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