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

Interview with J.E. Fishman, author of The Dark Pool

I've the author of The Dark Pool, J.E. Fishman as my interviewee; Astute's first. I've enjoyed several thriller novels, and The Dark Pool too was one of them - a book which I particularly loved for its characters, the plot, the writing style and the financial element in the book and inevitably, ended up with a high rating in my review.

I hope you enjoy going through the interview! 

Andy Anderson: Before going into the specific questions, I’d like to ask you what sort of books you like to read – just to see whether there is any correlation between your interests and your creations.

J.E. Fishman: I read pretty widely. Although, of course, I read mysteries and thrillers, I don’t stick to one genre. I’m more of a grazer. Recently I’ve been reading a bit of science fiction and historical fiction, for example. I’m sure there’s some kind of correlation between my interests and my creations, but it’s not based upon what I read, per se. It’s more based upon my interest in the human condition, the challenges regular people face or can be made to face.

AA: The Dark Pool is your third novel and from what I understand, it is not the first thriller that you’re crafted but, it seemingly is the first novel of yours centered on investments, securities and some dark elements of the financial markets largely unknown to the outside world. What inspired you to write a novel based on this theme?

JEF: A few things. First, like so many people, I was appalled at the way the financial meltdown happened, beginning with financial machinations and ending with so many regular folks feeling pain. Second, I’ve followed the stock market for a long time as an investor, and it intrigues me. Finally, for two decades I lived in the Hudson Valley in an area that was rife with Wall Street traders and hedge fund managers. I saw some of these people around socially, and I got to know a bit about what makes them tick. All these things came together to pique my interest in the subject.

AA: The Dark Pool cartel and the Q scores formed a significant part of the novel – did it also take an equally large amount of time for you to research deeply on the same to put into a novel?

JEF: I should emphasize that putting dark pools and Q scores together is my own fictional conceit, but each of these elements is quite real in its own right. The research wasn’t hard. These things are out there. What a storyteller does is use real-life elements as a point of departure to explore larger truths.

AA: The main protagonists of the novel, Shoog Clay and the young running back, Antwon Meeps, both are involved in American football, and it is more than just a hobby for both of them. But the sport hardly had any role in the novel but for Clay’s analogies, though it serendipitously turned out to be an advantage for someone who doesn’t follow the sport, nevertheless, I’d like to ask you, was it a part of the original script or was it merely a conscious decision to ignore it?

JEF: The book isn’t about football. It’s about two guys who are having their lives manipulated by powers that are unknown to them and initially beyond their comprehension. I had to give Shoog a profession that held the prospects of future fame, so I made him a successful coach at a level where there were great prospects in front of him – if only he would take them. Once I made him a football coach, however, he had to think as a football coach. So that’s how he interacts with his player and that’s the frame of reference he uses sometimes in trying to communicate.

AA: I’ve heard many say that character building is what makes a novel and it also happens to be the most difficult part of it. The characters of The Mean, Clay, Meeps, Sark or Jagus, how did you go about creating them – an allusion to your own acquaintances, plain imagination or is it a combination of both?

JEF: Character is not the color of someone’s hair or even his or her personality quirks. It’s the choices we make as people. Once I establish basic characterizations, the character comes from the actions those characters must take in a given situation. The key to that is creating conflict that tests them. They must react to that conflict in a way that is unique to them. This is what novelists mean by the character taking over the story. Once you get into the narrative, you can tell if a decision that occurs to you will ring true or not, because of the decisions that character made up to that point.

AA: The antagonist, Jagus dies in the end of the novel and Antwon’s dreams are realised, but coming to the other end, Shoog lost his godchild, Antwon lost his friend and teammate (the previous and the current case, both being Romero), Shoog also happens to be the only surviving Clay sibling now – would you consider the ending of your novel to be a happy ending? 

JEF: A happy ending doesn’t require that every character has a happy outcome. What makes it a happy ending is that a measure of justice prevails and order is restored in the world. So, yes, it’s a happy ending.

AA: Many authors try and bring about social issues through their stories – such as Ian Rankin, a crime novelist whom I like, says that he brings out all the social problems in Edinburgh through his John Rebus novels. The issue you’ve chosen too, is very relevant, with financial markets playing a significant role in anybody’s lives today, did you also have a motive of throwing some light on social issues through The Dark Pool?

JEF: Ian Rankin’s novels probably do it with a lighter touch than I did in this novel. I definitely was looking for a way to dramatize the fact that in the modern financial system the actions of traders have consequences for regular people – people that the traders may not ever meet and almost certainly don’t really care about. The trader is focused on his trade, not on outcomes for society.

AA: To conclude the interview, I’d like to ask you, what sort of advice would you like give to the aspiring authors (includes myself), particularly the genre which is your forte, the thriller genre?

JEF: The advice is the same for thrillers or any other genre. Distinguish between the style of writers whom you admire – which is unique to them – and the techniques they use, which are universal and available to us all. In other words, seek to write fresh but learn the craft.

Thanks a lot, J.E. Fishman, for sparing time and helping Astute get its first author interview.

More about the author - click here

Have a nice day,

Andy

Artemis Fowl and the Time Paradox by Eoin Colfer – Book Review

Publisher’s write-up:

‘Artemis is no stranger to trouble. In fact, he is a magnet for it. Man-eating trolls, armed and dangerous (not to mention high-tech) fairies, flame-throwing goblins – he’s seen the lot. He had decided to forego criminal activity of the magical kind. However …

Now his mother is gravely ill. Artemis Fowl must travel back through time to steal the cure from the clutches of the young criminal mastermind … Artemis Fowl.

That’s right. With fairy ally Captain Holly Short by his side, Artemis is going back in time to do battle with himself.

Let the misadventure begin.’

Artemis Fowl and the Time Paradox is the sixth novel in the Artemis Fowl octet. This review might contain spoilers to the previous books and in case you haven’t read them, the reviews of Books: 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 are available in this blog.

Artemis is back from the limbo, the world has moved on, by three years, but there is no change in Artemis. He is now the elder brother of the twins; Myles and Beckett Fowl. But, his mother is suffering from a disease with severe symptoms, and Artemis makes her condition worse, by using his stolen magic on her. It is found out that she is affected by spelltropy, as fairy plague and for obtaining the cure; he had to travel back in time. Eight years ago, when the Fowl finances were struggling, he sold the last silky sifaka lemur to a group of extincitionists to fund his Arctic expedition and Artemis has to go eight years back in time, to retrieve the lemur from … Artemis! His younger self. Artemis who has considered only himself to be a worthy opponent for him, now has a chance to battle it out, with the younger one fighting for money and the elder one fighting for his mother.

The book’s plot, as such was good, especially having Artemis’ schemes working both ways is a highlight in this novel. Moreover, the gradual transformation in Artemis’ character is seen quite clearly in this novel, with Artemis willing to undertake something which doesn’t involve any monetary profits. I loved the way in which Colfer described Morocco; and living in a developing country, I could easily relate to the strange scenario where a shepherd wears a Manchester United shirt. The author could also be appreciated for maintaining his witty writing style and brining in strange elements to the plot of the novel, as always.

However, I felt that it is getting repetitive, for one, going back in time is no new idea and there is absolutely nothing unusual to expect innovation from Colfer, making it somewhat disappointing. Moreover, this is the second time Colfer is playing with time, considering that The Lost Colony, the prequel, was also in a way related to time, being static in the demon island. Similar to The Lost Colony, the author has yet again, ruined a good story in an attempt to just elongate the story, making it far more confusing (to be frank, I didn’t have much idea on what happened after the three hundredth page after my first read and this being my second time, now I do have some clarity) and sometimes boring.

On the whole, the Artemis vs Artemis clash was interesting, and like other books, here also, the digressions were minimal, but for the second chapter, as always, which deals only with a fairy situation. But coming to the rating, the repetitive nature of the whole thing pulls the rating down a little, from eight to seven.

Rating: 7/10

Have a nice day,

Andy

My top 10 for Eurovision Song Contest 2013 – Malmö

I’m no expert when it comes to music and all I do is determining whether I like a song or not and I don’t even have the skills to identify a song’s genre but most of those songs which I happen to like are categorised under pop. Moreover, I've never even been a bathroom singer nor have I ever wielded a musical instrument.  I’ve never bothered about the language of a song and in fact, prefer songs of a language which I don’t speak and even in case of English songs, I’ve never bothered too much about the lyrics. 

This happens to be the fourth Eurovision Song Contest I’m following and despite the fact that I’ve no power to influence the contest in any way whatsoever since I live in a place miles away, even from the nearest eligible country, which I guess is Lebanon. But I’ve still had the interest in the competition, owing to such enthusiastic performances and also, most songs sung in this contest happen to suit my interests

A blog post may not be the best way to put up a top 10 list, especially when this is a not a music blog (nor shall it ever be) but I don’t happen to have the ‘technical know-how’ to personally compile a video with excerpts from each song. The list has got nothing to with public opinion or trends, it is solely based on my liking and nobody shall dictate which song I should like and which one I shouldn’t.

So, here it begins: -

10. Greece – Alcohol is Free by Koza Mostra feat. Agathon Iakovidis

The pace, at which the song goes, is not usually something that represents my liking but for the strangest of reasons, I liked it. Their voice, their attire in particular and by the way they go about it, I guess the song’s lyrics are funny. I felt it deserved a mention, and hence, I gave it the last slot in my list.

09. Malta – Tomorrow by Gianluca Bezzina

I liked the voice of Bezzina, sounded like some young boy singing. Was one of my initial favourites but as more and more countries declared their songs, they just happened to gazump the Maltese entry.

08. Slovenia – Straight into Love by Hannah Mancini

Sung by the ‘American girl popular in Slovenia’, which happens to be what Mancini says about herself, has created a standard pop song with her team. Good song, which immediately got into my ‘Best in the Library’ playlist.

07. Sweden – You by Robin Stjernberg

The hosts, the incumbent, many tip Sweden to win the contest again but I think this is the proper place for the song in my list. When I first heard it, I didn’t particularly like it, but this song went the opposite way, in comparison with the Maltese entry, gradually rising up the ranks in my list. Certainly not my choice for a victory but is an excellent song and if I give it some more time, it might well go into till the fourth rank in my list.

06. Austria – Shine by Natália Kelly

Loved the song, when I first heard it, I thought that this was going to be my favourite in the contest but, unfortunately, there are better entries.

05. Denmark – Only Teardrops by Emmelie de Forest

I wanted Denmark to finish in the top three in the last two years, that is, the songs New Tomorrow by A Friend in London in 2011 and Should’ve Known Better by Soluna Samay for 2012. But I don’t think neither of them even came close but this time, public opinion seems to be strongly in favour of de Forest, especially when she is performing at Malmo, which is effectively a home advantage considering Copenhagen being the nearest big city. Moreover, even the Nordic voting bloc might be in her favour.

The song was good, I especially loved the flute (or however THAT particular instrument is known as) but the live performance should be a little better.

04. United Kingdom – Believe in me by Bonnie Tyler

UK grabs the fourth position. When I came to know that Tyler was going to be the representative and considering her age, I thought it was going to be yet another horror of a performance, like Humperdinck’s performance at Baku. But, this was more suited for the present day, and I’m surprised that she has maintained her voice even at 60+. Great song!

03. Azerbaijan – Hold me by Farid Mammadov

Another brilliant entry from Azerbaijan! A wonderful ballad and though, is not very highly rated video in Youtube’s various ranking videos, but I often contemplated giving it the first spot in my list. Can Azerbaijan have their second win in three years?

02. Russia – What if by Dina Garipova

Russia finished second last year with Buranovskiye Babushki’s Part for Everybody but I was disappointed with that song. Didn’t suit my interests at all, but this one from Dina is appropriately soft, slow and although I’ve never bothered about it much, I liked the lyrics of the song – going with the motto of this year’s contest, We Are One.

01. Iceland - Ég á líf by Eyþór Ingi Gunnlaugsson

My favourite, by a significant distance from Dina’s What If. When I first looked Eyþór Ingi Gunnlaugsson’s picture, his hairstyle indicated that he was another one of those Nordic cacophonic heavy metal musicians but his song turned out to be a pleasant surprise – soft and melodious. Incidentally, this happens to be my only other foreign language song in the list, other than that of Greece, which is quite unusual.

I’ve missed out on three highly rated songs, that is German, Norwegian and Dutch entry but I consciously left them out as I didn’t like any of them much, and at most, Germany could’ve made it into my top 15 list. But as always, my ratings are always a way off from the reality: 2010, my favourite entry was Slovakia’s Horehronie sung by Kristina Peláková but it didn’t even qualify for the final; the next year, 2011, at Dusseldorf was a little better, with my favourite entry, Paradise Oskar’s Da Da Dam representing Finland coming at least to the final, but was ranked beyond 20; and 2012 wasn’t any different, with Hungary’s representative, Compact Disco whose song Sound of Our Hearts also ending up with a rank beyond 20 and I believe even Iceland would only suffer the same fate.

Looking forward to the event, and luckily, it is one day after my exams get over!