Icarus by Russell Andrews: book review

Icarus (2001) is a thriller is set around the fable of Icarus, the boy who flew too close to the sun and fell to his death. Jack Keller, at 10 years of age, was fascinated by this tale, until his mother was viciously assaulted on the seventeenth floor of her workplace. She was a paralegal, working late in the evening, waiting for her partner to arrive. The assault by a madman, seeking revenge on a company of lawyers, sent Joan Keller plummeting through a window to her death. It occurred in front of Jack, who, though making a valiant attempt to save his mother, was left devastatingly helpless. Jack knew then that, for the rest of his life, this would be the worst thing that could ever happen to him. He knew this without a shadow of a doubt, with absolute certainty, and it was his only comfort. Never again would he feel this kind of suffering, pain or loss, or paralyzing terror.

He is raised by his mother’s partner, marries Caroline and starts a small restaurant in New York that rapidly becomes a chain throughout the country. Caroline is unable to have children and they raise Kid Demeter as their own, resulting in him becoming a well-known physiotherapist and personal trainer. As Caroline prepares to open a new restaurant in Charlottesville, a lunatic shoots Jack and Caroline in full view of their patrons. Caroline is killed instantly and Kid assists Jack to recover from his debilitating injuries. Jack relies on Kid, just as he relied on his mother thirty years previously when his father abandoned them. Kid then mysteriously falls to his death, just like Jack’s mother. The police blame drugs but Jack doesn’t believe that theory.

Kid has had a string of women: The Mortician, the Mistake, the Destination, the Murderess and so on. Jack is sure that one of them knew of his own trauma as a young boy and premeditated the crime to avenge a dispute with him. Jack is convinced that Kid was murdered to punish him and he sets out to find the murderer.

The message is simple: each betrayal begins with trust. It is well written, fast paced, and intriguingly interesting for its genre.

Comments

Pir-E-Kamil - The Perfect Mentor by Umera Ahmed: book review

The Perfect Mentor pbuh (2011) is set in Lahore and Islamabad in Pakistan. The novel commences with Imama Mubeen in medical university. She wants to be an eye specialist. Her parents have arranged for her to marry her first cousin Asjad. Salar Sikander, her neighbour, is 18 years old with an IQ of 150+ and a photographic memory. He has long hair tied in a ponytail. He imbibes alcohol, treats women disrespectfully and is generally a “weird chap” and a rude, belligerent teenager. In the past three years he has tried to commit suicide three times. He tries again. Imama and her brother, Waseem, answer the servant’s call to help Salar. They stop the bleeding from his wrist and save his life. Imama and Asjad have been engaged for three years, because she wants to finish her studies first. Imama is really delaying her marriage to Asjad because she loves Jalal Ansar. She proposes to him and he says yes. But he knows his parents won’t agree, nor will Imama’s parents. That

Flaws in the Glass, a self-portrait by Patrick White: book review

The manuscript, Flaws in the Glass (1981), is Patrick Victor Martindale White’s autobiography. White, born in 1912 in England, migrated to Sydney, Australia, when he was six months old. For three years, at the age of 20, he studied French and German literature at King’s College at the University of Cambridge in England. Throughout his life, he published 12 novels. In 1957 he won the inaugural Miles Franklin Literary Award for Voss, published in 1956. In 1961, Riders in the Chariot became a best-seller, winning the Miles Franklin Literary Award. In 1973, he was the first Australian author to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature for The Eye of the Storm, despite many critics describing his works as ‘un-Australian’ and himself as ‘Australia’s most unreadable novelist.’ In 1979, The Twyborn Affair was short-listed for the Booker Prize, but he withdrew it from the competition to give younger writers the opportunity to win the award. His autobiography, Flaws in the Glass

Sister cities discussed: Canberra and Islamabad

Two months ago, in March 2015, Australia and Pakistan agreed to explore ways to deepen ties. The relationship between Australia and Pakistan has been strong for decades, and the two countries continue to keep dialogues open. The annual bilateral discussions were held in Australia in March to continue engagements on a wide range of matters of mutual interest. The Pakistan delegation discussed points of interest will include sports, agriculture, economic growth, trade, border protection, business, and education. The possible twinning of the cities of Canberra, the capital of Australia, and Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, were also on the agenda (i.e. called twin towns or sister cities). Sister City relationships are twinning arrangements that build friendships as well as government, business, culture, and community linkages. Canberra currently has international Sister City relationships with Beijing in China and Nara in Japan. One example of existing

FEAST OR FAMINE

Search This Blog