Publisher: Enthrill Entertainment, Inc, 2010
391p
Halima, a destitute eleven-year-old Afghan girl, dreams she changes the world.
How can one child make a difference?
And what possible connection could she have to ....
- the Wall Street business world ?
- a soldier and a reporter seeking answers ?
- U2, the world's most popular rock band ?
The story begins in Kandahar, Afghanistan where Halima lives in poverty with her father and sisters in a shattered building. I immediately felt that very important emotional connection to this young girl and as she tells her father of her dream ".........talking about me. Saying I changed the world." I wanted something wonderful to lie ahead in her future.
Initially I wasn't happy about being dragged away to the far less interesting world of high finance and wheeling and dealing in New York. I had some concerns that the constant moving between subplots wouldn't work for me and would slow the pace but in fact it had the opposite effect. It works because the chapters are short and snappy building the pace and suspense, and the further into the book I progressed the more reluctant I was to put it down.........until a climax that I was totally unprepared for left me sitting stunned.
One Child is exciting and compulsive reading but it's more than just another thriller. The plight of Afghanistan and the controversy over the war is there before our eyes every day and Jeff Buick takes the reader a little closer by showing, through his diverse characters , different perceptions and motivations that exist.
Many thanks to Jeff Buick - I was thrilled to be offered a chance to review One Child and I enjoyed it immensely.
Visit the author's website here
One Child is available for purchase as a trade paperback or in ebook format from August 25.
In the month prior Jeff Buick and his company Enthrill introduced a multi-media experiment where readers get a new chapter each day online, along with news reports and videos that blur fact and fiction. I did read the first two chapters that way but I do prefer reading a 'real' book plus once I had the book in my hands I wasn't prepared to wait to read more. Find out more at http://www.onechildonline.com/
I'm glad the book picked up! I love thrillers, and this sounds like a really good one. Excellent review! I shall keep my eyes out...
ReplyDeleteSuspense thriller, not my area, but a friend loves books like these. I always give her a list of books, lol
ReplyDeleteI got an email about this one, and wasn't sure it'd be my thing, but it sounds like an interesting read!
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like a good book. Your thoughts on how the book changes between the subplots is good to know, and I am glad that it worked for you.
ReplyDeleteSuspense thriller type books are not my thing, but I am finding out that breaking outside of my "safe" scope is a good thing. I am going to put this one on my list, and I am going to check out the link you provided at the end of this post.
Side note: I have not been too terribly interested in stories based around Afghanistan, but my oldest daughter's summer reading was My Forbidden Face. I have read the first chapter and am pleasantly surprised by how much that chapter has captivated me. I am going to finish the book. Anyhow, this another reason why One Child sounds appealing to me.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1401359256/ref=oss_product
Deanna - we had a son in Afghanistan last year helping villagers rebuild so that sparked my interest in reading books set in that country and was one of the reasons I accepted the offer to review One Child.
ReplyDeleteI'll have to check out My Forbidden Face - haven't heard of that one.
If you don't like thrillers then you probably won't enjoy it.