The reluctant spy and a ghoul

I started listening to some book podcast by BBC where they introduce authors and their books. Podcasts unlike reading may feel they are closer but they are not. When you are multitasking, you may not have heard some phrases, or not understood clearly. With no google under your finger tips, you will not look it up. 

So I keep on hearing about these great authors and their great works and then forget their names. May be I should stick listening to songs instead. They are soothing at least. 

But the OTT serials I am watching are "interesting". I watched one season of American Horror story and many episodes of Patriot.

Horror story is filled with endless murders by ghosts in a house called by locals as murder house . But I think there is lack of suspense. I remember Hindi movies about ghosts with eerie musics and sudden appearances and such things. May be that was my expectation. I did not like the show so much but have a go at it if you want to watch ghost stories. 

And this spy story is about a reluctant spy and failed spy mission. A real spy, not the ones you see everywhere now, who go through social media feeds of people from ten years ago and complain to the authorities about a "deshdroh".

 This spy, John  is reluctant and is for ever sad. So much so that a little girl who sees him by accident describes him as the sad man. 

This man works for secret service and so does his father. The father son duo want  to stop Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. And are willing to take any steps in that direction. ANY steps.

But may be the values of the son do not quite agree with all the violence he has to use in this endeavor.  That could be the reason why he always tries to get into an accident while riding his bicycle.

Father Tom Tavner send son John on a mission to Milwaukee to join a company as a piping engineer. Because the company he is going to McMillan is the only company which has relations with Iran. And he can get a chance to go to Iran and distribute the money and stop the nuclear power acquisition. 

But things start going wrong from the first day. He arrives late to the interview and does not answer some questions correctly. When he overhears that they liked the Asian kid Stephen better, he has to remove that obstacle. Stephen meets with an accident and John joins McMillan and is on a trip to Luxemberg.

Things get even worse. He loses his bag in the airport. Filled with lot of - a lot of cash, meant to be distributed in Iran. He gets the name and address of the worker in the airport and gives him a visit. His father warns him that these Brazilian people will know jujutsu. And sure they do know and attack and try to kill him. With the help of knife, he escapes, but there is a casualty and he did not get the bag. With a lot of money in it. 

He has already hurt one colleague of his. The colleague who helped to pass his drug test by giving his pee. He had told him about why he has to join the company for the country etc. And now that person gets to enthusiastic to help John in his spy mission and does not listen. So John stabs him in his thigh and asks him not to go to the hospital.

Then there is an ex-cop, now disgraced and working as a security guard who has overheard John's secret and blackmails him.

And there is another over enthusiastic cop in Luxemberg who is convinced that a murder of the Jorro - the brother of airport worker who was unfortunately killed in the jujutsu incident - is some how connected to the colleague because his stab wound (he does go to the hospital) is similar to the wounds of murder victim. And he accidentally mentions that he was just strolling with John Lakeman. 

And another unfortunate fact was that this mission was not completely sanctioned by Tom's superiors and yet he was so much convinced in its importance that he went ahead without authorization.

Yes, it is a botched operation. From the beginning.

He keeps making up songs about his 'adventures' and some times sends these songs to his wife. And she realizes how terrible he is feeling. She also advised from  the Luxemberg detective to stop him from becoming a ghoul.