ramadocblog

The boys from Biloxi by John Grisham

Legal Dramatic thriller

Ebook

Rating 4/5 overall; one of his best works!

John has been gearing up! A time for Mercy or the Litigators or the recent sparring partner were like stepping stones to go back to the John of The Runaway Jury and A Time to Kill!

The novel starts like a script of movies such as City of Gods! How immigrants come to a place and how a place develops. The development of bars and casinos and finally of a mafia lord!
And how on the other side you have another immigrant getting on the right side of law and becoming a lawyer!
One side slowly going into crime while the other going into law!
The story is chiefly of the second and third generation. Lance Marco who plays the undisputed king of the land and Jesse the honest lawyer who takes him on!
The next generation is Kieth and Hugh who both used to play together and were school friends and colleagues in the beginning.

In fact both of generations were actually friends and acquaintances in the beginning but when the fight begins then there is no looking back!

In a battle and game of cats and dogs, wins and loses; you are treated to an epic showdown first between the second generation and then the third!
The setting of the novel is not of the recent time so the idea of education and making money is more or less in opposition! You can be either educated and poor or rich! At least that’s how it’s shown in the novel!
The biggest factor which storms and changes the whole equation literally is a big storm! Reminiscent of the Camino winds novel and may show a personal connection of the author am sure!

In novels like these you clearly know the side you have to root for! There’s always a good and a bad with lines clearly drawn! That may be another reason why John placed this novel in this time period! A current novel can never delineate between good and bad! Nowadays everything is grey! Everyone can be good or bad as per the situation!

That and the ending where you are treated with the satisfaction that Crime does not pay makes you wish for those good times (at least in a novel!)

Of course it’s Grisham and that means court and lawyers figure prominently in the story and story line! In the novel though the lawyers and the judge and the whole court system has been shown to be so good! I guess at least in a fictional society or novel; you can write what you wish is true and be optimistic! The cops and and local police has shown to be corrupt to the core though! And the Federal Police and other police is on the good side! Again; clear demarcation!

The story flows like a soap opera script and brings back the days of Sidney Sheldon and his extremely enjoyable and entertaining novels!

The boy is back! And how!

Sparring partners by John Grisham

Ebook review

Fictional thriller

A collection of three independent stories

Rating 4/5 overall but 3/5 for the open endings!

All three stories are independent of each other and of different people

While the first story happens in the universe of Jack of A time to kill and A time for mercy who gets a letter from another lawyer who take some settlement money and skips town! The surprising thing here is that most lawyers apparently have this thought at the back of their minds!
It’s like the banker or cashier who handle so much cash and one fine day give in to temptation and scoot! How that lawyer comes back is the crux of the story.

The second story is of a convict awaiting the final verdict and exhausting all his appeals and waiting to be punished. The things that goes in his mind and the things he does has been told really well. Till you know the full story you don’t feel any sympathy for him but the full story in the end makes you wonder. The open ending keeps the hope alive I guess…

The final and the best story is about the sparring partners! Two brothers who are both lawyers against their father who is a lawyer in prison for charge of murder of his wife! There is no good lawyer in this whole story! Each one more corrupt and cruel and ready to do anything to save his skin in this one! This one teaches the lesson that you just can’t trust anyone! And also that you need to treat your juniors and subordinates well! Especially those who handle your money or who know your secrets! And be aware of those whom you have wronged! This story has a partial closure but still needs some more!

All in all when you read three short stories, you finish a complete novel! All in a day’s time!
Of course you feel compelled to finish one story the moment you start it which makes it difficult sometimes!

Rich dad Poor dad by Robert T Kiyosaki Narrated by Tim Wheeler

A part of the Rich dad series; the first and the best and the most popular book in the series.

Audio book of running length of around 6 hours

Rating 4/5

Non fictional investment reference book with an introduction to how to save invest and make money!

How poor work for money and how rich make the money work for them! How they speak; how they tell that I cannot afford it instead of how can I afford it!

Every investor worth his or her salt would have read this book and followed the guidelines at least to some extent. This is one of the few books on investment which does not beat around the bush and makes an open claim of earning money as much as possible!
The author is also a straight in his approach and does not mind calling his actual dad poor while mentioning the father of his friend his own Rich dad!

When I first read this book as an e-Book I was a young unmarried man who adored his father and for me to listen to someone praise someone else’s father and write a book on that was blasphemy! I am sure that even though the author has made the title like this only so that the book will sell (he mentions in the novel that he himself is not a good writer but his aim is to become the best selling writer so these names garner attention!); his actual dad would feel a little let down.

With constant push from the audible loading page, I then got this audio book and the second listen is much better! Though you and me may not agree to the book as a whole, there are multiple valid points about school education system; about the rat race, about the 9 to 5 job, about how the government will take your tax even before you get your pay and so on!
Robert is a graduate and a pilot and a good salesman in Xerox initially and with these actions he took care of his poor but well educated dad’s wishes and then by investing and understanding how money works for you, he follows his rich dad!

He gives you tips on real estates, on stocks on buying or investing in good start ups! His stories on how he turns a small amount into millions is like magic!
He constantly states how he has no respect for the school system which does not teach the financial knowledge and being a model tax paying citizen is actually being a poor investor!
He talks properly about assets and liabilities and this is one book which does not beat around the bush as far as the classification is concerned!
He talks about the seven or so secrets of getting rich or how the rich people get rich. It is like reading another version of the habits of rich people. How every time he has to buy something, he would first invest and then buy it with the profits.

I full agree on the way he says that the Robin Hood mentality must go! This was like Atlas Shrugged once again! You cannot penalise the rich! If you try to tax the rich they will escape and finally the middle class will get the brunt of taxes!
The middle class always suffers the most! They work so hard to not get poor and the tax and non productive work doesn’t allow them to become rich!

In fact rich people make a country developed while the gap between rich and poor make it under developed! And the only way to go is to make the middle class rich!

His schemes are mostly to earn money with risk and having an aptitude for it and to avoid paying as much taxes as possible. How to buy when the market is down which is actually the best time to buy! He tells of multiple such stories and they are sound so good to listen!
He does not care much for safe investments like fixed deposits or mutual funds or listening to your neighbor!

This is one book of investment which you must read if you are serious about investment and to make money and is like a bible to many in the financial world especially with lines like Mc Donalds is not a Burger company but a real estate company! He speaks highly of Warren Buffet and even Donald Trump!
Of course he also gives an introduction to the next book in the series and also about his game which is apparently costly but worth it!
So following his own advice, you want to earn money then you must spend it first!

This is an amazing book but having said that; with the amount of money the author has supposedly earned; I always think; when will it end!? Every time you want to spend money you have to first think; how will I get it back or what is my return of investment!? That may not be everyone’s cup of tea!

I am sure his last book in his white years would be; Poor dad was right all along! Money will get you the coziest bed, but can it get you the sleep!?…

Rich dad Poor dad by Robert T Kiyosaki Narrated by Tim Wheeler

A part of the Rich dad series; the first and the best and the most popular book in the series.

Audio book of running length of around 6 hours

Rating 4/5

Non fictional investment reference book with an introduction to how to save invest and make money!

How poor work for money and how rich make the money work for them! How they speak; how they tell that I cannot afford it instead of how can I afford it!

I am sure his last book in his white years would be; Poor dad was right all along! Money will get you the coziest bed, but can it get you the sleep!?…

The Litigators by John Grisham

Book review

Rating 4/5

Fictional law drama! No spoilers here!

This is an old Grisham novel which I somehow missed to read! I had an eBook but the original kindle was a measly 200INR! So I got it again! And it was totally worth it!

The story is mainly of David who even after being educated in Harvard and is in a high paying job in a law firm though who has never seen the inside of a court or seen real cases reaches a breaking point and just drowns himself in alcohol and by a twist of faith ends up drunk in a law firm which is a total upside down as the stranger things!

This law firm has two comical and tragical lawyers! One is Oscar who is so fed up of his life and wife and in spite of his age does not have any money or honey! While the other is Wally who after four divorces and multiple rehabs is just one push away from kicking the bucket! The only normal person in the firm is the Donna like secretary Rochelle who is the one glue keeping the messy firm from falling apart! In a dark comedy of sorts she was in fact a client who after some harassments and twists of fate made secretary of the firm! Then there is the adorable dog AC who is like the testament of the state of the firm! Old and fat and lazy!

The firm is basically a bunch of ambulance chasers who would do anything to get case or even bend law when they can and the storyline is like a cross between Suits and Better call Sam and it is a page turner!

So the crux of the story is when one of their clients who is fat and old dies and they stumble upon a drug which may have a link with the death! Wally smells a big tort case and he convinces the whole firm to dive into the case with full gusto! The even get a big law firm to partner with them signing the deal in a private jet! Just when the lawyers and clients start counting their chickens before they hatch; they geta tsunami of sorts!

First Oscar who has not seen the inside of a court in years and then Wally and then finally David get to fight the case in a federal court with a seasoned opposition in classic David vs Goliath moment though with the amount of sleaze and dirt the lawyers have, you would not know which one is David! How this case ends is the semi climax with all hopes lost or is it?

In between this David gets another case of a toy causing lead poisoning and how that ends is the climax of the story!

You have the classic company lawyers with their high bills and swanky cars who would charge over three clients for lunch and actually grab a sandwich! Then you have those ambulance chasers who would go to the extent of dressing up as doctors to get a client! Then you have divorce lawyers who would turn a no contest divorce into a bill meter! Then you have the classic defense lawyer Nadine reminiscent of Scot of Suits with a team of lawyers and para legals! And finally you have those Tort lawyers with their own private jets of the latest models! From street to the sky, this novel has it all!

In the end there is hope and I am so happy that John did not end it abruptly and that was a big satisfaction for me since lately John has been doing a lot of open ending!

Loved reading this classic John and even though I am not a big fan of lawyers especially the situation it has reached in the US; I love reading John just cause!

A death in Tokyo by Kiego Higashino

Fictional murder mystery genre

Book review

E Book

Rating 4/5 for the whole book and 4.5/5 for the thrilling twist in the end!

No spoilers but this is Kiego Higashino! His novels are known to have to do more with how rather than who! Though even if I tell you the whole cast of the novel; you would never in a million years guess who the killer is!

The novel begins with two main characters and they both die within the first two or three chapters! The mystery of course is to find out who killed the middle aged person with a settled life and no obvious enemy! He was stabbed and he walked all the way to a famous bridge!

They would find the second person with the first person’s wallet and other possessions but before he could be questioned he would be run over by a vehicle! He would die eventually without uttering a word!

And then the murder investigation begins!

Why did he kill? Or did he kill!?

One twists after another is exposed and just when you thought that you have read everything, you get the greatest twist ever!

I still struggle with the Japanese names but since the character count is less, it is much easier!

If Galileo was like Hercule Poirot; Detective Kaga is like Sherlock! He is more mobile and works more physically and makes mistakes at first and is not all that perfect and he knows that!
But somehow he is at the right place at the right time! Too many coincidences happen around him and things which he notices!

One thing which I am distressed is at the lack of emotional connection shown throughout the novel. In his silent parade novel; he has shown strong family ties while in this he shows such an apparent lack of family ties.
Like the lack of emotions of the detective to attend his father’s anniversary, or the odd emotions shown by the wife and son towards the husband and father who is dead especially the son. Am sure I am over thinking but it may be a sign of times. People being more practical and having less emotions. The first thing thought by people when someone dies is how they will manage the finance now! It’s sad mainly because it’s true…

Having said that, the endearing ending gave full justices to my fear!

Rest assured that this is not Murakami so all your questions will be answered in the end! You will get closer of sorts.

All in all a typical Kiego page turner! Grab it with both hands! Ready steady KieGo!

Pale blue dot by Carl Sagan

Narrated by Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan

Audiobook of Non fiction genre; Stand alone book but reading his earlier books like cosmos will make you prepared on what to expect!

Rating 3/5 overall but 4/5 just to listen to Carl!

Running is over 14 hours or so!

If you increase the speed to 1.2 or 1.3 it can become even 10 hours without any loss of diction or grammar and it actually makes the flow better!

In spite of this the book is long and there is so much of overlap between this book and his other books like cosmos which of course are frequently mentioned in passing and similar sections!

In fact this book took me four months to finish but in spite of that it is a great achievement since I listen to this book only when I go to my work which is a short walk of around 5 minutes! Just five to twenty minutes sometime and in
four months or so you finish this mammoth! That is a lesson in persistence!

Introduction first by his wife which was maybe the only emotional part of the book because when it comes to Carl, it is all science and scientific evidence and nothing else!

Then the best part of the book! To listen to Carl narrate in his own deep powerful voice! Of course it was recorded when audio books were not in fashion and it shows! But you can take this book just to listen to him!

An introduction on how humans or earth or sun or even our galaxy is neither unique nor special!
He talks of earth being such a small part of the cosmos! a pale blue dot! Just a spec of dust in a sunbeam!
This is a part from the narration which I just had to share; ‘Look again at that dot. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every “superstar,” every “supreme leader,” every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there-on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam!’

it is mentioned that the old Astronomer Galileo with the first telescope saw the rings of Saturn as ears! It was like that on both sides! Later on of course it was found out to be particles or masses floating in the space held there by the gravity of the huge planet! Then even other bigger planets such as Jupiter or Neptune must have rings in theory! Well apparently they do! They also have rings made of these flying masses of different sizes held by the force or pull of these large planets! Smaller planets like Earth have just enough pull for a single satellite. So many such facts are thrown around for good measure!

Of course the narration by Carl is only a short part of the book and then it changes to Ann who has done a commendable job but sometimes it sounds strained! Also mentally when she speaks in first person she is talking as ‘me’ which means Carl and when you are listening as an audio that gives you a couple of seconds of confusion!

There is a lot of mention of Mars and Mars mission and other missions such as Voyager and others. The debate between cost of sending a probe for outer space exploration or using it for some greater good for humanity is thrown around with justification as a scientist with support for science and technology.

He tells how Mars mission is prohibitively expensive and since it is a matter of the whole earth then multiple countries must collaborate for such missions. Since it was written some time back I am sure Carl would not know about how India sent a probe in a shoestring budget and how! I am sure he would have been the first to applaud this!

In parallels to SETI he talks about META which is a similar concept to find out life in other planet of universe. Of how we need to reach at least close to the speed of light (or some percentage of it) if we have to travel so far and how it is a difficult proposition.

He talks about how radio waves may not be ideal since the alien civilization may be either too backward or too well advanced to use radio waves as means of communication.

He ends with hope to find more civilization if it is out there concluding that for now in the billions of universes, Earth may be the only planet with life!

A good book for people who like cosmos and one you can read just to complete the series; I heard just to listen to Carl and it was worth it!

The silent Parade by Kiego Higashino

Ebook
Thriller murder mystery

Rating 4/5

No spoilers! But in Kiego it’s not who but why and how that’s important! Here though even who is a big twist!

First of all I want to vent out my irritation at the names! I am assuming this is a literal translation from Japanese so in an effort to keep the authenticity of the novel the author has kept the names! Here lies the problem. The names are so confusing! First of all it doesn’t matter, but you will not know whether the name refers to a guy or a girl! Then the most irritating aspect of the novel; the names are so similar! You have Yukawa, Yutaro and Yuna! All are not only different person but different times!
Then the author uses the surname in different places for the same names and uses the names in other places! That is so frustrating especially when there are so many characters in the novel and this is a murder mystery for gods sake!

In fact when it was revealed a person confessed to the murder; I was searching the novel beginning to remember who that person is!

Finally I downloaded the novel to my tab and kept the characters page open (with the Kindle app constantly asking for page sync!) and that solved the issue!

Finally coming to the novel as such; you have an accused who everyone knows has done the killing but stays silent and escapes conviction two times officially! And then he is found dead one fine day!

Who killed him is the mystery!

Now for the love of gods I don’t believe in Vigilantism but this old alcoholic filth of a man has surely killed and buried and burnt at least two women and he escaped conviction only by being sly and he is found dead! That’s poetic Justice right there! Why do you have to make a team and waste so much time in finding out who killed that pig of a man when I am sure bigger crimes and criminals are roaming around! In fact if the cops did the same due diligence when he was charged with murder then he would not have escaped the noose twice!

Kiego is a big Agatha Christie fan which is evident from quotes and references to Poirot so you can expect a big reveal in the end! He does one better! The person who is revealed is someone you can’t imagine in a million years! That was a big shock to me and that twist is one of the best twists I have read in recent times!

Here like Poirot you have detective Galileo who is a physicist by profession but somehow has a knack of showing up and knowing things!

His assumption and deductions solve the case in steps and if it were not for him it would have been unsolved!

Read it just for the twist in the end and also keep a print of the characters with you so that you don’t feel like pulling out your hair!

The three act Tragedy by Agatha Christie’s starring John Moffat as Poirot

Dramatized by BBC with a whole cast playing different members of the cast so in affect this is not a pure audiobook but an audio play which helps since this is a murder mystery.

Listening length around 2 hours but it seems much less since the Audiobook is a part of a bigger collection of selected stories by Agatha Christie and all these stories feel like short stories which they are actually not!
In fact if you get to read this audio book in isolation then it is close to three hours or more!

Of course the book can be told as a summary in much less!

The fact of the matter remains in that this is a typical Poirot Mystery of murder and he of course takes in charge of his little grey cells to solve the crime!

There is a whole team to help him in this one but no Hastings and that’s a sour pickle!

Now the first act is a sudden death of a clergyman who just drops dead after a drink and then no one bats an eyelid since he was old. But then a second act of tragedy happens when a similar group of people meet and another person dies in a similar fashion!

Naturally the eye of suspicion falls on those who were present in both the parties and those who were missing (or supposedly missing!) were exempt from the suspicion of the three investigators who set out to solve the mystery!

In between you have an innocent love story or is it?

In Between you have some Butler missing and gone into the wind or is it something more!?

Of the two murder who was the intended target and more importantly who did it!?

If you have not read this one before I can personally guarantee you that even if you know this person in the whole novel, even for a minute you can never guess who is the killer! And even by a rare stroke of luck you did then you could never guess the motive!

The best line of the novel is the last one which also does not give any spoiler!
A modified non spoiler version is this, “In the aftermath, one witness remarks how terrible it was that anyone, himself included, could have drunk the poisoned cocktail to which Poirot remarks there was an even more terrible possibility: “It might have been me.”!!

With Wit and suspense this one will keep you guessing and wanting for more!

Peril at End House by Agatha Christie’s starring John Moffat as Poirot

Dramatized by BBC with a whole cast playing different members of the cast so in affect this is not a pure audiobook but an audio play which helps since this is a murder mystery.

Listening length around 2 hours 12 minutes but it seems much less since the Audiobook is a part of a bigger collection of selected stories by Agatha Christie and all these stories feel like short stories which they are actually not!

The previous book was Poirot’s first book as Poirot while this starts as being the last! The same was also mentioned as the last in the novel The murder of Roger Ackroyd where it was mentioned that Poirot was retired and living in peace!

Here also Poirot and Captain Hastings are enjoying a quiet retired life when they see a lady who Poirot thinks is in trouble! And he employs a big show to meet and get involved with her affairs! She is the victim of several accidents or near accidents which she brushes off as mere coincidences but Poirot feels otherwise! Do not worry! The whole section was not a spoiler!

The whole twist lies in the end and it is something which you cannot guess in your wildest dreams unless you have read the same before!
In the series Breath season 2; they show that the person who kidnaps a girl from a family is actually the father itself! Only in that case the reason is that he is a victim of multiple personality!

Again do not worry, that is not a spoiler but it was to think of the scenarios of a murder! When a crime is committed, it is usually the spouse in case of husband or wife who is the prime suspect or the other prime suspect is the one who draws the least suspicion in the novel or narration!
Another twist can be the investigating officer or the cop being the culprit which also has been done and dusted by many!
Another twist can be the detective involved in the case being the culprit! That was the case in a novel called Curtain; Poirot’s last case!
all of the above are pretty awesome twist and just when you thought you cannot have another one then comes this novel!

Yes, this novel gives you the biggest twist of them all!

Read it just for the last five minutes of the novel in which you are presented with so many suspect and I am sure you would not guess the culprit

Menu

Social Menu