Dancing with the Vodka Terrorists: Misadventures in the 'Stans

by Rob Ferguson

When Rob Ferguson went off to the five former Soviet ’Stans of Central Asia to work on a project to save the rapidly disappearing Aral Sea, he expected to have challenges and adventures, but he didn’t anticipate ending up a suspect in a brutal murder investigation. Dancing with Vodka Terrorists is a tragicomic farce and an engrossing real-life thriller told with panache and wry humour and stars a bizarre cast of corrupt apparatchiks, jolly consultants, devious autocrats and a bewitching belly-dancer who ends up gutted in a bathtub. Somehow Ferguson survives it all, wit still intact.

236 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 21, 2012

Reviews

[Renato · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is a recounting of the misadventures encountered by the author - a Canadian communication expert - when trying to run a public awareness project in Central Asia.
The story is a bit dry, meaning everything that happens has the same underlying theme of "the western man is getting coerced into paying bribes to get his project running", not to mention the endless string of minor characters who in the end generate confusion without giving anything to the plot. It picks up a bit in the end when a gruesome murder happens and you start wondering if the author is going to get framed for it by the main villain, the ubiquitous evil mastermind Mr. G.

The main characters though are depicted quite vividly and it's quite easy to picture them with their antics and dubious moral stands.

All in all it's a pleasant reading, but it's a recommended reading only to those that are interested in Central Asia, especially if they are going to be running some NGO project in the area (tip: don't, if you treasure your sanity).

[Lyle Nicholson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not sure what to think of this book. It really did take me over 2 years to read it. The main thing is on chapter did not follow another. What is the purpose of telling a story, if you leave your reader hanging? It reminds of listening to someone telling you something...then they trail off into another subject.

This book is something between a travelogue, and a dissertation on how badly things are run in central Asia, with a murder somehow dropped at the end. Why wait until the end to tell about the murder. Why not start with the murder, then work back?

I promised myself I'd read this to see if went anywhere. It didn't.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

thought the book started off slowly but the author won me over with his skewed way of looking at very serious situation. He has written an entertaining, funny thriller about murder. Which is right up my dark alley.

* I received a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.