Al Qaeda Broke My Suitcase by Neil Saunders

About the Book


This is a collection of short stories with a strong political theme. 

What I think 


Whilst I was trawling through the Amazon Kindle Store last week, I stumbled across this title. Naturally it jumped out at me. It was only £0.89 and although I'd never heard of Neil Saunders I figured I couldn't really go wrong for that price.


I really enjoyed the stories. They were easy to read and flowed nicely. Mainly they are set in England, or with a strong link to England, and heavily based around the current state of the country with a special focus on work and education. There is a strong element of working class vs middle class, early school leavers vs university graduates, working hard vs getting what you want without working at all.  


What struck me most about this collection was that many of the main characters are not likeable. That's difficult to do and still keep the interest of the reader (as most people like to read about people they can identify with). 


My favourite story was Forgive Those Who Trespass. This is the story of Will, a young boy who is being bullied in the school playground. When he tells his father, his father tells him he should forgive Russel, the leader of the gang. Will struggles to understand how God can allow this to happen and this story has a shocking, but maybe fitting end.   


About the Author


Neil Saunders didn't enjoy school and left at the age of 14. As an adult he took a writing course, discovered he liked writing, and wrote Al Qaeda Broke my Suitcase.