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The Disappeared (Jenny Cooper #2)
The Disappeared (Jenny Cooper #2)
M.R Hall | 2010 | Crime, Fiction & Poetry
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
205
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The Disappeared ( Coroner Jenny Cooper book 2)
By Matthew Hall

Review via Smashbomb! Link posted in commenonce read.

Two missing students. One sinister cover-up.

Two young British students, Nazim Jamal and Rafi Hassan vanish without a trace. The police tell their parents that the boys had been under surveillance, that it was likely they left the country to pursue their dangerous new ideals. Seven years later, Nazim's grief-stricken mother is still unconvinced. Jenny Cooper is her last hope.

Jenny is finally beginning to settle into her role as Coroner for the Severn Valley; the ghosts of her past that threatened to topple her, banished to the sidelines once more. But as the inquest into Nazim's disappearance gets underway, the stink of corruption and conspiracy becomes clear . . .

As the pressure from above increases, a code of silence is imposed on the inquest and events begin to spiral out of all control, pushing Jenny to breaking point. For how could she have known that by unravelling the mysteries of the disappeared, she would begin to unearth her own buried secrets?



I enjoyed this book so much! I really connected with Jenny I found a lot of common ground with her and with the two surrounding cities of Birmingham and Bristol! I sometimes struggle when a male author writes a female lead but Hall does it brilliantly! The story was interesting it kept you gripped from the start. The struggle for Jenny is balancing her being a mother with her high powered career all while having mental health issues caused by real life situations! I genuinely couldn’t put it down!
  
American Made (2017)
American Made (2017)
2017 | Mystery
Biopics can be problematic in their attempt to retell history or use individual perspectives to inform their audience about events that many may already be familiar with. In American Made, Tom Cruise plays Barry Seal, a TWA pilot who is recruited by the CIA to fly reconnaissance missions in Central America. He soon finds himself at the center of drug trafficking, gun trafficking, and as a pawn of several different entities seeking to use his skills and expertise for their own purposes.

The film is ambitious in trying to tell serious historic events as a campy adventure in which Barry is care free despite the consequences of his actions. Nothing about the film seems right. It unfortunately, can make an audience feel uneasy cheering on a drug smuggler who is making inordinate amounts of money for some of the most dangerous individuals on the face of the earth.

A positive effect of the film is that it demonstrates to audiences the complexities of American Foreign policy, drug policy, and corruption that existed in the 1980s and that it shouldn’t be viewed with rose colored glasses. If anything, it may offer another perspective about the period that not too many people may be familiar with and create a desire in them to research more about the period and events.

American Made offers audiences a funny, introspective, personal account of one man’s experience working for the government and drug cartels that allows for a break from some of the more serious and dark portrayals that have typically been featured. Audiences will enjoy reminiscing about the 80s and think back to how complicated the period actually was.