4 out of 4 stars
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The Attuned by Gary B Haley is a sequel. The book revolves around two important characters whose separate stories are similar in theme. Chip Granberry has the ability to foretell future short-term events. He realises that he could make a life out of gambling .In his escapades he meets the love of his life .Shortly ,his romantic life comes down crashing when one day his girlfriend suddenly disappears. It is at this critical point that he is forced to re-evaluate his life. Qian has the ability to cause bodily harm merely by focusing his eyes on a target. He suddenly finds himself on the most wanted list by the FBI and the government of Iran for mass murder. As the drama unfolds Qian’s girlfriend who happens to be a special agent with the FBI finds herself in a tricky predicament. Should she just honestly conduct the investigation and bring in her boyfriend as a criminal or use her privileged position to derail the investigation in order to facilitate Qian’s escape?
This story is so engaging .Several mysteries are dealt with as new ones emerge. For instance, Shannon (Chip’s girlfriend who suddenly disappears) is a mysterious character whose actions and background is left unexplained. I hope there will be a sequel to unravel this particular mystery. Danger is an ever-present element in this book .The author recounts the difficulties and the near fatal encounters he had with the brutal and corrupt officials as he traversed the former soviet territory.
The story has well developed characters .The author gave the readers the opportunity to decide for themselves the key moral issues in the story. One of the most important matters is weather one who happens to have a supernatural gift like Chip Granberry in gambling amounts to cheating. At some point, Chip’s secret gift was becoming conspicuous to an observant security detail and he narrowly escaped seizure by the authorities. At this point, the character appears to have a similar talent of avoiding trouble to that of a movie character in Next by Nicolas Cage.
If one is a fan of adventure then this read definitely has plenty in store. The unique character of Chip Granberry is abundantly adventurous, aimlessly travelling across the country and enjoying himself while spontaneously indulging in his gambling passion. The other intriguing fact about this book is that the reader can choose their hero as there appears to be about three characters that shine throughout the story.
The writer brings to surface; vital philosophic questions within the story and the reader will find fascinating opinions held by certain characters. Among the questions is, whether it is morally right to kill if it is a collective good, in self-defence and in view of perceived material benefit. It is also interesting to know that at some point the two gifted characters met driven by circumstance to combine their abilities. In the nature of the supernatural abilities of the two characters, lies the significance of the book title ‘The Attuned.’
What I enjoyed most in this book is the development of some strong characters such as Nurmuhammet Mammetgeldiyev .This character portrayed outstanding loyalty to a friend while risking his life. He illustrated an objective and clear perception, untainted by the exacting political ideologies of his nation. Although the book is a sequel, I found the story easy to understand .A few characters like Shannon of cause remain a mystery but this also did not detract from my enjoyment. The book bears evidence of thorough editing and I did not notice a single error. I rate this book 4 out of 4 scores and would recommend it to readers who love action packed mysteries.
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The Attuned
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