Book Review: 'Nobody Dies a Virgin' by Sanjay Shukla

Title: Nobody Dies a Virgin

Tagline: Life Screws us All

Author: Sanjay Shukla

Synopsis: 

‘What are you guys going to cherish after five years? The mundane thesis work, or working on an idea that no one has ever succeeded in?’ His utterings sound persuasive, but illogical, the stuff dreams are made of. Tapan and Harsh put their careers on the line. Will his passion make stars out of them or will it take them all down? Or just some of them?

It all starts with Aadi stepping into IIT Cawnpore for his post-graduation. He goes on to master a challenge as old as the age of the human flight. He beats the researchers all across the world. But he is yet not done fighting. Bruised egos, heated discussions and red tape, he needs to fight them all. And then there is the lady in red, a whiff of fresh air.

‘I value my friends more than my dreams and that’s the reason I am ready to trade my biggest achievement of the past two years.’ Would Aadi trade his sweat and blood for his morals? Will world know Aadi as a discoverer or will his story be lost in the ashes of time?

About the Author:

Sanjay hails from Pantnagar, a reputed university town in the state of Uttarakhand. After his post-graduation from Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur in 2007, Sanjay spent four years with General Electric - Aviation. Recently he has joined Aeronautical Development Agency, Ministry of Defense. 

Between the chores of corporate life and his personal commitments, he completed his first novel titled 'Nobody Dies a Virgin'. Apart from writing, the author makes time to pursue his interest in dance, swimming and gliding. Sanjay also pens short poems from time to time. 

Contact: www.sanjaykshukla.com, sanjaykshukla@gmail.com

Genre: Fiction

Publisher: Srishti Publishers

ISBN: 9789380349800

Price: Rs.120/- MRP

Launched on: October 2012

Story:

The novel follows the story of three friends - Aadi, Harsh, and Tapan, through their post-graduation journey at IIT Cawnpore. Post breaking up with his former gf, Aadi finds a new passion in his Flying Car project. He includes both of his friends in this out-of-the-world dream of his, and also registers the unofficial support of few on-campus professors to get help with the lab facilities for experiments. But he goes wrong in making a mean professor his enemy, who will leave no stone unturned to make them all fail in their efforts. Adding a romantic angle to the story is Sonia, an MBA undergraduate at the same institute.

Will Aadi overcome all his obstacles and succeed in converting his dream project into reality? How far is Dr. Subbarao willing to go to super-feed his self-ego?! Is Aadi ready yet to lose his friends and/or his degree for his dream project?! Read the book to find out more; as it depicts very well how our higher education system (intentionally or unintentionally) suppresses innovative thinking among the students, and lacks the will to provide quality infrastructural support making their dream projects go down the drain in the process.


Likes:

The language quality is superb, really. The proper yet sarcastic choice of words really makes the reader want to read the sentences again, to enjoy more.

The whole flying car idea is very nice and forms the crux of the novel. The well-structured ups and downs associated with this project is what keeps the story moving forward actually.


Dislikes:

Reader's connection with the story gets loosened at various points due to break in flow encountered repeatedly throughout. The random discontinuity between dialogues, situations, and emotions makes one to go superficially about the book.

The main story (except the Flying Car part) lacks depth. One's attachment to the storyline remains shallow throughout. It is just another typical college life narrative with assignments, courses, beer, hostel, with a tinge of romance.

Core technical descriptions seem to have been inserted too much; could have been presented in a simplistic manner.


Overall, a nice one-time read. A good effort from a debut author, though could have been better. Surely to be watched out for his next novel in line.


Recommended for: Technical story readers, Language lovers

My Rating: 3 stars out of 5

P.S. -- Received a review copy from the author Sanjay Shukla personally in exchange for an honest review

Connect with me here -- VPS 'हितैषी'

Book Review: MBA is not about Money, Blazer, Arrogance by Krishna Kranthi

Synopsis:

Like many, Revant has dreamt of getting that fancy and highly regarded MBA degree. After working hard, finally he gets an admission to one of the top Indian B-schools. His excitement is short lived as the overwhelming pressure and the vague defin­itions of management boggle him down. He gets frustrated with the people around him who see MBA as a purpose of earning higher salary and getting superior designations and indulging in unneeded arrogance. He thinks this is not what he wanted to learn out of his MBA. But then, something changes and Revant experiences the true purpose of pursuing an MBA. An inside story of MBA graduates, the book helps one realize that real purpose of a MBA degree is not confined to money, blazer, arrogance but it is more than that.

About the Author:

Krishna Kranthi is a management professional from Hyderabad. He has pursued his studies from CBIT, worked with lnfosys, Amazon be­fore pursuing his MBA from SPJIMR, Mumbai. In his own words, he describes himself as "Eccentric, Honest, Optimistic and Passionate". This is his first novel. [www.krishnakranthi.com, hello@krishnakranthi.com]

Genre: Fiction (real-life inspired)

Publisher: Nivasini Publishers

ISBN: 9789350675007

Price: Rs.150/- [A part of your money from this purchase goes to the NGO - Vigyan Ashram in form of educational scholarship to the Students]

Story:

The book follows the story of Revant in first person, from the time he is set to join a reputed B-school for his 1-year MBA programme till the end of it. Prior to it, he had worked for some top firms and due to the widespread notion that MBA will provide him with better work portfolio and compensation as a management graduate, he opts for this programme at SPJIMR. But he remains confused regarding the true purpose of his MBA for most of the time, as he discovers his batchmates going crazy about Money, always in Blazers, and becoming
increasingly Arrogant.

Trying to figure the MBA puzzle out, he enlists the help of Prof. Sugandh, who advises him to build up on his Knowledge, Skills, and Attitude (read the book to know how he manages to do all this). In the meantime, he gets to work with NGO Vigyan Ashram as part of his curriculum, where he understands about the concept of Social Entrepreneurship on-hand. Using his acquired K,S,A and his NGO experience, and applying the definition of MBA to it, he  finally understands the true purpose of his MBA (again, read the book to find it out; it's the crux of the story and handled very well).

The book is divided in 12 chapters based on 12 months of Revant's MBA schedule. Most of the story is like a regular campus happenings (like other novels out in the market), just that it's the first time the story is primarily set as a full-mode MBA life (leaving the 2 States out of this context). His learnings at college and abroad (under student exchange program), feelings of love towards a campus girl, familiar family pressures form the most of the content.


Likes:

The language is simple and very easy to understand, and the use of MBA jargons has been kept very less and to the point, without stretching unnecessarily.

Description of his journey/sight-seeing abroad is lively and exciting to read.

Nice peek into a MBA student's life for the first time

A nice, happy ending; with a message to everybody out there

"I am not the person I wanted to be; maybe I am the person I needed to be."


Dislikes:

The language is erroneous at times with spelling and grammatical mistakes occurring too often.

Neither very much exciting, nor inciting much curiosity in the reader's mind (but still a smooth read overall)


Well, to conclude, I would say that it's not really a coming-of-age story, rather it's about discovering yourself and the purpose of one's life in a new light, that of the MBA degree.

My recommendation: A must-have book for the MBA aspirants and to-be-and/or-already MBA graduates. A nice one-time read for the others with a nice message hidden for all.

Rating: 3.25 stars out of 5

P.S. -- The book was received as part of Reviewers Programme on The Tales Pensieve.

A timeless journey... with WeChat... priceless!

Q. - If you could connect with 5 or more people in a WeChat group - who would they be, and why? What would you talk about? The people can be dead, alive or even fictional.

Answer:

(1)

Who: Shri Krishna

Reason: He is the Lord, the architect of Dharma's win over Adharma

Will get updated on: his Gita updesh live at the beginning of the Mahabharata war, using WeChat!


(2)

Who: Aryabhatta

Reason: He is the greatest Indian mathematician-astronomer

Will discuss on WeChat: how he came across the idea of place value system and how he discovered zero, and the approximate value of pi


(3)

Who: Maharana Pratap

Reason: He is my ancestor, and also one of the most courageous king who will be known for his bravery in the Battle of Haldighati against Akbar's enormous army till the end of time

Will discuss: and learn the tactics of spear-fighting from him; will update the real-time happenings of the Maharana-led win in the Battle thro' WeChat!


(4)

Who: Leonardo da Vinci

Reason: He is the best all-rounder talented artist (a polymath) in the history of mankind

Will talk on WeChat: regarding his paintings, especially Mona Lisa; his inspiration behind it... and will talk about his other scientific discoveries which played a very important part in the Renaissance phase.


(5)

Who: Swami Vivekananda

Reason: He is the revered young Hindu monk from India

Will get updated on: his historical Chicago speech live, using WeChat


(6)

Who: Jhansi ki Rani Lakshmibai

Reason: She was the fearsome warrior queen; the leading figure of Indian Revolution of 1857 for Independence against the British Raj

Will update thro' WeChat: to her in advance about the 'war' intentions of Dalhousie; will ask her permission to spy over his forces' movements, and will provide real-time updates to Rani (thro' WeChat)


(7)

Who: Harivansh Rai Bachchan

Reason: He is the creator of epic poem Madhushala, and my idol in the field of writing poetry

Will WeChat about: his inspiration behind writing the poetry threesome of Madhushala, Madhubala, and Madhukalash.; will seek to learn more about writing beautiful hindi poems :)


(8)

Who: Jules Verne

Why: He is the father of adventure novels

Will WeChat about: his dreams and vision behind his novels 'Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea' and 'Round the Moon', the very first novels I read which later became my inspiration to write my own adventure saga (an upcoming novel)


(9)

Who: Rakesh Sharma

Reason: He became the first Indian to go into space, in 1984

Will talk about: his space trip live, thro' WeChat


(10)

Who: Amrita Rao

Reason: The beautiful and innocent-looking Bollywood actress, my heartthrob

Will talk about: her movie Vivah, and will float my marriage proposal to her on WeChat ;)



P.S. -- This post is my entry to the IndiBlogger contest in association with WeChat.

My Cloud Blogathon experience

Loved it there at #CloudBlogathon conducted by IndiBlogger, sponsored by Microsoft Office 365... at The Tower Kitchen, UB City on 2nd June 2013. It was my first IndiBlogger meet and I was, (in)visibly, excited :D

Best thing I liked there was the super-flow of unlimited pint Beer; had a couple of them along with non-veg un'limited' snacks. :P

Made some good friends over the time - one, an avid blogger and an aspiring author; the other one just going to become a published author; among a few others. Hope I'll get some publishing tips from them when my under-process novel is ready for the market ;)

Liked the simple yet powerful persona of the GM of Microsoft India, Mr. Pichai, who himself came to us while we comfortably waited outside the venue before registration and we had our introduction. A man of confidence and knowledge, he is, surely.

Then began the Office 365 interaction. I had only a vague idea about its products before the meet, only that it works on Cloud (Computing). But there I got to learn how smartly it can be useful for a range of purposes; and how MS is contributing on social level in India through its various programs. 

From the talk of Mr. Pichai himself, I wished upon the thought that if only I could have got more of  the industry-institute interaction in my college (NIT Kurukshetra + Microsoft initiative), I would have developed much better understanding of - what do I need from my college life to become more useful/successful as a corporate honcho later. As a result, I would have got so much exposure, as I got in this Office 365 meet, during my college days that my whole perception and aptitude towards Industry would have been more mature and sophisticated. I would have really appreciated this my whole corporate life. :)

Last but not the least, I enjoyed a lot during the fun-quizzes, but couldn't win any prizes, none at all...  :( sad but not at all disappointing. That Sunday became the best start to the month of June for me in Bangalore as it was the first time I got inside and on the top of UB City. Amazing view. And the IndiBlogger t-shirt at the end was a cute surprise, or say, a consolation prize for me for being there ;)

Thank you very much, IndiBlogger and MS Office 365 for conducting such a great, no! grand meet. Hope we get to meet more often! :) :)

Ring The Bell for IndiChange

Well, my idea to Ring The Bell is to treat womenfolk with respect and I would request my readers to follow the same. Because this is the only way we can take the first and foremost step to bring violence against women to a halt.

Let's take an example. Say, a young lady is walking down the street in modern attire. Ok, she is in a short top with open shoulders, and a mini-skirt; or say she is walking alone after dark. But that doesn't give any guy a right to harass her just because he thinks her dress is provocative, or she is inviting you. If a girl is wearing a modern dress, then I agree a guy's eyes will definitely follow her body atleast once; but that's the line, really. Admire the beauty in your mind and move on; keep your distance. 

Just imagine your sister/spouse in such a position, then how bad you'll feel if someone throws tantrums on them. Well, then you'll say, I will never allow my family's ladyfolk to roam around like that outside home. What! You won't allow them to go see a movie on their own!  Aren't they human being that they have to have your permission to step out of the house every time?! I don't think so. I say, one should inform the family members where they are going but that's it, why should a permit be required all the time!

Womenfolk are not our pets. (Even pets get behaved with much more cordially than women in India, and I am ashamed to write this statement but it's a fact of our times). Therefore, I request and ask all my fellow Indians, in conjunction with Ring The Bell movement, not to disrespect women whether inside your family and/or outside your relation.

Thank you very much for reading and following the sincerest advice. I hope this post of mine changes the thinking pattern of men in a positive way. Only then, we can proudly shout - Jai Hind.

P.S. -- This blogpost is written as an entry for the IndiBlogger initiative in association with Bell Bajao. 

The Moral of The Story is...!

This is a real story that happened to me starting around September 2011. That month first time I noticed a very small bald patch on my beard and pretty much ignored it thinking of it as a minor allergy of some kind. A week or so later, I went for TD (Temporary Duty; official) which was, more or less, a fun learning program. There I noticed a slightly bigger bald patch on my beard this time. Still terming it as a minor infection, I once again ignored the warning signs, totally unaware that it was a growing case of alopecia areata barbae. 

At the end of one week program, when I came back to my residence in Bangalore, there was not one but two such patches now on my face, one gradually growing bigger every week and another small one, both on my right cheek near chin beard area. I got quite nervous after observing them in detail for long and googled to find it a real disease and diagnosed it with the above-mentioned name. Then very next day, I visited my area's CGHS dispensary, got referred to Skin Specialist at Shivaji Nagar Polyclinic (under CGHS scheme). After observing me, he wrote me 2 kind of medical cream to apply on the affected areas and to take Biotin (Vitamin B) tablets for a few months. Only when I asked him, whether it will heal completely, he added that it will take some time but it's minor in my case and is treatable.

I took his advice on my diet and medicines and started following the procedure he mentioned every day. The patches, by then, have grown so much as could be observed by any onlooker directly looking at my face. Friends also started asking what's happening to my face. But thank God, it didn't spread much after my visits to the doctor. And after a continuous application of those creams on my clean shaven face (which looked quite odd in the daytime due to their oily and shiny properties when applied), my face got back to its normal sheen just like former days.

And I was so so happy and relieved because of two reasons. First, a normal, alopecia-free face again; secondly, having no gf during this period saved me a lot of embarassment/criticism. :P

The moral of the story is --> never ignore the warning signs when it comes to your health as we are nowadays living in a world polluted to its core.

P.S. -- This entry is for an IndiBlogger contest in association with Colgate My Healthy Speak Blog.

Book Review: Shoes of the Dead by Kota Neelima

First of all, a big thanks to BlogAdda for providing me a wonderful opportunity to review this book.


Background:

As the folded cover page proclaims -

Crushed by successive crop failures and the burden of debt, Sudhakar Bhadra kills himself. The powerful district committee of Mityala routinely dismisses the suicide and refuses compensation to his widow. Gangiri, his brother, makes it his life’s mission to bring justice to the dead by influencing the committee to validate similar farmer suicides. 

Keyur Kashinath of the Democratic Party - first-time member of Parliament from Mityala, and son of Vaishnav Kashinath, the party’s general secretary - is the heir to his father’s power in Delhi politics. He faces his first crisis every suicide in his constituency certified by the committee as debt-related is a blot on the party’s image, and his competence.

The brilliant farmer battles his inheritance of despair, the arrogant politician fights for the power he has received as legacy. Their two worlds collide in a conflict that pushes both to the limits of morality from where there is no turning back. At stake is the truth about ‘inherited’ democratic power. And at the end, there can only be one winner. Passionate and startlingly insightful, Shoes of the Dead is a chilling parable of modern-day India.

A book that will make you stroll through India’s corridors of power and politics with a perfect portrayal of how its consequences creep into the lives of the farmers forcing them to commit suicide. Get ready to read a gripping tale by Kota Neelima.


Characters:

The protagonist of the story is Gangiri Bhadra, a righteous activist-cum-farmer, who after his elder brother’s suicide decides to wear the Shoes of the Dead to bring justice to others ill-fated in his village and district. Others who play important roles in the novel are Nazar Prabhakar, a journalist who writes under no pressure; Keyur Kashinath, a first time MP son of a respected politician of Democratic Party; Videhi Jaichand, a survey analyst at the Centre for Contempory Societies. Rest pivotal characters include maha-Sarpanch Lambodar, moneylender Durga Das, Collector Gul among others.


Story:

The story of the novel takes place part in the village Gopur of distt. Mityala and part in Delhi. The increasing number of farmer suicides in Mityala constituency under MP Keyur Kashinath after the inclusion of Gangiri Bhadra in the district suicide committee (for awarding compensation to the patra declared suicide cases) has become a bone of contention to the maha-Sarpanch Lambodar and his MP Keyur.

Gangiri, who lost his elder brother to debt-distress suicide, was refused compensation it being voted as apatra (ineligible) verdict by the suicide committee, so he decides to take the matter in his own hands to bring justice to the dead by working within the committee and forcing by truth to provide righteous compensation to several widows. But on this path of truth, he manages to make higher powers his enemy for whom more number of farmer suicides means the inefficiency of MP Keyur who has inherited power from his father, and they plan to eliminate him from the committee by any means possible.

The story then evolves into a power struggle indirectly between MP Keyur and farmer Gangiri. The latter is helped by journalist Nazar Prabhakar and Dr. Videhi Jaichand indirectly in his quest for justice and fairness to farmers.

Will Keyur be able to dominate his honest enemies and save his face? Will Gangiri succeed in his mission and what prices will he have to pay on the way?! To observe the fight between power politics and a farmer’s righteous mission, one should read this novel by Kota Neelima who has done a wonderful work here.


Likes:

Power struggle distributed throughout the book

Values and honour of a farmer and true description of his true pathetic condition in our country

The author justified the theme putting up a nice climax resulting in the unprecedented but perfect ending of the book.


Dislikes:

The complexity of the language throughout made it difficult for me to understand any single paragraph in one go. I had to read and re-read literally every second paragraph on an average which distracted the flow of the story. Hence it took me a long time to read (coupled with my illness in between), that’s why this late review.

I couldn’t fathom the need to, first, start a romantic tension between Nazar and Videhi, and secondly, it being left in a cliffhanger with no use/end in the story.


Overall, I would say it's a very nice socio-political 'faction' novel, an engaging read.

My rating: 3.75 stars out of 5 

Watch the video review here

P.S. -- This review is a part of the biggest Book Review Program for Indian Bloggers. Participate now to get free books!

Modern Healthcare Touching Lives: Medical Tourism

Medical tourism is a fast growing sector in India. Every year thousands of Westerners visit our country not for sight-seeing and conventional forms of tourism, but for their medical and relaxation needs. Most common treatments are heart surgery, knee transplant, cosmetic surgery and dental care. The reason India is a favourable destination is because of it's infrastructure and technology in which is in par with those in USA, UK and Europe. India has tens of thousands of skilled physicians and nurse practitioners. Over the last two decades, the economic boom in India has led to the building of medical facilities & infrastructure that rival the very best that western medical care that the west has to offer. 

India’s cost-effective and efficient medical sector has made it a favored destination for healthcare

An estimated 150,000 of these travel to India for low-priced healthcare procedures every year. Advantages for medical treatment in India include reduced costs, the availability of latest medical technologies, and a growing compliance on international quality standards, as well as the fact that foreigners are less likely to face a language barrier in India. Chennai and Noida are the favourite and hot emerging destinations in this regard.

P.S. -- This post is for an IndiBlogger contest in association with Apollo Hospitals who are one of the pioneers of modern day healthcare

If My Dad Was A Politician…

If my Dad was a politician, I would have liked him to work for the upliftment of farmers in our country. We, as a nation, so proudly present ourselves as an agrarian society, while the truth is far from that as is clear from the fact that India has never witnessed more than 2.2% annual growth in this sector for last couple of decades. Therefore, I would like my politician father to start working on grass-root level in our village, which comes under Mathura distt. in UP

I myself have seen the plight of farmers first hand. My uncle's family, the 2nd eldest brother of my father, is wholly dependent on their agricultural activities for living and sustenance. And the real condition of their societal status is that they come under BPL (Below Poverty Line) scheme, while the rest of three brothers (of my father) enjoy a decent living at the least. My parents have always been very supportive to them so much so that even our share of agriculture land is being tilled by them as the output from only their share is not enough to feed the family on daily basis and marry their daughters in time and in well-to-do families.

This has always been my dream plan for my father... that after retirement, he goes back to his roots (he is still connected but not very active due to our, his children, bringing up responsibilities) and works for the betterment of farmers at grass root level. If he has to take up politics, he should take it with elan.

Farmers in our country are committing suicides at an alarming rate. How can any country justify this kind of suffering and plight of its food producers, the single most important element in human food chain?! Being a politician is the most influential position in taking up this cause and working for it with conviction. Of course, there will be many hurdles in this path for him due to rampant widespread corruption in this department also. But he would tackle it and bring out laws freeing them of land problems, reducing electricity debts in real and not only on paper. The seeds and the water which are the major inputs for farming apart from land and electricity would be provided on FDS (Fair Distribution System) and experimental crops (cash crops in between rabi and kharif crops in India) would be promoted for cultivation to ensure financial stability to them.

If my Dad was a politician, I could also help him by introducing him to the concept of scientific methods of cultivation as well as organic farming. We would research, consult and devise the existing and new improved ways to reduce farmers' extensive dependence on the poisonous and expensive fertilisers/pesticides. Grain storage facilites would get improved as He would have taken immediate steps in this direction because if your short-term and long-term Storage godowns are ill-equipped, then there is no meaning to any improvement in other areas of agriculture if we can't store and preserve them properly (for adversities as well as buffer zones).

All the farmers, BPL families importantly, would be persuaded to open their Bank Accounts to avail national schemes to them. They would be given atleast 30% rebate on purchase/renting of agriculture machinery required throughout the production cycle, like tracters, harrowers, etc. Besides Cash Crops, leguminous plantation would also be taught to them so as to increase the fertility content of the soil under cultivation. They would be given demos and every help needed to increase their crop production, right from the initial seed sowing and land tilling stages till the very end of the crop cycle, i.e., its storage and selling in the market.

Myself and my father firmly believe that if we are to become a developed nation, then first of all, our country must have Food Security as its first and foremost agenda. A nation which can't feed its people becomes dependent on neighbour countries for its needs which a State like India can never afford seeing its neighbouring countries are all but friends.

A happy farmer family holds the key to happiness of every home in the country and my dad would leave no stone unturned to make it happen. I sincerely hope this dream of mine for my father comes true in a few years, so that we can once again proudly shout the slogan Jai Jawaan, Jai Kisaan; which is not the case presently visibly obvious by the ignorant and sad conditions of our farmers' and soldiers' families.

Wishing him a very good luck for this lifetime campaign for the betterment of the society as a whole, I would like to say that if my dad was a politician, he would never have let down my aspirations for him which I have mentioned here in this post, and neither he would have gotten involved in any kind of corruption nor he would have tolerated any such act in his department. He would be, no... he is and always will be the staunch supporter of amended Food Security Bill in the state Vidhan Sabha or the Parliament. Therefore, if he becomes a politician, I can guarantee that atleast our UP state will table this Bill and that will be a gift to the society as a whole.

One more thing - I can assure you that in today's times, a farmer cannot only rely on pure agriculture. He has to divert a little to cattle/dairy farming also to sustain monetary supplies throughout the year. If my dad was a politician, he would have certainly taken steps in this direction too. It would not have been hailed as Green Revolution 2.0, but it would have catered to the stability happiness of a farmer family, and that's my and my father's dream. :)


P.S. -- This post is written for the Weekend Contest in association with Shoes of The Dead at BlogAdda.com.

Book Review: Salvation of a Saint by Keigo Higashino

First of all, a big thanks to BlogAdda for providing me a wonderful opportunity to review this book.



Background:

As the back cover proclaims -

When a man is discovered dead by poisoning in his empty home his beautiful wife, Ayane, immediately falls under suspicion. All clues point to Ayane being the logical suspect, but how could she have committed the crime when she was hundreds of miles away? 

As Tokyo police detective Kusanagi tries to unpick a seemingly unrelated sequence of events he finds himself falling for Ayane. When his judgement becomes dangerously clouded his assistant must call on an old friend for help; it will take a genius to unravel the most spectacular web of deceit they have ever faced... 

Salvation of a Saint is all about a perfectly crafted murder mystery with the strings of detective thriller fiction. This is the second novel of the Japanese author Keigo Higashino, whose first book The Devotion of Suspect X was applauded by critics and readers alike. The current book is translated by Alexander O. Smith with Elye J. Alexander.


Characters:

The main characters of this murder mystery are Ayane Mashiba, a woman whose husband is murdered while she is out of town; Hiromi Wakayama, her young apprentice with a secret; Detective Kusanagi, a brilliant detective with a soft heart; Detective Utsumi, a newly recruited but talented detective working with Kusanagi; and among others, Prof. Yukawa aka Detective Galileo as he is referred to by his admirers, a physicist with a hobby of solving utmost difficult murder cases for the police dept. with his genius aplomb.


Story:

The story begins with a not-so-normal conversation between husband and wife, Mr. and Mrs. Mashiba. The cause is explained. Afterwards, they host a lively party. The wife goes out of the town to see her ailing father and it is then, the husband is found murdered by her apprentice Hiromi. A perfect setting. A murder by poison in the coffee. Thus follows the theme of the story - solving of this murder mystery by detectives Kusanagi and Utsumi. As the investigation propels forward, Utsumi finds his senior detective Kusanagi falling for one of the leading suspects, Ayane Mashiba.

It is then Detective Utsumi requests Kusanagi's friend and local police department's old saviour, Prof. Yukawa, to help her solve the case, as he earlier used to thus resulting in his nickname Detective Galileo (in the first novel of the author). As the investigation progresses, the case gets complicated as both the suspects come out with either with a perfect alibi or a perfect reason for no-kill. Detective Kusanagi, though smitten by the charm of Ayane, then starts investigating on different lines, exploring the murdered Yoshitaka Mashiba's past life and linking it to the current case.

On the other hand, Detective Utsumi with her female intuition, continues suspecting Ayane of the murder and along with Yukawa go out all the way to prove how the murder was committed. It takes the Utsumi's observational logic coupled with unparalleled thinking and scientific curiosity of Yukawa and aided by Kusanagi's investigation skills to finally unearth the whole case as a perfect murder mystery.


Likes:

The narrative style is easy to follow and the plot is intricately woven.

The character development, though seemingly unintended, goes on nicely throughout the story.

The logics, reasonings, experments, tricks used/displayed by the investigating people is bound to capture the interest of any murder mystery lover.


Dislikes:

Well not much, except that the continuous monotonous pace (neither fast nor slow, just same narrative tone) throughout the book makes it difficult to continue reading for a long time. The intermittent breaks between consecutive sittings get necessary and frequent; atleast for me, it was like that.


Overall, I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to read a good book, particulary a must-read for murder mystery detective thriller lovers out there.

My rating: 4 out of 5 :)

Note: This review is a part of the Book Reviews Program at BlogAdda.com . Participate now to get free books!