Patterns of Global Terrorism: 1985-2005, U. S. Department of State Reports with Supplementary Documents and Statistics Book

The first half of this book was gripping, as Gill described "Life One": a young career Australian woman who had had a row with her partner the night before and fuming because she was running late for the job she loved. Trying to save time, she took a train she would normally not have boarded - unfortunatley, at the same time and in the same carriage as the suicide bomber. She gives a vivid account of what it was like when the bomb exploded, the falling into blackness, the twin voices in her head - one coaxing her to give up, the other to stay awake and live. She describes her rescue, her long hospital stay and we meet the staff and her family and friends who play such a vital role in her rehabiliation: her new "Life Two". So much of this book is gripping, interesting and even funny. Gill - as we are often told - has a great sense of humour.

It is during the second part of the book that it loses its edge, and becomes a sugary tale of wonderful people who all become wonderful friends who love her and who she loves, be they ambulance staff, consultants, taxi drivers, even strangers. It is one huge lovefest, page after page after page, and as she tells them on meeting them for the first time: "A Gill is for life, not just for today". "A Gill"?

I have great admiration for the writer and applaud her upbeat take on life, but found it a little self-absorbed in the end. However, the first half certainly inspires and shows the fragility of life and what, in the end, is most important