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Friday 29 April 2016

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An Honorable Man - Paul Vidich Review

Book Cover Source: Goodreads.com

An "Honorable Man" by "Paul Vidich" is a cold war spy thriller set in 1950 Washington DC. In his debut novel "Paul Vidich" takes the readers back into the past and drops them into 1953 where the two superpowers takes on each other to prove their supremacy over the other.

A Soviet mole has penerated the CIA, causing missions to fails and agents to die. The CIA has named it protocol and a CIA agent named "George Muller' must uncover him. Mueller is frustrated with his double life of living in Washington DC where a honorable man cannot live and that of a coveted spy. He has no friends due to the kind of profile he has to keep for his work. Mueller starts putting back the pieces which could possibly land him to the traitor who has turned against the CIA only to find the traitor who he was searching for was someone who was close to him.

Before reading this book I was pretty excited as the cover of the book as well as the story looked appealing. A spy thriller book that too based in the cold war era, the concept was great. I had huge expectation before starting the book but soon all those expectations started shattering as I started reading the book. Don't get me wrong, the book was written nicely, the characters were good, the entire plot description was nice, but still I couldn't connect with the book from the start. I guess that might be due to the transitions were the book was actually struggling.

The beginning as well as the middle section of the book lack that elegance and the excitement which a thriller novel should generate. This book did got my attention as the end was approaching but still not of much use. I really like the end and it was the only portion of the book which I could read again if some one asks me to.

So if I have to rate the book I will give it 2.5 stars out of 5. In my frank opinion, this book didn't do much a good. It could have been much better considering the it is a spy thriller and that too based in the Cold War period. The author just couldn't capitalize on to the concept. Quiet sure I won't be recommending this book to anyone. Still if you want to give a try you can buy the book from here:

India: An Honorable Man - Paul Vidich

Outside India:  An Honorable Man - Paul Vidich

So, this is what I feel after reading this book. Do let me know in the comment section how do you feel about the book. Guys if you like this review, hit the like button below and if you don't like it, do vote it down and mention the reason in the comment section below as it will help me to get better and do SUBSCRIBE to the blog to get all the reviews right into your mail box. So until next time, this is me Sushant Sawant signing off. You guys have a great day.

CIAO.

An Honorable Man - Paul Vidich
Reviewed by Sushant Sawant
Rating:2.5



Friday 22 April 2016

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The Glass Ceiling - Julie LaVoie Review

Book Cover Source: Goodreads.com

The Glass Ceiling is a dystopian written by Julie LaVoie. I would like to express my gratitude to the author Julie LaVoie for providing a copy of this book for the review and I am very thankful that I did read this novel.

The Glass Ceiling is a story of a sixteen year old girl name Heart or commonly known by her number 120. Heart escapes mines only to find herself in to bigger prison. A prison or a transparent dome controlled by a blatant man "Guardian". Due to her rebellious nature and a thirst to seek freedom she puts herself against the biased and patriarchal world which the Guardian has created, Heart seeks way to escape this dome and make all the people residing in the dome realize the joy of being free. She takes help of the people who wished to be free and eventually stumbles upon the door which leads her out of the dome. When her friends are held captive and her freedom arms away, Heart must decide between taking the freedom she desperately wanted or saving her friends live and making the entire people free form this patriarchal dome.

The story was pretty intriguing and kept me interested to finish the book. The character description is pretty good. The story development was nice and it kept me wondering which new twist would be coming up as I keep reading further. I am pretty sure that you won't be able to drop this book in the middle without finishing it as the story is fast paced and new twists keeps on coming making it an interesting read. I was so connected that I could barely keep this book out of my mind.

However, I find it difficult to sense the passage of time as days were passed and I was completely caught off-guard. Also it was weird, how a sixteen year old girl pick a lock in her first attempt. It was kinda strange thing which were happening which distracted me slightly.

So if you are looking for a dystopian young adult novel which you can't keep it down, you should definitely have a look at this one. So if I have to rate this novel, I will give it 4 out of 5 stars. I will also leave down link to amazon, if you want to buy it.

Buy the book from here:

India: The Glass Ceiling by Julie LaVoie

Outside India: The Glass Ceiling by Julie LaVoie

Let me know in the comments section below whats your take on this book if you have read it already. And do comment on things which you like or don't like about this review. Any suggestions will surely be appreciated.

With this, this is me Sushant Sawant signing off. You guys have a great day.

CIAO.


The Glass Ceiling - Julie LaVoie
Reviewed by Sushant Sawant
Rating:4



Friday 15 April 2016

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The Big Short: Inside The Doomsday Machine - Michael Lewis Review


If you ever wanted to know the reasons of Financial Crisis which happened in 2008, this is the best book which you could look for.

The Big Short describes several of the key players in the creation of the credit default swap market that sought to bet against the collateralize debt obligation (CDO) bubble and thus ended up profiting from the financial crisis of 2008. Yes you got it right and be ready as many such technical terms and financial concepts are going to get discussed when you start reading this book. Since I read this book after watching the movie directed by Adam McKay titled The Big Short, understanding such technical terms and concepts was a lot easier for me. This book tells the entire story behind the financial crisis through the eyes of three hedge fund managers and a Deutsche Bank salesperson. All these people were among the first to see the fraud behind the subprime fiasco and eventually leading to betting against the big Wall Street firms.

The book contains great content and is very well organised. Kudos for that to Michael Lewis. He has done a great job in describing this entire financial fiasco. This book had such a great impact that I started looking at more places to know more about this financial crisis. Definitely a must read book which makes it clear that even the white collar people should not be trusted blindly.

However, what I don't like is that the book covered only the aspects which were important or you can say critical for our three hedge fund managers. Since the book has been subtitled as "Inside the doomsday machine", it could have been great if government's as well as Wall Street firm's perspective were taken into account. Also, unlike the beginning and the end which were great, the middle section of the book was not that great.

But as a package this is a great and must read book if you want to know some inside facts that lead behind the financial crisis. I would rate it at 4 out of 5 stars. I personally liked the book a lot. There is a great video uploaded on Jonathan Jarvis's youtube channel which summarizes the entire financial crisis situation. I will link the video down below at the end of this thread. I will also leave a link down to amazon if you want to buy the book.

Buy the book from here:

India: The Big Short by Michael Lewis

Outside India: The Big Short by Michael Lewis

Folks if you want me reading such books and coming up with the reviews, then DO SUBSCRIBE. Also let me know in the comments section below what do you feel about this book and this review. And please don't be like those Wall Street people who say those sugary things. If I suck, do let me know. With this, this is me Sushant Sawant signing off. You guys have a great day.

CIAO.




The Big Short - Michael Lewis
Reviewed by Sushant Sawant
Rating:4



Friday 8 April 2016

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Windmills Of The Gods - Sidney Sheldon Review



Windmills of the Gods is a political thriller from a veteran author Sidney Sheldon. Being a follower of Sidney Sheldon's work, I was pretty excited and enthusiastic before reading the novel and now when I have finished the novel, here are my views on this novel.

The story starts with the appointment of the new United States president. Upon taking the office, optimistic president Paul  Ellison promises and launches 'people-to-people' program for strengthening the ties between United States of America and the Iron Curtain countries. For this he was on hunt for naming an ambassador to Romania. Instead of selecting an experience diplomat for such a crucial position, Ellison names Kansas State University Political Science professor Mrs. Mary Ashley as United States ambassador to Romania.

Mary Ashley takes up the challenge of being an ambassador but soon realizes that she has been targeted in a conspiracy and while trying to do best for her country, she attracts a mysterious assassin at her back.
  
The character description is pretty good. The content of the book is quite amazing and exciting. The entire story development is pretty good. While going through the book, my mind was often "Sheldonised". There were various interesting surprises in the book which completely took me of guard. The entire story and the characters in the books are quite compelling and keeps the readers on their toes.

However what I don't like is that the beginning was quite slow paced. At one point in the beginning, I event thought of dropping the book because of the slow beginning but still managed to continue with the book. And I am very thankful that I made that decision. I would have surely regretted if I had dropped the book in the beginning. Also the story has lot of jumping between the characters and the situations. Don't get me wrong, it is not difficult to keep a tab of the entire scenario but for me personally, the author 'Sidney Sheldon' could have done a little better in that aspect.

I would rate this book 4 out of 5 stars. For me personally it is a must have book in your collection if you are avid Sidney Sheldon reader. One must definitely read this political thriller. It is worth your time and the money you are investing in your book. I will leave a link to amazon below, just in case if you want to buy this book.

Buy the book from here:



Folks if you want such reviews coming up, DO SUBSCRIBE. Also let me know in the comments section below what's your take on this book. Also let me know, how do you feel about the review and any suggestions for improvement. This is me Sushant Sawant signing off. You guys have a great day.

CIAO.


Windmills of the Gods - Sidney Sheldon
Reviewed by Sushant Sawant
Rating:4