Brethren by Robyn Young

Truth to be told, I was a bit skeptical when I picked this book up amongst the rack displaying all other established authors. Even the opening acknowledgement from the author is quite humbling in the sense that she thanked the reader before anyone else.

So, I decided to flip to the first few pages and immediately I was hooked to it. It was an abrupt but firm decision. I knew I had to have this book home with me ASAP.

As shown in the cover, this book is about the Knights of the Templar in the eve of the Last Crusade in which Western powers have secured their respective bastions in the Holy Land.

The novel is written from 2 fronts. Will Campbell from the Templar and Amir Baybars from Mamluk's side. Both written on equal footings and also on their trials and tribulations to achieve their goals.

Will trying to become a Templar Knight while trying to secure the code of Anima Templi which will bring down the Templar institution if fell to wrong hands.

On Baybars' side, he had to overpower the inept administration and also bring together his people to drive the European invaders out from the Holy Land.

This is supposed to be a trilogy but each novel can stand quite well on its own without much linkage to the former or latter novels.

Next novel is entitled "Crusade" followed by "Requiem".

Personal rating: 8 out of 10 (really well written for a new author)

Cons:

1) None that I could think of.

Pros:

1) Really good descriptions of the fragile situations during the Holy War

2) Linkage between the two opposing parties and also their in-fighting are strong and story is very well developed.

The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown

Today (dated 11 Aug 2009) at exactly 2115hrs, i booked the latest and most anticipated book launch from Random House at MPH Gurney. The book i ordered will be UK hardcover version and i can claim the book from 14 Sept 2009 onwards.

The book I'm talking about is none other than THE LOST SYMBOL by DAN BROWN... i know i haven't commented anything about Dan Brown but frankly speaking, i would put the reviews on-hold for the time being because 2 of his books have been adapted into silver screen (not exact adaptation though :-P) and there is no point commenting about something which many of us have seen countless times.

But i would try to find time to remove the sealed plastic bags (i sealed my books after i read them), scan the cover and review on the little known books by Dan Brown entitled:

1) Digital Fortress

2) Deception Point

Anyway, those are all side liners. The main things are:

1) I will get The Lost Symbol on time

2) I will read it day and night; I'll read it during break time at work; heck, I'll even read it in toilet.. hahaha... and i will review it on the dot.

Projected timeline between picking up the book and final book review would be 3days tops cos i still have to wake up in the morning to go to work :-)

A retro song pops into my head at 0145hrs (12 Aug 2009) as i penned down this article...

**I'm so excited.. i just can't hide it... i know i know i know.. but i think i like it...**

P/S: By the way, i bought the beige coloured cover as i like the key instead of the wax emblem

Next by Michael Crichton

Can man play God? Can we create beings? The outline of this novel touches on a very big perspective from moral standings up until scientific grounds.

That said; it is not an easy book to write and to read as it involves plots and counter plots along the way. Scientific jargon are minimised but not eliminated. Readers are plunged headlong into the twist and turns of genetic mishmash and law overtures akin to roller coaster ride.

As mentioned earlier, scope of this novel has far reaching consequences. It had us thinking about the need to patent genomes and genetic structures allegedly "discovered" by scientists.

It had us thinking on the moral superiority to create and destroy live scientific experiments bigger than lab rats. It had us thinking of the overall conscience of our role as human being in this very planet.

In fact, the gist of this book is to let us think about future consequences if we were to turn a blind eye on controversial experiments, on patenting of genes, on establishment of law and red tapes which will promote or hinder our scientific knowledge if improperly used and so on.

This is a readable and really fast paced book but more interesting read would be the prologue and post-notes. It had me go online few times to conduct searches on my own regarding validity of certain stories.

Personal rating: 7 out of 10 (fast paced book written by an established writer)

Cons:

1) Unavoidable jargon spattered along the novel (which is fine actually)

2) Scope of the novel is big and too general.

Pros:

1) Book which will get you thinking long after you've finished it

2) Informative post articles

Kiss the Girls by James Patterson

For a start, this book was published in 1995 and adapted into silver screen by 1997. I was really young during that time; hence I didn't get to read the book when it was launched :-P

My friend passed me this book which she received from someone else; hence the bad condition of the book :-

I've never seen the movie but I hope the adaptation would be as close as possible to the book because truth to be told, James Patterson did a very good job in criminal profiling. Descriptions of the criminals and their (notice the usage of plural term here) modus operandi are detailed and exhaustive from victim selection up till the hideout descriptions.

In this book, we're brought face-to-face with 2 competing psychopaths trying to establish their gruesome reputation with terrible after-effects. As reader, we're transformed into an unwilling accomplice as descriptions of crimes are told from the murderer's point of view; which is a rather refreshing turn for criminal novels.

As veteran book writer, James smartly spaced all the actions with sufficient breather in between. I can't seem to put the book down unless I've finished one whole chapter irrespective of the time and location; which explains the outright appeal of the book.

Ending part is too fast for my liking and the closure is equally abrupt. However, I can't pinpoint any flaw on such abrupt closure as long winded ones will spoil the overall flow of the storyline.

Personal rating: 7 out of 10 (veteran writer; no other comments necessary :-))

Cons:
1) Closure of the novel is too fast and abrupt for my liking

Pros:
1) Sufficient breather in between all the actions
2) Criminal profiling and very intense point-of-view descriptions on victim selection