Whole Life Sentence by Lynda La Plante

Detective Inspector Jane Tennison is a dedicated and intuitive detective. She was transferred from Bromley on promotion to DCI and requested a posting to the AMIT (Area Major Incident Teams) team. AMIT is one of the toughest units in the Met and handles serious major crimes. 

Her first case is to investigate a cold case of a missing college student from five years ago. That was in 1986. Brittany Hall was 17 years old when her mother reported her missing. This means the whole plot is set in the early 1990s. However, the author is trying to keep it up-to-date, I guess. 😬

Three boys from the same college were the last people to see Brittany. The information and statements were gathered, and Jane had to prove they were involved in Brittany's disappearance. It's so easy to jump to a conclusion without a second thought. 

Jane knew her boss was giving her an unsolvable cold case to waste her time and keep her out of sight. She feels undervalued and patronized by her male colleagues. But that only made her more determined to find out what happened to Brittany. She had proven she deserved to be on the AMIT. 

It's a slow-paced story, not a groundbreaking piece. The ending was too rushed and not impactful enough when it reached the part where the crime unfolds. Jane survives her ordeal, though. This is the final book in the Tennison series and could be read as a standalone thriller.

Pusat Terapi Al-Nur

Kalau balik kampung memang inilah tempat yang mesti pergi. Mana nak cari tempat urut yang murah lagikan?

Urat yang tersimpul rapi memang terus jadi lega. Aku rasa macam nak tercabut rambut tadi punyalah kuat dia urut kepala tu kan. 

Selain dari tu ada juga servis lain yang diaorang buat seperti bekam, akupuntur, bunyi²kan badan/ cracking knuckles pun boleh. Pekerja²nya pun baik. 

*Ini bukan iklan berbayar

 

Dialog

Seperti yang kita belajar di sekolah dulu kalau nak buat dialog, mesti guna perenggan baru bersama dengan pembuka dan penutup kata. 

Tapi bila baca buku bahasa Inggeris semua tu tak penting dah. Ada berbagai jenis cara yang boleh dikategorikan sebagai dialog. Macam contoh di atas, penulis guna dash sahaja. Sebelum ni aku pernah baca, mereka guna italic tanpa perenggan baru. Contoh:

Bukan saya tak suka dia bang. Cuma dia tu suka sangat mengungkit hal-hal lama saya. Luahan Ahmad kepada abangnya.

Pada aku, aku ok je. Semakin banyak kita membaca, banyak jenis karya yang boleh kita pelajari. Tapi aku tak rasa editor di Malaysia bersetuju dengan dua cara di atas.

 

Nostalgia Part 1

Kenangan di Sekolah Mohd Khir Johari. Waktu tu belum ada Kebangsaan lagi. Tahun 1986. Semua murid perempuan pakai pinafore. Lelaki pakai seluar pendek atas lutut. Nama cikgu kelas kalau tak silap Puan Hashimah. Dia memandu kereta klasik masa tu. Tak tahu jenis apa. Wajah yang penuh sifat keibuan. Style ikat tudung pun sangat klasik. Macam nilah aku pakai tudung kalau mengaji masa tu. 

Kawan baik aku masa tu Rosmary. Aku tak tahu dia duduk mana. Tapi kadang kalau petang² dia ada duduk depan tangga rumah aku. Main sama². 

Masa ni kitaorang pindah Skudai. Shock jugaklah. Padahal sekolah yang sebelum ni kira betul² dekat bandar. Tapi bila masuk Sekolah Kebangsaan Sri Skudai aku dapat kelas nombor 2. 6 Dahlia. Kalau dulu top 3. Dapat top 10 dah kira ok. Banyak insiden yang memalukan masa ni. Biarlah aku simpan je. Tak payah buka aib. Kawan baik aku masa ni Haslinda. Cikgu kelas Puan Harison. 

The Canterville Ghost by Oscar Wilde

I love this entertaining short story. It's about Mr. Hiram B. Otis, the American minister who purchased Canterville Chase. He was warned by Lord Canterville about his ancestor's haunted place, which no one cared to live in. However, the Otis family is undeterred by the ghostly presence and the ensuing trouble.

The ghost of Sir Simon de Canterville, who murdered his wife and met his own death in 1575, has been haunting and has been seen by living members since then. The ghost was irritated to find that the Otises treated the 'interruption' as a joke. The only person who alarmed him was little Virginia Otis, who was full of wisdom and grace. The delicate conversation between them delves into the meanings of life, death, and love messages without being preachy. One of the themes that stood out to me is that being a good listener can have a huge impact on how people feel and act.