This is a WW11 novel set in Singapore and Indonesia that tells the story about ordinary people who are compelled to do extraordinary things.
The story brings a British war correspondent George Adams to Singapore during January 1942. Shortly after his arrival there, he is caught in a near fatal air raid, while in the underground shelter he meets Thomas Montclair, a French spy and Lady Jane Carrington Smythe an English aristocrat and their meeting triggers a chain of events. Written in the first person this suspenseful novel takes its three main characters on a harrowing journey as they flee the Japanese while overcoming a multitude of obstacles including demons of their own. As the title suggests they are not quite sure of their destination…what to expect….and how to face the numerous challenges known and unknown…The prose reflects the horror and fear they faced…..
Although a fiction, the timeline and military events involving the fall of Singapore and Java and Sumatra are real but the story is based entirely on the author’s fertile imagination. This is a real page turner and very suspenseful as we follow the trio in a nightmare that has them evade a manhunt that spans the islands of the southwest pacific.
For war junky this may not be the perfect book but for suspense lovers it provides a plot that keeps a slow and steady pace, a kaleidoscope of death, dreams, nightmares and desire filled with conflict and passion. This is definitely a story with a mix of everything…The characterization is well drawn out, the players feel quite realistic and down to earth. I like the way the relationship between them evolves throughout the adventure and I especially loved the ending.
Great first book and hope this is a start of endless adventures…
My thanks to NetGalley, Smith Publicity and the publishers Taylor and Seale for the opportunity to read this book.
Inside a City Under Siege
This book is a harrowing firsthand account by British correspondent who was the sole journalist allowed to be in city during the blockade. In his book the author goes to great length to document the city’s struggle while the inhabitants faced the savagery and the aggression by the Nazi forces where an estimate of one million people lost their lives mostly from starvation. This brief visit took place in 1943 and is a record of what he saw and heard from survivors.
I found this book fascination in many ways the four days he spent travelling across Leningrad each step he described was reliving history. Mr. Werth went in great details sometimes overloading us names of streets and buildings and comparing what he saw at the moment with his memories of the city he loved and lived in as a child before the revolution. While his visits were to different locations, all interviews shared the same experience: famine, continuous shelling and death. What come to light are the survival strategies that was adopted during the siege by the ordinary people such as workers, the heads of industries, the local authorities, and of course the soldiers. Although not enough, one positive effect the Russian winter froze Lake Ladoga and created a life-line over which caravans of trucks hauled a meager amount of food and supplies and also provided an evacuation route for thousands of the city’s weak and elderly.
This book is both informative and moving in many ways but the endless visits to schools, factories, camps and conversations with functionaries became redundant and taxing. It is evident the culture in Leningrad at the time was highly artistic, people still enjoyed books, theater, music and Mr. Werth doesn't shy away from describing plays and authors he enjoyed. There is a lot in this book actually I would say an overwhelming amount of information to absorb in too little time.
On this I say: Bravery and collective courage of the whole city deserves to be welcomed for eternity.
My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher I. B. Tauris for the opportunity to read this book.
Have you ever been stranded in a snow storm where the thermometer has dipped below the freezing point. It is so cold you hear the sound of gunshots but actually it is the sound trees make when their bark expands. To boot it is pitch black outside, your only shelter is a dilapidated shack in the middle of nowhere and you share it with a person who hasn't wash in weeks…. You will experience every bit of this and much more in this fiction.
Strange enough this is not a horror novel but a love story featuring two individuals, Eric and Danielle, not tailor –made to get along but rather to hate each other….well at least at first. Being thrown into a cabin with the Storm of the Century raging may bring surprising emotions. Both these characters are distinct, fascinating in many ways and never act as anticipated, there is always a spin to what they do. With no place to go Eric and Danielle’s narrative becomes quite intimate as they slowly reveal themselves to each other. The author’s share their story in a refreshing and unexpected ways and conveys their secrets through back story that fills the pages. I am certain Mr. Roorbach has experienced a winter storm: the description of the blizzard’s torment is artfully depicted. This tale weaves equal part survival adventure, romance and comedy into a colourful tapestry of nature scenes and this is where this story excels.
On the other hand, parts of it didn't quite feel believable and at times the meandering style was so repetitive and disjointed it was hard to keep focus. With this said the story has its merits in originality and reading it I felt strongly the urge to put wool socks on, a tuque, mitts, and parka and wrap myself in a cozy down duvet.
