PERFECT STRANGER

Hey there, several hits on my PC keyboard produced this piece. Trying to be imaginative#

Since I was a small kid, I have always had a picture of my dream chick, but this person sitting across from me in a restaurant in town was nowhere near that. But my heart was racing and I didn’t know what to expect…. She went on eating and did not seem to notice me, just to have a better view of her; I shifted to an empty seat at her table so we were directly looking at each other. I kept on stealing glances and before long; she noticed I was looking at her so then I mustered some courage and tried to speak, luckily I managed a halo to her. She stared at me in disbelief and I could read the question on her face, she must have been asking who the hell I was. After a minute’s glare she hallowed back. She introduced herself as Laureen.

All this time no waiter had come to attend to me, you would think they were giving me time to first finish with my “angel” crush. So I signaled one of the waiters passing by and ordered for  fresh juice which was brought on table a couple of minutes later, just to make sure that the lady stayed a little longer for a chat, and also in the spirit of being a gentleman, I asked her if she’d mind a glass of the same. She smiled and shook off her head; the waiter who had not yet left went and returned with another glass of fresh juice.

It was the start of a new semester and so I had decided to take myself out for a treat. I had a fat wallet that day, all thanks to the guys sitting in the 18^th floor of Anniversary Towers. This was not just a hotel, but the posh type where high life people come and waste their money on treats to themselves and their lovers and loved ones. So I had the money then and I also decided to waste it on myself. And now you know why the waiters did not want to attend to me, not that they were giving me time but that they feared I would not afford the meals. And yes they were right, everybody who visited that hotel would go there driving or they would be dropped by taxis. I broke the norm because I went there with my Kshs 250-type sandals, a three-quarter shorts and a T-shirt branded Safaricom.

My dream girl is exactly the opposite of Laureen. She was shining dark, slightly tall but not as tall as me and small boobies. Elizabeth Michael, a.k.a Lulu of Tanzania is a representation of ma type of girl; Laureen was not even on the average ground, but the extreme.

So we went on sitting there, not knowing what to expect, Laureen was a complete stranger. We would both sip the juice from the glass, almost the same time; we would look at each other more than we conversed. At some point I would go blank completely and let silence occupy our immediate atmosphere, I would then lament why I had shifted tables. I regretted even the more for having held her with the juice, maybe she would have gone since she had finished eating. Such awkward moments would only last five minutes at most, all thanks to my brains; I am a fast thinker and would immediately break the silence with a question or a statement that would bring up a new topic of discussion each time. So we talked on different themes, politics, economics, family, and love, with the latter being the mode of our discussions.

Laureen had a beautiful smile and she would smile a lot, interestingly, she would smile shyly - I wonder if she knew what effect her smile had on me, it really got into me and drove me crazy. I was in no hurry to leave, and she didn’t seem to be in a rush either, so we spent some considerably good time together in there.

We seemed to have exhausted everything and anything during our idle chatter, I therefore paid the bill, which was only KShs 500, a lot for a student, yes? I then asked her asked if we could leave, she stood up and picked her shoulder bag, we walked out together. On reaching outside, I was shocked to see the car she had come with, BMW convertible, at the touch of the remote button, she unlocked the doors. I was confused and wanted to go away, I wished I was not there that moment, I felt so down. She noticed it and stepped forward and said, “Hey come with me,” hesitantly I walked with her to her car, entered in and we drove. I was not sure where we were heading to and I feared to ask. We drove silently to the destination which did not take us long to reach. We got out of the car and before we could enter what seemed to be her house, shock was taking the better part of, almost making my mouth form an “O”. We went into the house, right through the verandah to the sitting room and she gestured me to sit down on the couch, she sat down too, turned on a big TV screen  on the wall from where she was seated using a remote, and for the first time, she initiated a conversation. Stupid as it might appear, all through our conversations, nobody had bothered knowing each other beyond our names. So this time, I was hoping that her conversation would take that line, but still, it did not, we just talked about life generally and avoided that direction.

I learned from her during that conversation that she was through school at only 20 years, she had done her first degree and had landed a very well-paying job as a brand manager of CX Ltd and that was how she had managed to buy the house she was living in and the sport car. At around 5pm that same day, she offered to drive me back to school, we had become very good friends in hours and we had really loved each others company, when we arrived at the school’s main gate, she told me to visit again. We bid each other a bye and she drove off back home.

Though out that semester, we kept in touch almost daily, she would call me and check how I was doing. I also paid her several return visits in her home during most of the weekends. During all my visits, we would have fun, and play around her compound and she would never let me spent the night at her place, I am not sure too if I would have wanted to, but I think I wanted, I was drawn to her. She used to drive me back to school in the evening of the same day that I visited.

She was naive, and I was too naive as well, but what naivety can do to two naive people locked together in a house, we know better. One weekend I visited and as usual, we played and had fun, when it reached 5pm, when she would return me to school, I opted for a quick shower because we had jumped a lot that day which had made me sweat. After the shower I walked into her bedroom for some lotion, she was lying in bed waiting for me to finish. When I was done, I sat on her bed and smiled at her, she smiled back, we continued exchanging smiles, getting close to each other without realizing it. The sun was now almost setting and its rays were hitting on the window sending a red reflection which made it all interesting being in there. All this time, I did not want to go, and she did not tell me to go either. What began as simple exchange of innocent smiles turned out into a romantic escapade, and not just that, we played sex.  When we recovered and got back to ourselves, it was around 10pm and she would not take me back to school, I spent the night there. I don’t know if we had both loved the act because none of us talked about it. We just sat and talked the all night. It was then, for the first time since we ever met that we talked about our lineage, I learned that she had been raised in an orphanage. Her mother bore her in her teenage hood and her father refused to accept responsibility of the pregnancy. She therefore did not know her father.

A month later, she missed her monthly period and went for a pregnancy test which tested positive. She did not break the news to me immediately but two months later. She said in a composed way so that it did not shock me, she told me not to worry about it as she would take care of her baby if I was not interested. I have always told myself that I will never let go my baby, my blood. So this would mean I marry this girl. It was painful knowing that she was not my type. I went through a hard time before I came to terms with it. A year later, I decided to take her home, by this time she had already born a baby girl. When we reached home, I introduced her to my parents; she told her story to my parents. All through the narration, only my mum seemed moved. Dad just stared blankly at no one in particular; you would not really tell what exactly his emotions and feelings were. He almost sprang up from his seat when mum asked the name of Laureen’s mother.  At the mention of the name by Laureen, dad shed tears, and amidst sobs, he said something that left us all shocked beyond word…he was the father of Laureen.

So Laureen was my sister???? Oh no, no... Is it why I probably loved her at first sight? Blood is thicker than water

My Story. Part One.

Hi again, a while back my book club members challenged me to write a story, you see am more of a poet than a story teller and writing a story is a bit different for me. I did accept the challenge and here goes my first story part one part two will come some other time, hope you like it... 

Since I was a small girl I have always had a picture of my dream guy but this guy seated cross from me in a restaurant in town was nowhere near that. But my heart was racing and I didn’t know what to expect. One might want to ask “who is my dream guy? “Well, tall, dark (not so dark), and very very handsome. A killer smile and well-built body will be added advantages for him. The guy sitted across me in one of the finest restaurants in town was much more than that.

“You enjoying your food darling?” “Yes I am, it’s really nice and very tasty thanks for the treat and you are the best and I love you so very much.” I said still not believing that God had given me someone so amazing, so sweet and so loving, much more than I had ever asked for or had ever dreamed of. Here we  were in one of the finest restaurants in town ,having a dinner date as we called it, once a week to catch up on our lives and to remind each other how much we loved each other, about our future plans……..

I spent 4 years of my life in campus pursuing a Bachelor of Commerce degree with a major in accounting. Did I really enjoy those classes? I’d say no, I opted to specialise in accounting because I thoroughly enjoyed mathematics lessons from way back in primary school, it only came naturally that I would pursue a mathematically related course at the university. I scored very nice grades in the option and I opted to specialise in accounting. However I knew deep down in my heart that my passions lay elsewhere, specifically weddings. I have always loved weddings, the décor, the flowers, the gowns, the colour schemes, anything big or small to do with weddings I loved. I stored a collection of photographs in my laptop and I would make sure I attended at least one wedding should an opportunity avail itself. I however completed my degree and graduated, landing a job in one of the prestigious accounting firms in the country. An attractive salary, hefty allowances and a very competitive and challenging work environment, all good perks for a graduate if you ask me .However I was not satisfied, one would ask, why is that? I never really had the urge and desire to go to work every morning, I soon got fed up with the monotony and long work hours associated with an accounting career. I decided to ask one of my closest friends, Yvonne for her advice and hear what she would have to say if I told her I was planning to resign and venture into the wedding planning industry.

“You must be joking, hahahaaha; you want to quit your well-paying job for what?” Yvonne asked me in a rather sarcastic manner. We arranged a quick lunch meeting in town 5 days later, and I told her exactly what was on my mind; however this was not exactly the kind of reaction I was expecting from her, considering she was one of my closest friends who had always been there to support all my ideas and thoughts since our campus days. She was now a high flying lawyer in one of the leading law firms locally and was about to make a big career switch to one of the big international firms.

 “So why did you spend all those years in campus only for you to quit only a year later?”

“But you of all people have always known that I have a desire for weddings and that I never really had a desire to pursue an accounting career.”

“Go ahead, just don’t say I didn’t tell you, bye I have a plane to catch,” Yvonne said and left me all alone to analyse what she had just told me.

I handed in my resignation letter a week later to the dismay of my colleagues and my boss who all shared the same opinion that I would be back at their offices within six months seeking fresh employment. I then gave myself a 2 week’s break to think, pray and meditate about my life and seek a clear definition as to where my life was heading. I then applied for a month long study package at one of the many centers that offer wedding planning courses.

A year later, I had only managed to plan 2 weddings, both very small with a guest list of only 50 people. I must say am a bit tad disappointed as the pay is not even half of what I used to earn back while I was still employed. Most of my bills remained unpaid and to top it all up, I was still a single woman. Many of my close friends avoided me like the plague saying that for a graduate I was a complete failure for a graduate. Pressure was also mounting on from my family’s side to settle down quickly as they said “your biological clock is fast ticking away”. I only Yvonne as my close friend to turn to and talk to, and she did help me in more ways than one, offering me financial support and the occasional shoulder to cry on.

However, things took a turn for the better when one day, Yvonne called me up and asked if I could plan a wedding for one of her clients, a high profiling musician. I was elated and I literally jumped at the chance to plan the wedding. A week later I got to meet the musician a week later and we began the planning process. The guest list was pretty impressive, more than a thousand invited guests and that only meant I had a lot of work to do, what will all the jumping around and ensuring that every detail has been taken care of. A blue, yellow n a slight shade of black was chosen as the theme colours for the wedding and I only had a month to plan the wedding.

The day of the wedding finally came, a bright Saturday morning it was. The wedding is to be held in a garden setup and I am at the grounds by 7am to ensure all is well .I then head to the reception area to ensure all is well and I must say the décor and flower setup has been done meticulously well. The ceremony is due to start in a couple of hours and so I opt to head to a nearby restaurant to have a cup of coffee when I see him…..

A group of 5 or so guys are already huddled up in a tent bust practising and preparing for the day’s activities; my eyes are however drawn to one of the individuals, a slightly tall and dark guy on one of the microphones singing his heart out. I do admit he has a beautiful voice and a nice stage presence and I am transfixed on the spot. I am pleasantly surprised with myself because I never appreciate music, especially bands. I stare at him, impressed by what I am hearing. He must have noticed me staring at him because he signals the other band members to stop the music and starts walking towards me. I quickly snap out of my reverie and turn to give one of the decorators as to how to arrange the flowers on one of the tables.

“Please place the centrepieces like this; they need to look elegant, “I say. I can clearly hear footsteps behind me  ,I dare not turn behind and I continue engrossing myself in doing a bit of nothing, arranging flowers as I would later on say.

“Excuse me?”

“Yes?” I manage to stammer after what seems like an eternity.

“Hi, I’m Maxwell, and I have been informed that you are the wedding planner today, I just wanted to let you know that am in charge of the music for the day, in case of any question feel free to ask me, okay Miss….??”

“Grace,”

“Fine, and thanks, please excuse me I have to get back to work.”

“What a fine gentleman?” I find myself rooted to the same spot five minutes later. I must admit he has quite a charm, look at me, silly me mesmerised by a complete stranger. Snapping out of my reverie I pick myself together and continue arranging and finalising the small details. And did I mention he has the most adorable eyes I have ever seen???

The wedding soon started and I quickly forgot all about my crush what with the flurry of activities going on.  I was exhausted at the end of the day and as such I did not wish to attend the evening party. I just wanted to go home, take a long relaxing bath and unwind by reading a novel then heading to bed. Luckily I had an assistant that day so I asked her to attend the party on my behalf and ensure all goes well. I called for a cab and headed to a nearby bus stop to wait for the cab. Five minutes later, Maxwell and his team joined me and I presumed they were also awaiting a cab or another means of transporting them. Just as I was thinking of what to tell him, my cab pulled up and so I had to leave without saying a word to him….

The wedding was quite a success, and as such I was able to receive many more offers to plan and organise weddings. Finally I could say I am living my dream. I received numerous accolades as an accomplished wedding planner and this served to improve my ratings. I was pleasantly surprised when a month later I received a phone call from Maxwell,

“Hi, there am I speaking to Grace?”

“Yes, whom am I speaking to?”

“Maxwell, remember me?”

“Maxwell!! Oh my gosh! How have you been?”

“Am doing very well thank you, I’m actually calling to ask, what are you doing tomorrow afternoon at lunch time?”

“Nothing much, I’ll be in my office, why?”

“I have a business proposal for you, would you be interested in hearing it?”

“But of course, set a time and venue and I will be there,”

“2pm at the tribe hotel, that fine with you?”

“That’s fine with me; I’ll see you then,”

Interesting, what would he want to discuss with me? I asked myself. I fixed the date in my calendar and continued with my day’s activities.

1:55pm found a very nervous me at the tribe hotel, sipping on a very cold glass of juice, for what felt like I had been there a whole hour. At exactly 2:00pm, Maxwell walked in dressed very impeccably in a 3 piece suit, very well fitting, and he carried an air of sophistication around him. I must say I was impressed and I lost my train of thoughts momentarily. I stood and waved, to show him where I was seated. He strode towards me and with each passing moment it was evident that his presence affected me. I extended my hand and offered him a handshake, all the while smiling sheepishly. I assumed he noticed my unease because he also smiled in a rather awkward way, that culminated in a silence that lasted for five seconds. Finally we managed to let go of each other’s hands and we sat, on opposite ends of the table. We sat in silence for what seemed like an eternity before he broke the ice and signalled a waiter to come and take our orders.

“You must be starving; I hear their steak is really nice,”

“In that case ill have that, with a salad n some French fries,”

“I’ll have the same, and make my steak well done, and please bring her another glass of juice,”

At this point I was tongue tied, I mean my crush was seated just metres away from me, I could actually smell his cologne, which by the way was Christian Dior designer and in limited edition. And I could do? Just gawk and stare at him like a love struck 16 year old teenager. He seemed oblivious to my obvious admiration because he went about checking his I Pad as if on cue and talking on his mobile phone to someone who seemed to be his assistant as he was constantly giving orders to that person.

“Before we start this lunch meeting, let me first start by saying that there is no business proposal,” he said snapping me out of my daydream. My silly grin quickly turned into a scowl. What was I doing here then? Surely he does not feel the same way for me does he? He thinks I do not have anything to do? I proceeded to stand but before I could even do so, he firmly gripped my hand and said,

“Before you raise your hand to slap me or walk out on me, at least hear me out. I asked you out on this lunch date to tell you that I am deeply in love with you. I have always liked you from the first time I saw you and I knew if I told you straight away you would probably dismiss me and brush me off. It took me a whole month to gather the courage to call you and ask you out at least for a lunch date and the only way I knew how was to lie to you that I had a business proposal for you. I just had to let you know and all am asking of you is that I get to know you as my friend then who knows?”

I must admit I was shocked, and then my shock quickly turned to bewilderment and amazement. I still couldn’t believe that it was true, what my ears had heard. I took a seat and I was quite speechless for a moment. What should I say? How should I react? Should I say no? Should I say yes?

The food arrived, and we ate in silence, and you could almost cut the tension with a knife at our table. The food was sumptuous and I must admit Maxwell had a good taste as I had not been to the hotel before then. I resolved to break the silence, ten minutes later and said,

“I must admit that you caught me by surprise, and I have to confess I feel the same way about you. However I’d like to ask that we take it slow, first start off as friends, what you say about that?”

“Fine with me, and thank you for at least considering me and hearing me out. Why don’t we start right now?” he said with a smile on his face that served to make my knees weak.

We spent the next 2 hours getting to know each other. I learnt that he was actually a doctor by training but had always had a desire to venture into music. He quit his practise after only 3 years and teamed up with his friends to form a band going by the name, Praise. The band played for major corporate events and weddings. I also learnt a lot about his background, family and dreams. I must say it was the best 2 hours of my life and I looked forward to spending more time with him. We talked about everything, life, work, love and its only cause I had to rush to the office to finish some work so the date had to end. We spent more and more time together and six months later, he asked me to be his girlfriend and I said a very big and resounding yes.

I loved every bit of our relationship, he was a perfect gentleman, treated me like a queen. We did have our arguments, which led to a minor break up that lasted 3 weeks and we were quickly back together with a strong and firm commitment to each other.

I am naturally a very hard person to please, so it really surprised me when max as I fondly referred to him, called me up one night and asked me to meet him up for dinner at one of our favourite restaurants. We were not to meet that night, as he earlier told me that he had a lot of work and hence we would not be meeting. He also asked me to wear a specific dress that he loved, a turquoise blue long evening gown that I had bought on one of them many trips I made outside the country. He asked me to meet him up at 8:00pm. Now this naturally surprised and I immediately knew something was cooking if not already cooked.

8:00pm found me at the doorway, as I was busy fumbling in my pocket to call him and alert him that I had arrived, a man, dressed as a butler, approached me and said, “Madam Grace please follow me.” The man walked briskly inside the restaurant and I followed, albeit more confused than ever.

The restaurant was empty, save for Max, who stood at the furthest end, a bouquet of red roses in his hand. He looked dashing in a charcoal grey suit that I had bought him as a present on his birthday. He smiled at me, quickly tipped off the man and as soon as I opened my mouth to speak he said:

“Happy birthday darling, “and handed me the bouquet. I was speechless!! I totally forgot it was my birthday! My, oh my, he remembered! And surprised me with an intimate dinner. What more could a lady ask for? He pulled a seat for me and I was gracious enough to sit down. “And by the way, you look stunning, can’t help but stare at you. “

“Thanks, so do you, would you believe I completely forgot that today was my birthday. Thank you so much for this.”

He chuckled, and we proceeded to make small talk about our days, I learnt that the owner of the restaurant was a good friend of his, so he had it closed down for just the two of us that night. I was pleasantly flattered and I thanked God for giving me such a wonderful friend and boyfriend. The dinner was awesome, French cuisine that I enjoyed. Dessert was served in form of a cake with the words “happy birthday Grace inscribed on them”.

One of my favourite songs starting playing, and Max asks me “Can I have this dance?” I gladly oblige and we hit the dance floor and dance albeit slowly, I savour each moment, as I look deep into his eyes and I whisper, “ I love you,” “I love you more,” he replies and my knees momentarily become weak and I blush.

At that precise moment, he lets go of me, goes down on one knee, reaches into his coat pocket and removes a small box, he opens it and inside is a beautiful silver ring he faces me and he asks me,

“Grace, will you marry me?”

“Gosh, umh, aaaah, yes, yes I will”

I help him u and I embrace him tightly for what is like five minutes. Tears are streaming down my face, I can’t even begin to describe the emotions running, joy surprise, shock. We let go of each other, and he slips the ring on my finger. The ring is so beautiful. I admire and look at it for what must be an eternity, still not believing he asked me to marry him. I can’t seem to stop crying, and he holds me in his arms and whispers in my ear little sweet nothings. I turn around to face him and I give him a deep kiss, one am sure will completely blow him over, he responds appropriately and we kiss for a good 5 minutes.....

“He actually proposed to you? Can I see the ring? Gosh am so happy for you, that we means we start planning for your wedding!!”

I met up with Yvonne the very next day to share the good news with her, and she was really happy and excited. It had not even occurred to me that I now needed to start thinking about a wedding! I was still basking in the post proposal blues, if there was anything like that. The whole idea never crossed my mind, surprising for a top wedding planner. All my childhood dreams were now about to come true.

We meet up with Max and a couple of our friends to share the good news with them. We organised a small engagement party where we invited our families to be present. We officially announced to them that we were now engaged. His mother was the first to come forward and congratulate us, followed closely by my family members.

The traditional dowry negotiations took place a month later and I must say it was pretty hectic and it resulted in several arguments between me and Max. Both families presented at times unreasonable requests that would result in us arguing for days on end. However after a month we were able to reach an agreement and our parents gave us the go ahead to get married. We set our wedding date a month later on, and all the plans began…

Saturday morning of my wedding day finally arrived, my day began very early, at around 7am. I couldn’t sleep the previous night and I had a lot of questions and fears in my head. Daybreak soon came, and I was pleasantly surprised when Yvonne, my best maid handed me a small box with a smile on her face and winked at me. I opened the box and found a letter from Max, saying how much he loved me and he longed for the end of the day as I would be his wife. Tears streamed down my face, and for a moment I forgot about all the activities happening around me, I silently made a prayer and thanked God for the day and all the activities that were to be.

I headed to the dining room to have my breakfast, at least try and swallow something small because my stomach had so many butterflies and I did not have an appetite. My 5 maids, mother and I all sat down to have breakfast and share. I could barely eat anything but my mum encouraged me to eat something as I would have a long day ahead. The ceremony was set to start in 2 hours’ time so I had to start preparing myself. We all went to my bedroom and I couldn’t help but wonder if Max had already finished preparing himself.

The makeup lady and camera people had already arrived and so the preparations began. Everyone around me was busy dressing up and within no time my hair and makeup were already done. All my maids were already dressed in long, plum dresses with orange flower corsages at the waist. The best maid was dressed in a long orange dress that had a plum flower corsage also on her waist. They helped me slip on my wedding gown, a white, A-line gown, with an illusion neckline. I felt like a princess and I loved the awesome feeling in it. Numerous photographs were taken of me and my bridal party and within no time I could hear women singing outside awaiting the bride. My mother came and whispered a few words of advice and encouragement in my ear and then proceeded to veil me. A final glance in the mirror and off I went to start my day….

We opted to have a garden wedding ceremony therefore the vow session would be held in one side of the gardens and the reception on the side of the venue. The décor was looking very exquisite and I loved the setup. I could see all this from my ride for the day a black Mercedes and I was equally as tensed up and I tried so hard not to bite my nails lest I ruined my manicure. The car door was opened and my best maid held out her hand and guided me out. I stepped out and I could see so many people already gathered and had stood to give me a standing ovation. I could see Max at the end of the aisle, looking very dashing in a grey suit with an orange boutonnière. He smiled upon seeing and we looked at each other for 2 seconds before I started my walk down the aisle. My mother held my hand and she escorted me down the aisle. I could not look at Max as I knew I would break down and cry..

 

Book Review, The Woods by Harlan Coben

Paul Copeland is the county prosecutor of Essex, New Jersey who is a single father to his six year old daughter,Cara after his wife dies of cancer.
One particular day as he watches his daughter in her school gym, 2 police officers join him and ask him to accompany them to help identify a body. Cope as he is known is able to positively identify the body as that of Gil Perez. One may want to ask how is Cope linked to a dead body? He is after all isn't he the DA?
It turns out that 20 years ago 4 teenagers,who were staying in a camp during their summer vacation walked into the woods at night past curfew hours under the watch of Paul Copeland and his then girlfriend Lucy Silverstein, 2 of them Margot Green and Doug Billingham were found murdered ,the other 2 Gil Perez and Camille Copeland, Cope's sister were never seen again.The scandal changed the four families and 20 years later the body that Cope has identified is that of Gil Perez one of the 2 campers whose body was never recovered.....
The novel then seeks to answer the many questions that Cope has about that night in the woods, could his sister be alive? Who killed the campers and what exactly happened that night? Where is Lucy today?As he obtains answers to this questions, he stumbles upon answers to so many questions,secrets that his family kept from him and startling revelations about his past.
I  got the chance to read this book some time at the beginning of the year and i must say its on the list of my favorite books to date. The book is written in first person which makes it more interesting and captivating.It is a definite page turner and i highly recommend it to anyone for it makes an interesting read.

Book Review, Last Man Standing by David Baldacci

Review by: Wekesa Edwin

“Speed, surprise and violence of action” is the motto carried by the HRT for  Hostage Rescue Team, where Web London is a member.

Web London, and his friends the ‘Charlie team’ of HRT , while on a mission,  gets  “Speed, surprise and violence of action” fed at them like mothers milk, in an ambush at an alley by what appears to be a castigation of drug barons in their attempt to frustrate the teams efforts and probably those of their rivals.

It is from this godforsaken den that Web loses all his friends but miraculously survives on instinct when he involuntarily freezes and falls on his gun at the time when the remote controlled guns, strategically planted in the alley, started firing.

He is the sole survivor in the tragic incidence which ironically doesn't augur well for his future he being a HRT guy where surviving your members is not something that is always met with smiles. Suspicion sets in from the bosses at the FBI headquarters, he’s faced with hatred and resentment from the widows and the now half orphaned children who can’t understand why their husbands and dads were wiped out in an operation where Web London survived but can’t explain how.

As baffling as the ambush seems,Web sets himself on a mission to understand the motives and the likely persons behind it. In his pursuit of truth, he stumbles into Francis Westbrook, an equally baffled leader of a drug empire who is out to identify the person behind the ambush, (which apparently happened in his “safe haven” rather area of jurisdiction) probably as a desperate move by his rivals in the trade (who have also kidnapped his brother-cum-son Kevin Westbrook) to bring him, F. Westbrook, at the wrath of the FBI.

Web seeks to answer two questions: First, who set up his team? Propounded by the fact that one of their undercover agents, Randal Cove has gone missing and two, to understand why he froze at the fateful alley which leads him to a psychiatrist firm where he becomes a client to Claire Daniels

Amidst this development, three prominent personalities, a judge, a defence council and a prosecutor are killed mysteriously. The nature of their deaths which came about as explosions of their electronic devices gives Web the hint that the killers must be the same group that earlier had half of his face torn of in a HRT rescue mission at some school where he painfully witnessed the death of a young boy David Canfields. He was traumatised and forever carried the guilt.

Last Man Standing is a masterpiece that will carry you through the thrill of self-sacrifice and dedication of service (Charlie team), suspicion and witch-hunt (senior officials at the FBI), betrayal (Francis Westbrook and his top allies) of love for people and family and of rare love between people and their guns. The HRT stands out as a group of heroes who will not allow havoc or evil to prevail in the rather peaceful society bestowed upon man by nature. Web London comes out as the true, loyal friend to his fallen friends and their families especially since he didn’t have any solid family of his own. You also get to learn, through his psychiatrist’s, of his early life with his abusive step father and the evils he had committed and now seeks to rectify.

Baldacci takes you through a very sophisticated plot allowing you the rare chance to interact with good and bad through the firing and ricocheting of guns as well as the silence and sporadic blabbering of hypnotised, highly trained men of service and their spouses.

The book, though written 13 years ago carries the fresh touch of contemporary living and crime especially in these parts of the continent where loopholes still exist in the confidentiality and information sharing among state security organs and their fighting of crime  besides giving an insight into what society should take of a wrongly accused/vilified citizen.

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