The Defector 22-60

          This part of the book just introduces you to the main character Gabriel Allon, and his current setting in the Villa dei Fiori. Gabriel is a trained special ops agent, but he prefers to be left alone and he likes to remake paintings. He meets his old friend Uzi Navot, and Uzi is talking to Gabriel about "The Office". The office is a special agency set in Israel trying to weed out terrorists. During these two characters meeting the reader gets some insight on their background together including some missions that went wrong in Moscow. During this meeting Uzi tells Gabriel why he is there, and Uzi is there because he has to inform Gabriel that Grigori Bulganov is gone. Uzi tells Gabriel everything he knows about the kidnapping. Gabriel remembers the promise that he made Grigori, that he would he would not end up in an unmarked grave. Grigori is concerned about this because that is what the Russians do to traitors as punishment, kill them and put them in an unmarked grave. Uzi asked if Gabriel could help him, but Gabriel said that he still needed to finish his painting, and he requested three days to do this. Uzi left Gabriel with two bodyguards, Judea and Samaria. When Gabriel gets back to his place to finish up the paintings he informs his wife about the problem that has come up. Gabriel tells her how he has to go save his good Russian friend Grigori. Gabriel then was able to sneak out of painting and travel from Italy all the way to London, England. He deceived his bodyguards with the help of his wife. When he got to London he met with Graham Seymour and with Graham, Gabriel watched video footage of Grigori going into the car that took him. Immediately after Griori stepped into the car two people went to where Grigori was standing. Gabriel believed Grigori stepped into the car so willingly because he thought the other two people were assassins.

            So far I'm liking this book how Gabriel is really on his own and doesn't really take orders from many people. He didn't listen to his friend Uzi and stay put with the two body guards. I also like how Gabriel is a honest man and how he is willing to put his life in danger to keep his promise with his old friend Grigori. Gabriel also seems to have a lot of talents in the field and at his own house.

The Defector 1-21

       This book starts out with this man named Pyotr Luzhkov, and he is about to be killed. This man has been beaten very severely and he was shirtless and shoeless in the snowy woods of Russia. Then the focus switches to a man named Grigori and he has an interest in Chess. Grigori also has a lot of enemies that want him dead. He was in a tournament and he dominated everyone he played against, and he even beat the champion from last year tournament, in the semi-finals. When Grigori was making his way to the Finals match he seemed troubled and walked at a much faster pace and Chess was no longer on his mind. The man who Grigori was supposed to play in the finals, Simon Finch, was waiting forever and was wondering what could have happened to his opponent. Then the focus of the book switches from Russia to Italy. Guido Reni is talked about in the book and he is an artist that restored paintings. Another character is mentioned in the section, Gabriel Allon, and he is an artist, an assassin, and a spy. At the end of this section Gabriel receives an email saying that the Chief of Special Operations wants to meet with Gabriel immediately. Then he replied and within 90 seconds he got another email saying that they are looking forward to seeing him.

       I thought that so far this book is a little bit confusing. I can't really follow how many characters the author has already introduced, especially with their hard to read Russian names. I liked at the start how the Author used the attention grabber of the character Pyotr Luzhkov and how he was already killed within a few pages of the book for some sort of problem he has created. This book already contains a lot of action with the execution at the start and how Grigori has gone missing from Russia. I also like how Gabriel Allon sent an email and within 90 seconds he already received a reply.

The Road 251-287

       The Boy's sickness was finally over, and he did not remember anything about being sick. The man and boy kept looking up and down the beach searching for anything of use. One day the man noticed that their tarp had gone missing, so he quickly grabbed his pistol and went looking for the cart. Once they realized that that had been stolen they went looking for this thief along the road. When they got to the road the boy was the first person to find the thief, and the thief tried to run but he was too tired and weak. When the man and boy confronted the thief, he was holding a knife, but backed away from the cart afraid of the gun. The man then made the Thief remove everything he owned, the knife and clothes and put them in the cart. They then left the Thief for dead. The man and boy then set off down the road towards a small port town. The man went on looking for some vitamin D for the boy, so that he did not get rickets. As they were walking back into town something went wizzing past the man's head, they then quickly hid under a blanket. While they were under the blanket the marksman shot another arrow and it hit the man's leg. He then limped out from under cover and he shot the flaregun into the shooters window and he lit the marksman on fire. After the man killed the bowman, the man went into cover with the boy. The man told the boy to get the First-aid kit, and when the man recieved it he sutured up his leg after disinfecting it. They then set off onto the road and left that small port town. A few days later and nights of the man coughing up blood and waking up the boy with a lot of noise, the man fell ill. Then eventually the man died, the boy had stayed close to him, crying for about three days. Then the boy went out to the road and he saw someone coming down the road. It was a man carrying a shotgun and he said that he was a good guy. The new man said that he had a lot of food and there were some kids with him about his age. After the boy said his last goodbyes to his father he left with the stranger.

        I thought that this book had a good, but said ending. I thought that it was nice that the boy did not have to conquer the open desolate wastelands by himself but instead with a big group that had a lot of food. Also, because the boy would be able to have friends near his age and he would be able to talk to a lot of new people. The sad thing was that the boy's dad died at the end, although it was only a matter of time before he passed because the entire book he was coughing up blood. I would recommend this book to someone because it is a good story about family and it is a quick read.

The Road 201-250

      The man and boy made there way to a creek, and they would fill up their jars full and drink out of them. The man and the boy had not eaten any food for the past two days. Then they found this house on top of a hill, and they went inside because they were starving. Once they were inside the boy was too afraid to search anywhere upstairs because he was afraid of the unknown. They stayed in this house for about two days keeping warm with a fire in the fire place. One day the man went upstairs and didn't find any food, however he found some clothes and blankets to keep warm. The man always wakes up coughing, and sometimes he coughs up some blood. They then made their way to the coast and the ocean was not blue anymore, but gray and covered in ash like everything else. They then stayed on the beach for a few days, the boy even decided to go swimming in the freezing cold water while the man made a fire. The man had spotted a boat that had been wrecked near the shore, and he decided to go looking for supplies on the boat. When the man got to the boat he did not find much. He found about fifty feet of rope that he could use some clothes that could keep him warm, and some different cans of fruits and vegetables. The man went back to the shore and they stayed on the beach or a few more days. When the man got back to the beach it started to rain and it was already dark, they panicked because they could not find their other supplies. Eventually the man heard the sound of rain falling on the tarp, they made their way to the tarp and slept underneath it the rest of the night. As they were about to leave the beach, the man made one last trip out to the boat to look for something, the man found what he was looking for, a flare gun with eight flares. The boy then came down with a very bad fever, and he was sick for a good two to three days. The father cared for him the entire time by giving him water and medicine from a first-aid kit.

           I thought that this section was nice because they finally made it to their destination, the coast. I thought that when the boy got sick with the fever, that was the end for the boy. I was glad that the man put all of his effort into caring for the boy at his time of need. I thought that it was wierd that the man left the boy on shore with only one bullet to protect himself, when the man was so far away to do anything about it. I am also supprised to see how much stuff the man and the boy find, it is almost like they are meant to stay alive.

The Road 161-200

            After they get out of that bunker the man and child first stop on a hill because the man does not think that anyone else would want to stop on a hill. They also have seen this traveler that has been barely able to survive on the road and he is walking with a limp. This man was carrying a old army rucksack and he was walking with a cane. When the man and the boy encountered this man, the traveler thought that they might be trying to rob him. The traveler was also very surprised to see a boy that had survived this long after the apocalyptic event. The boy wanted to help out this poor old man by giving him some of the food that they had come by. They decided to give him a tin of fruit cocktail. The boy also wanted the man to let their new guest to eat dinner with them. The man asked the traveler some question like, "do you wish you could die?" The traveler replied, "No. But I might wish I had died. When you're alive you've always got that ahead of you." They then parted ways because the man did not want to use anymore of their food on this stranger, also partly because the old traveler could not keep up with their pace. One night the man woke coughing, and he realized that the boy was not there. The man grabbed for his pistol, when he saw the boy running towards him, and the boy had just seen a real train. They both then made their way to the train, and the man said that some people probably used it till it had no more fuel to get to the coast. They then continued down the road and made their way into a town. As they were leaving the town three men stepped out with pipes and tried to rob them, but the man pulled out his gun on them. The three men then stepped away because they did not want to be killed. The boy wanted some food and he thought that someone had been following them. So both of them quickly made their way up a cliff overlooking the road. During the night the man saw four travelers on the road, three men and one woman that looked to be pregnant. The man and boy waited till they thought there was enough distance between the other travelers and they left and passed through a town.

            I think that this section was really good because it showed some traits about human nature. It showed how kind and innocent the little boy was, because he always wants to help people, and he gives strangers food that seem to be in need. On the other hand the man is just looking out for his and his son's safety and trying to conserve all of their food so they can eat it only when they need it. I would agree with what the man does because he can't go into everything oblivious he has to be a little bit paranoid because he does not know who his friends and enemies are, besides his son. I also, think that the man would help everyone that he could, but he is smarter than that and knows that their is a limited supply of food on this charred planet.

     I took the ACT test today at Homestead High School. I did not think that the English section and the Math section were that difficult. The reading section was not that bad, but you were just pushed for time. In the reading section you had to read four decently sized passages and answer ten questions all of them in 35 minutes. Some of the questions on the Science section were a little bit confusing. Some of the graphs were a little tough to understand. The essay I did not really like because it was about a confusing topic. Also, for the essay I could not relate it to anything that I had read about in a book or a history book. I thought that the SAT math section was easier than the ACT math section, but I thought that the ACT english and reading sections were much easier than the SAT sections.

The Road 134-160

            After the man and the boy found the apples and water they just sat there for a little bit devouring the apples. They had not eaten anything for days and were starving before they found these apples. The man also put this grape powder into the boys water so that he would have some flavor when he was drinking the water. When they were leaving the man walked across the ground, and he thought that the ground felt different. He then went to grab a spade from a nearby shed and start digging where the ground felt had something under it. After digging for a little bit he discovered an old door in the ground. The boy did not want them to go down there because he was afraid that there would be something down their like what happened with the cannibals. The man decided that because they needed food he should look down there just to make sure. When the man got down there it was a concrete bunker that was filled with boxes of food, water, beds and a stove. After they found all of this the man and boy just stayed here for days and days in till they recovered all of their strength from eating all the food. The man realized that they could not stay here forever because someone might find the uncovered door and could attack them during the night. During one day the man went out of the bunker and he threw most of the furniture out in the yard and he put a mattress over the door into the bunker. The man and boy left the bunker after a heavy rain. They gathered all of the food they could, and put the food inside of their cart.

            I thought that this section was a relief for the man and the boy. They were able to find a lot of food so that they could survive this apocalyptic event for a lot longer. I think the man is worried about someone behind them on the road and not being able to hide their cart full of food fast enough. Also, he could be worried because he can't push the cart through the wet ash. I am glad that the little boy was able to eat all of that food and recover a little bit from the stressful encounter with the cannibals.

The Road 101-133

      In this section of the book the man and the boy were very desperate for food, beacause they had gone without any for days. The man and boy had camped out on the road one night when it had started to snow. The man then saw tracks in the road and realized that they had to get off because they thought that someone was patrolling the road with a wagon. Then sure enough when the man and boy got off the road two men, but the boy and man were able to get off the road and hide from these bad guys. Then the man and boy found this big house inside of a town, and the man decided that they should go in and see if there was any food because the man and boy haven't eaten for five days. The entire time the man and boy were searching this house, the boy had a bad feeling about it and kept telling the man that they should go. The man was searching through the house and he found this door that was locked, and he thought that there might be some food in there for him and his son. The man found a shovel in the garage so that he could pry open the locked door. When the man and the boy went downstairs to see what was in the room, they saw people down there male and female, and they also saw a man without any legs laying on a mattress with his hips burned. These people trapped in here kept repeating "help us, help us", the man and boy quickly ran out of the house and started running for the woods near the road. As they were leaving, four bearded men and two women came running towards the house, these people burst into the house and went downstairs. The man and boy kept running from the house in fear that the cannibals would catch them and kill them. As the man and boy were on the run, they stopped inside this orchard, and when the boy was asleep, the man went looking for resources. When the man was walking around he found these apples in the ground, and he found more than he could carry. The man also, found a drainpipe inside the house that dumped water out into a concrete tank. The man and boy were then able to drink all the water they could and eat every single apple they had to stop their hunger.

               I thought that this section of the book exposed the realities of what would happen if their was an apocalyptic event. All of these include the man and boy almost starving to death because there would be no food, and if there was any the people before them would have already eaten it. Also, there would probably be some desperate people like the cannibals in this section that would be able to overpower a small group and then use them. I was also glad that the man and boy were able to find some food and water after that encounter with the cannibal at the house. I also, wonder how all of these people would have survived the apocalyptic event.

    

      These are some of my favorite books. Alex Cross is a detective in Washington D.C. that catches high profiled killers. I had already blogged about Cat & Mouse earlier this semester. The book Alex Cross's Trial, is a story told by Alex Cross about a lawyer named Ben Corbett. Ben gets sent down to his hometown Eudora, Mississippi by President Roosevelt because of the attacks of the KKK on the African Americans that live in Eudora. Ben Corbett is a lot like Atticus from To Kill a Mockingbird and he can't win a lot of cases for their defendants because the jury is very racist. Ben Corbett meets Alex's great uncle Abraham Cross and Abraham's granddaughter Moody. Ben also finds out that some of the people he has loved and befriended when he lived in Eudora, are some of the people behind these violent attacks on the African Americans that live there. I enjoyed this book Alex Cross's Trial because it really opened up my eyes about some of the prejudices and racism that was going on in the South towards the African Americans that live there. I would recommend these books because they are both thrillers and have you on the edge of your seat waiting to learn about what is going to happen. Both of these books are very violent and I would not recommend it to someone that can't handle violence because some of the scenes in the books are a little bit too descriptive.

The Road 70-100

       The start of this section the man and the child are still running from the people in the truck. The man and child left their cart, and they went off of the road to make camp for the night. When they both woke up, the man went to go find their cart, and it had been plundered probably by the people in the truck, and they took all of the food and the boy's knapsack. Then the man took the boy to a little river under a bridge, and the man washed the little boy's hair. The man had to wash the blood from the attacker out of the boy's hair. The water was very cold and it made the boy shiver like a dog. The boy was also still shocked about being attacked by the man, and then his father shooting the attacker. The man and boy also made their way into a town because they saw smoke coming from one of the building, and they thought that they might find some survivors. The man knew that they had to take a chance here because they did not have anymore food. In the town the man went into one of the abandoned stores and he found some coats that he could use for warmth. When the man and boy were sleeping in this town, the young boy thought that he saw another young boy, but when he tried to follow him the other boy seemed to vanish. The boy's father was upset with him because he did not like him wandering off like that. After day break the man and child went back on the road heading towards south. They left so quickly because the man knew that there were people watching them, and he was fearful for their safety. The then made camp in some woods, when it had started to snow. The man then went and got some wood to make a fire, so that the man and boy would have some warmth and some light. During their sleep, the man was awakened by a cracking sound, and he realized that the trees around him were falling. The man had to wake up the boy because they could not see any of these hidden giants falling because their fire had gone out so they were surrounded by complete darkness.

          This section of the book was a little bit slower than the previous section that I had read. I really like how even though the man and kid have no food, they keep moving on because they know that they will find food somewhere. I do not know why the man and child would not stay in the town a little bit longer and try to find the people that were hiding. I also, don't know why the man did not try and take the child's knapsack and their food from their cart when they hid from the people in the truck. I also, don't know why they did not search more houses or places in the town for food. Overall, i am really liking this book, I think that it is a great book about survival and a bond between a father and son.

The Road 34-69

      This section of the book starts out with the father giving his son the last bit of hot chocolate when the man only takes heated up water. The man and the boy are still struggling in this part of the book, every day is the same for them, they wake up and they walk down the road in till night time, and they sleep. Also, when they are walking it is very cold and every once and a while it starts snowing, and when it snows there is about a half a foot of snow. The man and boy also find a pool of water that they clean themselves in, but they can't stay there that long because the man is afraid that it will attract an enemy to the water. After they pass the river they find some mushrooms to eat, which was a good thing because they had gone without food for days. The man and the boy also encountered this trailer that was wedged in between the highway railings. The boy thought that there might be some food inside of it, so the man went on top of the trailer, but inside of the trailer was just dead people. The man and boy also saw a man that looked like he was burnt looking and he was walking with a limp. They could not do anything to help this poor man, the father thought that he might have been struck by lightning because his clothes and body was burned. The man also had a dream about his wife and how she left him after the earth had been scorched like this, she told him that they were all going to die. Then the man and boy encountered some survivors of this apocalyptic event, and they were driving in a truck. These men all had rifles and about 150 gallons of fuel. One man had come up where the father and son had been hiding because he had to go to the bathroom. The man was being questioned by the father, when the man drew a knife on the child. The father then had to save his son so he shot the enemy and killed him. The Father and son then only had one bullet left in his gun.

      I thought that this was a good section in the book. One reason is that the Father is not afraid to protect his son, because he was able to shoot the man in the truck when he tried to stab the son. Also, the father seems to know what is best for him and his son, because he knew that he could not save the burnt man, and he would have only wasted food and water on him. Also, the father tried to comfort his son by telling  him stories about how the world was before this apocalyptic event.

The Road 1-33

       The two main characters in this book are a man and a boy. The man is the father of the boy, and he is always protecting his son. In this book these two characters are trying to make their way south, because they do not think that they can survive another winter in the North. The Man and  the boy only have a pistol, a cart, and a sack for important things. Also, on the cart there is a bike mirror so the man can make sure that no one is following them on the Road. The environment around the road is not very pleasing either, there is a lot of ash and everything is burnt, and whenever it snows, the snow is gray and full of ash. Also, it is very cold where they are right now, but the ground is too wet to make a fire. On their journey south, they stop by old gas stations and some old supermarkets. At one of the gas stations the dad, empties out some old oil cans so that he can use the oil for a lamp so that they can see at night. They also stop at an old abandoned house and they collect some blankets to keep warm in the frigid temperature. The man and boy then stop at a supermarket, where they find some old soft drink machines, and inside the man finds a Coca Cola and he gives it to the boy so he can become hydrated. Then, along the road the man finds the house where he had grown up as a young boy. The house brings back a lot of happy memories from his childhood, like Christmas and being with his family. At the end of this section of the book the man and the boy are trying to make their way up and over a mountain. The mountain path has snow that is a half a foot, and the man knows that if it snows any more that he will have to abandon the cart.

             I was very surprised that these two characters were able to handle themselves that well in these conditions. I am also wondering how these two people were able to survive this event that caused many people to die. They also have to go weeks, because sometimes they can't find food in some of the houses and stops along the road. I wonder how these two people will handle their encounter with something that tries to attack them. I also wonder if the father would give his life for his son, in a violent encounter with something dangerous.