Alexander McNabb

The only distinguishing feature of this action thriller is its setting in Beirut, a first as far as I'm concerned. A JamesBond-esque secret agent takes on the most powerful man in Lebanon who wants to kill the peace in the middle east to achieve he-only-knows-what. And there are many dead bodies, strewn across many countries as the story moves from Lebanon to England to Germany to Czech to Malta to Albania and back to Lebanon again - I might have missed a few, though.
The story moves quite fast and the sights and sounds of Beirut have been described well; description of action sequences and death scenes, too, is vivid. But, there are a few back stories that are hazy, maybe left so in order to build upon in some sequel. The motives and roles of some characters are not clear even after the book is finished -rather anticlimactically.
In short, this is a quick read that has more action than substance.… (plus d'informations)

This book was chosen by our book group because the author will be attending the Emirates International Festival of Literature in March. We were interested in it because it is set in Jordan and covers aspects of Palestinian/Israeli issues, particularly the potential shortage of water in the area.

Paul Stokes arrives in Jordan to take up a new job - publishing a magazine for a recently formed Jordanian Ministry. He is helped to find his feet by a colleague, Aisha Dajani, a stunningly beautiful young woman to whom he is instantly drawn.

I wasn't sure whether to like Paul, he was a bit of a damp fish at times but he was also under a lot of stress. Caught between the Dajani family and the British Consulate representative, Gerald Lynch, he finds himself at the centre of negotiations for control of water resources that had been taken over by Israeli absorbtion of Jordanian land. The Jordanians needed to retrieve some of this water but this brought with it the alarming potential for causing a water war.

Paul becomes very close to Aisha, whose brother Daoud is leading the Jordanian bid. Their family was originally from Palestine and bore both mental and physical scars from their losses since 1948. I enjoyed this view of a fragmented Palestinian family, mostly living away from their home country, but constantly drawn back there to an old olive farm and elderly relatives.

My first Kindle book and a good read. A thrilleresque style with local flavour. Recommended.… (plus d'informations)