ARTHUR C CLARKE's MYSTERIES

Authors: JOHN FAIRLY and SIMOW WELFARE

What do you think about the doomsday conspiracies? Do you feel that unexplainable things are signs by Aliens? Is Bermuda triangle an enterprise run by ghost ships to absolve men and material into the swirling depth of sea? Or is it because of a heavy magnetic current in that region? 

What real? What is more alluring? What will you choose? Do you think fiction is more romantic and therefore more meaningful? Should all things unexplained on earth be on a grander scale? 

Hear this story then! 

Darkness always scared me when I was a child. I put on a brave front before others, but inside the heart of hearts, I was always looking for a monster in the closet!  Especially after 8 PM, I dared not go near our balcony, because I had found a monster's torch! 

A round disjointed ball  of light used to shine at the edge of our compound after dark. It cast an eerie glow when seen from our balcony. I made a careful inspection of compound after school each evening. But there was no light source in the compound; nor any monsters. The fear drew me like a magnet towards our balcony every night, and I scratched my head over the reason. That orange ball of light occupied my thoughts every evening and my nights turned to nightmares. 

Many months later I finally hit upon the reason behind that spectral glow - a glass piece laced on our compound wall reflected light from some faraway source. The mechanism to prevent intrusion was transformed to a monster's torch with my fertile imagination. From then on I realized that the mysteries are not really mysterious once we know the truth behind them. Of course a monster's torch made a more fascinating story, but I'm more glad with the truth! 

What if you got a book which took the most baffling mysteries/superstitions happening around us and cracked the truth behind them? Compiled by John Fairley and Simon Welfare, the book "Arthur C. Clarke's mysteries" analyzes the truth behind some of the dramatic phenomenon happening around us. This book has all the thrilling components of a whodunit novel; each story has a proper build up, and the spookiness added in the narration keeps us on toe till the end of the chapter where facts are explained. 

Building up over the TV series by Arthur C. Clarke, this book contains the probable facts by the master SF writer himself. This book made me believe that though this world is strange, it is still logical! 

So does the end of Mayan Calendar in 2012 mark the end of the world? Or did the Mayans stop counting after that? Food for thought!

The ABC murders

Author: Agatha Christie

A serial killer is murdering people arbitrarily in the order of their names. The first victim is Alice Ascher of Andover, second Betty Barnard of Bexhill-on-Sea, third Sir Carmichael Clarke of Churston. i.e., the first victim is a person with his initial A from a place starting with A, the second victim is B, and so on.The victims are completely unrelated; of different financial backgrounds, and different age factions.

Before each murder Hercule Poirot receives a letter stating the time and place of the next murder, but by the time Poirot and the police reach the place, the murder would’ve already occurred. At each murder spot, the killer leaves an ABC Railway Guide next to the body of the victim with the open page facing the floor.

Some of the clues lead to a stocking salesman called Alexander Bonaparte Cust (ABC), an old, partially blind, epileptic man. His presence at each murder location is proved beyond doubt, and he surrenders stating that he could’ve done the murders as he is unaware of himself many a times in a day. All the letters were typed from his typewriter, but he denies typing any letter and claims that he had never heard of Poirot before meeting him at the investigation office. Though Cust surrenders, he could not be jailed for lack of evidence and loopholes in the evidences against him.

Who is the serial killer? What is his motive? Can an old,weak, epileptic man kill four people with different weapons and cleverly conceal the murder weapon? These are the questions Poirot asks himself. Read the book to find the culprit.

This is a detective fiction, and the easiest way to spoil your pleasure of reading is to reveal the climax.The ABC murder, written in a double point of view is worth your time any day.