An Evil Cradling

 

An autobiographical account of his 4 and half years of captivity in Lebanon by Brian Keenan, the Irishman who had gone to teach English at the American University in Beirut. 

As detailed an account as you can get, of his imprisonment, beatings, blindfoldness, chaining, inhumanisation, total subjection - mind and body of a person. Made for difficult reading at times, pages after pages of such tragedy and torment of a human being. Being made to sit inside a cramped room with no amenities, no fan, no light, no windows, for days on end is sheer torture. 

And all for what - for no cause, because he was Irishman, not a Britisher or American, and he was not a spy or a political or bureaucrat or a religious figure for being captured and tortured. Luckily for him he had John McCarthy for company most of his captive time and the two of them bonded so well that it became difficult for Brian Keenan to leave when the time came for his release.  

Goodreads 4/5 

The Innocent Bystanders

 Spy thriller from James Munro a.k.a. James William Mitchell.

John Craig is a tough hard as nails British spy set out to find a missing Russian scientist who has the knowledge to convert desert into life. Impracticable as it sounds, Craig is on a mission and in the process he travels to Turkey, America, Cyprus with Department K following him with two young recruits, and Force Three also on his trail. KGB is also interested in the missing scientist.

The scientist Aaron Kaplan is one of the ten men who broke out of a deadly prison in Siberia of whom apart from him, only two survived the escape. Force Three sends in Miriam Loman as the all in one help of Marcus Kaplan, brother of Aaron, who has not seen his brother for 25 years. Joanna and Royce are sent in by the Department.

There are plenty of thrills and spills and action in this fast paced adventure thriller from James Munro. The action moves from one location to another pretty fast. My first one of James Munro, and its good. Goodreads 3/5  

Enquiry

 

A fast paced thriller from Dick Francis "Enquiry" does'nt disappoint.

Its his favorite theme, horse racing and he excels at writing about it. Kelly Hughes is a race jockey and he has just ridden a favorite horse into second in the Miltonfizz Cup. The horse trainer is Dexter Cranfield. 

What follows is straight outside the box. They both are implicated at throwing the race and their licenses cancelled. Cranfield is a sulky kind of a guy and he goes into his shell, depressed. 

But Kelly Hughes is made of sterner stuff, he decides to fight back and find out who among the owners, trainers, stewards, race bookies had them implicated falsely. In the process, he had himself almost killed, wrecked in a car crash, through attempted monoxide poisoning.

Its a murky world out there - in horse racing, with jealousy, ego, blackmail, hatred all aplenty. In the meantime, Kelly gravitates towards the 19 year old Roberta, daughter of Dexter Cranfield. So there you are, plenty of thrills, excitement in this rollicking novel by Dick Francis. Goodreads 5/5  

The Traitor's Niche

 

Magnificently written satire by Ismail Kadare about what happens in totalitarian regimes. And superbly translated by John Hodgson who brings alive this book originally written in Albanian. 

At the main square in the city of Constantinople, there is a kind of a cove in which traitor's head is kept there for public viewing. The severed heads of all the traitors of the rulers are kept there and there are elaborate rules and regulations governing it including inspection twice a day, a weekly visit by a medical doctor, treatment with honey and ice etc. 

Kadare brilliantly goes on to devour whatever respectability totalitarian regimes have in their midst by tearing into them in such brutally savage fashion unimaginable in any literature before. There is Abdullah the keeper of the traitor's niche he gets married but is unable to consummate his marriage. There is Tundj Hata, the courier whose job is to deliver the decree to the traitors and bring their heads back to the capital city. En route he makes some money of his own by displaying the head to the gullible villagers. 

There is Ali Pasha, an 82 year old who has a 22 year old wife and Hurshid Pasha his rival and then there is Lala Shahini all luminous characters in the book. Shahini's role is interesting - he works in the Department of Archive and he has to erase the languages, cultures, styles, patterns of the people - to brainwash them basically. Then there is a Tower of Psst Psst which captures all the whisperings of people anywhere in the country and they are banished to a swamp. 

Breathtakingly brilliant book. Goodreads 5/5 

Strange Happenings at Landings Castle & Other Humorous Stories

 

A collection of uproariously humorous stories by Gopal Ramanan, third in his series of short stories books. Starts off with a brilliant spoof on Sherlock Holmes with some strange happenings going in Landings Castle with Lord Landings himself perplexed and requesting for Sholmes' help along with Dr. Dotson. Then there is a take on the venerable James Bond getting old, well, actually old instead of being perpetually young and handsome. Partha is then fretting with his unusually long name in the US and wonders whether he could change it to something short and sweet. Then there are a series of short essays on the author's crisp observations on life's inanities all laced with sweet humour. Written in a very simple style with narrative reminiscent of the great RK Narayan, this is a highly recommended book for light reading. Goodreads 5/5 

A Turbulent Mind

 

A Turbulent Mind is written from heart. Written by my good friend Swetha Amit, whom i know for a good many years. She has chronicled her journey from an unsure, turbulent, self conscious individual to a confident, determined, dedicated woman going on to conquer Ironman 70.3. Many of us are runners, marathoners, mountaineers, tennis players, footballers etc. We have seen pictures and images of multi sport people on our television, sportspersons like Daley Thompson, Swapna Barman, decathletes and heptathles, those sportspersons who compete in 10 sports and 7 sports respectively. That is for professional sportspersons. The closest that amateur individual can come close to achieving that kind of super stardom status is by taking part in a sport called triathlon, which comprises of three sports, i.e. swimming in open waters, cycling and running all done back to back with cut offs at each sport. To do that and also carry on with your normal daily life routines takes some miraculous will power and determination. Swetha did all that within a few months of reaching US on a work assignment which took her hubby there. Having to juggle sports times for 3 sports, plus strength training, stretching and then your family time, household work, shopping, etc. all in a day in the US where you don't get household help unlike in India and also to ensure that one gets adequate sleep takes some kind of planning and clockwork precision. Luckily the sport has many advantages in US where you get good open water swimming facilities and cycling lanes unlike in India. Along the way Swetha has conquered her fear of open water swimming, and hill cycling and conquered her inner demons on the way to her Ironman 70.3 medal.  Swetha has written her journey very well, very meticulously detailing all her thoughts, fears, aspirations, in a very simple language. She has written from her heart. Highly recommended for all sports persons and those planning to take up triathlon shortly.  Goodreads 5/5

The Last of the Cockleshell Heroes

 

The Last of the Cockleshell Heroes by William Sparks, an autobiographical true story of bravery during World War II. Its an incredible story of raw courage in enemy territory by two British officers William Sparks and Major 'Blondie' Herbert Hasler. They were part of a secret mission sent to jeopardise enemy lines in France. It was an unusual raid, because it was a canoe borne raid. It was a foldable canoe which is why it was called cockleshell. Each canoe carried two marines and there were 5 teams in all. Their plan was to paddle along the Gironde river, sneak into Bordeaux port under cover of darkness and attach mines to the German boats lined up there. Out of the 5 canoes, three canoes were lost either shot or captured. Their ambush was successful as several German ships was destroyed. Sparks and Hassler then abandoned their canoe and walked more than 100 miles across enemy territory in extremely difficult and trying conditions to reach a French village changing locations several times during this rendezvous. They eventually met the Resistance team who took them to Spain for a debriefing. Out of the 10 member squad, only two came alive and successfully, to tell a tale of raw courage. Goodreads 5/5 

Last Man in Tower

 

Aravind Adiga's "Last Man in Tower" is a story about desperate people - desperate lower middle class people wanting to go up in society, wanting the riches, dreaming of a rich future and to achieve that they will throw all the scruples to the wind. Its a story of a old middle class metropolitan housing society in a suburb of Mumbai. The building is old, needs urgent repairs, the residents are all middle class with aspirations for more. In comes a corrupt, wealthy, ruthless builder who offers more than the market price for each flat in the society. Everybody agrees but for a couple of residents - old couple Pintos whose children are abroad and a widower Masterji a retired teacher whose only son is residing in a posh swanky flat in South Mumbai. He is a principled man with lots of attachment to the flat because of his late wife and daughter. He digs his heels in and refuses to accept the lucrative offer, the other residents get desperate because of the impending deadline, while the builder is sweating because of the potential loss of his reputation, when other builders are ready to pounce upon the property. The book is too long, but the narrative is quite brilliant. Aravind Adiga has written beautifully, his prose is superb. Towards the later part of the book, it starts getting depressing and the ending is a huge anti climax. Reminded me of the 80s movie "Mohan Joshi Haazir Ho" a sort of similar story about house owners who are unable to vacate their tenants and the matter goes to courts and stays there for decades, while the lawyers start getting rich, the plaintiffs become poorer and poorer by the day.  

The 12 week Fitness Project

 

Quick read book by Rujuta Diwekar, although one is supposed to read it slowly and imbibe it along the way and follow the instructions from the book, which is what i did. I like her bindaas attitude to food in the sense that she advocates eating ghee, white sugar, jaggery etc. all of which are anathema to other nutritionists or diet consultants. She uses a lot of Indianised words in the book, which is the hallmark in her earlier books as well "Don't Lose your Mind, Lose your Weight" which was also a good book to read. One has to follow the instructions to the T for proper results otherwise it will not be visible, which is what happens to most of us, in the sense that we get busy with our work lives and forget to follow most of the basic principles advocated in the book. Lot of the information given in the book is very practical to use and adapt. I would recommend, read one chapter at a time, imbibe and practice solutions from that chapter and then go ahead. Highly recommended read. 

The Old Man and the Sea

A classic from Ernest Hemingway for which he won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1954. Its a simple story told in a simple form, of an old man a fisherman Santiago and considered unlucky in fishing circles because he has gone 84 days without a catch. A young kid is with him and enamoured of him but his family forbids him to go fishing with the old man. The next day i.e. 85th day the old man ventures far out to the sea in search of that elusive catch and manages to snare a big fish but the fish takes him around the ocean for two days and two nights all the while battling the old man for his strength and endurance. The old man respects the fish, starts talking to the fish but by the third day, the fish also gets tired and starts circling closer to the boat which is when the old man kills the fish with his harpoon. He ties the fish with a lasso around the boat since it would have been impossible for him to haul it on the boat since he was tired and also he was alone. But when he killed the fish, the blood attracts some sharks nearby and they attack the fish relentlessly. It is a metaphorical book, you can look at it from the view of the old man or the fish. The old man battles bravely but the fish is also equal to him. He has a great sense of justice towards the fish. Also towards Joe DiMaggio the famous baseball player whom he adores and whose father was a fisherman. So when he loses the harpoon and the knife, he uses the club against the sharks the DiMaggio way. In all the old man kills 5 or more sharks. All the time he feels the absence of the boy, and talks aloud that if the boy had been there, it would have helped him. In the end he is left with only the head, the tail and the skeleton of the great marlin. Goodreads 5/5.

The picture is taken from the internet and used only for representational purposes and not with an intention of violating its copyright. 

 

Guitar Man

Guitar Man by Will Hodgkinson is an autobiographical journey of a 30s Britisher to learn guitar having virtually no musical brain at all since his birth. But it turns out to be delightful journey of the guitar itself. Will delves into the history of the guitar taking us to its roots. Enroute he takes us through some of the musical greats who have played guitar and he interviews a few of them and travels to US to delve into the Nashville blues, Memphis rock & roll, Mississippi delta blues all the way taking some lessons or two from the guitar masters, many of them reclusive ones. First up is an intro to Davey Graham who seems to be an iconical guitar player and his composition "Anji" is certainly one up at the top. Davey influenced guitarists like Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton among others. When i listened to Anji it certainly inspired me, it is apparently a difficult piece of composition and many seasoned guitarists have tried to play it without any success.  Being a lifelong music fan especially of the blues, this book resonates very much with me. Blues is one genre i love very much and it is one genre that has not died down the ages. Will's narrative is fluid, easy going laced with humour, having to navigate learning guitar and form a band of sorts, take care of his wife and kids as well. Highly likeable book for those who like music and the blues. Goodreads 5/5

The Liberators

The Liberators by James Pattinson, is a story of a revolution gone wrong. Harvey London is famous for doing odd jobs which require much skill and daring. In one such job, he is left bloodies and penniless when he is offered a job to transport a revolutionary leader to the coast of Anagua, a fictional country in Latin America bordering the Caribbean. He is a accompanied by Pete, a tough young man. They have to face hurricane winds and rains while on the way, lose their boat, get into a dinghy which also capsizes, but miraculously survive to find themselves on the shore of Anagua but in hostile territory. There one girl Anita helps them to navigate through rough country with hunger, starvation, deprivation, fight with enemies pulling them through in a city Oxaca which unfortunately is denuded by a volcano and earthquake. The conquistadors move to another town but spies within their network wreck their supplies of arms & ammunition which was essential to their hopes of winning the war. After untold misery and fight, these three people find themselves at the gate of the revolution, when the unexpected happens. The narrative by James Pattinson is nice, it is quite fast flowing, though some words used are quite archaic. Goodreads 4/5

James Pattinson (1915-2009) was a prolific British author with more than 100 thrillers to his name.

The Unquiet Sleep

The Unquiet Sleep by William Haggard is a British novel about a miracle drug gone wrong or potentially wrong. It is a drug manufactured by a pharma company in which the Junior Minister of Social Welfare or Parliamentary Secretary as he was called in the novel was working previous to his political career. The drug has some powers but not tested fully so is sent to the laboratory for full check. Meanwhile Greek Cypriot gangsters are interested in the drug to black market it and earn some money. The kingpin of the drug lords one Dick Asher ingratiates himself with the wife of this minister who is philandering. The junior minister's boss the senior minister Robert Seneschal is in trouble with the Prime Minister for the handling of this affair. Meanwhile Colonel Charles Russell heading a fictional Security Executive a kind of non official dirty works department and his lieutenant one Rachel Borrodaile who has previous experience in the French Resistance get into the act and try to sort things out. William Haggard a.k.a. Richard Henry Michael Clayton has written a lot of fictional thrillers set in the 1960s tto 1980s. His narrative in this novel becomes ponderous at times, when he goes on describing the procedures at Whitehall or when the characters go on a silent dialogue with their thoughts. Goodreads 3/5 

 

The Last Cop Out

The Last Cop out by Mickey Spillane, my first one by him, is an edge of the seat thriller of gangster wars gone wrong. Nobody knows who is killing the mobsters off one by one in clinical fashion. Gillian Burke is a knocked off ex-cop with a grudge against the underworld. He gets to come back to the police force to find out the goings on, because ostensibly he is the one who knows more about these gangsters. Frank Verdun is a Frenchman with a penchant for killing and Mark Shelby is eyeing the top spot after everybody is wiped out. Papa Menes is an old wizened hat at these matters. Couple of female characters as well, love as well as lust interest. Few oddball characters as well in the story. Goodreads 5/5

The Magic Bullet

The Magic Bullet by Harry Stein is a medical thriller on the likes of Robin Cook books The Coma. Daniel Logan is an up and coming medical scientist who wants to work in frontier research in cancer cure. He is accepted into the prestigious American Cancer Foundation, and stumbles upon a magic cure for cancer. But the machinations and deviousness of his seniors at the ACF puts paid to his efforts. How he extricates himself and his Italian girlfriend forms the rest of the narrative. I would sya a pulsating throbbing medical thriller. Goodreads 5/5

A Place called Freedom

This is of a different genre by Ken Follett, the master story teller. This is a historical fiction novel set in Scotland of 1766 when slave trade existed. Mack McAsh is a coal miner in the employ of Sir George Jamisson. Sir George has two sons and apart from mines he has some plantations in Virginia and some sugar plantation in Barbados. But he is perennially indebted. So he has to marry off his eldest son to Lizzie Halim of the Halim Estate. Lizzie's mother is also severely indebted and she seeks the hand of Robert the eldest son of Sir George. Mack is involved in a coal mining incident where he rescues several people. He constantly seeks freedom from slavery. The Halim estate does not have any mines but it is reckoned that after the marriage between the two families, mines can start there. But Lizzie is against such thing having seen with her own eyes the kind of degrading lives led by the miners. Follett is brilliant in his narrative and the pages moves exceedingly fast. Goodreads 5/5  

Weekend Miracle

Just finished reading this interesting book "Weekend Miracle" by Ravi Nair. In the initial pages, the book seems heavy, but as you go along it becomes immensely interesting. It is written in the form of a dialogue between four individuals and talks about the power of visualisation in getting to one's goals or achieving something which someone immensely desires. We are all born with no prejudices but with schooling and college and work environment, family and all, become prejudiced towards lots of things with the result that we are not able to achieve our full potential no matter how hard we try. The answer lies deep in subconscious mind. Basically the subconscious mind is powerful so if one is able to use of the power of the subconscious mind he or she can lead powerful lives. Goodreads rating 4/5

Body of Evidence

My first one of Patricia Cornwell. Dr. Kay Scarpetta is a Chief Medical Examiner in Richmond, Virginia called upon to examine the body of one Beryl Madison, a gruesome murder victim. As a forensic pathologist her job is only to examine the bodies for various clues. But she goes beyond that and delves into the reason for the murder of the writer Beryl. One murder leads to another that of Cary Harper the mentor of Beryl, followed soon by the death of Cary's sister. Patricia's throws clues here and there and finally manages to connect all of them together. There is edge of seat suspense in the book, probably because Patricia brings in a lot of events and incidents not within the original realm of thought but brings them together spectacularly. There is sleaze lawyer Sparacino out for his two cents worth of glory and a suspense. There is Al Hunt a young kid with clairvoyant thoughts and his own story. Nice racy read. Goodreads 4/5

The Chase by Richard Unekis

Finally a book that's pulsating with action. The Chase by Richard Unekis begins with a robbery at a departmental store in a small town America, followed by a high speed chase through a maze around the corn fields near by to Chicago. The police superintendent is a maths addict so he uses game theory and probability to close in on the robbers. Almost succeeds on two occasions when police cars try to intercept the fleeing robbers in a Chevrolet. The car driver in the robber car is a highly skilled driver, the police is using maths, there are corn fields around in a maze so the following police cars are in a blind and the robbbers are listening into the police radios. Makes for an interesting read. Goodreads 5/5 

Bear Island

Just finished reading “Bear Island” by Alistair Maclean my favourite author.  Dr. Marlowe is a doctor on board a fishing trawler Morning Rose which is headed towards Bear Island in Barents Sea for some film shooting of which nobody knows what the script is about. Enroute, the film crew start getting murdered one after another in mysterious circumstances. The plot gets murkier when the crew lands on the inhospitable and alien Bear Island and the murders continue. Written in first person narrative, Maclean gradually lets the suspense out one after another taking the story to some connection in post war Europe. A gripping enthralling book, a typically pot boiler by Alistair Maclean. Rating 5/5 – Highly Recommended