Istanbul Passage: A Novel. Read Or Stay Away?

Hey, everyone. Lida_Rose here. Welcome to my second blog post. I have decided to make my posts about whether or not I would read a book based solely on the book's description. I'll pick out the newest books on Amazon for this, and if one of them happens to be a sequel, I'll look at the two or more book descriptions and see if I'd read one, two, the whole series, or none of them. So, without further ado, I will look at Istanbul Passage: A Novel.

"A neutral straddling Europe and Asia, Istanbul survived the Second World War as a magnet for refugees and spies, trafficking in secrets and lies rather than soldiers. Expatriate American businessman Leon Bauer was drawn into this shadow world, doing undercover odd jobs and courier runs in support of the Allied war effort.
     Now, as the espionage community begins to pack up and an apprehensive city prepares for the grim realities of postwar life, Leon is given one last routine assignment. But when the job goes fatally wrong—an exchange of gunfire, a body left in the street, a potential war criminal on his hands—Leon is plunged into a tangle of intrigue, shifting loyalties, and moral uncertainty.
     Played out against the bazaars and mosques and faded mansions of this knowing, ancient Ottoman city, Leon’s conflicted attempt to save one life leads to a desperate manhunt that ultimately threatens his own survival. How do you do the right thing when there are only bad choices to be made?
     Rich with atmosphere and period detail, Istanbul Passage is the haunting story of a man swept up in the dawn of the Cold War, of an unexpected love affair, and of a city as deceptive as the calm surface waters of the Bosphorus that divides it."

Secrets and lies! Always secrets and lies! *Ahem* Anyway, let's take a look at the positive and negative aspects of this description.

Positives: Someone will die in this book, and it looks like the main character will have to go through a huge moral struggle. The line, "How do you do the right thing when there are only bad choices to be made?"  is one that I can relate to and serves well to suck me in.

Negatives: Well, it looks like I'd have to know some geography to understand this book. Blech. Geography. I have, like, no understanding of it whatsoever. Also, when the description mentions the job going "fatally wrong", was everything between the dashes really necessary? One last thing I take issue with is the phrase "unexpected love affair". I mean, come on. Does anyone really not expect love affairs in any book this day and age? It'd be more unexpected if there was no romance in this book at all.

So, based on this description, I'd say the book looks like it'll be an interesting read. The negative things I have to say are nitpicks, and this sure seems to be different from all the paranormal romances floating about. If I see Istanbul Passage: A Novel in a bookstore, I'll probably read the first couple chapters and see if it sucks me in.

So, to answer the question of whether to read or stay away from this book, I say I'm more likely to read than stay away from it at this point.

僕は匿名です

So yeah it's Crooked. Drew invited me to be an author/contributor/something, but it's saying there's an error and whatnot so I used the HUG email address and here I am.

I guess we're starting off with more in-depth introductions? Okay then.

っMy name is Trey, I'm 17, in the 11th grade, and I used to be really smart but this year has been a load of crap for me so I'm mostly an average student now.

っI live in Virginia where literally nothing happens.

っI have so very few hobbies. Reading, writing (sort of), video games, sleeping, arguing with people, and avoiding any and all healthy foods because my body is secretly suicidal.

っMost of my friends annoy me to no end. Actually I don't know why I hang out with them. There are only four or five I actually like. Wow I sound like a jerk.

っI wear glasses, my eyes/hair/skin are all some shade of brown, my front-right tooth is chipped, I'm 5'10", I bite my nails, my voice is annoying, and I weigh somewhere between 120 and 125 pounds (I never gain or lose enough weight to bypass either number).

っMy most frequently visited websites are Tumblr, YouTube, FanFiction, various wikis, and a bunch of other websites you really don't need to hear about.

っI actually love meeting new people, despite how much I can't stand a lot of them. I'm not as awful as I seem, I swear.

っI still love Cloud and RC.

っI'm learning Japanese and plan on living in Japan with NS.

っTWEWY is a beautiful creation.

That was way too much typing. I'm going to stop now.

Bye. っ_っ

Heeeere's Goken!

Yo! Guess I should introduce myself too. I'm Goken, short brown hair, blue eyes, sometimes glasses, look like a mixture of my mother and father, and I'm short in size. Small and lovable, that's me!

Nowadays, I'm just studying for exams... but I'm hoping to get back to spending hours a day on video games like I used to. New Virtua Fighter's out next week, and all... Oh! And Sleeping Dogs comes out in August!

Anyway, that's enough rambling about games you may or may not care about. When I get my life back, my posts should be more interesting. Maybe. Hopefully the new members will become as attached to Turnabout HUG as the rest of us have, and may our bonds remain strong forever more! Ciao~

Lida_Rose

Hey, everyone. This is Lida_Rose. Drew/Riu introduced you to Turnabout HUG and the vlog, so I guess I'll introduce myself. Here are some miscellaneous facts about me.

• I'm 21 years old.
• I'm female. 
• I wear glasses.
• I'm better at writing than I am at speaking.
• I tend to be redundant when I write this stuff.
• I really suck at drawing.
• I have more friends online than I do in real life. 
• I tend to be redundant. 
• While I love writing stories, I hate writing poems. Deepness. Blech. Who needs that? Am I right?
• I have my mom's body, but my dad's hair and eyes. 
• I love to read. Makes me look smart. 
• I am horrible at remembering names, but I can recall faces remarkably well. 
• I sometimes talk really quickly to the point where no one understands me. 
• People think I have a weird accent and am therefore from a foreign country, but I was born in the US. 
• I like bullet points. 
• I'm registered as Democrat, but I really don't affiliate myself with any political party. 
• I'm fairly moderate, but where I live, being moderate is considered liberal and saying you like a democratic president is like admitting you're the most horrible person to ever come into existence. (Okay, so that's an exaggeration...but only a very slight one.)
• There are three cats in my house. I own one of them. 

• I tend to be redundant...Oh, crap! 

There's not much more to say about me, so, I guess I'll open the floor to my colleagues. If there are any questions anyone has, I'll try to answer them in a future blog.

Love and cake,

~ Lida_Rose

Turnabout HUG: An Introduction

Turnabout HUG was first conceived as a thread on the popular Ace Attorney fanforum Court Records; it was a place for a small circle of friends to meet, talk, and give hugs. Unfortunately, it was deemed too spammy by the mods there, and was locked (it was, admittedly, far too off-topic for the forum). The THUGs (as we are called) split off from the Court Records forum and moved instead to their own forum, where they set themselves up to chat and talk as they liked. In recent years and months, however, the small, close-knit community of THUGs has been growing smaller and more distant, and in an effort to bring more life to the group, we have opened up a new forum, and are actively trying to recruit more members to join. This blog will serve as the blog for various members including Crooked, Lida_Rose, Goken, possibly myself (Drew, aka Riu), and maybe even others.

If you love hugs, making friends, and being AWESOME, you're welcome to join us at http://turnabouthug.forumotion.com/

Also check out our Youtube channel, where Minako and I will be making biweekly vlogs
http://www.youtube.com/user/Riu1122