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Exit Only
Buy directly from ENC $17.00 A suspenseful, multihued novel of Saudi Arabia as it’s seen through the eyes of expatriates of various origins and social standings who have one thing in they are all leaving it forever, on the same plane hurtling toward its destiny.
After twenty years of fixing Boeing aircraft alongside Saudi mechanics, Charlie Durango reckons he understands the Saudi mentality in Jeddah pretty well. In fact, so confident is Durango in his perceptions that for a few thousand bucks he helps Khalid Ba Sallah, a Saudi colleague, conceal two kilos of cocaine on a New York-bound 747. Unfortunately, anti-American remarks Khalid has made haunt Charlie and prompt him to try and glean whether or not he has put on board the airliner something more sinister than coke.
Sara Santos stares into Saudi Arabia from another angle. Her eyes gaze down the shaft of a mop handle at life in a middle-class Saudi family. A maid from the Philippines, Sara has been languishing, trapped and abused, in a Jeddah household for the last twelve years, with no prospect of escaping until now. Sara has just palmed a U.S. passport, and she is using her final threads of will to alter it and flee Saudi Arabia on a New York–bound flight — the flight aboard which Charlie has, hopefully, hidden only cocaine.
Charlie, Sara, and other central characters of Exit Only represent but a few people among a myriad of personalities on Jeddah’s “Arab street.” Pakistani taxi drivers, Egyptian clerks, Saudi youths male and female, Western pilots and flight attendants, government workers, British charlatans, hash-smoking ESL instructors, and many others toil there, too. Collectively, their personal development defines contemporary Saudi Arabia and powers the plot and themes of this pre-September 11 novel.
Allegorical by nature and evolvement, satiric and cynical by characterization, and rapid by pacing, Exit Only is more than a suspense novel set in locale of current interest. It’s a blistering quest and climax on the Red Sea shores.
After twenty years of fixing Boeing aircraft alongside Saudi mechanics, Charlie Durango reckons he understands the Saudi mentality in Jeddah pretty well. In fact, so confident is Durango in his perceptions that for a few thousand bucks he helps Khalid Ba Sallah, a Saudi colleague, conceal two kilos of cocaine on a New York-bound 747. Unfortunately, anti-American remarks Khalid has made haunt Charlie and prompt him to try and glean whether or not he has put on board the airliner something more sinister than coke.
Sara Santos stares into Saudi Arabia from another angle. Her eyes gaze down the shaft of a mop handle at life in a middle-class Saudi family. A maid from the Philippines, Sara has been languishing, trapped and abused, in a Jeddah household for the last twelve years, with no prospect of escaping until now. Sara has just palmed a U.S. passport, and she is using her final threads of will to alter it and flee Saudi Arabia on a New York–bound flight — the flight aboard which Charlie has, hopefully, hidden only cocaine.
Charlie, Sara, and other central characters of Exit Only represent but a few people among a myriad of personalities on Jeddah’s “Arab street.” Pakistani taxi drivers, Egyptian clerks, Saudi youths male and female, Western pilots and flight attendants, government workers, British charlatans, hash-smoking ESL instructors, and many others toil there, too. Collectively, their personal development defines contemporary Saudi Arabia and powers the plot and themes of this pre-September 11 novel.
Allegorical by nature and evolvement, satiric and cynical by characterization, and rapid by pacing, Exit Only is more than a suspense novel set in locale of current interest. It’s a blistering quest and climax on the Red Sea shores.
345 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2004
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
December 16, 2009
Situated amidst international airline flights, “Exit Only” delves into the complex idiosyncrasies of the Westerner’s life in Saudi Arabia. Author Liam Bracken exposes not only opposing modes of existence, but also the various ways in which people choose to cope with their misfortunes. While the trajectory of the novel for every character heads for some form of escape, each struggles with the concept of “home.” Ensnared by a sense of intercontinental limbo, their lives are left unguarded, influenced by the whims of a foreign culture, commercial airline politics and the ravenous fight for individual survival.
Bracken writes, “It’s such a fine line between what’s true and what’s politically correct to say about people,” a dilemma clearly caught by the novel’s messy dichotomy between informed and misinformed prejudice. Racism, sex, hatred and brutality run rampant throughout the novel, characteristic of no one society in particular. What seem to guide each character are hopes for redemption, justification and happiness, signifiers of a shared human reality.
However, all these various incongruities amassed appear to breed a culture of insecurity and fear, one that is no longer bound to a single landmass. The distance between the East and West becomes virtually nonexistent as airports, cell phones, technology and money force every nation to live side by side. This makes “Exit Only” an exhilarating read of confusion, contradiction and unbridled emotion.
Bracken writes, “It’s such a fine line between what’s true and what’s politically correct to say about people,” a dilemma clearly caught by the novel’s messy dichotomy between informed and misinformed prejudice. Racism, sex, hatred and brutality run rampant throughout the novel, characteristic of no one society in particular. What seem to guide each character are hopes for redemption, justification and happiness, signifiers of a shared human reality.
However, all these various incongruities amassed appear to breed a culture of insecurity and fear, one that is no longer bound to a single landmass. The distance between the East and West becomes virtually nonexistent as airports, cell phones, technology and money force every nation to live side by side. This makes “Exit Only” an exhilarating read of confusion, contradiction and unbridled emotion.
March 18, 2010
Liam Bracken's Exit Only gives the reader a view of Saudi Arabia through the eyes of various foreign workers. It's not always a pleasant view. I'm not an expert on Saudi Arabia, but Exit Only seems to give a realistic view of the country, warts and all. In particular, this book is a must read for any woman considering living in Saudi Arabia, even for a short time.
This is not one of those action adventures with a car chase on every page, but instead Exit Only slowly ramps up the suspense as the story unfolds. Each chapter of the book focuses on a single character, and the relationship between all of the characters comes together well by the end of the book.
In summary, this is an excellent book, and I highly recommend it for anyone interested in life in Saudi Arabia, or simply a good suspense novel.
Thanks to ENC Press of providing me with this book through Goodread's First Reads program.
This is not one of those action adventures with a car chase on every page, but instead Exit Only slowly ramps up the suspense as the story unfolds. Each chapter of the book focuses on a single character, and the relationship between all of the characters comes together well by the end of the book.
In summary, this is an excellent book, and I highly recommend it for anyone interested in life in Saudi Arabia, or simply a good suspense novel.
Thanks to ENC Press of providing me with this book through Goodread's First Reads program.
August 19, 2010
I first picked up Liam Bracken’s, Exit Only on a plane ride to London. I’m not a very superstitious person and the atmosphere while I read contributed in a unique way to the growing suspense of the novel. Bracken’s story weaves together the lives of seven different characters that enter and leave the town of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Each chapter is told from a new characters point of view. I appreciated the simile of experiencing the novel from a new set of eyes alongside the idea that each person seated on a plane comes from a different background and offers authentic descriptions, just like on a plane and in this book, they’re all thrown together.
The way that Bracken uses his characters to bring the streets and smells and lifestyle of Saudi Arabia alive is really something special. He wraps the story around strong historical and cultural relativisms that requires a reader ready to learn as well as one reading for pleasure. The story picks up while on the returning flight the passengers are accompanied by a hefty amount of illegal products. Like most good stories, truths about human nature were revealed and they had me picking sides and liking and disliking certain characters. Fortunately for my flight to and from London, we chose the fate of another fictional story and remained Up in the Air.
The way that Bracken uses his characters to bring the streets and smells and lifestyle of Saudi Arabia alive is really something special. He wraps the story around strong historical and cultural relativisms that requires a reader ready to learn as well as one reading for pleasure. The story picks up while on the returning flight the passengers are accompanied by a hefty amount of illegal products. Like most good stories, truths about human nature were revealed and they had me picking sides and liking and disliking certain characters. Fortunately for my flight to and from London, we chose the fate of another fictional story and remained Up in the Air.
April 23, 2010
I've a PDF version I've read on my Kindle. The type cannot be enlarged on a Kindle in PDF, but if it's switched to landscape view, the type gets large enough to read. If you are considering a Kindle, consider these two things: A regular book needs no batteries and is easier to read.
Exit Only's chapters are labelled and written in each character's POV. This style of writing seems to work well with the story being told. At times it seems as though nothing is going on and that whole chapters do not move the plot along in any way.
But it is all sort of necessary to build the characters in a way that makes you care what happens in the end. The author's greatest sucess in this effort comes with Sara. I was rooting for her to keep moving.
I've gotten what I feel is a good look inside the Muslim world and the third world mentality. That whole way of thinking is so yesterday, yet it prevails.
There was no lack of detail in all the characters. But I think the end could have been fleshed out better. The final thrill (my effort to not spill the beans) left a little to be desired. The expectant bang came off as more of a pop.
In spite of the minor let down, I still enjoyed the story as a character study.
Exit Only's chapters are labelled and written in each character's POV. This style of writing seems to work well with the story being told. At times it seems as though nothing is going on and that whole chapters do not move the plot along in any way.
But it is all sort of necessary to build the characters in a way that makes you care what happens in the end. The author's greatest sucess in this effort comes with Sara. I was rooting for her to keep moving.
I've gotten what I feel is a good look inside the Muslim world and the third world mentality. That whole way of thinking is so yesterday, yet it prevails.
There was no lack of detail in all the characters. But I think the end could have been fleshed out better. The final thrill (my effort to not spill the beans) left a little to be desired. The expectant bang came off as more of a pop.
In spite of the minor let down, I still enjoyed the story as a character study.
May 26, 2010
I like to read books about different places and cultures. Exit Only is different from most in that it is from the perspective of foreigners who live and work in Saudi Arabia. Liam Bracken does a very nice job of developing the many characters. I felt like I knew all of them personally and wanted them to achieve their goals.
I always find it interesting to learn how other parts of the world live. Sometimes it is exciting to see how people overcome problems without all of the technical prowess of America and still work out. Other times it is disappointing, for example, the confinement and concealment of women.
All in all, this is a very good book and I recommend it to anyone that likes to know their characters personally and see what happens to them.
I always find it interesting to learn how other parts of the world live. Sometimes it is exciting to see how people overcome problems without all of the technical prowess of America and still work out. Other times it is disappointing, for example, the confinement and concealment of women.
All in all, this is a very good book and I recommend it to anyone that likes to know their characters personally and see what happens to them.
May 8, 2010
3/16/10: Received my First Reads copy today in the mail. Looking forward to reading it as soon as I'm done with my current reads!
Finally finished reading this book! It was a very interesting look into a very foreign land for me. I am glad to have read this book although I wouldn't recommend it to everyone. It has several people that are focused on throughout the book but they barely coincide until near the end of the book. It seems to be an honest look at life in saudi arabia and what people in all walks of life are put through on a daily basis. Check it out if you need a reality check about the rest of the world and their views of america!
Finally finished reading this book! It was a very interesting look into a very foreign land for me. I am glad to have read this book although I wouldn't recommend it to everyone. It has several people that are focused on throughout the book but they barely coincide until near the end of the book. It seems to be an honest look at life in saudi arabia and what people in all walks of life are put through on a daily basis. Check it out if you need a reality check about the rest of the world and their views of america!
June 7, 2010
A fascinating tapestry or sights, smells, and impressions of Saudi Arabia. Really, when Mr. Bracken describes the marketplace, I could smell the spices he described - it's that vivid. Most of the characters are pretty unlikeable, but they are all human and real, and it makes them forgivable. For me, this book became something of a metaphor for how messy life is, and how little people understand each other, and yet we're all in it together, and when the push comes to shove, some of us come through and it may be enough...
April 12, 2010
Written through the eyes of 7(ish) very different characters, Liam Bracken intertwines their individual stories of arrival and eventual departure from Saudi Arabia. It was not a celebration of a culture or religion. But at frank look at both from the eyes of non-Muslim foreigners.
Thanks to ENC Press for the free book, I really enjoyed it!
Thanks to ENC Press for the free book, I really enjoyed it!
May 19, 2010
I got the impression that this book was really more an illustration of Saudi Arabian culture than a novel. The plot almost seemed like an afterthought.
That being said, this was definitely an interesting read. Bracken does a respectable job of inhabiting the various characters in a common environment and portraying their differing perspectives on common situations.
It's my opinion that there is altogether too much lewdness and vulgarity in this book, and that it barely tells a story. Perhaps the goal was to portray societal corruption through moral reprehensibility in individual characters, but I just didn't enjoy it all that much.
That being said, this was definitely an interesting read. Bracken does a respectable job of inhabiting the various characters in a common environment and portraying their differing perspectives on common situations.
It's my opinion that there is altogether too much lewdness and vulgarity in this book, and that it barely tells a story. Perhaps the goal was to portray societal corruption through moral reprehensibility in individual characters, but I just didn't enjoy it all that much.
January 6, 2012
If it was possible to give a book negative stars, I would have done it for this sensationalist rag. Obsessed with marginalizing Saudis into disgusting stereotypes, Bracken's torrid writing style is more suited to a tabloid than to a "book".
From inaccuracies in basic geography to perpetuating (completely inaccurate) prejudices about Arabs and Muslims in general, I can only conclude that Bracken is a racist and sexist xenophobe who used his time in Saudi to only reinforce his thinly veiled discriminatory preconceptions.
I'm relatively well read and well-educated and as a Saudi who has lived in Saudi Arabia my whole life, I have NEVER encountered individuals who in any way, shape, or form are even slightly similar to any of the characters portrayed in this "book."
An offensive and disgusting piece of work, I would only recommend this book to people who are looking for inaccurate drivel to reinforce hateful stereotypes. If you go ahead and read this "book", then do be forewarned because unless you're a misogynistic prejudiced "White Man's Burden" type of person, then Mr. Bracken is definitely not writing for your type of audience.
I hope Mr. Bracken sees this review and feels even an iota of shame for releasing this ugly and hateful piece of literature (I use that term loosely) into a world already burdened with too much hate.
From inaccuracies in basic geography to perpetuating (completely inaccurate) prejudices about Arabs and Muslims in general, I can only conclude that Bracken is a racist and sexist xenophobe who used his time in Saudi to only reinforce his thinly veiled discriminatory preconceptions.
I'm relatively well read and well-educated and as a Saudi who has lived in Saudi Arabia my whole life, I have NEVER encountered individuals who in any way, shape, or form are even slightly similar to any of the characters portrayed in this "book."
An offensive and disgusting piece of work, I would only recommend this book to people who are looking for inaccurate drivel to reinforce hateful stereotypes. If you go ahead and read this "book", then do be forewarned because unless you're a misogynistic prejudiced "White Man's Burden" type of person, then Mr. Bracken is definitely not writing for your type of audience.
I hope Mr. Bracken sees this review and feels even an iota of shame for releasing this ugly and hateful piece of literature (I use that term loosely) into a world already burdened with too much hate.
April 27, 2010
Off to a bad start with reading this book. I am finding that I don't like reading books in PDF form. Sometimes I like to go back and reread something and this is awkward with reading a pdf. Also, hard to get used to reading soemthing straight up and down on my desktop computer,I am too used to the familiar feel of a book between my hands.
I was reading another book at the same time and then decided to finish that one so that I could concentrate on this one. I decided to print the list of 13 characters in the book so I could keep track of them.I reread the first chapters. One thing that I have noticed is that even though there are a lot of facts about the characters and the cultures of them, including Saudi culture, it feels like there needs to be more deep. I miss that. It is almost as if the characters were being watched instead of there being a chance of identifying with any of them.
The book finally picked up for me and I developed a sympathy for Sara. I just couldn't stomach the other characters. If it wasn't for her character, I probably would not have finished the book. To me, the review of the situations of all the characters at the end did help
with the interest of the book but that came at the end!
Would no reccommend this book to my friends.
I was reading another book at the same time and then decided to finish that one so that I could concentrate on this one. I decided to print the list of 13 characters in the book so I could keep track of them.I reread the first chapters. One thing that I have noticed is that even though there are a lot of facts about the characters and the cultures of them, including Saudi culture, it feels like there needs to be more deep. I miss that. It is almost as if the characters were being watched instead of there being a chance of identifying with any of them.
The book finally picked up for me and I developed a sympathy for Sara. I just couldn't stomach the other characters. If it wasn't for her character, I probably would not have finished the book. To me, the review of the situations of all the characters at the end did help
with the interest of the book but that came at the end!
Would no reccommend this book to my friends.
May 5, 2010
This book was okay. I don't really like reading books in PDF format-I can only get to it at my computer, and don't feel like sitting there for ages staring at the screen. Other then that, the plot and characters were pretty well thought out. It was enjoyable.
March 10, 2010
This book seemed a little disjointed to me in the beginning, but the author pulled everything together nicely in the end.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews