The Prodigal Daughter - Jeffrey Archer

The fact that Jeffrey Archer is an amusing story-teller is not news. 

Even if you have no idea what his book is about, you can be assured that it will be good, simply because the author is Archer. 

This particular book, The Prodigal Daughter is a sequel of 'Kane and Abel' (which i have personally never read, but am planning to get to as soon as i'm done with the rest of my bookshelf). 

But fret not, it is nothing like watching those Hollywood movies where you'll be lost should you decide to watch a movie's sequel without first watching the prequel (am i making any sense here?).

The book basically revolves around Florentyna Rosnovski, a child genius who grows up to be a rather spectacular woman (have you ever heard of a child genius who goes to waste?).

I've never really been a big fan of politics, so it amazes me a little when little Florentyna showed a huge interest in it from a really really young age. She delves into it and gives the readers little politics 'fun facts', that, surprisingly, did not put me to sleep. 

The book revolves around her struggle to be the first woman who becomes President of United States of America. The struggle becomes harder considering that her father is a Polish immigrant and as you already know, it is never easy for an immigrant to make it big.

A disclaimer : It wouldn't be unfair if i were to categorize the book under 'girl power' because that's the feeling that i got when i was reading it. It gives out a vibe of woman empowerment and the things that you can do when you really put your mind to it. 

At 464 pages, the book seemed even lengthier than it actually was. But in a good kind of way, i should say. 

I have to warn you though, it doesnt really have a prominent climax and the rise and fall of plots are not so clear as well. I would even consider calling it 'mellow'. But even though i do not really like books with a mellow plot, it does make it sort of a nice change, being able to wallow in a serious story without giving yourself goosebumps.

It's a light read, perfect for a long flight or for lounging about at the beach. It has the strength of a good thriller, yet it is as breezy as reading a chic-lit. 

I understand that this being a review, i should probably include some kind of synopsis. But i'm afraid that if i were to start writing, i wouldn't know where to stop. and being a person who hates knowing the end of the story, i wouldn't want to inflict my 'party pooper' behaviour on any of you guys. 

We should just keep you guessing, shouldn't we? *winks*

High Society - Ben Elton

Just like the rest of Elton's work, High Society is both ingenious and provocative.

But for some reason, he toned down on the sarcasm in this piece of work. He made up for it with thought-provoking questions though, and that, for me, is more than enough.

High Society talks about drug problems, but the manner in which the issue was pursued is atypical.

A Member of the Parliament, Peter Paget was one of the only few people in London who were not in denial of the ever-worsening drug abuse by the society as well as all the crime induced by the evil substance.

His solution to all this? Legalize all drugs. Not just decriminalizing dope but making everything from ecstasy to heroin completely legal and can be bought over the counter at pharmacies and drug store.

His logic was that people are gonna use and abuse drug anyway. And since the drug habit was already impossible to curb, why continue giving power to the underground druglords?

Billions of tax money can be given back to the government if only the legalization came through. And besides, drug based crimes will be banished for once and for all. Who needs to break into people's homes to get the money to buy overpriced drugs from their dealers when they can pay for it at a cheaper price in the stores?

It's a good read, really it is.

I'm not entirely happy with the ending because i was hoping for the ending that it would be happy and predictable. But no such luck! Well, with Elton, you dont get that kind of luxury! Haha.

It's like his purpose in life is to leave people with something to think, making the book sort of never-ending (well, until you finally move on to think about something else, that is)

All in all, i say it's a pretty awesome read. Try it! :)