Review by GathuaM -- Escape by Belle Ami
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GathuaM
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Review by GathuaM -- Escape by Belle Ami
[Following is a volunteer review of "Escape" by Belle Ami.]
3 out of 4 stars
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Escape by Belle Ami is a romance/thriller novel that combines the thrilling and adventurous spy life with that of a love affair between an American and a Mossad spy. The author carefully outlines how humans can do anything to save their loved ones and gives the reader the opportunity to delve into the life of spies and moles in various government agencies.
Layla an American student at Harvard, decides to spend her winter holidays in Dubai, at the invite of her Saudi-born boyfriend,Zamir, who intends on introducing her to his parents. What seems as an innocent trip full of promise for the two lovebirds, turns sour when they are both kidnapped and taken to Iran. On learning of their kidnap, Layla's father enlists the help of the Israeli Prime minister who is ready and willing to help. Layla's father uses his scientific inventions as a bargaining chip. This works to his advantage as the Israeli government activates their best intelligence spy to rescue her and bring her safely out of Iran into Israel. The book then follows the adventurous and romantic events that occur as Cyrus-the Israeli spy in Iran-and Layla. Cyrus and Layla are forced to trust each other as they have to work together to survive without being traced by Jalal, Cyrus' mentor, who has sworn to seek revenge on Cyrus for betraying him. Throughout these terrifying moments, the two are faced with the danger of falling in love with each other without it being another case of Stockholm syndrome.
Escape is an exciting novel that keeps the reader intrigued on what will happen next. The plot flows seamlessly without any distractions such as major grammatical errors. The author is able to reveal the characters inner thoughts which keeps the reader deeply engrossed in the novel. the characters are introduced slowly, one at a time, which enables the reader to fully follow as though it were film. The events were well detailed enabling me to visualize the cities and even Envin prison. The love scenes were very intriguing and would be fun for readers who enjoy romantic thrills.
The book however displays a picture of how women in Islamic states are forced to be submissive and dependent on their male counterparts. This was well portrayed by Zamir's mother, who hinted that Layla's passion to get her doctorate degree went against societal norms. In her view the woman's role is to be supportive of her husband's vision while playing her role in the kitchen. This view is not held by Islam as a religion but by many cultures around the world who practice various religions. As a reader, I was able to note that the author brought out the conflict that exists between Israel(mostly Jews) and Iran(mostly Muslims). In my view an author has a role to play in ensuring that humans are able to co-exist with one another regardless of their religious beliefs. Escape offers the reader a view that Muslims who participate in killing non-Muslims are rewarded by God by being given 72 virgins once they die. This is entirely wrong as the Holy Quran clearly states that Muslims are obligated to live peacefully with other people and be kind to all, especially to non Muslims as this will earn them good deeds. We are living in a period of time where people rely on written print to base their conclusions and judgements on issues they are not willing to fully research and find the truth. Hence we should be careful as authors/reviewers not to incite or instigate false things about a religion without first uncovering the truth.
I rate Escape 3 out of 4 stars. The book is well edited and gives the reader an opportunity to visualize what goes on when two people from different backgrounds can find peace through love. I did not come across any grammatical errors or distractions that pulled my attention away from the plot. The author however fell short when she wrote false things about Islam. In my view an author should ensure that their views or views propagated by other media houses such as television news, newspapers and radio stations do not appear in their work without them having actual facts about it. This is because the readers are from various religious backgrounds hence it can work as a tool of hate towards the faith written about falsely. In societies where the cultural beliefs are upheld more than the religious beliefs it becomes impossible to see the goodness in a religion especially if the reader does not have sufficient knowledge on the matter which can help in knowing whats true and what is false.
I would recommend the book to readers who enjoy romance novels with a slight twist of thrilling adventures. Escape being a work of fiction I would strongly advise readers against taking the negative views on Islam as being true and realize that most of what is portrayed is a culture that does not realize the benefit of having educated women in the society.
******
Escape
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3 out of 4 stars
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Escape by Belle Ami is a romance/thriller novel that combines the thrilling and adventurous spy life with that of a love affair between an American and a Mossad spy. The author carefully outlines how humans can do anything to save their loved ones and gives the reader the opportunity to delve into the life of spies and moles in various government agencies.
Layla an American student at Harvard, decides to spend her winter holidays in Dubai, at the invite of her Saudi-born boyfriend,Zamir, who intends on introducing her to his parents. What seems as an innocent trip full of promise for the two lovebirds, turns sour when they are both kidnapped and taken to Iran. On learning of their kidnap, Layla's father enlists the help of the Israeli Prime minister who is ready and willing to help. Layla's father uses his scientific inventions as a bargaining chip. This works to his advantage as the Israeli government activates their best intelligence spy to rescue her and bring her safely out of Iran into Israel. The book then follows the adventurous and romantic events that occur as Cyrus-the Israeli spy in Iran-and Layla. Cyrus and Layla are forced to trust each other as they have to work together to survive without being traced by Jalal, Cyrus' mentor, who has sworn to seek revenge on Cyrus for betraying him. Throughout these terrifying moments, the two are faced with the danger of falling in love with each other without it being another case of Stockholm syndrome.
Escape is an exciting novel that keeps the reader intrigued on what will happen next. The plot flows seamlessly without any distractions such as major grammatical errors. The author is able to reveal the characters inner thoughts which keeps the reader deeply engrossed in the novel. the characters are introduced slowly, one at a time, which enables the reader to fully follow as though it were film. The events were well detailed enabling me to visualize the cities and even Envin prison. The love scenes were very intriguing and would be fun for readers who enjoy romantic thrills.
The book however displays a picture of how women in Islamic states are forced to be submissive and dependent on their male counterparts. This was well portrayed by Zamir's mother, who hinted that Layla's passion to get her doctorate degree went against societal norms. In her view the woman's role is to be supportive of her husband's vision while playing her role in the kitchen. This view is not held by Islam as a religion but by many cultures around the world who practice various religions. As a reader, I was able to note that the author brought out the conflict that exists between Israel(mostly Jews) and Iran(mostly Muslims). In my view an author has a role to play in ensuring that humans are able to co-exist with one another regardless of their religious beliefs. Escape offers the reader a view that Muslims who participate in killing non-Muslims are rewarded by God by being given 72 virgins once they die. This is entirely wrong as the Holy Quran clearly states that Muslims are obligated to live peacefully with other people and be kind to all, especially to non Muslims as this will earn them good deeds. We are living in a period of time where people rely on written print to base their conclusions and judgements on issues they are not willing to fully research and find the truth. Hence we should be careful as authors/reviewers not to incite or instigate false things about a religion without first uncovering the truth.
I rate Escape 3 out of 4 stars. The book is well edited and gives the reader an opportunity to visualize what goes on when two people from different backgrounds can find peace through love. I did not come across any grammatical errors or distractions that pulled my attention away from the plot. The author however fell short when she wrote false things about Islam. In my view an author should ensure that their views or views propagated by other media houses such as television news, newspapers and radio stations do not appear in their work without them having actual facts about it. This is because the readers are from various religious backgrounds hence it can work as a tool of hate towards the faith written about falsely. In societies where the cultural beliefs are upheld more than the religious beliefs it becomes impossible to see the goodness in a religion especially if the reader does not have sufficient knowledge on the matter which can help in knowing whats true and what is false.
I would recommend the book to readers who enjoy romance novels with a slight twist of thrilling adventures. Escape being a work of fiction I would strongly advise readers against taking the negative views on Islam as being true and realize that most of what is portrayed is a culture that does not realize the benefit of having educated women in the society.
******
Escape
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on Smashwords
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