Princess - Secrets to Share by Jean Sasson

Reviewed by Desere

First of all let me start by saying this book is not for the faint of heart, it involves a lot of heart wrenching , gut tearing real life happenings that will make the strongest of strong brake down in tears.

Princess Al- Saud teams up with author Jean Sasson and let's the reader in on every single detail of life in Saudi Arabia as a woman. It's a hard life , there are no nice days, no good things, no understanding from the male race at all, only the hope that someone will take pity and help you get out of the everyday hell.

Ladies , take  a moment and think about how easy your life is when you get up in the morning, you can wear what you want, eat what you want, drive to work, go to school, become whatever you want to, and there is not such thing as having the fear of giving birth to a girl and then because your husband wants to avoid any embarrassment befalling the family name , he goes out to the desert and buries the child in the sand and you never see her alive again, there simply are no basic human rights for any of the woman in Saudi Arabia.

The author and Princess take you through the lives of the woman who suffer at the hands of men and the absolute disgraceful manner of having to be told to not this and to this and that each day of their lives. Such as the story , which I will tell you will forever remain in my mind- of the abandoned mother of twin girls , alone , desperate and at the end of her rope, she was rescued by the Princess and now has a life of her own , and best of all she lives in safety with her family.

Many innocent woman's stories are discussed and dissected and really puts the reader at the front row, I felt every emotion, cried every single tear with these woman and felt my heart rejoice for those who make it out but my heart also shattered for those that simply are not as lucky.

As I said this book is not for the faint of heart, but if you want to know what life is really like for other woman, or if you feel your life is miserable , then read this book you will find that your life is not half as bad as the lives of these woman , trapped in an endless battle of being ruled but those who they cannot fight.

5/5 star review - Highly recommended read

" Life behind the veil hides more sorrow than the world will ever know" 

Because we say so by Noam Chomsky

Reviewed by Desere



For years I have been fascinated with the United States of America.

 It's their pure and very addictive drive to succeed that has inspired me for as long as I can remember.

The United States have been a force to reckon with from a very early time, they are always there, always ready to fight for justice, no matter if the justice is their own or another country's they are there , on the front-lines beating the heck out of all evil, and why , well it's exactly as this book's title says " Because we say so!"

Because the United States of America always does what is right, they are born leaders and love them or hate them, the fact remains they are a power that will never go away.  But of course not everything is always fair in love and war.

This read starts off in Durban, South African and then goes on to take the reader on a wold-wide tour of just how the force known as the USA takes over, destroys, saves and manipulates leaders and people of our world.

In most instances the USA 's actions are of course valid, I mean none of us if we could intervene, would stand by and watch an innocent 5 year old get killed by ruthless insurgents.  But then there are those actions that can be seen as crimes of war, senseless, degrading and not the image any country wants to portray.

As stated you either love the Americans or you hate them, you can hate them all you want but at the end of the day show me the country that has had to go to war and did it all perfectly? There are none, every general or leader heck every soldier has done something that they think was right at the time but afterwards could see the light shine down onto their downright despicable actions.

Because I feel that it's vital for all readers to take a look at this book, I am going to stop right here and only add that this author has a unique voice, he sees the action , entrances the reader to the point where you might as well me the leader having to sit there and listen to the actions being justified or your image shattered, and the most important , this author makes you think and I mean deep long and stretched out thoughts.

And at the end of the day my dear reading friends , you too will come to the conclusion that the world is a far worst place then you might think, every country wants to be the ultimate one, but just because we say so doesn't make it right, or does it? We either go to war and walk away as the winner or the loser but what about all the in - between- tidbits that most simply try to hide?

5/5 star review
" Riveting, front row seat war action at it's best ! " 


** Copy received from Penguin Random House South Africa in exchange for a hones review

Power Play by Mike Nicol

Reviewed by Desere

I am going to start this review off with a little warning, do NOT start reading this book if you have to go out, or an early morning start or if you know you are for sure going to be interrupted. Because this is one of those books that simply once started is not to be stopped, or rather you won't want to stop!

The book tells of Krista Bishop, she runs a security agency, for woman only. But all that goes flying out the window when she get's a call she simply cannot refuse. The call comes from the government spooks, the mission is simple : Guard two high - profile Chinese businessmen.

Should be easy, after all this is her field of expertise so no problem , right? No , no and no again, because Krista isn't told that the Chinese are mopping up the richly rewarding abalone poaching business and they want it all, from shore to plate!  It's the takeover of the century and it will kick three Cape Town ( for our blog's international readers - Cape Town is South Africa 's mother city and absolutely spectacular!) ganglords out of business and destroy their perfectly filled to the brim luxury lifestyles.

And so starts a battle of power, corruption and a full on war on the streets that has everyone involved racing for the finish line and the ultimate prize of power above all it 's leader prevails.

So now that you know what the book is about let's get down to the review portion. I have always been a huge fan of mysteries and crime reads, the more complex the better and of course my ultimate goal is to see if I can solve it before it's actually fully revealed.  Sadly you get crime authors and then you get crime authors! The ones that make that the crime author list is a very short one for me anyways. Because there is always lose ends that the author's don't tie up and then I am always thinking okay so maybe there will be a follow up, and you know what happens 95 % of the time, no follow up and thus I am still left feeling pretty much unsatisfied and very frustrated.

I am ecstatically  happy to announce that Mike Nicol is not one of the above mentioned, no wait make that overjoyed and extremely proud! A South African author is on the top, top list of crime authors ! His writing style is addictive and it feels as if I was right there staring down the bad-guys , living the emotions of fear, anger and power.

Riveting , gripping absolutely spellbinding and so mesmerizing that you think at the start of the book that you won't get too involved in this play of power because somehow it seems like it could turn out to be just another book about crime , I was wrong , so very wrong, I was completely trapped and so involved that the third World War could break out right next to me and I would not have noticed!

If you are a once in a lifetime I read a crime story kind of reader, then this is the one you should read!  Incredibly realistic, fast paced , historically packed and a true masterpiece.

5/5 star review
" If you think you've seen power before, you're about to enter a world so dark and powerful , that you will never be able to escape" 

Available now at Penguin Random House South Africa

Black Widow White Widow by De Wet Potgieter

Reviewed by Desere


In 2013 De Wet Potgieter first published a report on the active presence of Al-Queda in South                     Africa, naturally all hell broke loose, because obviously anyone who hears the word Al-Queda                     thinks about countries such as Iraq and Afghanistan  and all the blood, guts and gruesome images that           goes with it, and then operating in South Africa, no way !

At the time I myself did not think anything of it, because of course no one wants to associate the truly horrible world of Al-Queda with our country.

But on a professional level I have long dealt with the men and woman serving in Afghanistan and Iraq and never ever did I stop to think the Al-Queda they inform me about on a daily basis would be active right under my nose.

After reading this book I for darn sure will be double check looking over my shoulder and thinking twice when reading a news article centered around the facts mentioned in this book.

The author's truly did his research, he backs all his claims up with proper facts, which I found most enlightening as when reading most real life based books the authors usually make the claims based on something they have heard or read, and then tries to let the reader be sucked in to their way of thinking, all whist not presenting actual hard evidence, De Wet Potgieter does no such thing!

The manner used to tie all the links such as the massacre at Westgate mall and the involvement of the Black Widow and was done with some of the most gripping and outstanding level of writing I have ever come across.

Truly fascinating to think that these types of people walk amongst us and live in our country roaming the streets with us day after day!

If you want to know who might be lurking in your back yard who that quite never talks to anyone neighbor across the road truly is and what they get up to, then read this book. It will forever change your outlook on our country.

Highly recommend read.
5/5 star review
" Al-Qaeda tightens the hold on the world, one country at a time" 

** Now available from Penguin Books South Africa