re dangerous! Full of unexpected twists and turns, Artemis Fowl is a riveting, magical adventure.’

Artemis Fowl is the first novel in the Artemis Fowl Octet written by the Irish author Eoin Colfer. It is a fantasy novel series with the concept that fairies do exist, but the human perception about them is awfully incorrect.

The story begins in Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam where the twelve year old criminal master-mind, Artemis and his Eurasian bodyguard, Butler are in search of someone, a fairy. The wealth of the Fowls is going bankrupt and Artemis is desperate to recover their fortune and sees an opportunity in his discovery of a whole new race – the fairies that live underground. Artemis Fowl, after diligent research on the history, traditions, customs, language and rules of the fairies, finally, kidnap an elf for ransom, going by the name Holly Short, who is a captain in the Lower Elements Police. But neither of them know that these fairies aren’t the kind ones portrayed in stories written by humans (mud people, in the fairies’ vernacular) and are a way too advanced, as far as their technology is concerned. For the first time in his life, Artemis is having challengers who are capable of providing him a real challenge.

The author saw the whole concept of fairies differently and very often, you don’t need an altogether different concept to tell a good story, but you just have to present the same thing in an innovative way and that is precisely what Colfer has done. All along, fairies are simple creatures, kind, meek and they’re usually least bothered about keeping themselves happy. But these fairies are different – they’re organised, they have advanced technology and also happen to be peace loving but that doesn’t mean that they won’t defend themselves at a time of crisis. The second highlight about this book was Artemis’ character. He’d have otherwise been termed a brat for his haughty and arrogant nature had it not been for his brilliance and I loved his rhetoric, in particular. The character building was also good, providing a good foundation for the subsequent novels.

What I disliked, in particular was the author’s tirade on humans – especially, considering the circumstances of this novel, the fairies aren’t any different. Yes, the humans, right now, are struggling to maintain peace within their own race but at the same time, even among the fairies, each race hates at least one of the other races, for instance, the dwarves and the goblins don’t go well with each other. Humans are blamed for their greed but the fairies too, are often affected by jealousy and many are power hungry and so, I don’t see a reason why the author had to point out as though they were only exclusive to humans when the race he has created isn’t any different. Moreover, I found certain points logically inconsistent, where the fairies were supposedly at a disadvantage against humans due to their sheer numbers mainly because fairies were born to a mother only once every twenty years and considering their life span which runs into several centuries, the time lag is rather insignificant.

Besides that, there is nothing more to say without giving anything away and I don’t intend to be accused of spoiling a reader’s fun. For a change, I actually appreciated the element of humour in a novel, probably because it wasn’t standard slapstick humour. Considering the idea, which is really crucial in a fantasy novel, the cat and mouse game between Artemis and the fairies and the narration, I’d give this an eight on ten.

Rating – 8/10

Have a nice day,
Andy