Ahmet M. Rahmanovic

An Amazing book!

Black Soul is a mix between an action thriller and political documentary. As the preamble to the book, the author states, “The following story is fiction. What actually happened was worse.”
With the first sentence, “Can you imagine how many women in Europe are making love right now?” the author pulls us into the novel which cannot be put down.

A myriad of politicians and authors have written on the war in Bosnia. Among them have been Bill Clinton, Joe Biden, Taylor Branch, Richard Holbrooke, Steven L. Burg, Ed Vulliamy, Jan Willem Honig, David Rieff, Swanee Hunt, and many more. In their attempt to retain “neutrality and objectiveness,” the majority of authors fell into a trap of equating the “parties to the conflict.” Following this logic, however, the Nazis and the Jewish people, in WWII, can also be described as “parties to the conflict,” and the “immediate mutual cessation of hostilities” can be demanded.

Other authors, such as Taylor Branch (Clinton Tapes), describe Bill Clinton as having the clear description of the ongoing events in Bosnia, and coldly shrugging at the possibility of the extermination of Bosnian Muslims.

Unlike the rest of such books, Black Soul is a novel with soul; perhaps too much for a thriller. The author leaves no room for guesswork as to what occurred in Bosnia. From time to time, in order to allow the reader to fully participate in the further events of the book, the author presents us with a journalistic description of certain places and events, which lends the novel the styling of a documentary work. The reader is left to conclude how and why such events were allowed to play out a mere hour’s flight from Vienna, Budapest, Rome, Milan, Istanbul, and Athens. And even there, the conclusion is a given.

Besides these qualities, what makes this novel unique, are the descriptions of Sarajevo, the siege, the legendary tunnel out of Sarajevo, wartime hospitals, survival methods of Sarajevans under nearly four years of shelling and snipers, derived of water, gas, electricity… And all throughout the novel, it is woven through in an unobtrusive, almost subliminal way through dialog and action.

After Sarajevo and Bosnia, Rahmanovic leads us through Rome and then Chicago – in the same fluid and dynamic way. Searching for a new meaning to life in a foreign country, former warriors try to escape the horrors of memory.

In his critique of the novel, the Bosnian literary academic and critic notes: “It is a novel which can be discussed within the context of the great works of world literature. The relations between characters, namely those between Hamza and his father, are reminiscent in form as well as value to the relationship of prince Andrei and his father, old earl Bolkonsky, in Tolstoy’s War and Peace. It is the type of love which, on the surface, is unnoticeable, or nearly so. However, hidden within its depths lies everything that one human being can offer another.”

In any case, Black Soul is a book which does not allow the reader to forget, and after which you surely cannot remain the same.… (mais)

BLACK SOUL: Scar on Western History

After fifty years, genocide in Europe again. This time live, 24/7 coverage of the extermination of a nation. The author, Ahmet M. Rahmanovic pens a fictional novel based on the true events of Bosnia’s darkest period in “Black Soul,” a new book released through Xlibris.

The book, unlike any others, gives a face to all the actors in the Bosnian tragedy. In this gripping war-action thriller, Rahmanovic takes the readers from the battle-torn hills of Sarajevo to the streets of Chicago, where one man journeys to find new meaning in his life. Can he escape the horrors of memory in a foreign land?

“It is a story of love and war, of tenderness and brutality. The author tells a raw, often brutal story of unorthodox aggression, the like of which are unprecedented in the history of war. The reader will find madness, insanity, blood, hypocrisy of world powers…”
- Mugdim Karabeg, Journalist

But beneath the story, Rahmanovic presents us with a subtle account of the Bosnian Muslims; their outlook on life, justice, dignity, and honor. Most of al, this novel gives hope of building bridges between people, and shows how little good will is needed to turn the differences of religion, culture, and race from an obstacle to strength.

Since its initial release in Bosnia in 1999, Black Soul has enjoyed a consistent ranking on the best seller list.

For more information on BLACK SOUL, log on to www.blacksoul.us… (mais)