Ring for Jeeves by P G Wodehouse

Jeeves- Wodehouse's most famous character . Wikipedia tells the following about Jeeves ".....The essential concept that drives the Jeeves stories is that the brilliant valet is firmly in control of his rich and foppish young employer's life. Much of the comic effect derives from the fact that the clueless Bertie Wooster, who narrates most of the stories, is for the most part blissfully unaware of how he is being manipulated. When Bertie gets into one of his scrapes, leading to an unwanted social obligation, legal trouble, or marriage engagement, Jeeves invariably comes up with a subtle plan to save the day, often without Bertie's knowledge." Jeeves has inspired many famous similar characters and even an Internet Search Engine.

In this novel Jeeves is not with Bertie Wooster. Bertie is attending a school for idle rich and in the meantime Jeeves is serving William Belfry, the Earl of Rowcester Abbey.Bill is in a poor fortune after the war and is working as a bookie in disguise. It is at this time, his sister and brother-in-law visit the abbey. They have a good news - Mrs Spottsworth, a wealthy widow , is considering buying the abbey and if the deal comes off, it will solve all the monetary problems of Bill. When Mrs. Spottsworth arrives , she turns out to be an old sweetheart of Bill, much to the annoyance of Jill, Bill's fiancee. Bill has to ignore Jill and play sweet to his beautiful guest and he is still more thrown when Captain Biggar, an old friend of Mrs. Spottsworth arrives and is invited to stay. Captain Biggar is in pursuit of a dishonest bookie who is none other than Bill itself. Now William Belfry has to save himself from Captain Biggar by somehow repaying his money, convince Mrs. Spottsworth to buy the abbey and at the same time, save his engagement. It is time to ring for Jeeves..........

A hilarious novel from Wodehouse. 4 out of 5.

Big Four by Agatha Christie.

I should state at the very beginning that this is one of the worst Poirot mysteries from Christie.

Poirot is up against "Big Four" comprising of a China man, an American millionaire, a french scientist and a mysterious "destroyer". The Big Four is set upon capturing the power of the entire world and Poirot ,equipped with his order, method and little grey cells are figting agaist them. This is not a single mystery but rather a thriller with a series of mysteries which are solved by Poirot, accompanied by Captain Hastings. Inspector Japp also makes appearance in the story.

Certainly lacks the Christie magic but still makes a decent read if your expectations are not set high. 2.5 out of 5.

False Impression by Jeffrey Archer

If you have read Archer before you know what to expect from a Jeffrey Archer Novel. This book offers nothing more than that.

We have a female protagonist this time (Did we hear Sheldon screaming "copycat"?) and a female killer. Dr. Anna Petrescu, an expert in art history, is trying to save Mrs. Victoria Wentworth, one of the clients of the bank she is working for, from bankruptcy by selling her Van Gogh painting. But her Boss, Mr. Fenston, doesn't want this to happen. Anna goes on with her mission even after she is fired and Victoria is murdered. As she is globe trotting to accomplish her mission, she is followed by an FBI Agent and a killer. The question is who will get her first? The story moves from New York to London to Bucharest to Tokyo and ultimately good wins over evil.

9/11 just acts as a backdrop and has nothing to do with the story even if it is mentioned predominantly on the back cover. The book has all the ingredients of a typical thriller viz. adventure, revenge, double crossing, romance and an unbelievably smart lady with good looks and a great figure. The bonus will be some art history with mentions of Van Gogh, Monet , Manet and other paintings.

A typical thriller. 3 out of 5.

Amen: The autobiography of a nun By Sister Jesme

Everybody loves controversy. This fact is proved by the popularity of this book. First published in malayalam, this best seller was later translated to English and published by Penguin Books.

When an ex-nun, who has left convent after 33 years, decides to write about her life inside the convent; publicity and controversy is expected to follow. The church calls her mentally unstable, Women's commission vows to protect her, authorities want to improve the life of thousands of nuns inside the convent....Finally it is time to accept that real mortal people occupy the majority of convents, matts etc. It is time to accept the imperfections rather than cover them up. But how long this will last? How long Sister Jesme can stay alive in public memory which has the notorious reputation of being short?

The book can be read only for the controversy aspect. Apart from that the style of writing is not remarkable at all.

A brave attempt. 3 out of 5.