The Strange Disappearance Of A Bollywood Star by Vaseem Khan

The Blurb On The Back:

Mumbai thrives on extravagant spectacles and larger-than-life characters.

But even in the city of dreams, there is no guarantee of a happy ending.

Rising star and incorrigible playboy Vikram Verma has disappeared, leaving his latest film in jeopardy. Hired by Verma’s formidable mother to find him, Inspector Chopra and his sidekick, baby elephant Ganesha, embark on a journey deep into the world’s most flamboyant movie industry.

As they uncover feuding stars, failed investments and death threats, it seems that many people have a motive for wanting Verma out of the picture.

And yet, as Chopra has long suspected, in Bollywood the truth is often stranger than fiction …

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

The third in Vaseem Khan’s BABY GANESH AGENCY SERIES is an absolutely delightful crime mystery that explores the contrast between the adulation enjoyed by the Bollywood elite and the contempt and hated endured by its eunuch community but it’s the relationships that make it stand out and I loved Chopra’s dysfunctional family unit (especially Ganesh who is utterly charming) and how it’s friendship and love that keeps them together.

Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.

The Future Of Diplomacy by Philip Seib

The Blurb On The Back:

Never before has diplomacy evolved at such a rapid pace. It is being transformed into a global participatory process by new media tools and new empowered publics. “Public diplomacy” has taken center-stage as diplomats strive to reach and influence audiences that are better informed and more assertive than any in the past.

In this crisp and insightful analysis, Philip Seib, one of the world’s top experts on media and foreign policy, explores the future of diplomacy in our hyper-connected world. He shows how the focus of diplomatic practice has shifted away from the closed-door, top-level negotiations of the past. Today’s diplomats are obliged to respond instantly to the latest crisis fuelled by a YouTube video or Facebook post. This has given rise to a more open and reactive approach to global problem-solving with consequences that are difficult to predict. Drawing on examples from the Iran nuclear negotiations to the humanitarian crisis in Syria, Seib argues persuasively for this versatile and flexible public-facing diplomacy; one that makes strategic use of both new media and traditional diplomatic processes to manage the increasingly complex relations between states and new non-state political actors in the twenty-first century.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Philip Seib is a professor of journalism at USC and in this fascinating book he describes how international diplomacy has moved away from a secretive, behind closed doors activity that the public are unaware of until the diplomats are ready to announce to an activity that’s increasingly carried out within and informed by the social media arena, necessitating a different range of skills and a more open approach.

Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.