The Fortune Catcher

Rating:
Summary: A great fiction novel and well written!!
Review: Although this book is technically fiction, it has many factual elements within it. Not only is it a fast paced love story, drama/thriller filled book that keeps the reader's attention, but it also incorporates integral facts about the Iranian culture as a whole while giving it's reader's cultural understanding through it's well thought out characters. I am an avid reader this is a good one!

Rating:
Summary: I LOVE THIS BOOK
Review: I loved reading this book! It's intelligent, action-packed, and enlarged my horizons. I learned so much about what life is really like for women living in the Middle East from this book. A great and suspenseful love story, which kept me on the edge of my seat. Edgework Books released a new edition in 2002, so it is easily available for readers. I recommend this book for anyone who likes to read intelligent fiction set in exotic lands.

Rating:
Summary: From revolutionary Iran, a feast of danger and romance
Review: THE FORTUNE CATCHER is a love story set during the Iranian revolution, with all the requisite elements -- romance, danger, separation, suspense, some really vicious villains, some wonderful good guys -- in other words, a real page-turner. But the best part is author Susanne Pari's handling of the cultural material -- the holidays and customs, religious conflicts, history, politics, and the place of women within each culture. A "fire-jumping" celebration at a traditional Persian New Year's party in the opening scene becomes a metaphor for all that the Iranian/American heroine, Layla, must endure as this nerve-rattling story unfolds. Pari compares and contrasts Muslim, American, Farsi, and Israeli characters of every stripe, revealing their complex backgrounds and motivations with an incredibly deft hand and clear eye. The novel is beautifully balanced, deeply informative, and so vivid, you can see the varying landscapes, smell the air, and taste the food. If you love books that pay attention to cuisine, you'll find THE FORTUNE CATCHER an especially delicious read. Page-turner that it is, I found myself frequently pausing to re-read a particularly sensuous description. This book is one to savor!