This is another breeze-block of a book this year- at 929 pages, its my third longest to date. It should be as well, because Roberts manages to escape from an Australian prison, become a doctor in a Mumbai slum, go to war in Afghanistan, join the Indian mafia, be a smackhead and fall in love.
I got this as the 'tricky third book' in Waterstones's never-ending 3 for 2 deal (that third book decision always takes 4 times longer than the other two)- I'd recently read Papillion, and it seemed in the same vein- it is, but less focus on trying to escape, more on what Roberts does after his wall-jump.
"you think its ironic they dress us as Where's Wally?"
For a book this size, it races along and doesn't allow you to get bored in any of his activities, because a new activity starts up, and new characters develop, and a whole new adventure is underway. The sections when he lives in a Mumbai slum are the best for me- its pretty much the exact opposite of my life (well, since I moved from Edge Hill, prior to that it was almost identical), and Roberts, a former armed robber becomes a doctor for the poorest people ever. I had to check on his website to see how much was real - apparently most of it is.
Imagine the Crocodile Dundee guy in Slumdog Millionaire - thats it.
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