truce - Softcover

Pakravan, Saideh

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0615761321 ISBN 13: 9780615761329

Publisher: Parallel Books, 2013

What happens when nothing happens? July 9: When Detective Simon Urqhart wakes up to this sunny morning and gets ready to go to work, he doesn’t know yet that this will be the most unusual day in his life – and in that of the rest of the country. Fairly soon, people start to realize what is happening—or rather, what is not happening. No crime, violence, accidents, heart attacks, arson, mayhem, murder, rape, car crashes or street fights. In other words, not a single one of the dramatic events that affect lives and often make it to the evening news or go viral on the web. The phones are silent in police precincts except for the excited public calling in to find out what’s going on. Print, radio and television media go crazy, social networks explode. Meanwhile, emergency wards in hospitals remain empty of patients, highways clear of accidents, cities devoid of ambulances or fire engines howling their way to or from trouble spots. Through a variety of stories of individuals headed for a violent outburst that fizzles out at the last minute or fatal health issues that become deflected and accidents in the making that don’t happen, TRUCE skillfully takes us through 24 hours in the life of our country transformed by ... what? Fluke? Miracle? World Conspiracy? Alien invasion? Something in the water? Like all the stunned millions, Urqhart and his journalist girlfriend Mandy try to make sense of the extraordinary situation. Although as elated as the enthusiastic crowds dancing on the streets, hugging strangers and yelling “Keep the truce!” the question on their mind is whether the truce is here to stay. And if it isn’t, how long can it last?

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About the Author:

Sa�deh Pakravan is Iranian-born, French-educated, and lives in the United States. She writes essays, fiction, and poetry in both French and English and has a blog, The Counter Argument, that she regularly updates with posts on a wide range of subjects. She was editor for many years of a cross-cultural quarterly in English for the Iranian-American community in the United States, Chanteh. Her work has appeared in several anthologies and in numerous U.S. and U.K publications. She is the author of a collection of short stories, The Arrest of Hoveyda: Stories of the Iranian Revolution, of the 2011 novel, Azadi, Protest in the Streets of Tehran, and the just-published novel Truce. As a film historian and critic, she has compiled “One Hundred Years of Must-See Films” and reviews films for the site screencomment.com.

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