OnlineBookClub.org

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "King Pawn" by Raj Nellooli.]

King Pawn by Raj Nelloli is set in and around Syria. Robert Frost is a mercenary. He has an American professor for a father and a Syrian for a mother. His mother had to flee Hama in 1982 after an uprising. Robert Frost dropped out of college and was unfairly dismissed from the US Army. His wife left him taking his daughters with her. However, his skills as a mercenary are known.

Frost, who is going by Iftikar, is on another mission when he comes across Farhan. Frost is amazed and concerned that Farhan knows as much about him and his past as he does. Farhan wants to hire Frost to help destabilize the regime in Syria. He decides to take on the mission, partly because of what happened to his mother, partly to help win back his wife and daughters, and in doing so Frost, yet again, takes on a new identity.

Louai, as he is now known by, goes through Syria hitting Damascus, Palmyra, Aleppo, the island of Arwad and even the one and only Russian naval base in the Middle East, Tartus. Along his route he creates mayhem and chaos in the attempt to carry out his mission of toppling the Syrian regime. Along the way he meets different people who are part of the resistance and the Free Army and are fighting for democracy. He uses them to complete his mission, lying to them when he needs to. Louai has to constantly be on the move as there are numerous people looking for him.

As in all things there are at least two sides to this story. There is the regime who is trying to keep control and there is the resistance and Free Army that are fighting for reasons only known to them, whether it is democracy or something else. There are also the people and citizens that believe there are no problems and don’t want things to change. Unfortunately, for some of those that believe they are friends with the regime and believe that everything is fine run into the fact that they have information the regime want. The brutality that the regime uses to extract information from people and their families may just change their way of thinking and who they support.

I give this book 3 out of 4 stars. It was a riveting book and had you wanting to know more. The hardest part for me was the fact that every few chapters it would go to another character’s perspective. While this was informative and gave different viewpoints, it could get confusing. Some of these characters did end up meeting and it explained why they were introduced, while others did not. It shows the complexity of war and how everyone is expendable, right down to children, showing we are all pawns. It is heart breaking at times and makes you wonder whether you are rooting for the right people to win out.

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King Pawn
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Like ksls2011's review? Post a comment saying so!

I think I know what you mean about 'every few chapters it would go to another character’s perspective' being confusing. Still, the book sounds interesting.

Nice review. You made the book sound quite engaging. Well done!

Thank you for the review. The book certainly sounds like an interesting.

(By the way, is the different POVs of the characters anything like in The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks? That's the only, or one of the very few books I've read, in which there are different points of view. I didn't feel confused while reading The Lucky One, but would have preferred if the entire story was narrated by just one person. I guess the author wants to convey each character's thoughts and opinions to the reader.)

Nice review! I think switching points of view in a book can be tricky. Some authors do it better than others.

Sounds like a tough read, emotionally. The book does sound fascinating though.