Safe Enough by Lee Child

I just finished this amazing twenty-short story collection that spans the past twenty years of the author's career. The stories feature characters reminiscent of Reacher, including assassins, secret agents, bodyguards, and bad guys.  It was such a fun read and a nice change of pace from the usual full-length novels. Some of the stories were pretty good, others were just decent, and a few were truly poignant. Here are a few of my favourites;

4. Safe Enough ❤️
- This story follows Wolfe a city man living in the country who works as an electrician. He becomes involved with a couple in his neighbourhood who are constantly fighting, and when the husband disappears, things take an unexpected turn.

5. Normal in Every Way ❤️
- Set in 1954, this story revolves around Walter Klebb, a misfit rookie in SFPD. He noticed a pattern of unsolved cases but never received any recognition.

6. The .50 Solution ❤️
- In this thrilling story, a client hires an assassin to use a calibre of .50 to eliminate a target but things don't go as planned.

7. Public Transportation ❤️
- This story tells the tale of a 14-year-old girl who was tragically killed by a man. By using the victim's iPhone tracker, the police lose track after making some progress. 

Patriarch by Shahnon Ahmad

SN Shahnon Ahmad memang popular dengan karya satiranya yang menyelar pemimpin negara dan politikus. Pedas dan melucukan tapi benar belaka. Aku puas hati dengan penceritaan yang disampaikan dari prolog hingga ke epilog. Diterbitkan kali pertama pada tahun 1991 tapi relevan sampai sekarang.

Berita kematian Patriarch melanda Kota Belantara. Rakyat terlalu gembira dengan pemergiannya. Dia digambarkan sebagai pemimpin kuku besi, korup dan penindas rakyat. Pendek kata dari utara, barat, timur dan selatan, semuanya mengharapkan dia meninggal. Begitulah kebencian rakyat yang bukan biasa-biasa terhadap politikus yang busuk ni. 

Turut diselitkan juga ketika sakaratul maut mula menyinggah. Patriarch atau nama sebenarnya Jasadiah masa mula-mula dipilih oleh tiket demokrasi bukanlah orang yang buruk perangai. Dia seperti politikus menjelang pilihanraya yang suka menyogok janji-janji a.k.a manifesto yang hanya berkepentingan untuk puak-puaknya. Tapi tulah, janji tinggal janji. Kuasa dan amanah sebagai pemimpin telah memakan dirinya sendiri.

The Bee Sting by Paul Murray

The Bee Sting has made it to the shortlist for the 2023 Booker Prize, with its exploration of family conflicts, sexual misconduct, anxiety, bullying, toxic behaviours and deception, giving an emotional rollercoaster to the whole point of this book. The intricate layering of multiple points of view in the book offers a comprehensive look into the lives of each member of the Barnes family, enhancing the overall reading experience.

Dickie Barnes, who owned a car dealership in a rural Irish town, found himself in a financial predicament as his business began to decline due to a missing sum of money from the account, causing distress to his wife, Imelda, and children. Their marriage is on the rocks. She feels that Maurice Barnes, Dickie's father, is the only one who can offer assistance. Being impoverished exposes their true selves and unveils even more shocking truths.

To bring the backstory into the book giving just enough information to illuminate my curiosity. The ending is deliberately ambiguous which is my favorite kind of thrilling element. Therefore, I rate it 5 stars.