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Amsterdam #1
Amsterdam 2012
A young woman witnesses a murder in Amsterdam that touches off a Muslim rebellion and leads to the Great Eurabian War—World War III.During her summer break, Ann Aulis travels to Amsterdam with her boyfriend Peter to visit the Anne Frank Museum. They befriend a hip Dutch couple who invites them home for dinner. They spend the night, and the next morning discover their hosts have been murdered. Ann and Peter flee to London only to find the murders have touched off a Muslim rebellion in Holland that spreads to England. They flee to the US, where Peter is detained at Kennedy Airport, then taken away by FBI agents. Ann returns to her family in Los Angeles, horrified as she sees Muslim rebellions in Europe spread to civil war. With her lover in Guantanamo Bay Prison, Ann watches the United States slowly get dragged into the Eurabian war. As the Muslim world establishes a new caliphate, the United States falls into a major recession caused by high oil prices. Then a major flu epidemic. The only thing keeping Ann sane is her deep attachment to Anne Frank, and her love for Peter. Finally, Ann throws off her passivity, and decides to act.
Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2010
About the author
Ruth Francisco
20 books27 followersI tend to write novels that are a little controversial. I don't intend to, but a question grabs hold of my mind--Do we have a right to say no to medical technology? What would it be like to be Jackie Kennedy? Where is Islamic extremism taking us?--and it won't let go. I have to explore it, I have to write about it.
Since my interests are varied, my books are varied, perhaps too much so. But whatever the theme, I always explore identity, trying to reconcile the physical and spiritual worlds. My characters respond sensually to the world as I do, they question and doubt. It would be easier to be a different kind of writer maybe. I hope you get something out of my little efforts.
Since my interests are varied, my books are varied, perhaps too much so. But whatever the theme, I always explore identity, trying to reconcile the physical and spiritual worlds. My characters respond sensually to the world as I do, they question and doubt. It would be easier to be a different kind of writer maybe. I hope you get something out of my little efforts.
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Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
October 3, 2011
Zombies? Ghosts? Vampires? Not scary to me. What happened in this book? Very scary to me. It's the "could happen" aspect that frightens me. Not my usual read but glad I gave it a shot. Gives you a lot to think about...or fear.
May 29, 2010
Amsterdam 2012 – Thought Provoking Alternate Future Reality
Rating: 4 of 5
Author: Ruth Fransisco
Format: Kindle
Carefree and making their way across Europe, Peter and Anne meet a group of locals in Amsterdam willing to show them around to the various sites and galleries. Finding their guides fun and engaging, they agree to accompany them to their home in the outskirts of town and enjoy dinner, desert, and new guests who arrive during their stay. As the alcohol flows and the night drags on, Peter and Anne agree to spend the night in the Amsterdam couple’s old windmill recently converted to a guest bedroom. After a restful and relaxing sleep, the young couple make their way to their guests house to help clean up and start breakfast. Inside, they find their hosts brutally slain bodies. What follows is a harrowing escape from Europe that will not only change their lives, but the course of the world.
In Amsterdam 2012, Ruth Fransisco paints what I would call an alternative reality of a potential future sequence of world events. Similar to the assassination of Arch Duke Ferdinand which started World War I, Fransisco shows how these slayings in Amsterdam begin the start of World War III except this time, it is a war of Islam versus the rest of Europe and the United States. I can understand the comments from some reviewers regarding the unlikely series of events or the speed upon with the Jihadists can take over so much of the world. But this is why I call this an alternative reality. Fransisco is hitting readers over the head with hyperbole of some of the potentially politically correct leanings of this country and how far it could take us if we aren’t home watching the store.
Do I think events could unfold as described? No. Do I think the book is thought provoking and compelling? Absolutely. Those who like a more subtle approach may not enjoy this read and would not find the United States to be so willing to embrace such radical cultural indoctrination. Having said that, Clavell’s book “A Children’s Story” frightening shows how easily and quickly it is to change beliefs. My estimate is this book will polarize readers but all will come away thinking.
Rating: 4 of 5
Author: Ruth Fransisco
Format: Kindle
Carefree and making their way across Europe, Peter and Anne meet a group of locals in Amsterdam willing to show them around to the various sites and galleries. Finding their guides fun and engaging, they agree to accompany them to their home in the outskirts of town and enjoy dinner, desert, and new guests who arrive during their stay. As the alcohol flows and the night drags on, Peter and Anne agree to spend the night in the Amsterdam couple’s old windmill recently converted to a guest bedroom. After a restful and relaxing sleep, the young couple make their way to their guests house to help clean up and start breakfast. Inside, they find their hosts brutally slain bodies. What follows is a harrowing escape from Europe that will not only change their lives, but the course of the world.
In Amsterdam 2012, Ruth Fransisco paints what I would call an alternative reality of a potential future sequence of world events. Similar to the assassination of Arch Duke Ferdinand which started World War I, Fransisco shows how these slayings in Amsterdam begin the start of World War III except this time, it is a war of Islam versus the rest of Europe and the United States. I can understand the comments from some reviewers regarding the unlikely series of events or the speed upon with the Jihadists can take over so much of the world. But this is why I call this an alternative reality. Fransisco is hitting readers over the head with hyperbole of some of the potentially politically correct leanings of this country and how far it could take us if we aren’t home watching the store.
Do I think events could unfold as described? No. Do I think the book is thought provoking and compelling? Absolutely. Those who like a more subtle approach may not enjoy this read and would not find the United States to be so willing to embrace such radical cultural indoctrination. Having said that, Clavell’s book “A Children’s Story” frightening shows how easily and quickly it is to change beliefs. My estimate is this book will polarize readers but all will come away thinking.
October 13, 2015
Ann Aulis visits Amsterdam with her boyfriend, Peter. All she wants to do is see the Anne Frank Museum. They’re befriended, though, by an outgoing Dutch couple who invite them to stay at their home. They wake up in the morning, though, to find the couple and four other house guests brutally murdered. Ann and Peter flee to London just as Muslim riots erupt in Amsterdam and other Dutch cities, but the violence follows them across the channel. Finally able to get a flight back to the U.S., they’re met upon arrival by security agents who take Peter into custody, transporting him to the U.S. confinement facility at Guantanamo Bay. Soon, simmering discontent begins to erupt in the U.S., accompanied by anti-Muslim reactions and economic instability, rocking Ann’s world.
Amsterdam 2012 by Ruth Francisco is dystopian fiction at its scariest. Such stories are usually set in some far future time, but this one takes place in our present day, and while it is fiction, it contains a large enough kernel of possibility, based on real-life events, that it chills the blood.
Francisco has spun a tale that many will write off as pure fantasy, but she’s done it in a manner that will give even skeptics pause. While the probability of such events unfolding are slim, there’s that element of ‘possibility’ that will make you think; could this happen here?
Amsterdam 2012 by Ruth Francisco is dystopian fiction at its scariest. Such stories are usually set in some far future time, but this one takes place in our present day, and while it is fiction, it contains a large enough kernel of possibility, based on real-life events, that it chills the blood.
Francisco has spun a tale that many will write off as pure fantasy, but she’s done it in a manner that will give even skeptics pause. While the probability of such events unfolding are slim, there’s that element of ‘possibility’ that will make you think; could this happen here?
October 24, 2014
As far as speculative fiction goes, this novel is superb in its plausibility and its laying out the possible outcomes, all of them realistically attached to expectations and reactions that have happened in the past. In fact, if jihadists were so inclined to read such things, they could take a few pointers from the strategy followed here.
This novel is controversial and, though it takes a clear stance against fundamentalism from both camps (Muslim and Christian), it can offend a few people but that's no surprise considering the subject matter.
I'm not so sure sensitive (not to say, bigoted) people in the US should read this because they might take it as a prophecy and it might whip them into a terrified frenzy.
It is very well-written, perhaps a little longer than it should be, but you learn and you are entertained. What else do you need?
This novel is controversial and, though it takes a clear stance against fundamentalism from both camps (Muslim and Christian), it can offend a few people but that's no surprise considering the subject matter.
I'm not so sure sensitive (not to say, bigoted) people in the US should read this because they might take it as a prophecy and it might whip them into a terrified frenzy.
It is very well-written, perhaps a little longer than it should be, but you learn and you are entertained. What else do you need?
January 6, 2012
This book is amazing. I am not sure what I expected but I am so very glad I read this. The story line is fascinating and this book is thought provoking. I am not a reviewer so I can't really put into words how much I enjoyed reading this. Bravo to Ruth Francisco, bravo! My first read by this author but definitely not my last.
September 16, 2017
I thought this was an excellent story - could have fooled me in thinking it was from a "name" author vs. an independent offering a good story at a reasonable price.
I will say I thought it very disturbing with the Islam vs. everyone else scenario, but when you think about it, it does have a shade of potential reality to it. This one really makes you think vs. a "soft" read. I'm not going to spoil the story by telling you all about it except I really liked it. You probably will, too.
I will say I thought it very disturbing with the Islam vs. everyone else scenario, but when you think about it, it does have a shade of potential reality to it. This one really makes you think vs. a "soft" read. I'm not going to spoil the story by telling you all about it except I really liked it. You probably will, too.
Read
June 8, 2019Terrific, well written page turner with tons of action and adventure!
I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this great terrorism thriller on Audible and look forward to reading the sequel, Amsterdam 2020!
I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this great terrorism thriller on Audible and look forward to reading the sequel, Amsterdam 2020!
September 29, 2011
Originally posted on www.fancyterrible.com:
We’re nearing the end of the beach season, and that means Fall is around the corner. Fall is serious, man. Fall means new clothes and school supplies. Fall means an end to the light fluffly stuff and a return to the nitty gritty. A12, as I’ve dubbed it, doesn’t disappoint when it comes to the nitty gritty; while this isn’t the story of the end of the world (take THAT, Mayan calendar), it is the story of WWIII, or the Great Eurabian War.
'There was and there was not a time when women walked the streets, hair blowing, without fear of attack and married men they loved and of their choosing, when girls danced and played at school, and competed in swim teams and clubs, when writers and artists expresses opinions to engage controversy and discussion, when our rights and our democracy seemed as assured as the sun above our heads, and you and I could while away the day at a café or bar and talk about anything we pleased. That time, like this tale, is now for the storybooks.'
So it begins.
The year is — you guessed it — 2012, and an American couple in their early 20s heads to — you guessed it — Amsterdam. Upon their arrival, they meet a lovely Dutch couple and are invited back to their home for a dinner party and to stay the night. Everyone has a nice time and the couple even gets to sleep in a glorious windmill. Things are going swimmingly until they wake up and head back into the main house, where the hosts and all of the dinner party guests from the previous evening have been murdered. Turns out that the hosts were members of a theater group that specialized in satirical performances of politics and current events, including commentary on various Muslim customs and behavior. When it’s revealed that the murders were “motivated by faith,” hoo boy, the rioting begins. It starts in Muslim communities in Holland and spreads quickly throughout Europe. Our heroine and her boyfriend, meanwhile, had hightailed it outta the Dam to London, just to be safe. Well of course it’s not safe, so upon the insistence of their parents, they hightail it back over to the good ol’ US of A. Just as they start to exhale, Chica’s boyfriend is detained, questioned, and taken to Guantanamo. (Did I mention that he’s half Arab?)
While Chica is trying to get any details on the whereabouts and whatabouts of her boyfriend, there’s not much else to do but keep an eye on the news. Europe has pretty much become a clusterfuck, with radicals taking over cities and declaring Islamic states throughout the continent and into Africa. The U.S. starts to look reminiscent of the pre-WWII era, with politicians and citizens alike arguing over whether or not to get involved or to take a more isolationist stance. Some of you may remember the gas shortages in the 70s, which make a comeback. And inevitably, after a dubious election (apparently they still happen in 2012), rioting begins in the States, with Dearborn, Michigan the first place to declare Sharia law.
I’m not going to talk politics — partly because we’re way too fancy for that here, and partly because I think everyone would be better off if we all kept our mouths shut unless we really knew about the things of which we spoke. I will say, however, that it left all kinds of niggly thoughts in my head. Like how, in times of chaos, we tend to cling to any kind of stability regardless of how nonsensical it may seem — and oh, what a slippery slope that can become. How everything in the world can change in a matter of weeks. How nurses are always needed and that I chose the wrong line of work . . .
To read the rest, please visit: www.fancyterrible.com.
We’re nearing the end of the beach season, and that means Fall is around the corner. Fall is serious, man. Fall means new clothes and school supplies. Fall means an end to the light fluffly stuff and a return to the nitty gritty. A12, as I’ve dubbed it, doesn’t disappoint when it comes to the nitty gritty; while this isn’t the story of the end of the world (take THAT, Mayan calendar), it is the story of WWIII, or the Great Eurabian War.
'There was and there was not a time when women walked the streets, hair blowing, without fear of attack and married men they loved and of their choosing, when girls danced and played at school, and competed in swim teams and clubs, when writers and artists expresses opinions to engage controversy and discussion, when our rights and our democracy seemed as assured as the sun above our heads, and you and I could while away the day at a café or bar and talk about anything we pleased. That time, like this tale, is now for the storybooks.'
So it begins.
The year is — you guessed it — 2012, and an American couple in their early 20s heads to — you guessed it — Amsterdam. Upon their arrival, they meet a lovely Dutch couple and are invited back to their home for a dinner party and to stay the night. Everyone has a nice time and the couple even gets to sleep in a glorious windmill. Things are going swimmingly until they wake up and head back into the main house, where the hosts and all of the dinner party guests from the previous evening have been murdered. Turns out that the hosts were members of a theater group that specialized in satirical performances of politics and current events, including commentary on various Muslim customs and behavior. When it’s revealed that the murders were “motivated by faith,” hoo boy, the rioting begins. It starts in Muslim communities in Holland and spreads quickly throughout Europe. Our heroine and her boyfriend, meanwhile, had hightailed it outta the Dam to London, just to be safe. Well of course it’s not safe, so upon the insistence of their parents, they hightail it back over to the good ol’ US of A. Just as they start to exhale, Chica’s boyfriend is detained, questioned, and taken to Guantanamo. (Did I mention that he’s half Arab?)
While Chica is trying to get any details on the whereabouts and whatabouts of her boyfriend, there’s not much else to do but keep an eye on the news. Europe has pretty much become a clusterfuck, with radicals taking over cities and declaring Islamic states throughout the continent and into Africa. The U.S. starts to look reminiscent of the pre-WWII era, with politicians and citizens alike arguing over whether or not to get involved or to take a more isolationist stance. Some of you may remember the gas shortages in the 70s, which make a comeback. And inevitably, after a dubious election (apparently they still happen in 2012), rioting begins in the States, with Dearborn, Michigan the first place to declare Sharia law.
I’m not going to talk politics — partly because we’re way too fancy for that here, and partly because I think everyone would be better off if we all kept our mouths shut unless we really knew about the things of which we spoke. I will say, however, that it left all kinds of niggly thoughts in my head. Like how, in times of chaos, we tend to cling to any kind of stability regardless of how nonsensical it may seem — and oh, what a slippery slope that can become. How everything in the world can change in a matter of weeks. How nurses are always needed and that I chose the wrong line of work . . .
To read the rest, please visit: www.fancyterrible.com.
August 7, 2010
A horrific fictional political thriller set in the not too distant future. An entertaining but chilling read about WWIII and how it started. The main character is written so that it is easy to care about what happens to her and her family. Her journey from start to finish is difficult and will be difficult for some to read. If you can distance yourself from the politics and from choosing sides and read it for what it is then you would enjoy it that much more.
September 14, 2011
A thought provoking, horrifying book which takes place now and in the near future. The storyline would stay in my mind even when I chose to do things other than read. The main character describes for the reader the origins and events that lead up to world war three. As I continue to hear of news reports about acts of terrorism in the real world, I expect to be recalling the events in this book.
August 15, 2012
I am shocked and disappointed at the high ratings for this book. It isn't a novel, it's fear-mongering and filled with hate. The author is ham-handed in creating the setting and storyline. She's also only interested in portraying Muslims (as well as certain Europeans) as dangerous radicals that will turn into boogey men in the middle of the night when good Christian Americans are peacefully trying to live their faultless lives.
April 15, 2010
Note to author....I believe the editors missed something or my Kindle version had an incorrect name because at the end of the book when Ann meets up with her friend again, her brother's name is used twice instead of the name of the person whom she met. This part confused me, and I reread that section three times.
February 22, 2012
I really don't know what to think of this work. It seemed that the author bounced all over the spectrum of con and pro Muslim. It painted good and bad pictures that at times had me wondering just what she was trying to prove. The protagonist did not catch on for me, she just seemed to waffle back and forth. It was readable enough, but I won't be rushing out to find any more of the author's work.
November 9, 2013
Pretty good political thriller. Actually a quite frightening and plausible cause or beginning to World War 3. While the premise was good, I fund the characters stilted and stereotypical. Some of the dialogue was not believable as were some of the actions of the main characters. Getting past that and looking at the big picture, this was a decent and very interesting book.
December 22, 2010
This was such an interesting book! I hope to read more from this author.
This book referenced current events with future events very well. It made the book very plausible. Really liked it! One of the best future dystopian books I've read.
This book referenced current events with future events very well. It made the book very plausible. Really liked it! One of the best future dystopian books I've read.
March 29, 2010
It was a fast read and an interesting, albeit scary, plot and definitely provided a lot to think about but maybe was a little too heavy on the old Muslim extremist terrorist story line.
November 23, 2010
Very prophetic - suspensful - will reread in the future
January 4, 2011
Great but horrifying story! Wow... book has a LOT of run-on sentences and some formatting issues, which were pretty annoying, but the story is good enough to help you not notice the issues.
February 2, 2011
loved it!
September 17, 2011
Great political thriller. A lot of people complained that it was too over the top and could not happen but it is a work of fiction so enjoy it for what it is.
August 15, 2012
Eh. Good theme but I felt the heroine was too whiny.
March 7, 2013
Interesting premise. Quick read.
March 20, 2013
It had some issues but a thought provoking, quick read
August 15, 2015
Almost a page turner. I did finish it.
November 10, 2015
This is one of those what if's.... that is an extremely scary possibility. One of those stories that haunted me for a long time.
January 5, 2017
One of the more realistic post apocalyptic stories out there.
Want to Read
April 1, 2010199
April 10, 2012
I'm buying a hybrid car!
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews