Review: Everything wrapped up in a good story...
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 02 23, 2013
A Hook in the Sky belongs to a relatively new genre called "Baby Boomer" or BB in short. The theme that ran through this genre is about, the questions and difficulties faced by a person after retirement. Questions like, "now that my work is behind me, who am I?" or "What can I do in my remaining years?" these questions have bogged brightest of minds and turned them into rusty old person... but not anymore.Story starts when protagonist Robert is all set to get voluntary retirement from his chair in the United Nations office. The thing that I most liked about this genre (and this book particularly) is that it can appeal to a very wide range of readers including teens, parents and grandparents all the same. :)Author Claude Nougat has shown with example of Robert that you can do whatever you wish, and only sky's the limit. "Retirement" can also mean to follow lifelong hobby or it may also mean to follow dreams (Like Robert who is a painter at heart). Author points out that it's a whole new world out there, with lot of potential.Compelling and true to life character depiction are few of the things to look forward to in Miss Nougat's writing.  Author creates a world which relates to every reader. There are various lines that grabbed my attention,  like this one "The United Nation was anything but united and working here often felt like swimming through cross currents, never knowing which currents pushed where or why they changed." :)Reading this book was an awesome experience, in a sense that, First book I read from Miss Nougat a fantasy-cum-adventure novel was a totally different genre from "A Hook in the Sky". Still the author has not only managed to keep the story clean of clichés but also made it very graceful. The same experience I had when I read "The Casual Vacancy" by you know who :pI have read "The Phoenix Heritage" trilogy, one of the books by Miss Nougat. And thus from past experience I knew her writing will be a good read, and it certainly is. The book is all about identifying various issues faced by retirees and suggesting few solutions along the way, all wrapped up in a good story. On Concluding notes, a great novel with loads to learn. It deserves 5 out of 5 points.