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White Lies
Set in the fictitious town of Kawashi, Pennsylvania, experience the life of a boy who searches for the truth buried beneath the lies. Born in a dysfunctional family, Chester Philip has a perfect, over protected life. Until one morning, when his mother leaves, taking Chester along with his sister, Cheryl, on a journey that is bound to change everything.
The Pinnacle of Deception will throw you in a pool of hypocrisy, conspiracy and lies, prevailing in the very concept of a perfect family.
The Pinnacle of Deception will throw you in a pool of hypocrisy, conspiracy and lies, prevailing in the very concept of a perfect family.
212 pages, Paperback
First published February 10, 2014
1 person is currently reading
380 people want to read
About the author
Sulaiman Dawood
9 books25 followersSulaiman Dawood is an engineering student with a keen interest in law, religion, psychology and medicine.
Apart from teaching, he works as a human rights activist to promote racial harmony, and fights actively against sexual abuse and suicide, in the socially suppressive atmosphere of Pakistan. His debut novella,‘White Lies’ from The Pinnacle of Deception’ series is partly inspired by the hardships he has faced in his life, more specifically his years of battling depression, abuse and cPTSD.
Language has always been one of Sulaiman’s greatest assets. Born in Karachi, he was raised among a family of teachers. He started writing at an early age.
Sulaiman has also developed FUSED – First Urdu Speech Emotion Database. A set of threshold values for basic emotions elicited in Urdu. He is currently leading the project with a team of dedicated professionals.
Sulaiman loves to travel and spends his leisure hours watching anime. He is an active member of the MMORPG ‘League of Legends’.
Apart from teaching, he works as a human rights activist to promote racial harmony, and fights actively against sexual abuse and suicide, in the socially suppressive atmosphere of Pakistan. His debut novella,‘White Lies’ from The Pinnacle of Deception’ series is partly inspired by the hardships he has faced in his life, more specifically his years of battling depression, abuse and cPTSD.
Language has always been one of Sulaiman’s greatest assets. Born in Karachi, he was raised among a family of teachers. He started writing at an early age.
Sulaiman has also developed FUSED – First Urdu Speech Emotion Database. A set of threshold values for basic emotions elicited in Urdu. He is currently leading the project with a team of dedicated professionals.
Sulaiman loves to travel and spends his leisure hours watching anime. He is an active member of the MMORPG ‘League of Legends’.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
June 7, 2015
This book was confusing for me. It starts off telling what a wonderful life this little boy has, how he is treated like a king, he is smart and happy. Then suddenly things happen that do not depict this, and goes on to talk about how this happened all the time and he was so terrified and sad. There were other smaller matters that contradicted each other to the point that I decided not to continue. There may be a great story hidden in this book, but it needs work in order to keep a reader invested long enough to find it.
July 30, 2015
This review might seem harsh but if the author can learn something from it, then I guess my job is done here.
This book is the perfect example of a story being completely and utterly pointless.
You know when you have this certain expectation from a book because it's written by an author from the same city as you belong to, but your expectation, quite sadly I might add, comes crashing down like an avalanche? (Nick Jonas's song reference in case you're wondering)
Yeah. That's exactly how I felt after reading this book.
I don't even know what to say at the moment, I am just so extremely disappointed.
I guess we can start from the overall plot.
Which was nothing.
When you write a particular book, you have a plot made up in your mind to support the story, and I wholeheartedly believe Sulaiman Dawood definitely had a plot all schemed up to surprise the readers. But what he failed to grasp was how to execute that very plot in the book in order to keep a reader invested and carve for more.
Because these 212 pages, excluding the prologue and epilogue of course, told me absolutely nothing except for an excruciating, day to day life of Chester Springfield.
Moving in, moving out, family drama, severe beatings, disturbing dialogues, Chester's believes and, not to forget, unfulfilled dramatic promises of even more sinister events to take place in the main character's life.
I literally just told you the whole story.
The only thing that I actually found profoundly interesting were Chester's believes throughout the novel, whether it was about religion or family or just the world itself.
Starting with the first concern that I had regarding the story. The Molvis. Why were most of them depicted as evil in nature? Because if it was just to add that sad touch to the story line, then I am one extremely disappointed reader right here. This does nothing but show the world that Molvi Sahabs are people to be feared of. And I am extremely against it. The Molvi Sahab I had in my childhood was a true gentlemen. He had an amazing character and an outstanding patience to go with his line of work. You sir, put my childhood Molvi in the same category as these inhuman people in the eyes of the readers. What more do I need to say in order to change the way you portray them in this book and more?
Moreover, the physical abuse that Chester and his sister suffered by the hands of his mother herself was completely brutal. His mom was mentally and emotionally a psycho. I don't know why anybody didn't call up the police or made the kids stay away from the mother. And they live in Pennsylvania, where you can actually file a child abuse report. And not just that, where was his father in all of this? Why didn't he out of all people report this to the police? I was hoping for a court scene or any scene bought up in order to bring some justice to the children.
Coming to the disturbing scenes, I actually believed for a while that this book would focus on the disturbing parts because I thought the author might had majorly focused on this point in order to tell the readers that even the closest people you trust might try to abuse you.
But I was just left hanging when those scenes came.
For instance; End of a sentence: "He touched my butt..."
And then a new chapter starts, completely forgetting about the previous scene and moving on to telling us about his love for school.
Me: And? AND? What the frick just happened? I read Lord knows how many pages in order for this particular scene to happen and what do I get? Nothing. NOTHING.
How in the world am I supposed to assume the magnitude of the abuse? Was he like, touched? I don't know. Was he raped? I don't know. Did his uncle made him do something inappropriate? I just don't freaking know.
What was this book about once again?
And not only that, we were supposed to believe that Chester is a very intelligent kid, right?
Then why didn't he mention the inappropriate talks to his mother or literally any other person in the house? He just shrugged off the talks like it's the usual. Was he forced to be quiet? Even that I don't know.
Other than that, I just didn't like how Islam was portrayed in this book. Instead of enlightening the readers about the beauty of it, it was just scaring off the readers and proving their pessimistic thinking about the Muslims in this world right. So if you are a non-Muslim reader, then please do not think of this as the universal attitude of the Muslims because even I would be petrified of the Muslims after reading this book.
The whole family was just completely appalling and totally awful.
The author even failed to explain the whole ziba process and the story behind the event in order to help the readers understand. Why didn't anybody explain it to Chester in order to make him less terrified of the process?
They just laughed it off like usual. *rolling eyes* *sigh*
I would have totally appreciated the story more if somebody, his mother in fact, would have told him about the process.
And how can I forget? Hats off to the author for making the Prologue and Epilogue about his death, which was actually the only thing I was interested in, and was the only thing I didn't get.
I literally thought that there would be a time skip and Chester would be in his teens or adulthood, because of the Prologue, after reading half of the book, but oh boy was I wrong.
Instead I get his messed up life routine when he was seven years old.
There's a reason why I don't like documentary films.
And who was the editor even? There were so many grammatical errors, I was literally cringing after every few chapters.
I am done. I am incredibly tired. And sad. And disappointed. And you won't be seeing me picking up the second book of the trilogy.
Sulaiman Dawood. You have an amazing writing skill. Don't waste it. Use it to write something good. Something interesting. Maybe a fantasy book? Or even an action based book. Since your descriptive writing is off the charts. Discuss what you are going to write with somebody. Sort out all the details. Write a book with a plan of making the readers stick till the very end.
Read Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma. And then compare this book to hers. You will see a vast difference. And not in a good way.
Good luck to you for your future works and I truly hope the next book I will be reviewing of yours will have a 5 stars rating. (In sha Allah)
This book is the perfect example of a story being completely and utterly pointless.
You know when you have this certain expectation from a book because it's written by an author from the same city as you belong to, but your expectation, quite sadly I might add, comes crashing down like an avalanche? (Nick Jonas's song reference in case you're wondering)
Yeah. That's exactly how I felt after reading this book.
I don't even know what to say at the moment, I am just so extremely disappointed.
I guess we can start from the overall plot.
Which was nothing.
When you write a particular book, you have a plot made up in your mind to support the story, and I wholeheartedly believe Sulaiman Dawood definitely had a plot all schemed up to surprise the readers. But what he failed to grasp was how to execute that very plot in the book in order to keep a reader invested and carve for more.
Because these 212 pages, excluding the prologue and epilogue of course, told me absolutely nothing except for an excruciating, day to day life of Chester Springfield.
Moving in, moving out, family drama, severe beatings, disturbing dialogues, Chester's believes and, not to forget, unfulfilled dramatic promises of even more sinister events to take place in the main character's life.
I literally just told you the whole story.
The only thing that I actually found profoundly interesting were Chester's believes throughout the novel, whether it was about religion or family or just the world itself.
Starting with the first concern that I had regarding the story. The Molvis. Why were most of them depicted as evil in nature? Because if it was just to add that sad touch to the story line, then I am one extremely disappointed reader right here. This does nothing but show the world that Molvi Sahabs are people to be feared of. And I am extremely against it. The Molvi Sahab I had in my childhood was a true gentlemen. He had an amazing character and an outstanding patience to go with his line of work. You sir, put my childhood Molvi in the same category as these inhuman people in the eyes of the readers. What more do I need to say in order to change the way you portray them in this book and more?
Moreover, the physical abuse that Chester and his sister suffered by the hands of his mother herself was completely brutal. His mom was mentally and emotionally a psycho. I don't know why anybody didn't call up the police or made the kids stay away from the mother. And they live in Pennsylvania, where you can actually file a child abuse report. And not just that, where was his father in all of this? Why didn't he out of all people report this to the police? I was hoping for a court scene or any scene bought up in order to bring some justice to the children.
Coming to the disturbing scenes, I actually believed for a while that this book would focus on the disturbing parts because I thought the author might had majorly focused on this point in order to tell the readers that even the closest people you trust might try to abuse you.
But I was just left hanging when those scenes came.
For instance; End of a sentence: "He touched my butt..."
And then a new chapter starts, completely forgetting about the previous scene and moving on to telling us about his love for school.
Me: And? AND? What the frick just happened? I read Lord knows how many pages in order for this particular scene to happen and what do I get? Nothing. NOTHING.
How in the world am I supposed to assume the magnitude of the abuse? Was he like, touched? I don't know. Was he raped? I don't know. Did his uncle made him do something inappropriate? I just don't freaking know.
What was this book about once again?
And not only that, we were supposed to believe that Chester is a very intelligent kid, right?
Then why didn't he mention the inappropriate talks to his mother or literally any other person in the house? He just shrugged off the talks like it's the usual. Was he forced to be quiet? Even that I don't know.
Other than that, I just didn't like how Islam was portrayed in this book. Instead of enlightening the readers about the beauty of it, it was just scaring off the readers and proving their pessimistic thinking about the Muslims in this world right. So if you are a non-Muslim reader, then please do not think of this as the universal attitude of the Muslims because even I would be petrified of the Muslims after reading this book.
The whole family was just completely appalling and totally awful.
The author even failed to explain the whole ziba process and the story behind the event in order to help the readers understand. Why didn't anybody explain it to Chester in order to make him less terrified of the process?
They just laughed it off like usual. *rolling eyes* *sigh*
I would have totally appreciated the story more if somebody, his mother in fact, would have told him about the process.
And how can I forget? Hats off to the author for making the Prologue and Epilogue about his death, which was actually the only thing I was interested in, and was the only thing I didn't get.
I literally thought that there would be a time skip and Chester would be in his teens or adulthood, because of the Prologue, after reading half of the book, but oh boy was I wrong.
Instead I get his messed up life routine when he was seven years old.
There's a reason why I don't like documentary films.
And who was the editor even? There were so many grammatical errors, I was literally cringing after every few chapters.
I am done. I am incredibly tired. And sad. And disappointed. And you won't be seeing me picking up the second book of the trilogy.
Sulaiman Dawood. You have an amazing writing skill. Don't waste it. Use it to write something good. Something interesting. Maybe a fantasy book? Or even an action based book. Since your descriptive writing is off the charts. Discuss what you are going to write with somebody. Sort out all the details. Write a book with a plan of making the readers stick till the very end.
Read Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma. And then compare this book to hers. You will see a vast difference. And not in a good way.
Good luck to you for your future works and I truly hope the next book I will be reviewing of yours will have a 5 stars rating. (In sha Allah)
February 25, 2015
White lies is the book which stirs your heart and penetrates your soul. It is about a seven year old boy who succumbed to the atrocities of the people he cared for, whom he loved but in vain. Chester was strikingly intelligent for his age, he questioned a lot and was a keen observer. He was compassionate and empathetic, knew exactly why people act in a certain way, which is a mark of emotional intelligence in a child. He was taken for granted by everyone and never appreciated, no matter how out of the ordinary course he went to earn himself praises. The book made me emotional and gave me goosebumps at times. I felt for the child and wanted to take him in my embrace and never let it loose. Now I feel more connected with the kids around me at emotional level. This book tells you how a child thinks and how strongly he holds onto the words of his parents, how he regards small acts of kindness and how he feels, thinks and observes usual things with deep understanding. Apart from that this book unravels the repercussions of adult's decisions on a child's psychology and his life as a whole. The book is extremely well-written and congruous with the truth a family faces with the menace of separation. The writer of this masterpiece expertly delivered his inspections and opinions into his expression, which never missed the spot not for once, it was created to hit.
A must read, specially for parents!
A must read, specially for parents!
June 11, 2015
it was good to read from a Pakistani author a fiction that involved a child psychology who is suffering from broken family and mixture of cultures as well over all concept was good but the areas where work is needed to be done is on the description of a child thinking, there was too much stress in overall story, it distract the reader from suffering the same situations through out.
good luck sulaiman for your future projects :) I hope you will take notice of these points
good luck sulaiman for your future projects :) I hope you will take notice of these points
June 12, 2015
I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I really wanted to like this book. But I just found the beginning really confusing. And the ending was too. Reading Chesters story I felt so sorry for the boy. His mother came across as a nasty piece of work. And as for the relatives calling Chester names because of his mother. Seeing as it's a novella, I don't think the book should have ended with Chesters death.
I really wanted to like this book. But I just found the beginning really confusing. And the ending was too. Reading Chesters story I felt so sorry for the boy. His mother came across as a nasty piece of work. And as for the relatives calling Chester names because of his mother. Seeing as it's a novella, I don't think the book should have ended with Chesters death.
June 5, 2015
REVIEW COMING UP.....(SO MUCH TO WRITE SO LITTLE TIME) O_O
May 25, 2015
This book is really good and shines light on how children feel. Good for parents and teachers.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 19, 2015
! SPOILERS AHEAD !
I started reading this book while I went on a trip to Dubai. It was a pity though that it has been released so late in Pakistan, though.
When I first picked up this book, there were two things in my mind. The cover - those eyes - they somehow made me want to pick it off the shelf. Then the blurb.
Why would a boy search for truth? Does his family lie? What about his mother leaving the town?
I started reading more:
The Prologue.
It killed me. I witnessed the scene between two brothers, the younger one dying. I was like stunned.
And then the book unfolds gradually. You see a boy, the hero, Chester, who had just died in the prologue. But in the chapters, he's still a boy. A small child, who's trying to learn the meaning of life. The book explores all of the choices we have had in growing up.
It actually reflects taboos in the Muslim world (that are merely created by the uneducated, misinformed people) that doesn't actually represent the true Islam. The book has a very subtle feel to it.
As if something is happening. The reader is always on the edge. Even though it is not written in 'as-a-matter-of-fact' way but you know that something is not right, you have this feeling inside.
There were moments when I had to actually feel myself going numb, the prose is so realistic, it feels like a real story, as if you're there with the protagonist.
Even though there is no such thing as a total climax in the book, considering its a series, there are plenty of cliffhangers and bold questions aimed at our society, specially the eastern culture.
Are we really what we appear to be?
What are we?
What does being a Muslim mean?
What exactly is a family?
Who and more exactly what is a parent?
The book will leave you wondering at so many things. We see pre primary schooling, we see friendships, we see family and the drama that goes inside.
There is jealousy, hatred, love, tears, and of course, happiness.
And then the Epilogue:
You see two people fighting, on the grave of the protagonist. They are possibly the two new characters that will unfold in the next part but as it seems, one of them holds the other responsible for Chester's death, or so it seems.
This book is literally a page turner!
I wasn't on Goodreads before, but when I came to know that the author has a Goodreads account, I felt it necessary to write my honest thoughts about the book.
I've had the chance of meeting the author, and trust me, he is one of those fine men, that our country (especially Pakistan) needs. If ever you can, do meet him, and discuss things that seem to bother you. The person really knows how things tick.
To everyone, this book is a must read!
I'm anxiously waiting for a sequel.
I started reading this book while I went on a trip to Dubai. It was a pity though that it has been released so late in Pakistan, though.
When I first picked up this book, there were two things in my mind. The cover - those eyes - they somehow made me want to pick it off the shelf. Then the blurb.
Why would a boy search for truth? Does his family lie? What about his mother leaving the town?
I started reading more:
The Prologue.
It killed me. I witnessed the scene between two brothers, the younger one dying. I was like stunned.
And then the book unfolds gradually. You see a boy, the hero, Chester, who had just died in the prologue. But in the chapters, he's still a boy. A small child, who's trying to learn the meaning of life. The book explores all of the choices we have had in growing up.
It actually reflects taboos in the Muslim world (that are merely created by the uneducated, misinformed people) that doesn't actually represent the true Islam. The book has a very subtle feel to it.
As if something is happening. The reader is always on the edge. Even though it is not written in 'as-a-matter-of-fact' way but you know that something is not right, you have this feeling inside.
There were moments when I had to actually feel myself going numb, the prose is so realistic, it feels like a real story, as if you're there with the protagonist.
Even though there is no such thing as a total climax in the book, considering its a series, there are plenty of cliffhangers and bold questions aimed at our society, specially the eastern culture.
Are we really what we appear to be?
What are we?
What does being a Muslim mean?
What exactly is a family?
Who and more exactly what is a parent?
The book will leave you wondering at so many things. We see pre primary schooling, we see friendships, we see family and the drama that goes inside.
There is jealousy, hatred, love, tears, and of course, happiness.
And then the Epilogue:
You see two people fighting, on the grave of the protagonist. They are possibly the two new characters that will unfold in the next part but as it seems, one of them holds the other responsible for Chester's death, or so it seems.
This book is literally a page turner!
I wasn't on Goodreads before, but when I came to know that the author has a Goodreads account, I felt it necessary to write my honest thoughts about the book.
I've had the chance of meeting the author, and trust me, he is one of those fine men, that our country (especially Pakistan) needs. If ever you can, do meet him, and discuss things that seem to bother you. The person really knows how things tick.
To everyone, this book is a must read!
I'm anxiously waiting for a sequel.
June 5, 2017
A disturbing book, an important book.
We see Chesters world through his eyes, know only what he knows.He's living with his divorced mother and his little sister at his grandfather's house together with a changing number of aunts, uncles and cousins.
The most disturbing fact is the unpredictability of the family members. Chester is longing for stability, love, acceptance, someone to rely on. But what he finds is uncertainty, abuse, violence and religious hypocrisy. And nobody explains anything to Chester.
We see Chesters world through his eyes, know only what he knows.He's living with his divorced mother and his little sister at his grandfather's house together with a changing number of aunts, uncles and cousins.
The most disturbing fact is the unpredictability of the family members. Chester is longing for stability, love, acceptance, someone to rely on. But what he finds is uncertainty, abuse, violence and religious hypocrisy. And nobody explains anything to Chester.
February 19, 2015
IT IS JUST AMAZING ! i love the way each and everything is explained and elaborated . the amount of humor and catchy dialogues makes the story addictive. it is a wonderful piece of work . this story teaches us about how ugly and beautiful relations could be . its just a masterpiece
May 2, 2015
Heartbreaking, but worth the read. The main character is adorable and intelligent, so it's hard to see him go through so much. However, everything was written so well through Chester's eyes. Great story, great message.
July 28, 2015
I was given a free copy of this in exchange for a good review. I really wanted to like this book but I could never get into it! It started of really good and I kept reading but then things got kinda confusing. I dropped the book for a really long time and finally went back and looked at it. I tried to read it again but didn't get very far. Maybe it's because I'm a little younger than who this book is meant for, but I never got into it!! Sorry!!
Want to read
February 21, 2015It might not be too profound, but I got hooked immediately. And apparently I'm not the only one. All in all, this was one of the most entertaining books that I've read.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews