Lost glory and hidden treasure-tryst with history

A black sedan is following kitty and Andrew-and with every passing second the distance is reducing.
Kitty was yet to grasp what has just started to happen-as if a Hollywood action movie chase sequence is being enacted in front of her-unfortunately her being a very much alive part of it.
Andrew suggested an idea- at the crossroad kitty will get down from the car, with the picture and Andrew will continue to drive- deceiving their followers in black sedan. She will hide behind the sphinx statue-and when everything gets normal they will meet again. This is his Plan A-if that does not work-she will just go to the water and start the jet ski and speed up to go out of sight.
Foolproof plan-isn’t it?
But kitty has not kept in mind her inquisitive nature-something caught attention of her –made her excited.
It was the hieroglyphics.
She forgot everything in a haze-her chaser-her stolen picture- what lies ahead. She wanted to read the script with a torchlight-completely forgetting the fact that the beam of light might attract the black sedan.
And it did-exactly like that.
What kitty will do now? Will her plan B work?
Kitty Hawk and the Tragedy of the RMS Titanic by Iain Reading is the fourth book of the Kitty Hawk flying detective agency series. Anyone who is acquainted with Kitty knows quite well that where Kitty does go –some mysteries do follow her-and this time is no exception. And this is for the first time she has been actually hired by a client to solve a mystery that remained unsolved for generations-a mystery involving one of the most tragic incidents in the history of modern world. This story is an absorbing chronicle of Kitty being a part of the sinking of the RMS Titanic.
It all started when Kitty-our young protagonist and a rare blend of Mongo Park and Sherlock Holmes was met by Andrew-during her stay at Ireland. Andrew’s family received an envelope way back in 1937-containing a cutting from a newspaper and a black and white photograph-taken at the Cork harbour-during the eventful journey of Titanic. And for years the family was a part of history-and desperately questing for light. Confused? Let me explain it.
The first officer of the unsinkable ship who was bestowed with the duty of watching the navigation of the ship on that eventful night was the great uncle of Andrew-William McMaster Murdoch. The night was blistering cold-and everybody on board has a feeling that ice is nearby. The eventful night of the first and last journey was made alive by the pen of Iain. As usual it is a rare combination of entertainment mixed with knowledge. Tales associated with the sinking of the great ship found their way in such a manner that you may feel a black face-with eyes burning like coals are gazing at you-if you wake up during the night after finishing the book. The steady progress of the ship-the collision-the shock of the passengers- the struggle for existence all found their way in such a fashion in the book that you may think you are amid the tragedy-listening to the last prayers of the passengers. and then the moment came
‘For a moment, the lights of the ship blazed brightly before flickering into darkness. A terrible roar arose from deep inside Titanic as the entire contents of the enormous ship broke free-everything from gigantic boilers to tiny teaspoons. High in the air the ship’s stern seemed to hang motionless for an eternity before finally plummeting down into the icy black abyss.
As the water closed over titanic’s aft railing, the great ship disappeared from sight leaving only the horrific screams of the dying that would haunt the survivors for the rest of their lives. But slowly even those screams died out, leaving only an icy cold silence as the survivors waited in the darkness for rescue.’
But nobody knows what happened to the first officer-the ancestor of the Andrews. Somebody said they had seen him suicide in gunpoint- somebody said he had been swept away to the depth of the ocean-but one thing is certain. He had been portrayed as villain by media at large-and his image remained almost the same after so many years.
Andrew wanted Kitty to unearth what really happened on that eventful day? Was he really to be blamed? It went all wrong on that night. But was it a collective decision or a personal blame?
There is another mystery shrouding the envelope that Andrew family received years ago. There is a rumour that Rubiyat e Omar Khayyam –the original eternal book of love poems- dazzled with gold and gemstones had been lost with the sinking of the ship. The director of the white star linear- whose proud possession was the titanic – had somehow escaped the tragedy and Andrew’s family believed that he had managed to take it to safety.
The envelopes contain threads to the mystery-the key to the treasure of the invaluable book of love!
Back of the photo contained some scribbles-maybe some code. Through generations the Andrew family tried their best-consulted all expert-but all in vain.
Now it is the turn of Kitty to make a brilliant move of detection. And she is successful-at least initially. The photo leads the duo to see some light at the end of the tunnel. Here kitty shows brilliant power of detection-deciphering the first step of the mystery.
First step lead them to the house of the former director-where a particular picture of the titanic may lead them to the second step of mystery. Now the question is-will his heir will allow them?
With every passing moment- new clues will lead her towards the truth. The story gains momentum as the plot progresses-at the speed of a rocket. The cultural punch of the British Isles imparts a whole new perspective to the entire story-the people and their culture as usual made the story alive –like other Kitty Hawk adventures.
Iain has created such a reliable ambiance of medieval London within modern London-a London city where the footstep of Jack the Ripper stole the sleep of the people, where a tall man covered in an overcoat and hat is after the criminals – it can create an illusion at times in the mind of the reader that whether he is inside a time machine or not.
But to be or not to be-that is the question.

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The review was done courtesy to the copy provided by the writer in association with bookpublicityservices.com,

And the views expressed by me is my honest thinking of the book.

Other kitty series reviews are

the hunt of kitty…..

Kitty in the land of the Vikings….

the world of Kitty a. HAWK

the hunt of kitty…..

Kitty Hawk and the Hunt for Hemingway’s Ghost by Iain Reading
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

She looked in amazement to the figure whom she just saw coming out. Maybe she is ready to shout in disbelief-but turns dumb thinking the absurdity of the situation.
How can it be possible?
She is seeing the noble laurite author who has given the world some of the classics like The Old Man and the Sea, Far from the madding crowd etc. etc.
Is it possible that Earnest Hemingway- all in apiece with a blood and flesh body coming out?
She rubbed her eye in disbelief- no, it can’t be!
Had she just seen the spirit of the great writer!
‘Kitty Hawk and the Hunt For The Hemingway Ghost’ by Iain Reading is the second book of the Kitty Hawk flying detective agency series.
Stories of adventures and thrill have attracted man in a way that no other story can ever attract.
While reading the adventure of little Tom Sawyer we can easily imagine us in the place of little tom –and be a part of the adventure in the island- like a free bird in the air!
In our unconsciousness we feel a shiver down our spine when little Jim is on a treasure hunt in a remote island.
Why man is so fond of stories of adventure.
Perhaps quest to know the unknown is an inherent character of man since the dawn of civilization. Probably it is in the genes of species Homo sapiens!
For ages that call of the unknown had never let man sit idly in the corner of the house- David Livingstone, Mongo Park, Marco polo-the list is endless…
This review of Kitty Hawk and the Hunt for Hemingway Ghost by Iain Reading is a tribute to the desire of man to identify the unknown.
Three separate pieces of writing -apparently meaningless are in front of her. One is a piece of black impression of the engraving on a brick work, the other a meaningless piece of writing-meaningless to her, of course and the third –a sentence written in English of course- but hard to fathom any meaning out of it.
All are spinning like the dancing men of Sherlock Holmes –in front of our protagonist Kitty Hawk. She is really mystified this time.
‘What the hell? I blinked my eyes and tried to make sense of the various bizarre markings. Some of them seemed to be made up of familiar characters and numbers, but the rest of the markings were unlike anything I’d ever seen before. What does all of that mean?”
For those who are not familiar with this modern sophisticated version of Tom Sawyer-she has a brilliant power of logical reasoning and presence of mind-coupled with an passion for flying her own small plane like a sea gulf-which she has inherited from the side of her father and a love for nature that has been bestowed upon her by her ‘crazy’ mother.
Last summer she had a remarkable adventure involving gold rush and stolen gold. She was on an expedition of observing humpback whales.
This year she has a greater mission, though. Following the footsteps of her icon, great Amelia Earhart-she has a mission of circling round the earth. and en route of globe trotting she has arrived to the southernmost point of the U.S.A-perhaps to take a little rest from the hectic days ahead in her little future carer of globe trotting!
‘It was so impossible to believe this was really happening that I had trouble convincing myself sometimes, but I was actually doing it. I was actually flying around the world. And if I ever doubted it and wondered if it was all just a dream, the only thing I needed to do to convince myself that I was on the adventure of a lifetime was to look out of the window of my trust.”
Like every tourist-she too visited the house of Earnest Hemingway. And that’s from where the mystery stats to thicken like a fog. You will not believe how fast it will cover you! Strange sound of typewriter inside the house of Hemingway, and witnessing the boat of the noble laureate was all set to play a little orchestra inside the mind of Kitty.
Has the great writer has resurrected after so many years?
Our young protagonist has also visited the fort Jefferson –for a leisure time pass perhaps and for a close encounter with the sea wolves- Barracudas! But when Kitty is here-can mystery is far behind.
A glow of light in the night sea, a boat, two mysterious persons-all are enough to make kitty’s mind into action. She is on a run …..
Suspense, suspense, suspense….
At one point of time you will wonder it may kill you!
The rest is an absorbing story of adventure involving the history of the early ages of colonial rule, tale of a failed project and a saga of failed endeavour of greed. Narration with a dash of humour will make you just visualize everything.
For young adult and adult alike-it is like propelling the imagination –just picturing them in place of Kitty.
And be her globetrotting companion.
The writer has supplied so much material form the pages of history, culture, people and life of the lands that the plane will never crash…

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The review was done courtesy to the copy provided by the writer in association with bookpublicityservices.com,

And the views expressed by me is my honest thinking of the book.

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