With a fantastic opening purportedly penned by a recently deceased narrator and edited via running commentary by a secondary narrator, JIHADI: A Love Story is written by Yusuf Toropov. The emotional intelligence of the main protagonist and the story itself are high on the list of pluses at the outset. Although many expectations are confounded throughout the story, the expectation of more confusion, while reading the opening pages, does not bear out. So if you find yourself asking: “What’s this about?”, just power on through the opening five pages. The quality of the writing will draw you in at the outset. But the plot is riveting, and it all starts to become fairly clear fairly quickly. It’s one of those novels that merits a second read not because of its difficulty, but because of the prose's beauty. In terms of plot, there is so much to it that there are things you may miss the first time out. Among much else, readers may find they are reading the novel for its story, and then
Dario Cannizzaro’s narrator Louis, the protagonist of Dead Men Naked (available at Amazon ), loses his best friend Neil in a bizarre, seemingly hallucinogenic near-remote attack from an attic window as they stand in the same room, by Lou’s neighbour and a giant crow. Given the tequila and other substances taken, it is difficult to determine what exactly occurred through the narrator’s eyes. But Louis comes round the following morning worse-for-wear; he finds his friend’s body, realises that what happened was no dream, and summons the authorities to the scene. Strange beginnings complement a funeral where Neil’s parents end up consoling him as much as vice versa. On the trip, while Lou drowns his sorrows, he meets Mallory at a nearby, not-so-nearby dive, and begins an exploration of the spirit world. The journey is a theme in this novel, the roadside scenery described with a vivid and subtle poetry throughout. Also beautifully captured are aspects relationships – for instance,
In 1972, a crack commando unit was sent to prison by a military court for a crime they didn't commit... These men promptly escaped from a maximum security stockade to the Los Angeles Underground. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Ladie's and gentlemen: The A-Team was made up of Hannibal, Face, B.A. and Murdock. Sgt Bosco BA Baracus was the muscle. BA's catchphrase was: "Shut the fuck up, muthafucka!" He was into his engines and loved his van but he had a fear of flying. Sometimes, he ate burgers that were drugged and he'd go straight to sleep and the rest of the A-Team would fly him to exotic locations where he would star in a series of direct-to-video porn movies, on which the Weekend at Bernie's franchise was based. He drank a lot of milk. There was often drugs in his milk too. Templeton "Face Man" Peck was the looker in the group. He was a lieutenant. He opened a chain of coffee houses after he left The A Team. It was very meta when he pointed at the
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