Sinopsis (from fixi.com.my):
Apakah kaitannya dua pembunuhan kejam dan satu kemalangan (atau mungkin juga sebenarnya percubaan bunuh yang gagal) dengan sebuah tender IT bernilai RM400 juta?
Kemalangan itu meragut ingatan Shereen. Apabila terjaga dari lena yang panjang, semuanya hilang. Dia perlu bangun semula dan bina kehidupan dan kenangan baru. Tetapi kini dia tidak pasti, siapa kawan, siapa lawan. Siapa Tash? Siapa Melia? Siapa Adele? Siapa Rizwan Zakaria? Siapa Datuk Hasnoor? Siapa Rahmat Hamidi? Dan siapa pula Pak Ya?
Di tengah-tengah kekalutan itu, dia juga perlu membongkar kegiatan penyeludupan kod-kod program ke luar negara yang didagangkan di pasaran gelap. Mampukah kepakaran IT Forensiknya membantu? Mungkinkah dia akan melepasi JERAT, atau akhirnya kecundang?
I received this book last week, on Thursday, from the author, Dayang Noor. Her blog is The Red Sandal Diaries. I started reading that night, and finished it the following night.
And I love it.
I very rarely read novels written in Malay. They are either soapy love stories, or soapy love stories. The thickest book I have read that was written in Malay was Hikayat Hang Tuah, and that was soooooooo long ago when I was in primary school.
So, JERAT. We have established earlier that I love it. Not because the author is my friend, but because the story line is refreshing. Being published from FIXI should already give people the idea that the book will be different. This is the first book from FIXI that I’ve read, although I was planning to get the other books since earlier this year, but never gotten to doing it.
The story is set in the IT world, something that I am familiar with. Kesian the PM pening kepala trying to get the project back on track, although the story is not about him at all. He he he…
I like the pace of the story. It keeps you on your toes and the linking between the scenes are interesting. Cehh… aku cakap macam aku dah expert je kan? What I mean is that, the story is engaging to me, it keeps me glued to it. Take for example on Friday night. The Hubby was taking The Baby and I out, but I kept going back to the book in between getting ready. Ha ha ha… Siap baring atas katil and curling to the book occay!
For a debut novel, I feel that Dayang Noor did very well. She has been blogging for years, and she has written a successful screenplay before (you can read this in her biography). So knowing that, it’s not so surprising that she’s able to craft something that I tweeted as “a mash between CSI and Digital Fortress”. Granted Dayang is no Quentin Tarantino or Dan Brown, but to me, she has what it takes should she continue doing this. :-) And I’m not saying this just because she’s a friend. Hahaha…
If you like suspense, conspiracy, modern themed book; and you don’t mind using Mr. Google to search for IT terms that are alien to you, this is a book that you should not miss. Yes, there are a lot of IT jargons in there, but without understanding them, you can still enjoy the book. It’s like reading John Grisham with the endless law terms (kan?). You can get JERAT from FIXI or Amazon. Yes people, it’s in Amazon!
The book launch will be at Annexe Gallery, Central Market this weekend, 17th September 2011. I hope I will be able to make it there.
To Kak Dayang, congratulations on this achievement! I am waiting patiently for your second book. And 5 weeks to write a book takes lots of discipline! I really admire your perseverance and dedication. :-) Here’s to more and more. I sincerely hope that I will follow your footsteps and be brave enough to send my attempts for review. He he he…
Ada orang tanya tak da buat kenduri cukur jambul ke untuk baby? Dari dulu aku rasa benda ni macam tak betul. Siap ada naik buai kan? And these days aktiviti ni dah jadi macam kenduri bertunang atau kenduri kahwin. Siap ada door gift untuk orang yang datang. Ada yang berbelanja besar atas nama mengwarwarkan kelahiran bayi dan bersyukur semuanya selamat dan sempurna. :-)
Tapi, macam mana nak terangkan pada orang yang dah selalu berkenduri kendera nih? So, dengan senyuman aku jawab aja baik2....
Kitorang takda buat kenduri Aqiqah, tapi alhamdulillah dah sempurnakan aqiqah dan cukur kepala pada hari ke-7. Daging aqiqah didermakan.
Ada jugak question kenapa daging aqiqah tu tak jamu saudara mara? Isk... padahal depa boleh beli beriyani kambing kat restoran kan?
Fact is, kitorang gunakan khidmat ezyQurban je untuk urusan Aqiqah. Sebab kalau nak buat sendiri semua tak sempat nak dapatkan sunnah hari ke7 tu kan? Ada pulak suara sumbang kata itu pertubuhan opportunist.
Samada diorang opportunist atau tidak, itu urusan depa dengan Allah. At least, kitorang dah sempurnakan tanggungjawab, insyaAllah.
Itulah kekadang buat kita terpikir, masyarakat kita terlalu taksub dgn sweet nothings sampai yang penting tu yang diorang terlupa.
At this moment, serba salah pulak samada perlu atau tak nak buat kenduri doa selamat atau kesyukuran... :-)
Kitorang cukur rambut baby sehabis boleh, walaupun rambut baby sangat cantik. Subhanallah. Adalah tinggal sikit2 rambut dia, sebab bila cukur tu dia nak pergi. I think, itu adalah dugaan Allah SWT pada ibu bapa, nak tgk sanggup atau tidak cukur rambut yang cantik tuh.
Tahnik pun kitorang sempurnakan masa hari baby lahir. Mak bawak kurma.
Kadang2 kita kena go against the norm, sebab the norm tu tak betul. And kita mesti yakin dgn keputusan kita. Lebih penting, suami isteri mesti support each other. Sebab ini tggjawab sama2 bina keluarga.
Ps: sebenarnya, ini copy paste dari tweets from my twitter account. haha… so, excuse the shortforms and one liners.
I am falling into a routine. Go to work, come back and attend to The Baby. Sleep, night feeds, sleep, wake up, go to work.
I hate routine.
So many things on my mind, so many things I am planning. Can’t stop processing.
Work has been good so far. Group mates asked for my blog address. Here’s hoping that they will read with open mind and should I write anything about office, they’ll take it with pinch of salt. Like I said, read at your own perils. LOL.
I need a change. I am due for hair trimming. Need to find a new stylist, since my old one is in the old office building. And I am getting emotional with the way my hair is behaving. Times like this, wearing tudung is so much easier. And a very wrong reason to wear it too! The Hubby is on leave for the next two weeks. Lucky him! But, he deserves it, after those early mornings, long days and late nights for the past month. I am glad that we’re back to being a unit.
Syawal has been a little blah for me. Such experience, having to prepare The Baby before preparing myself! That is the fun part. I have also come to a conclusion that the ones that matter most are my own family. The rest of the world, they can bungee jump for all I care. My priorities now are my own family; The Hubby and The Baby, my own family and The Hubby’s. The extended family… is just that, extended. Still love them, but no longer sits at first 15 seats. And I am done pleading so that I can join the fun. I have redefined my version of fun. That is with my own family members.
At work, I have been asked by The Director and The Manager to come out with process improvements for the current project. This project has been around for so long that the project managers are more like coordinators than project managers. I don’t claim to know everything that I will be able to turn the table around within months to make things better, but I will do my best to ensure it happens! I am faced with some adversity, but I am prepared to the challenges, insyaAllah. It might not be in the other people’s performance review, but it is in mine! So, by hook or by crook, I will get the things done!
It has been a month. Time flies. I feel pressed to make an impact. I am starting my day with positive vibes. Even when I hear or see unpleasant things, I do my best to control the state I am in, and shift the energy to better ones as much as I can. I do not come from zero, and without knowledge. There is a reason why I am here, and why I am being charged to do what I do. So I am going to do it. After all, work is work, and that’s the purpose I am here. It is not a matter of life and death. I vow never to make work a reason to alter my composure for the worse. I must always remember that when people are being defensive, it is because they feel weak or they fear the unknown. I on the other hand, should not play the same game.
I know now, that I must strategise. I dare to be different, therefore I am. So, bring it on!
posted from Bloggeroid
