The Cry of the Halidon - Robert Ludlum

Summary & REVIEW of The Cry of the Halidon by Robert Ludlum

Category: Books
Genre: Mystery & Thrillers
Author: Robert Ludlum

It takes you to a jungle in Jamaica.

Halidon is a “rich” group that lives deep inside the jungle. It is a “hush-hush” group, known only to a few people. They can also be deadly if you inquire or research about anything that could expose them.

They have a nice culture.

“From childhood the Halidonite was told he was privileged and must justify his birthright by his life’s actions. The ethic of contribution we imbued in him early in his education; the need to use his potential to the fullest. The outside world was shown in all it’s detail - it’s simplicities, it’s complications; it’s peace and it’s violence; it’s good and it’s evil. Nothing was concelead; exaggeration was not left to young imaginations. Realistic temptation was balanced - perhaps a bit strongly with realistic punishment” - Daniel

Entertaining and thrilling. So… Robert Ludlum-ish.

Spy Game 2001

Summary & REVIEW of Spy Game

Category: Movies
Genre: Suspense & International Spies
Stars: Brad Pitt, Robert Redford
Tagline: It’s not how you play the game. It’s how the game plays you.

This one is actually a good movie. You would like how it ended. It’s about mentoring. More like father and son also.

SOoo nice. Pretty boring on some cases… but all in all it’s really a nice movie.

The Magic Bullet - Harry Stein

Summary & REVIEW of the Magic Bullet by Harry Stein

Category: Books
Genre: Medical Fiction
Author: Harry Stein

One critic said if John Grisham is a master when it comes to lawsuits and the like so would be Harry Stein in the medical world.

Quite entertaining. It tells about Daniel Logan finding a “cure” for cancer. It’s called Compound J. He is a well-known doctor who quit his job at a hospital to work for ACF (American Cancer Foundation).

He was a newbie back then… and his main goal was to help find a cure for cancer. But, in almost American establishment… the politics in the institute would never be missing. You had to kiss-ass with the higher guys to be promoted. And when you are in your first year… you have to look for a higher-ranking individual as your ally.

Politically inclined + Medical Thrill that involves the White House’s First Lady getting cancer and in the end being treated by Daniel Logan.

Fire - Sebastian Junger

Overview & Review of Fire by Sebastian Junger

Category: Books

Genre: Non-Fiction

Author: Sebastian Junger

I thought it was just some fictitious book(it's not)... and the first part of his story (little did I know, there were different stories in that book) was pretty boring. It was all about Fire! Oh my gooseneck. Jumpers, fumes, forest fires... etc. etc.

Yeah, yeah the title was pretty much related.. I know.. it's Fire.. and literally about fire. -_-

I was expecting some kinda "story" in it... but the first part droned on and on about forest fires. How a couple of fire fighters were killed in a forest fire... and investigation says that it was all sudden.. blah blah. So, I stopped reading the book for a few days.

But then, since I bought it... and it's not good to judge a book when you have not finished it from cover to cover.. I decided to continue reading it.

The next part was about whales. I thought it was part of the first story... and I was confused at first because from fire to whales? -_- Confusing, really.

Finally, as I was reading the book... the characters, the events that took place was real. (di kasi ako nag research about the book.)

From whales to the war in Serbia.... to the conflict diamonds in Sierra Leone. (I even read the book.. with a map.. para ma-imagine ko talaga.. hehe.) From the diamonds to the logical warfare in Afghanistan.

I learned a lot. Really.

I learned diamonds are not exactly rare and should not be THAT expensive. The supply for the diamond was just controlled by some people.. and in that.. they increased it's price.

When the diamonds was discovered in Sierra Leone,and the whites heard about it.. they spread rumors to those "ignorant people" in Sierra Leone. In that rumor, they told the people in Sierra Leone that those stones are electric and they should not touch it, they should wait until a white man comes. *Wah, so mean!* Was that even right? *sigh*

I liked the story about the Afghan leader Ahmad Shah Massoud. He was never "power-hungry". He just wanted to serve his people and lead them away from all those people who wanted to wage war against them. Like the Soviets and the Taliban.

"A few years ago in Kabul, I thought the war was finished, and I started building a home in Panjshir. A room for my children, a room for me and my wife, and a big library for all my books. I've kept all the books. I've put them in boxes, hoping one day I'll be able to put them on the shelves and I'll be able to read them. But the house is still unfinished, and the books are still in their boxes. I don't know when I'll be able to read my books." - Massoud

Though he holds the post of vice-president in Rabanni's deposed governmenet, Massoud is a man with a few aspirations as a political leader, no apparent desire for power. Over and over he has rejected appeals from his friends and allies to take a more active role in the politics of his country. The Koran says that war is such a catastrophe it must be brought to an end as quickly as possible and by any means necessary. That, perhaps is why Massoud has devoted himself exclusively to waging war. - Sebastian Junger

Massoud's strategy has been studied by many soldiers in the Soviet. Massoud outwitted them for years.

One part, I found funny there was...about General Ratko Mladic the Serb's chief of staff who was indicted with genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity by South African Judge Richard Goldstone. He was never caught. But they heard that Mladic spent his days on a Bosnian Serb military base, tending beehives and a herd of goats. Each goat has been named after a Western leader or UN commander.

Pretty funny. Hehe. -_-

Follow the Stars Home - Luanne Rice

Summary & REVIEW of Follow the Stars Home by Luanne Rice

Category: Books
Genre: Drama & Inspirational
Author: Luanne Rice

This is my first time to read a Luanne Rice novel. It’s a feel-good inspirational book. About mothers, lovers, daughters, and family. Pretty good. Super. I’m hunting for more Luanne Rice books right now. Haha

It tickles your heart. It made me cry at the last part. *sigh* It was just sooo good. It makes you appreciate life more…. and tells you that love is not conditional. It tells you about “kindered spirits”. Sooo soo nice.

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• Safe Harbor
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The Loop - Nicholas Evans

Summary & REVIEW of The Loop by Nicholas Evans

Category: Books
Genre: Outdoors & Nature
Author: Nicholas Evans

This book is about wolves. I like the way he ended the story… although I cried for the sad life that Mr. Buck Calder ended up with. He seemed so sad losing his family and all that.

You would learn how to appreciate animals, specially the wolves even more. That they are still living creatures and we should not slay them for killing the livestocks.

Here you would know that everyone is connected to each other in a loop.

“Where once there had been life, now was death. And out of death, thus, was life sustained. And in that bloody compact, both the living and the dead were joined in a loop as ancient and immutable as the moon that arced above them.”

I like this funny conversation:

Clyde: I was talking to that outfitter fella, Pete Neuberg, you know? Says it’s been one of the worst hunting seasons in years. Elk and deer numbers are way down he says. He blames the wolves.
Kathy: I hear, they’re to blame for the weather too. *rolling her eyes*
Charlie: How can wolves be blamed for the weather?
Lucy: It was a joke, dumbo. *giving Charlie a shove*
Buck: What do you think Helen?
Helen: About them being to blame for the weather?

Eleanor: At least theyre not eating cattle anymore.
Doug: They never ate mine.
Luke: Maybe yours dont taste good.

I liked the part when Helen and Celia were talking and arguing while swimming clutching their wineglasses.

This is a must read and a great book.

“All that matter is NOW…. and you just need to BE”

War Day - Whitney Strieber and James Kunetka

Summary & REVIEW of War Day by Whitney Strieber and James Kunetka

Category: Books
Genre: Literature & Fiction
Author: Whitley Strieber and James Kunetka

It’s a narrative. It wasn’t a bore, nor was it that exciting. The story was quite interesting.

War Day is a fictional story about USA after being bombed by a nuclear three times by Russia. It tells about the fallout, the aftershocks, what happened to the people in the different states of the USA. It’s about as to who governed the US, when Washington was literally destroyed and is only ashes and dust like San Antonio.

Different groups of people began to emerge. People who believed they do not need a government or a structure, and thus they are called Destructuralist. I like the group’s mission and their outlook in life. I shall be quoting them. They are called the Angels and are outlaws during that time, because they discourage government.

“Social structures are the breeding ground of ideology, greed and territorialism. Agricultural communities are peaceful communities, and families bound together by need and love do not go to war.No matter how benign a given structure seems it inevitably lead to the same consequences, all social structures lead to namely, war and death. Real social harmony comes from the human heart.”

“Government is institutionalized dehumanization. People who deal with paper instead of other people lose the all-important thread of contact from heart-to-heart.”

“In order to survive, mankind needs a whole new being. There is inherent Destructuralism the concept that people can remake their own hearts to include a new valuation of their fellow human beings. By refocusing our energies on our families we can learn never to forget for an instant how it feels to be the other person.For example, the American president and the Russian president could not have done what they did to the rest of us on WarDay, if they have been trained from birth never to forget for an instant that all human beings are partners in life and that everybody is as important as they were to themselves - that the death of the Average Joe was going to be as much a catastrophe for him and his family as the death of a great leader would be to his own precious self and relatives.”

“Only in a truly destructured, rehumanized social milieu can the kind of maturing growth that people need to take place, because only if there are no distancing structures can the individual come to realize , through his identification with his own family, that every life on earth is as precious and valuable as his own.You might argue that destructuralism is old style anarchy all over again, but it isn’t. Destructuralism is based on the caring of mature human souls for one another and for the planetary body too. It is government by putting yourself in the other man’s shoes. The Bible said, “do unto others, as you would have them do unto you.”That is all the government the world needs.Remeber this: If you love life and think that big government is big poison, and you are willing to stand hand in hand with your brothers and sisters on this earth, do not scorn the Angels for you are one.”

-By an Angel.

Nice eh?