Hello my friends!
As you are sometimes aware, I often include books, projects, business’s ventures and stories about some of my readers, friends, and members of my community. Today I am happy to pass on exciting news and a review about one such reader who sometimes appears in my blogs, and in the comments to blogs I have posted.
His name is Azzedine Downes, and he has just published an amazing book called The Couscous Chronicles.
Some of you may recognize Azzedine by his Zulu Delta, and Latin name, as Anno Domini, which I always use as his initials A.D.
Azzedine had been a magnificent supporter of this blog since it’s humble and literary beginnings…….OK, OK……let’s face it; there is nothing humble about this blog and literary maybe stretching it a bit, but, I am proud to know Azzedine and have read his book, so it is my honor to pass along my review. I highly recommend reading this book not for my or Azzedine’s benefit , but for the soothing of you own soul and tickle of your Funny Bone! I will add a few links to where you may purchase this book and learn more.
Enjoy
Zulu Delta
REVIEW
Having just sat down to write a review of Mr. Downes’s magnificent first novel; “The Couscous Chronicles,” I am struggling to find the appropriate words. This is a troubling development for someone like myself who considers himself a writer as well. It’s not that I don’t have any “words or thoughts” to convey, it’s just that I hope my review will be as clever, brilliant, and thought provoking as Azzedine’s new book.
“You” might think that as a writer, I could come up with something better than ” You have to read this book because it’s so much like “blah, blah, blah,” that we have read before. This somehow, in literary terms, seems disingenuous; lacking in frankness, candor, and sincerity, but in my case, I consider it quite the compliment to recall epic characters, and authors from fiction and non-fiction to help me describe my own reading participation of the The Couscous Chronicles. The crux of my fascination with this book is not just that Azzedine’s writing invokes remembrance of novels, editorials, essays, and journalistic endeavors, but he himself appears in “these” pages as a writer, a travel journalist, a war correspondent, a historian, a Peace Corp Volunteer, a rollicking humorist, a keen observer in an “unobserving world,” and literary what sometimes seems as a jet-setting fictional character, in a non-fictional odyssey where he is indeed the main persona in the story of his own life; as it damn well should be!
I am reminded of John Le Carre’s “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy” as he runs into several of these occupations from deep in the Medina (old city section) of Fez, Morocco, or the Ambassador’s office in Israel, or the basement of the U.S. State Department. Sometimes he encounters these characters, while other times he is hilariously accused of being one of “them.”
I am reminded of Joseph Heller’s, Catch-22, and Miguel de Cervantes, Don Quixote where in this instance, Mr. Downes does not heroically “tilt” at windmills, but the overwhelming moronic government bureaucracy, and the vindictive robots that he often encounters, but manages to write about with such engaging humor that we laugh instead of cry at the senseless cruelty of it all.
I am reminded of the old CBS Television series of video journalist Charles Kuralt and his segments of “On The Road” showing and describing to “us” places of wonder, beauty, and amazement that we may never, ever, get to visit in person, but now feel the world is a tad bit smaller and somehow we have glimpsed a spec of it.
Mr. Downes travels to so many places and shares his stories with with such grace that “one” could mistake his pedigree to that of some “high profile-silver spoon- politically appointed-highbrow elitist (that’s a lot of dashes), but the truth is, Azzedine often journeyed as a barley-paid Peace Corp Volunteer, and a marginally-paid government employee, not to mention a husband, and father of 3 children who at times dot the pages of his book with with love and amusing stories.
This is a wonderful piece of literature filled with fascinating tales and a wonderful ending; despite his humorous recollection of a woman who as an unrequited love interest may, or may not have put a curse on him.
Read and find out!
Zulu Delta 45 
If you enjoy reading fact based espionage thrillers, of which there are only a handful of decent ones, do try reading Bill Fairclough’s Beyond Enkription. It is an enthralling unadulterated fact based autobiographical spy thriller and a super read as long as you don’t expect John le Carré’s delicate diction, sophisticated syntax and placid plots.
What is interesting is that this book is so different to any other espionage thrillers fact or fiction that I have ever read. It is extraordinarily memorable and unsurprisingly apparently mandatory reading in some countries’ intelligence agencies’ induction programs. Why?
Maybe because the book has been heralded by those who should know as “being up there with My Silent War by Kim Philby and No Other Choice by George Blake”; maybe because Bill Fairclough (the author) deviously dissects unusual topics, for example, by using real situations relating to how much agents are kept in the dark by their spy-masters and (surprisingly) vice versa; and/or maybe because he has survived literally dozens of death defying experiences including 20 plus attempted murders.
The action in Beyond Enkription is set in 1974 about a real maverick British accountant who worked in Coopers & Lybrand (now PwC) in London, Nassau, Miami and Port au Prince. Initially in 1974 he unwittingly worked for MI5 and MI6 based in London infiltrating an organised crime gang. Later he worked knowingly for the CIA in the Americas. In subsequent books yet to be published (when employed by Citicorp, Barclays, Reuters and others) he continued to work for several intelligence agencies. Fairclough has been justifiably likened to a posh version of Harry Palmer aka Michael Caine in the films based on Len Deighton’s spy novels.
Beyond Enkription is a must read for espionage cognoscenti. Whatever you do, you must read some of the latest news articles (since August 2021) in TheBurlingtonFiles website before taking the plunge and getting stuck into Beyond Enkription. You’ll soon be immersed in a whole new world which you won’t want to exit. Intriguingly, the articles were released seven or more years after the book was published. TheBurlingtonFiles website itself is well worth a visit and don’t miss the articles about FaireSansDire. The website is a bit like a virtual espionage museum and refreshingly advert free.
Returning to the intense and electrifying thriller Beyond Enkription, it has had mainly five star reviews so don’t be put off by Chapter 1 if you are squeamish. You can always skip through the squeamish bits and just get the gist of what is going on in the first chapter. Mind you, infiltrating international state sponsored people and body part smuggling mobs isn’t a job for the squeamish! Thereafter don’t skip any of the text or you’ll lose the plots. The book is ever increasingly cerebral albeit pacy and action packed. Indeed, the twists and turns in the interwoven plots kept me guessing beyond the epilogue even on my second reading.
The characters were wholesome, well-developed and beguiling to the extent that you’ll probably end up loving those you hated ab initio, particularly Sara Burlington. The attention to detail added extra layers of authenticity to the narrative and above all else you can’t escape the realism. Unlike reading most spy thrillers, you will soon realise it actually happened but don’t trust a soul.
LikeLiked by 1 person
thanks Zulu!!! I really appreciate the review and the support!!
LikeLiked by 1 person