Memories of the 1971 Bangladesh War - Dead Reckoning

The book covers the events of 1971 beginning from the general elections of 1970 until the end of war in December 1971. The Awami League led by Sheikh Mujib won the elections with majority representation at the parliament, but however was unable to become the Prime Minister as Bhutto denied to accept any negotiation mediated by Yahya Khan, despite losing the elections. This led the Bengalis towards an uncertain future for them.
The book is exceptionally significant as it brought about evidences and eye-witness statements from both the parties, with an in depth analysis of the popularly believed narrations and literatures available. Bose did the meticulous job of cross-checking the materials and extracting the most reliable and authentic information from therein. It's a great work, probably the most unique among its types from a pure academic perspective!

The novel started out strong, but quickly deteriorated as the plot unraveled. The story line and plot are viable and could have had the making for a strong novel, but the characters were weak and their actions quite unrealistic. The lead female character changed her thoughts faster than a schizophrenic off medication. Unrealistic events and disjointed progression further weakened the flow. The little bit of God thrown in added little to the plot and, quite frankly, were insulting to Christianity.

I should have read more negative reviews,I agree with all of them. The romance between the main characters was ridiculous. Very High School. Too bad, the book had a good start but fell apart with a weak plot that didn't make sense.

Ronie Kendig's debut Christian romantic thriller, DEAD RECKONING, takes the reader to India where archeologist Shiloh Blake has found herself in the middle of an international nuclear arms espionage operation. Reece Jaxon is the former Green Beret turned CIA agent monitoring the situation and thrust into protecting Shilow from what she accidentally discovered.

As an author, Kendig brings the country of India to life, offering just enough details to bring me their and understand the culture, but not spending so much time on it that it distracts from the novel. Shiloh and Reece are both strong characters with troubled pasts, and Kendig reveals their troubled histories slowly, building the suspense as each morsel is uncovered.

An explosive event in the middle of the novel alters the story. I enjoyed the characters of Reese and Shiloh, even though I found the beginning of their relationship to be a bit unbelievable. Shiloh and Reese were the strength of the novel, with each of them having their own troubled past and character flaws. Kendig has written several more novels after this one. Hopefully, she has improved on plotting it the followups because I found this one a bit confusing at times.

Now, obviously, there has been a breakdown in communication somewhere in the the store Kindle / free book / downloading process. From glancing at reviews, the vast majority of poor reviews for this book criticize it for being "Christian. Some review state: "This was a sneak attack." "I really hate it when prosyletizers hide their agendas." "Christian aspect seemed forced and out of place." "A preachy book. "Way to much Christianity forced down my throat. "Th product description should have put RELIGIOUS FICTION."

That's just a sampling of the criticism leveled at a Christian book released by a Christian publisher and written by a Christian author. It is fine to criticize a novel for unbelievable characters or poor plotting, but the reviewer really looks stupid for slamming a book for being what it is. So, a reader didn't know it was a Christian book. Once they realize it is, stop reading it, but don't blame the author or rate the book down. It's the reader's own fault for not finding out what they are reading.

If you're considering this novel, please realize it is a CHRISTIAN novel. Some characters will actually believe in God.

This book might take the honor of becoming the very first book that I will decide not to finish. In the first 50 pages or so, people get shot at, killed, injured, being chased, etc, etc hinting at some high tech spy book plots. You would think it would be fast-paced and put you right on edge (at least I thought it should). But I've never read 50 pages of so much supposed action so dull and boring, and without much cohesiveness yet with a lot of repetitions. It became just too painful. No real good plot, no real character development, no real good writing so far.

I have never really been a reader of suspense fiction, it just wasn't that interesting to me until I discovered author, Ronie Kendig. I first read her second release, Nightshade a few weeks ago and I LOVED it! She kindly offered to send me a copy of her debut novel Dead Reckoning and I finished it on one day, staying up till the wee hours of the morning.

From the first page I was hooked! Being a lover of history I've always had a respect and interest in archaeology so it was easy for me to like underwater archaeologist, Shiloh Blake and her best friend Khalid Khan. There is also a hunky ex-Navy SEAL turned spy, Reece aka Brutus, who will give you heart palpitations! Did I mention that from the very first chapter there is enough "edge of your seat" action to give a body a heart attack? Seriously. It is so good!

A lot of the suspense that I've read has had one or two scenes that made my pulse race but Dead Reckoning does not let up, it's nonstop action from start to finish. Assassinations, kidnappings, nuclear weapons, spies, and terrorists all in the exotic setting of Mumbia, throw in not one but two romances involving our main character, Shiloh and you have a suspenseful and thrilling read that will knock your socks off! I highly recommend this book to anyone (guys that means you too) who loves a great story!

Dead Reckoning means estimating a position by applying to a previously determined position. Ronie Kendig's book is so appropriately named. While she educates us about diving, she delves into political intrigue with spies that capture your heart as they run through an international nuclear arms clash.

Shiloh Blake is young, working on diving hours as a member of a team from University of California, San Diego. She wants to qualify for the Pacific Rim Challenge. However, while underwater, her team is ripped apart by bullets, killing one and severely injuring her partner Khalid. Suddenly Shiloh finds herself smack in the middle of the type of things she had tried to avoid since severing ties with her father, an international spy who had moved her around all her younger years. An angry Shiloh is propelled into the arms of Reece, who considers her an asset of the United States. Through gun fights, bombings, ambushes, death, Shiloh turns to the one who can protect her and help her accomplish her mission.

Shiloh and her partner's mission take the reader to exotic locals filled with history. The operatives are guided by clues of actions based on history and the enemies attempted act of positioning themselves in a place of supreme power. The colorful settings add intrigue to those of us unfamiliar with customs of the Middle East.

And Aras...he is one of my favorites. You'll have to read the book to find out why Shiloh made fast friends with the one who nearly sliced her neck open.

I absolutely loved this book and hope that Ms. Kendig continues with more adventures. She kept me so engrossed that I felt I was being chased and shot at stumbling to keep up with Shiloh. Her writing style pulls you in and makes you an eye witness to each and every step taken by the characters. A very good book, well worth reading. Ms. Kendig will be an auto buy for me!

People discrediting Bose should read BD history post 1971. Mujib took a uturn from his policies and eventually was taken out. A book written by an officer alleged to have been involved in his killing (a former ambassador) Col. Sharif ul Haq Bir Uttom has written a book Bangladesh:Untold facts. One should read it too. https://www.the store.com/Bangladesh-Untold-Facts-Shariful-Dalim/dp/9699739401/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1482897581&sr=1-1&keywords=jumhoori+untoldThe problem is history is written by the victors with alot of distortion to make their case valid. In This bloody and deadly episode, its the case. Years of propaganda and conflicting views has confused a generation. Pakistan army did a horrible job but to say Mukti/Indian army in this episode didnt play dirty is disservice to objective history. India wants to project Pakistan badly (and Pakistani establishment provided them ample fodder) but that does not change reality on ground. Today BD is a polarized country since its inception many still think the partying of ways was a conspiracy and Mujib and poor Bangladeshi's ultimately paid the price.

I definitely LOVED this book! It is a suspenseful Christian thriller/mystery book, that had me on the edge of my seat from page one. It was a page turner, for sure! I love the style of writing that Ronie Kendig uses...she adds humor with all the mystery and page turning suspense, really making this a "jump out and capture me" kind of book. I also love the fact that she used God throughout the whole book, not just a little of Him in the beginning or at the end, but through the whole book. Wonderful!

I love all the characters, but I really felt a connection with Reece....he feels a connection to Shiloh from the start but he really tries his best to ignore those feelings....and Shiloh was such a great character, too, with her air of mystery about her! Beautifully done!

I highly recommend this book to everyone who loves a good, clean thriller novel. It will have you captured from the beginning and you won't want to put it done until you have reached the end! This author has a talent for bringing a book to us that is filled with action, intense twists to the plot and unforgettable characters. I will recommend this book with the highest of 5 star praises and I anxiously await the release of Ms. Kendig's next book, the first in her Discarded Heroes series--Nightshade--a wonderful sounding Military suspense book, due out July 2010!

I just finished reading 'Dead Reckoning' by Ronie Kendig. And may I just say, Bravo Ronie!
This story has so many twists and angles, that I guarantee you will never get bored. Just when you think the story is about to slow down....BAM....you get hit by a new 'Wow' moment. While reading this story, I found myself so enthralled by all that Shiloh Blake had to go through, I realized that I was actually holding my breath at times. The characters are so intriguing, especially Shiloh and Reece (or should I say Brutus? Haha).
This is actually the first full length novel I've read by Ronie and it certainly won't be the last. If you enjoy 'edge of your seat' adventures, 'Dead Reckoning' should be on your reading list.
Prepare to hold your breath......yes, it is indeed a breathtaking adventure!

Shiloh Blake is an underwater archeologist graduate student on a dive in the waters outside of Mumbai, India. She unearthed a lamp in a site and is hopeful that she might have uncovered an under water city. But when she goes back down, her partners in the program are shot. One fatally, the other saved only by Shiloh's quick actions.

Reece Jaxon is a former Navy SEAL and now serves his country as a spy. He is trailing Shiloh in an attempt to keep her alive. But it is a struggle to keep up with the beguiling Shiloh as she knows all the usual spy tricks and then some.

Suddenly Shiloh finds herself mixed up in the middle of an international nuclear arms clash. She's trying to flee for her life, but it seems those trailing her are always one step ahead. There is only one way to end the nightmare and prevent a nuclear meltdown. But what will it take for Shiloh to trust Reece enough to do it?

DEAD RECKONING is Ronie Kendig's debut novel, and it is extremely well written. I don't know a whole lot about spy work so some of the actions and reactions described in this book seem a bit over the top to me, but it would be beautiful to watch in a movie.

I didn't get much feel for the characters. Both Shiloh and Reece are tougher than nails, trust no body, and hard, and that doesn't leave much room for the personal that allows the reader to get to know the character. However, the action and the description of the setting are top notch.

If you like suspense, then you will definitely want to check out DEAD RECKONING by Ronie Kendig. The ending is absolutely beautiful. .

I would like to extend a heartfelt "Thank you" to Ronie Kendig and her publisher for sending me a copy of "Dead Reckoning" to review for them. I have always been grateful for this generosity, and I am trying to improve at being consistent in taking the time to thank these wonderfully giving individuals in a public forum. I really appreciate your time, effort and expense in making a reviewer copy available to me.

Ronie Kendig's debut novel, "Dead Reckoning", is a high-energy political suspense thriller. I am always intrigued by a good suspense novel, but when I saw that the leading lady is an underwater archaeologist, I thought, "WOW! Jaws meets Indiana Jones!" But this is not some surreal adventure. This character has real issues: an estranged father, romance that doesn't always work out the way she thinks it should, and problems at work. Unfortunately, her difficulties on the job involve stumbling upon a nuclear arms conflict while she is on a dive. So now, she's on the run, but she doesn't know from what and she has no idea who she can trust, especially when it involves Reece - a man in whom she has more than a passing interest.

This novel is slathered in fast-paced storytelling that will keep the reader on the edge of their seat. The exotic middle eastern backdrop adds a bit of spice to the already exciting storyline, making it feel as if the tale is jumping off the pages of a national newspaper rather than out of a work of fiction. The well-crafted dialog is the polish on a brilliant work of fiction. The thread of faith that is woven from start to finish feeds the soul while you are being entertained. What a wonderful first novel!

Shiloh Blake had no intentions of following in her father's footsteps. His life as an undercover operative for the CIA had cost her mother her life and caused Shiloh neurological damage resulting in seizures. After 15 years of strained relations with her father and a deep seated anger and distrust toward him, she trusted only her best friend and colleague, Khalid Khan. However, during a routine underwater archaeological dive near Mumbai, Shiloh's team was ambushed, throwing her into the middle of an international terrorist plot and into the life of CIA operative Reece Jaxon. With Khalid seriously wounded by the attack, she had no one to rely on and was forced to decide whether to trust Reece and dive into the world of international espionage or try to survive by evading those pursuing her. With an intriguing plot and pulse pounding action, Dead Reckoning is a great debut thriller for Ronie Kendig.

When I saw that Eric Wilson endorsed this novel, I figured the odds were pretty good that it was going to be fun and exciting to read. Those suspicions were definitively confirmed. Dead Reckoning was not only action packed, it had an engaging, entertaining storyline. I immediately found myself not only caring about the outcome of the events, but also about the characters. I enjoyed seeing their personalities developed and their actions propel the story forward. This was a fun book to read and more than once, I found myself eager to finish my `work' in order to return to the story.

The book started out very strong with some great opening scenes loaded with lots of action and tense suspense. The middle of the book lost some momentum as it developed the romantic story line, but rebounded for a strong finish. Thrillers are hard to keep going from start to finish, so the downtime was not completely expected. However, a little less circular, self-doubting romance and it wouldn't have felt quite so slow.

I mostly enjoyed the international terrorist storyline, but did at times have difficulty figuring out exactly what the plan was. There seemed to be a few too many bits of information and allusions to things that might or did happen, without enough specifics. Additionally, it felt at times as though the terrorist plot took a backseat to the developing romance, which was a bit frustrating. Regardless, this book had a solid plot and even with the difficulty with cohesion and staying on track, was quite satisfying.

For a debut thriller, Dead Reckoning was well above average. With this book Kendig demonstrated a talent for good characters, great action, and an engaging storyline. It'll be exciting to see how she continues to develop her skills in future novels. This book is a great start to what looks to be a promising career.

Ronie Kendig provides a wonderful balance of story elements--characterization, dialogue, plot, setting--and serves it up with movie-screen clarity and pacing. Reading one of her novels is like being plunked down in the middle of an action/adventure film.

Dead Reckoning is memorable both for the richness of setting and the vividness of her characters. Shiloh and Reece are unforgettable ... and so is a certain motorcycle chase. I could feel the speed!

Reading Dead Reckoning was like watching an action-adventure film. A spy-thriller, it grabs you by the imagination from page one and doesn't let go until the end. I don't like to give anything away on a novel, so suffice it to say the characters are well developed and complex. The plot is completely believable, and Kendig keeps the tension high throughout. I read it on a flight from Atlanta to Seattle, and she made a 5 ½ hour flight seem like a 90-minute one. I definitely recommend Dead Reckoning to anyone who loves spy thrillers. You won't be disappointed!

If you're anything like me, you restlessly search through the store and through bookstores, hoping you can find something truly worth reading. A book that has actual depth, characters that feel real, excitement to escape into. Maybe you even pick through your own bookshelves at home hoping to rediscover some book from the past that you once read with abandonment. Well, here you go. This is your book. I mean literal non-stop action, heart-throbbing romance, characters that speak to you, faith that stands out on its own. This book will not leave you alone!

Remember when you used to feel utterly lost in excitement and anticipation every time you lifted the cover of that one special book? It's happening again! Ronie Kendig is a genius. If you aren't on the edge of your seat within moments, you're dead.

Read it, you'll absolutely LOVE it! This is the book you've been waiting for.

The only compilation which analyzes facts from all the sides of the war. I would definitely recommend it if you want to know the facts from a neutral and unbiased point of view that is the reason why it couldn't get good reviews. There is no doubt in the authenticity of the facts included by Ms. Bose; She took the perspectives and opinions from Generals at that time to the on-ground soldiers. Great job Ms. Bose. Indeed you contributed a lot in history by collecting these facts. Much thanks.

I really enjoyed Dead Reckoning. It's full of excitement, mystery, and suspense. I'm looking forward to reading more from this author. Truthfully, it was hard to tell this is a debut novel.....
Thanks to the publisher for sending me a copy of Dead Reckoning to review.

This was very well written and very well researched. I was impressed by the personal interviews that the author did with survivors of this conflict. It was also nice to hear the interviews word for word. I think the Pakistani soldiers gave tremendous nsight into what happened and how they felt about it. I think this book can be useful for someone looking into this conflict as to what happened and how it happened. But I also think that the author had a hidden motive in writing the book. She claimed to be unbiased but her purpose in writing was to blunt the perception of who was at fault. She claims that the victors write the history, but she leaves out key information. The Indians were the immediate victors, but the United States had the ultimate say in what could or could not be researched, war crimes trials were not allowed by the United States. She counted it as revelent that the Razakars were elected to Parliament after commiting such atrocities. They must be guilty. But when the US backs their political party you have a whole nother ball game. Bengalis must be terrible people if they assassinated Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, but they didn't. The CIA assassinated him, and Indira Gandhi as well. You cannot connect all the dots if you don't have all the information. What is a military crackdown supposed to look like against an unarmed population? How were soldiers expected to carry out such orders? She claimed they were justified is slaughtering the men of a village if someone in the vicinity had fired a lone gun at them. This would have been an atrocity if the Nazis had done it. She assumed that the Pakistani officers would not lie to her. They found ditches full of stinking dead people. The Bengalis must have killed them. The Pakistanis could not have done that because they seperated out the women and children before slaughtering the men. I personally was told by a Pakistani government official that they had orders that they were not to be held accountable for any Bengalis they killed no matter how high ranking. He was someone concerned about our safety. What happened there and how did it happen is not answered by this book. I think she is reflecting the United States desire to blunt the truth for their own reasons.
How could a general like Yahya Khan think that killing millions of unarmed people could be acceptable to the world opinion. Somebody gave him permission. IMHO someone he respected as a military leader suggested it. Someone who was leader over a huge military that was presently engaged in a huge war in Vietnam advised him to kill three million and the rest would eat out of his hand. I can imagine him raising his eyebrows and saying "You can do that?" Then US refusal to interfere, to caution restraint, makes sense. How could they tell him to kill three million people and then condemn him for it? It all makes sense. Someday, someone will search unclassified records and find those conversations as to whether my suggestion is true or false.

If you love thrillers with espionage, Dead Reckoning is a must-read! Kendig blows it out of the park with her debut novel featuring Shiloh and Reece with a backdrop setting of the intriguing India. There's something about Kendig's ability to create characters so multi-dimensional that blows me away. And the action? Whew! Reading Dead Reckoning whisks you away into danger, suspense and an exotic world. This one is not to miss! Highly recommend!

If you love thrillers with espionage, Dead Reckoning is a must-read! Kendig blows it out of the park with her debut novel featuring Shiloh and Reece with a backdrop setting of the intriguing India. There's something about Kendig's ability to create characters so multi-dimensional that blows me away. And the action? Whew! Reading Dead Reckoning whisks you away into danger, suspense and an exotic world. This one is not to miss! Highly recommend!

A decent book written by a courageous woman which will help to understand some balanced aspects of the 1971 pathetic incidents. Two arrogant politicians, Bhutto and Mujib, none had clear representation from noth the Pak wings, played the game to grab power. The military took advantage as they always do, innocents hindus were driven out of their paternal homes by military and Bangladeshi muslims, innocent biharis, women and children, were slaughtered by Bangladeshi muslims and hindus before liberation and after liberation. India took advantage to break the country which they wanted to destroy in 1947-48 and was successful in 1971. The result is 3 million ( biggest lie as no one cared to verify this number) killed. Bose's effort is to find out the truth and she did try her best to get to the truth.

My brother was shot dead by Razzakar and bihari group in june 1971 who knew his name was # 1 in the list of Pakistani opposition. He did not run away but fought from my village. I saw the liberation struggle as a university student. Chuknagar is 30 miles from my home, Jessore 25 miles, Khulna 11 miles. We have seen and suffered. The ultimate truth is this : The power struggle between Bhutto and Mujib took the country to such a messy situation, that an explosion was bound to happen and Pak army started the war of liberation, definitely not Mujib, who refused to join the war of liberation on March 25th night. The criminals, like Tikka, Farman Ali lived a happy life without any punishment but the major players Mujib, Bhutto and Indira Gandhi all had to die at the hand of their own people. I hope Sarmila Bose bring about an expanded version of her pioneering work with more information and let the younger generation know the true story, not the gossip of those criminals who looted before and after liberation, in the name of liberation and politics. Hats off to Bose.

this book has so much going for it: loveable characters, great action, and a page-turning plot. what really disappointed me was that the inevitable romantic relationship took up far too much page space in Mills&Boon style. I can only read so many descriptions of a man's chest before i feel the need to toss a book as garbage. Literary equivalent of a 'chick flick' ... with guns.

Pity there are no negative stars for this type of absolute political tripe. Absolutely untrue and an insult to the 6 million Hindus killed by Pakistani forces and Jihadi's in Bangladesh.

Totally in conflict with the information sent to President Nixon and Sec of State Henry Kissinger as documented by said US Ambassador in the blood telegram.

First the good things. The author did a tremendous amount of research on the ground both in Bangladesh and Pakistan. She spoke with actual survivors and Pakistani Army war veterans to collate their versions and compile them together to provide both sides of the versions for different events. For every popular story from the liberation war, she tried to get the story from the other side. She put in some effort to go beyond words and propaganda and tried to dig deeper into hard facts.

This "He said / She said" approach to presenting the stories would have worked very well... if the author hadn't used the versions to shore up her own personal biases in narrating the tale. Thus Pakistani narratives are rarely questioned, while the Bangladeshi narratives are mostly reproduced with the words 'alleged' appended in front of them.

The way she narrates the book, she has full faith in the Pakistani version of the events while the Bangladeshi and Indian versions are suspect.

Perhaps given the unprecedented access to Pakistani army war veterans, she felt the need to be more 'loyal than the king' ?..

Thus she spouts her doubt at the 93,000 Combatant POWs figure (Which she rightly should) but goes to the other extreme and quotes General Niazi's figures (as given in his book ~34000) as the correct one.. lost in the melee is the fact that even the Pakistani government's HRC report gives a figure of 80,000 uniformed personnel.(incl 56000 troops). One would expect an academic to refer to that report while studying the war (the report does gets a mention in one of the appendices), but that wouldnt fit into the narrative she wants to tell ...does it?

The rigor that she gives to Bangladeshi claims of Pakistani killings is strangely missing when she talks about the Dacca Orphanage bombing. all that she can quote are pakistani numbers of 400 killed - and here too - The London Obsever's Gavin Young is quoted as a source multiple times. It is well known that Gavin Young's dispatches were not exactly charitable to the Indian forces and there was a barely disguisable contempt in all his reports about the Indian forces. Missing is the mention of a german reporter who said he did not see more than a dozen bodies .. Gavin Youngs claims of Indian Air Force aircraft missing their target is worthy of being included in the main text, but the surgical strike on the Governor's house that is narrated in so many publications is not worthy ... ofcourse it doesnt fit your narrative. ... does it?

A bangladeshi veteran's simplified story of 'bombs from helicopter' is taken at face value without the need to cross check whether the helicopters can actually carry bombs that can result in 400 people getting killed. (For what its worth, the bangladeshi veteran was flying an Alouette III helicopter armed with rockets)

Lastly - if Bangladeshi numbers are suspect, there is no explanation as to why the Pakistani numbers are reliable?

As an Indian war history buff myself, I find her lack of engagement in studying Indian version of events, or trying to talk to more Indian army veterans very baffling (And sloppy at best). The only Indian Army veteran she had interviewed was General J F R Jacob, who is not exactly an infallible resource.

The book rightly received boatloads of flak for its style of language and selective research. A review of the links given in the wikipedia of Bose's profile is a starting place for the book reviews. The book ultimately ended up with two stars. The first star - because its the least you can give a book. the second, because the author put in some effort to do the grassroots research. Even the second star would be a stretch. In a way this book is the internet equivalent of a troll who posts something on a website so that it gets more 'page views'. Dr Bose definitely succeeded in raising a storm by her selective approach to numbers and facts.

That said, there is a lesson here for the Bengali historians too. There should be an effort to do research based on facts rather than emotions and anecdotal evidence. I had noticed that there was not enough rigorous effort to chronicle the civilian deaths of the conflict. A serious official effort by the Bangladeshi government to locate pre-war census lists as well as documents along with analysis might help put future history revisionists out of work.

Overall, I thought this was excellent. The action packed underwater scenes are dramatic and intense. This book is great for those who like fast paced spy novels on the order of the Bourne identity. Top notch entertaining read!

Fairly enjoyable. Good overall story. Would have hung in tighter had I been thrown pieces of the main characters' depth along the way. A miracle so many death attempts were thwarted by an
archeological diver? (la, S. Fl)

I recently started reading Ronie Kendig's books and I can't put them down! What I liked about this book was the action packed twist and turns, all the while developing a romance under extreme life threatening circumstances. I love the characters and hope that there will be more to follow. I highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys suspensful romance...Dead Reckoning is a must read!

Bose has misquoted her interviewees and other academics that she cites as reference. She is biased towards Pakistani Army in the language she deploys – Bangladeshi accounts are labelled "claims", Pakistani officers' accounts are straightforward accounts.

I'm completely baffled by ratings for this book. This book is so dreadful that I wonder if the author has a big family who've all given her good ratings to boost sales or if the 4 star rated reviews are from folks who just don't read a lot of quality writing. The prose here just doesn't flow. The author's attempts at creative metaphors are so clumsy I winced at most of them. The writing is filled with malapropism after malapropism. Whoever was the editor on this one should be ashamed of themselves. And that's all before I get to the actual story here.
For me this books fails no matter what genre you want to put it in. If you are a fan of Christian books I simply can't see where this story would give any satisfaction. There's no real message of spirituality here unless half a dozen prayers along the lines of `God, please help me out of this tricky situation" qualifies. If that's all it takes for a book to be classified as `Christian' and sell then a lot of far better writers need to jump on that bandwagon - and fast! As far as the action/espionage thriller definition goes it's another flop. It's obvious this writer does little or no research because there's absolutely no meat on this story or on mot of the characters at all. She gives us the bad guys, a Muslim group called the Allah's Sword of Justice, but there's no back story about what the group is about nor is there any clear explanation as to why they want to set off a nuke in Pakistan and blame it on India or what they would get out of it. There's no real back story on the main characters either and what there was left me asking too many questions e.g. the hero, called Reece Jaxon (what a name right!) is supposedly Christian but we don't have any idea how or when his belief system came into being. We also learn he had some sort of pact with his sister but are never told what the pact actually is, only that his sister's engagement negates it! The heroine, Shiloh, has a real big problem with her dad the CIA agent. We know it's connected to her mother's death in a car accident Shiloh and her Mom were in when she was a kid and that Shiloh saw her mother die. Later on, we read that Shiloh was also kidnapped as a kid but never find out anything about that or if was related to the car crash! As for other characters, we learn next to nothing about any of them, they're just there.
Last word on lack of research, at one point we are told Shiloh is in London, leans out of her hotel window to see the time on Uncle Ben. The clock in London is called BIG BEN. Who doesn't know that?
I'm not a writer but I do remember being told in school and college that one should `write what you know'. It's blatantly obvious that this author doesn't know much or expect her readers to know much either.

Mrs. Bose is a proud daughter of Suvas Chandra Bose - like father, like daughter. As late Mr. Suvas was a valiant proponent of justice and a voice of logic, so is Mrs. Bose. This book will definitely provide a non-biased view of the biased narrative of the history written by the victorious party of 1971 war, and would be challenged by every biased mind.
Bravo Mrs. Bose, a heart-felt salute.

This was very well written and very well researched. I was impressed by the personal interviews that the author did with survivors of this conflict. It was also nice to hear the interviews word for word. I think the Pakistani soldiers gave tremendous nsight into what happened and how they felt about it. I think this book can be useful for someone looking into this conflict as to what happened and how it happened. But I also think that the author had a hidden motive in writing the book. She claimed to be unbiased but her purpose in writing was to blunt the perception of who was at fault. She claims that the victors write the history, but she leaves out key information. The Indians were the immediate victors, but the United States had the ultimate say in what could or could not be researched, war crimes trials were not allowed by the United States. She counted it as revelent that the Razakars were elected to Parliament after commiting such atrocities. They must be guilty. But when the US backs their political party you have a whole nother ball game. Bengalis must be terrible people if they assassinated Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, but they didn't. The CIA assassinated him, and Indira Gandhi as well. You cannot connect all the dots if you don't have all the information. What is a military crackdown supposed to look like against an unarmed population? How were soldiers expected to carry out such orders? She claimed they were justified is slaughtering the men of a village if someone in the vicinity had fired a lone gun at them. This would have been an atrocity if the Nazis had done it. She assumed that the Pakistani officers would not lie to her. They found ditches full of stinking dead people. The Bengalis must have killed them. The Pakistanis could not have done that because they seperated out the women and children before slaughtering the men. I personally was told by a Pakistani government official that they had orders that they were not to be held accountable for any Bengalis they killed no matter how high ranking. He was someone concerned about our safety. What happened there and how did it happen is not answered by this book. I think she is reflecting the United States desire to blunt the truth for their own reasons.
How could a general like Yahya Khan think that killing millions of unarmed people could be acceptable to the world opinion. Somebody gave him permission. IMHO someone he respected as a military leader suggested it. Someone who was leader over a huge military that was presently engaged in a huge war in Vietnam advised him to kill three million and the rest would eat out of his hand. I can imagine him raising his eyebrows and saying "You can do that?" Then US refusal to interfere, to caution restraint, makes sense. How could they tell him to kill three million people and then condemn him for it? It all makes sense. Someday, someone will search unclassified records and find those conversations as to whether my suggestion is true or false.

Born and raised in a 'freedom fight' inspired family, I've always heard the one side of the history, the Bangladeshi version. This book didn't educate me a lot but pointed me the loopholes of the history I was taught. Funny to see the book reviews here, egotism of the bigots. Its really hard to face the truth. Sharmial Bose as an academician did it. She told us that we were fed lies. Lies that we always loved to hear.

Few realize how important it is to preserve history. Specially when the history is based on a painful civil war. Ms Bose has managed to produce a work which will be part of the debate for centuries to come. And a job well done.

Most of Bangladesh war history has been written in a patriotic narrative which completely ignores the excesses committed by other sides. This war was fought between four sides, on one side were the Indian Armay and the Bangali militants and on the ther side were Pakistan Army and the nationalist comprising of Bengalis, Biharis and the west Pakistanis. Like any war, excesses were done on both sides. This book gives an impartial view on the excesses. The only thing missing in this book are the details of terrorism excercised by Indian army as a war tactic in their covert operations. As a witness to this war, I find this book fair and recommend it to all who want to get a balanced view of this historic event.

Laguable attempt at re-writing history. If you only interview a handful of woman who don't testify to being raped then it didn't happen? How about all those woman who were killed after being raped or the ones who committed suicide? Then to interview Pakistani soldiers on this? Are you kidding me? Wow! Such pathetic biased reporting. One would expect something better from someone with such an impressive scholastic background. Thanks to the information superhighway it's easy to do some research on the author, Sarmila Bose, and in 2005 she co-authored an article with a US Ambassador advocating the sale of fighter jets to Pakistan. Biased much?

My wife started reading this book, and asking me to clarify certain points which I had to keep correcting her on... After a while I had to read the book for myself and found it to be an utterly biased rewriting of history. It's almost like stating the holocaust never happened. Bose tries unwittingly to get both sides of the story, but in doing so blurs fact from fiction by trying to justify the oppressors.

At the time Bangladesh was like a police state with Pakistani's on a witch hunt for all intellectuals, academics and Hindus. They thought that East Pakistani's weren't 'Muslim enough' and focused too much on culture & education as opposed to religion. That fundamentalism has got Pakistan to the unfortunate juncture it is at today.

Bose fails miserably to portray a real account of what happened, the torture, dissent, ravaging of minorities, rape of women and girls in front of their husbands and fathers, children and men shot in front of their families... It's really sad that Bose was allowed to do this; essentially this book needs to be placed in the 'Fiction' section, as that's precisely what it is.

While rage and outcries pour in from all over the world when lunatics and bigots deny the Holocaust, I'm appalled at Sarmila Bose's smug assertions in this work that the rape, murder, and mass eradication of 3 million Bengalis was anything less than war crimes, which incidentally still have not been brought to light by an international tribunal. I speak not only as a Bangladeshi but as a scholar and a human being. I'm all for balanced accounts of history, but how much balance can one have writing about Auschwitz? How do you report in an unbiased manner about Dachau? Or Cambodia under Pol Pot's reign? I think the store should pull this book from its list. I am offended by it and will boycott the store until it has given this matter some thought. Again, had this been a Holocaust denial book it would never have been on sale, not to mention the general clamor that it would initiate. There is no place for double standards. My family and I know people whose loved ones and friends were murdered in 1971; dragged out of the house in the middle of the night and never seen again, or found as a corpse in a field. That, Dr. Bose, is not inflating myths or propagating biased judgments, THEY ARE FACTS.

This book is highly biased. The write mostly took interviews of the Pakistani generals who obviously have denied the atrocities they committed in Bangladesh in 1971. The write says she tried to be neutral and yet, she took interviews of only 37-38 people in Bangladesh and drew conclusion about 7 crore people of 1971 Bangladesh. This is a very sloppy research methodology. Among these few people, only 4 were women who, she says, mentioned anything about the mass rape in 1971, and thus, the writer completely neglected this part of the atrocities, almost saying "nothing like that happened", committed by the Paki army in Bangladesh, 1971, whereas numerous documents, videos depict otherwise.

Sarmila Bose, despite her association with Oxford, does have a rather tainted past. She is also the co-author of the 2005 article supporting the sale of F-16s to Pakistan[...]), the same country that USA had to recently invade to kill Osama-bin-Laden. While any scholarship requires perspective and can be open to bias and criticisms, Sarmila's work is somewhat beyond the pale of what might be considered objective. Now she has embarked on re-writing the history of 1971 genocide conducted by Pakistani Army in East Bengal (now Bangladesh). Even American diplomats who were strongly pro-Pakistani at that time (in 1971 - thanks to Nixon and Kissinger) used the term genocide in their cables to describe what was going on in East Bengal.

Oxford should be ashamed of associating this type of scholarship with its name !

This book started well. I enjoyed the first half & easily skipped over the creepy "hidden" Christian conversion lines. But the second half just bogged down & the Christian messages increased.

The book's contents are unsurprising considering the author's pedigree - NSC Bose after all thought the mass murderer Hitler would aid him in his comical efforts at getting rid of the British from India. Ms Bose's revisionism is spectacular enough to vault it to the upper echelons of fiction.

This was an awesome book. I loved the whole Indian journey. Shiloh Blake is on an archeological dive when she finds a cylinder that is definitely not an artifact. She comes to the surface to flying bullets. Two of her team fall into the water shot. One is dead but her best friend, Khalid is still alive. She swims to safety and signals for help. The Indian Coast Guard comes for them and takes them to the nearest city and hospital.

CIA Agent Reece Jaxon is on the ship when they pick up the Shiloh. He is drawn to her even as he is instructed to protect her with his life. She is the daughter of his former mentor and fellow CIA agent. They must find out what she found and who is after her.

The struggle of two flawed and strong willed people trying to save the world without loosing their lives and their hearts. The coming together of military units along with political powers. It is a fast moving, action packed adventure into another world. I loved it and I know you will too.Dead Reckoning

If you like suspense novels filled with explosions, kidnappings, international espionage, chase scenes through crowded markets, murders, shootings, nuclear devices set to go off, bombings, and other forms of general mayhem with a strong theme of romance, then Ronie Kendig’s “Dead Reckoning” is waiting for you. In fact, I suspect all 12 of Kendig’s novels are waiting for you.

I’m still trying to catch my breath after reading “Dead Reckoning.”

Shiloh Blake is a graduate student in underwater archaeology at the University of California-San Diego. She’s with a team not far off the coast from Mumbai, India, investigating an underwater site that may be a lost city. Just as she finds an odd cylinder, there’s shooting above on the surface. All of her colleagues have been shot; only one survives – Khalid Khan, a Pakistani national who’s more than a little in love with Shiloh.

Neither Shiloh nor Khaled know why their team was attacked. The Indian Coast Guard responds to the distress call, and on the boat is an American, Reece Jaxon, whom, we eventually learn, is a CIA operative in India. (For the record, only Shiloh Blake and Reece Jaxon have Hollywood-style names; the other characters’ names are more prosaic.)

Khaled survives his surgery, but men claiming to be local police come looking for Shiloh. She escapes and eventually connects to Reece again. He’s been assigned to guard her, although she doesn’t know that and he doesn’t tell. What they do know is that someone is desperate to get hold of Shiloh, both for what she knows and what she has. She’s essentially chased all over Mumbai and survives several murder attempts, including a bombing at a train station. What’s at stake is a plan by a terrorist group to turn the Mideast upside down.

And, not unexpectedly, Reece and Shiloh fall in love with each other, although it appears to be more like a love-hate-and-possibly-betrayal kind of relationship. Both of them turn out to have CIA baggage, Reece’s being a failed operation where an operative died and Shiloh’s being her father, who’s also a CIA operative (and the man who trained Reece).

If this sounds confusing, I’ll take the blame (or credit). The story doesn’t have to be read that closely to follow it and understand what’s happening. And while many of the events and plot developments may seem improbable, Kendi’s writing is such that you can suspend belief and get wrapped up in the story.

This is faith-based fiction (Reece Jaxon is a Christian believer) and while there are scenes of some passion, they don’t stray to the explicit.

Well-written, fast-paced and action-packed, “Dead Reckoning” may be exactly the kind of book to read by the pool. As long as you don’t mind all the bodies left on the ground.