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9th of August
Shortlisted for the 2017 Epigram Books Fiction Prize
Six suicide bombers have slipped into Singapore. Their mission: to set off explosives on Singapore’s 55th National Day – 9 August 2020.
They are sent by Tun, an Afghan with a tragic past. Trying to stop them is Rahim, an ISD inspector obsessed with his ex-wife. Caught up in the plot is Henry, a widower and single father haunted by his wife's last words. Three men whose disparate lives intertwine unexpectedly, forever changed in a moment of extreme violence.
Six suicide bombers have slipped into Singapore. Their mission: to set off explosives on Singapore’s 55th National Day – 9 August 2020.
They are sent by Tun, an Afghan with a tragic past. Trying to stop them is Rahim, an ISD inspector obsessed with his ex-wife. Caught up in the plot is Henry, a widower and single father haunted by his wife's last words. Three men whose disparate lives intertwine unexpectedly, forever changed in a moment of extreme violence.
- GenresFiction
232 pages, Paperback
Published June 1, 2018
About the author
Andre Yeo
2 books1 followerAndre Yeo is an assistant editor at The New Paper, where he works with reporters and edits commentaries. He has been a journalist for 21 years. In 2014, he self-published his first book, Home: 50 50-word Stories to Celebrate Singapore’s 50th Birthday. He and his wife, a teacher, have three girls and a boy. 9th of August is his first novel.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
July 14, 2018
The blurb reads like a mystery or a thriller, but 9th of August is simply an author's daydream of sequences involving a terrorist attack against the supposedly impenetrable island of Singapore.
The book is an easy, snappy read, but its occasionally non-linear structure is slightly confusing to follow. The story is told mostly via three main characters in scattered timelines that could be better interspersed. A bulk of consecutive chapters tail one character, then abruptly revert to the others.
The blurb describes the main characters as "three desperate lives [that] intertwine unexpectedly" but really only one character's tale was fascinating– the Afghan terrorist Tun. The other two were pointless with little character development.
"Trying to stop [the terrorists] is Rahim, an ISD inspector," says the blurb, but after finishing this book, I realize how useless this character was. Omitting him would have changed nothing about the story's events.
Perhaps it's because the author is a journalist of 21 years, because much of the book, particularly many action scenes early in the book, are more tell than show. The prose often reads like an omniscient news report void of emotion.
It does get better by the climax. "In a moment of extreme violence" (not a spoiler. This is mentioned in the blurb), the action becomes dramatic and gruesome, which hits home because this is a possible reality for my country (my reader's bias.) Unfortunately, the storytelling fails to capture emotion by character; that news report style still lingers and the reader doesn't get to see through the eyes of the horrified victims, which is a pity.
One thing I enjoyed about the book was reading the perspectives of the terrorists, even though I think this book would've been more impactful if the Singaporean main characters were better fleshed out. The character Henry is thinly developed. The twist in his ending is as unnecessary as the deleted scene in the 1997 film Titanic when Rose reveals post-disaster that she kept the diamond. Given the grander scale of things and the melancholy already set in by then, the book failed to set me up to care about what the twist revealed (coupled with the fact that the characters involved were underdeveloped, so I really couldn't care less about it.)
This book would have greatly benefitted from expansion: giving each character more time and scenes to develop so that the reader is invested and cares. At about 230 pages, its unconventionally short a novel given its ambitious premise. That said, this is the author's first novel, so it's an adequate starter. It is just not the ideal terror-in-Singapore tale that will leave a reader ruminating.
The book is an easy, snappy read, but its occasionally non-linear structure is slightly confusing to follow. The story is told mostly via three main characters in scattered timelines that could be better interspersed. A bulk of consecutive chapters tail one character, then abruptly revert to the others.
The blurb describes the main characters as "three desperate lives [that] intertwine unexpectedly" but really only one character's tale was fascinating– the Afghan terrorist Tun. The other two were pointless with little character development.
"Trying to stop [the terrorists] is Rahim, an ISD inspector," says the blurb, but after finishing this book, I realize how useless this character was. Omitting him would have changed nothing about the story's events.
Perhaps it's because the author is a journalist of 21 years, because much of the book, particularly many action scenes early in the book, are more tell than show. The prose often reads like an omniscient news report void of emotion.
It does get better by the climax. "In a moment of extreme violence" (not a spoiler. This is mentioned in the blurb), the action becomes dramatic and gruesome, which hits home because this is a possible reality for my country (my reader's bias.) Unfortunately, the storytelling fails to capture emotion by character; that news report style still lingers and the reader doesn't get to see through the eyes of the horrified victims, which is a pity.
One thing I enjoyed about the book was reading the perspectives of the terrorists, even though I think this book would've been more impactful if the Singaporean main characters were better fleshed out. The character Henry is thinly developed. The twist in his ending is as unnecessary as the deleted scene in the 1997 film Titanic when Rose reveals post-disaster that she kept the diamond. Given the grander scale of things and the melancholy already set in by then, the book failed to set me up to care about what the twist revealed (coupled with the fact that the characters involved were underdeveloped, so I really couldn't care less about it.)
This book would have greatly benefitted from expansion: giving each character more time and scenes to develop so that the reader is invested and cares. At about 230 pages, its unconventionally short a novel given its ambitious premise. That said, this is the author's first novel, so it's an adequate starter. It is just not the ideal terror-in-Singapore tale that will leave a reader ruminating.
August 11, 2019
Fast-paced writing, a strong plot, just slightly weak characters. I thought that the characters were a little bland and somehow not alive. I mean they do have compelling motivations but they just don't seem to be so, alive?
It honestly did make me a little paranoid for awhile and I think that's a good side effect. It's a really plausible scenario, realistic enough to pull you in and trap you.
It honestly did make me a little paranoid for awhile and I think that's a good side effect. It's a really plausible scenario, realistic enough to pull you in and trap you.
January 28, 2020
3.5/5 actually. An easy read, this local book is about terrorist attacks in Singapore on (wait for it..) 9th of August 2020. Personally, I feel that the highlight of the book would be the descriptions of the terrorist attacks and they did make me feel the frightening possibility of Singapore going through such a situation and our complacency towards it in real-life.
However, there are a number of flaws with the book, such as the overuse of flash-backs; too lengthy a build-up before the story's climax (the terror attacks); and ending the story too quickly after it. The author did try to make the main characters multi-dimensional by fleshing out their lives but it felt more like giving the reader unnecessary details to plow through since there was little follow-up to them. The characters were also not connected together, and this perhaps led to the feeling that there is no strong narrative to the story, other than the trite message of 'Not if, but when...' (which appeared on the book cover, in case you miss it).
Still, at the end of the day, I'm still rating this a 3.5 star, because I do appreciate the importance of the above-mentioned message even though they way it is delivered can be better nuanced. Compulsory reading for all schools, or included in the next National Day goodie bag? :p
However, there are a number of flaws with the book, such as the overuse of flash-backs; too lengthy a build-up before the story's climax (the terror attacks); and ending the story too quickly after it. The author did try to make the main characters multi-dimensional by fleshing out their lives but it felt more like giving the reader unnecessary details to plow through since there was little follow-up to them. The characters were also not connected together, and this perhaps led to the feeling that there is no strong narrative to the story, other than the trite message of 'Not if, but when...' (which appeared on the book cover, in case you miss it).
Still, at the end of the day, I'm still rating this a 3.5 star, because I do appreciate the importance of the above-mentioned message even though they way it is delivered can be better nuanced. Compulsory reading for all schools, or included in the next National Day goodie bag? :p
August 30, 2018
The experience of reading this book, is akin to watching a narrative-structured version of a SgSecure advertisement. Disregarding what I feel about the propagation of the importance of vigilance against complacency in an era rife with the threat of terrorism, I can't help but feel lost at the final message (or lack of) from this book.
From a narrative standpoint, I mean this cannot just be the only aim the novel seeks to accomplish right? The efforts to humanise and give the characters a story (Henry, Rahim, Tun), all seem very half-baked, just like you would not be able to see much of the backstory of characters in a advertisement. As another reviewer had put it bluntly, a more narrative angle along the lines of a thriller would have made the reading experience more engaging, and oddly driven home the message better.
From a narrative standpoint, I mean this cannot just be the only aim the novel seeks to accomplish right? The efforts to humanise and give the characters a story (Henry, Rahim, Tun), all seem very half-baked, just like you would not be able to see much of the backstory of characters in a advertisement. As another reviewer had put it bluntly, a more narrative angle along the lines of a thriller would have made the reading experience more engaging, and oddly driven home the message better.
March 3, 2021
A shocking book highlighting the ignorance of Singaporeans today, and then the strength and resilience of a few.
This is a wake-up call. Let’s put down our mobile devices and begin connecting again, in the real physical space that we live.
This is a wake-up call. Let’s put down our mobile devices and begin connecting again, in the real physical space that we live.
November 18, 2023
Maybe its just me but definitely reads like something the Singapore government would want you to read - SGsecure app... always be prepared... not if but when... fostering national pride...
December 1, 2020
The plot and characters were interesting, but I felt like I was reading a novel length secondary school English composition.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews