Book Review: Tantra by Adi

Well.. first of all, a big thanks again to Blogadda for providing me this opportunity to review the recently launched book Tantra by Adi.

Background:

As the back cover of the novel proclaims -- Anu is a leather wearing, no-nonsense professional guardian with a reputation for killing the most dangerous vampires in New York City. But when her enemies murder the one person she truly cared about, all she wants is vengeance. The only clue points to New Delhi, so Anu puts in for a job transfer.

In India, she finds more than she expected. For one thing, her fellow operatives have made a truce with the vampires. For another, it’s way too hot to wear leather.

At first, it seems Anu’s biggest challenge will be evading the nice boys her aunt wants her to marry. But when children start disappearing, she discovers forces older and darker than anything she’s faced before. All of Delhi is in danger, especially the sexy stranger who sets Anu’s pulse racing.

To prepare for the coming battle, Anu must overcome her personal demons and put aside years of training. This time, her most powerful weapon will come from her mind, not her weapons belt.

The front cover is nice and appealing with shades of indigo-blue and royal-blue. Girl with a big knife, lightning, face (spirit) in dark clouds protruding downwards from the sky, with the city backdrop to it, the book cover serves its purpose of presenting a mystery-adventure soup to the first time picker.

Characters:

The main protagonist is Anu Aggarwal, a from-NY-to-Delhi vampire hunter who has come to India in the search of her lover Brian's killer vampire. She is really a badass character when it comes to hunting her targets. Her Delhi counterpart is Amit, always flirting with her and reassessing his role as a guardian for the rest of his life. Despite his increasing disinterest in his regular job being a vampire hunter, he performs his duties well with his conscience.

Then come Anu's cousin Smiti, her aunt Nina, her lust-interest Gaurav, who all play important parts in taking the story forward and also shaping Anu's social life which used to be almost non-existent earlier. Dr. Sharma and Pandit Grover become her mentor in solving out the Tantra puzzle to fight the most evil man in the city, tantric Senaka aka Babaji, whose character mostly evolves indirectly rather than direct presence in the story until it goes climaxing towards the end.

Vampire city king Chandra is inserted as a grayish character, an element of surprise most of the times.

Story: 

The story starts with a NRI vampire hunter, Anu, returned to Delhi to avenge her lover's killer traced to a Delhi vampire. But sooner than later, she is forced to look into other supernatural matters enveloping the city, teaching her that vampires aren't the only bad things she would have to fight in the future here. Along with Amit, she first comes across child disappearances (mainly from slums) in the city and trace it back to Baba Senaka, the evil tantric who is hellbent on using children's spirits to establish his connection with the spiritual world and amass great power to achieve his enlightenment (the tantric way).

On the other hand, Suresh, their Delhi centre's head is always convincing Anu that vampires aren't a big concern in Delhi, which she finds annoying as her main motive being present there is to search for Brian's killer into vampire's 'mostly-incomplete' database. She doubts Dr. Sharma initially as well who introduces her to the knowledge of ancient Indian supernatural power Tantra, but believes and agrees to take his help once confrontation with the odd truth of being nearly killed by Senaka's acolytes on her surprise attack visit to the ashram compound where she witnesses him using children's spirits for his own deeds.

In between come her cousin Smiti, her situational face-offs with Gaurav, and her aunt Nina with whom she is staying for now. Of these, she discovers Nina to be already looking out prospects for her marriage; develops lusty feelings for Gaurav; wants to keep Smiti out of trouble, more when Amit develops interest in her later. All this and her confrontation with Pandit Grover, a sattvic priest, who helps her to discover what is maya, with Chandra, the vampire head called Panch in the city, whom she wants to kill herself being a vampire hunter, but finds unable to do so, firstly because of her sheer lack of powerlessness before him, and later when she finds out that he could play a major role in her fight against Senaka; with all those vampires who have turned over to Senaka's side due to his tantric power making them vulnerable, and fighting them alongside Amit.... 

All of these forms the crux of the story. Does she finds a way to defeat the evil within time who is growing dangerously in power? Is she able to form side with vampires despite herself born and trained to kill them unhesitatingly? Does she discovers the path of maya and Tantra in positive manner or does she have to follow the unstable path of Tantra herself for the righteous cause? Will it all be acceptable to her? What are the motivations of Chandra, Pandit Grover, Karta, and even Dr. Sharma in choosing her to be the only one possible when it comes to defeat Senaka?! 

To discover all this and much much more, delve into the extra-ordinary and India's first supernatural action thriller, and get surprised every now and then. You won't mind reading India's very much ancient mysterious powers so deeply rooted in earlier times like Mahabharata and else, and still today, weaved so fearlessly into this book by the author.

Likes:

Everything is likable about this book, well not everything, but still almost everything.

The writing style is so smooth and the action scenes are described so flawlessly with greatly balanced details.

The surprise locking and unlocking of horns among several major characters at times.

Coolness and vibrancy felt throughout the whole book, no narrative lost anywhere.

Adventure, mystery, ancient 'magical?' powers at work and their satisfying working details and usage inserted at appropriate places in the story.

Natural but unpredicatable twists and turns building up in this story about super-natural.

Dislikes:

Romance and Love presented only in the form of lusty dialogues/descriptions spread across here and there throughout the book got a disgusting look from me whenever I came across such everytime.

Overall, I would only say that Tantry by Adi is a riveting supernatural action thriller in its truest sense. Despite author's debut work, he has done a commanding job in this novel. Don't you miss it, Indian vampire and supernatural genre readers!

Overall, 4.5 out of 5 stars :)

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

Soldier for Women: Blade of Honour (I)

This is my younger brother's story, happened around 3-4 years ago. He was asked by an elder cousin of ours to accompany his wife (our sister-in-law in relation) to her native home (maayaka). Reaching the destined bus station just before dark, he was supposed to take an auto-rickshaw to the final destination. Since it was getting dark he booked a full auto, the only passengers being him and his bhabhi, for being safe and secure from any fellow eve-teasing passenger(s).

The whole journey had to take some 20 minutes. But it was only few minutes onto the road, that two guys forcefully attempted to enter the auto, not understanding the meaning of a 'booked auto', saying "auto mein koi bhi ja sakta hai" and started eyeing his sis-in-law with indecent expressions. So my brother came out of the auto with his bhabhi into the middle of the road with auto just by their side, and started talking with those guys in a louder-than-normal voice

Being in the middle of a narrow road, other people commuting over stopped to see what's happening. A few of them came to the scene so as to ask them to clear the road. As soon as they get to know about the foul language of the culprits towards my bro and his sis-in-law, they took our side and one actually raised his right hand to slap and started pushing them over to the side of the road. That's when both of the eve-teasers fled as the situation got too heavy for them to handle. My brother thanked the fellow guys who helped him get out of the difficult situation at that time of the night (around 8 pm).

And now here I am narrating his story as an honourable brave soldier who stood up for his respected s-i-l when the time asked for it to test his courage and integrity. I salute you, my brother, Ashish Gahlaut! :)

This post is a part of #Soldierforwomen in association with BlogAdda.com

Book Review for BlogAdda: Words to inspire the winner in YOU by Dr. Roopleen

Well.. first of all, my gratitude goes to BlogAdda for providing me this opportunity to review the book Words to Inspire the winner in Your by Dr. Roopleen


Background: 


About the book: 

We all aspire to achieve our goals and fulfil our dreams. But working towards goals is not easy. Enroute to success you will encounter hurdles, obstacles and rough patches. The down times can get really down and dishearten you

Setbacks and disappointments are an integral part of life- there is no escaping them. While you cannot change your circumstances or bypass the hurdles, you can brace yourself up against the difficult times by maintaining a positive frame of mind and being determined to keep going against all odds.

When the going gets tough and you are overwhelmed by the rough times, all you need is something to encourage you and keep you going. Words to inspire the winner in you will do exactly that. This collection of author’s original motivational quotes will lift up your spirits, inspire you and put you back on track.


Concept:

The book is written as a work of several motivational quotes encountered and lived upon by the author in her part-time career as a motivational counselor and speaker. The book goes on word by word basis, starting with word (alphabetically) and then uses that word as a power narrative to speak out various quotes on life and success. 

Since anybody and everybody falls to negative energy around him (in the form of obstacles, setbacks, and disappointments) at some time in his/her life, demoralizing one to distract from his chosen path of success and offering a loss of momentum to his efforts to lead a happy and successful life, this book offers a daily dose of numerous quotes to power up one's energy and belief that he CAN achieve whatever he wishes and dreams. That achieving our goals and fulfilling our dreams is a handy task but only when met by renewed optimism, and reading a random quote daily is worth a shot towards it.

Pepped up as motivational boosters to the dejected soul, these words offer the reader a way to rejuvenate his efforts towards leading a successful life.


Likes: 

So many powerful quotes in a single book

Quotes presented on Word-to-Word basis powerfully

Liked quite a few quotes; to share a few:

The decision to begin is half the task done; the determination to complete it, no matter what, is the other half.

Life is too short not to do things that your heart desires of and your soul yearns.

Concern is not enough, you must care. Compassion is not enough, you must share.

Celebrate every achievement - big or small. It will go a long way in boosting your self-confidence and enhance your self-esteem

If you look hard enough and long enough, you will find something positive in everything 

 

Dislikes:

Monotonicity of the book and overdose of quotes, quite literally

Some quotes are just plain words, with no deep meaning; or are just same idea wrapped around in different word combinations



Overall, I would say this book is for those who wish to bring about a positive change in their attitude towards life and success in their daily lives. On the other hand, it is just like a first aid box to every burnt out soul out there.

My rating: 3 stars out of 5 :)

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

Book Review for BlogAdda: F?@K KNOWS by Shailendra Singh

Well.. first of all, my gratitude goes to BlogAdda for providing me this opportunity to review this peculiarly-named book, F?@k Knows by Shailendra Singh.

Background:

As the back cover of the novel proclaims -- 

What do you want from life? Are you on the right track? Are you truly happy? If your answer to these questions is ‘F?@k knows!’, then this book is for you. Find the answers to life’s most important questions with the help of uber-successful entrepreneur, Shailendra Singh, co-founder of Percept and inceptor of Sunburn. Told with sparkling, flavourful and in-your-face humour, this book will advise you on how to:

Find yourself (Because you’re probably lost. Admit it.)

Follow your heart (Because if you don’t then you’ll die unhappy, you stupid f?@ker.)

Achieve your goals (You know you want to.)

Live life like you give a f?@k (Because…why not?) 

Candid and thoughtful, F?@k Knows will show you how to really live life on your own terms, to do what you want to do and not what you have to do just because your father said so!

Concept: 

The book is, primarily, a self-help book written in the first person; part-autobiography and part-philosophy_of_life. As the book begins, it comes out that the author, who is a Bollywood writer/producer and MD of his popular entertainment company, Percept Pictures, used to take his life for granted before writing this book. His whole life he did what his father wanted him to do/be. It's not like that he dislikes his father due to that, rather the latter has been his mentor whole life. But the point being told is - He was led to live his father's life under his own skin. He never got the gist and need of living a life on his own terms.

But everything changes for him when he shockingly suffers a near-fatal cardiac arrest. He has a dream of meeting his father in the heavenly clouds and when he asks him certain questions regarding his life, the answer in reply always is F?@k knows. That's the origin of the title of the book.

Written in a very casual and easy-to-understand style for today's Gen-X and Gen-Y generations, it basically drools over the fact that we have got a single life to live and nothing else. Now how to live! Do we even care about our living from the inner perspectives of heart, body, mind, and spirit. How to be happy? Being happy is not just smiling over once in a while and get dipped in the loads of daily activities without being sad/depressive; if this state is not sad, then it's not being happy also. It's just neutral, like carrying our lives because we are breathing. No! that's not the way.... Be Happy, Follow your Heart and how to do that, this book teaches in quite a strange but understanding manner.

Likes:

I liked few of his ideas about healthy living, happy living. About giving priority to your life first but in an optimistic perspective.

Author's own life story merged with the teachings and other examples in, more or less, every chapter

Compilation of F?@k It list

Chi F?@k Po is a nice tutorial for filtering out negatives and only digest over what heart agrees.

The mentality to be developed of 'Just Done It' instead of 'Just Do It'

The book gets geometrically more interesting after 2/3rd of its reading is done. Life values take a higher place. I, individually, very very much liked the way he has handled the point of F?@*ing v/s love-making. Kudos to him for that!

Liked the way in which author has evolved himself in life after he realized life is very short. He resumed his cricketing, wrote a book, that's pretty much impressive.

Dislikes:

So much overuse of the word F?@k. I understand this word has got several different meanings other than the most usual one, but still I found it very much un-classy to use it in almost every second paragraph, every page.

Initial chapters drag too slow and not-very-interesting while reading

Free usage of direct slangs/cuss words sometimes

His irritating methods of Chi F?@k. 

Overall, I won't say this book is for everyone. Only those who are willing to take control of life in their own hands and propel it according to their gut feeling, and reading about that in a f?@king manner, should take it in hand. Or else, you may not like it at all. Author's own lessons of life become your lessons while reading, and this is the gravity of the book, it's most important essence. So, grab a copy and change your life in as-it-is-proclaimed Shailendra Singh's way.

My rating: 3 stars out of 5 :)

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

Book Review for BlogAdda: 'R.I.P' by Mukul Deva

Well.. first of all, my gratitude goes to BlogAdda for providing me this opportunity to review the latest book from the arsenal of Lashkar series fame Mukul Deva, R.I.P.

Background:

This novel is my first read among any of Mukul Deva's so many acclaimed ones out in the market. And now I know for sure why he is sometimes referred to as India's first military action thriller storyteller. As the back cover of the novel proclaims -- 

R.I.P. The Resurgent Indian Patriots. Self appointed guardians of a nation seething with anger at the endless scams and scandals rocking its very foundation. Vigilantes who vow to stop corrupt politicians and colluding civil servants. Even if it means killing them.

Characters:

The lead characters, i.e., Col. Krishna Athawale, Captain Raghav Bhagat, and Reena Bhagat are truly the essence of storytelling here. 

Rest of the characters of the K-team, as they are called (since the names of all the vigilante's of RIP group start with K) and CBI director Vinod Bedi, fit in perfectly with every scene progressing forward but have been given very less face value except maybe for Karan.

Not all characters are well-established but such ain't missed as the story has its own pace to follow.

Story: 

In author's own words: "Colonel Krishna Athawale and his team of Special Forces officers rally to protect the country from the enemy within. They call themselves the K-Team. And no one is safe from their deadly intent. Hellbent on stopping them is Raghav Bhagat, rogue para commando, gun for hire and Krishna’s bête noir. Caught in the crossfire is Vinod Bedi, Special Director CBI. Reena Bhagat, a glamorous news anchor, embittered by her husband’s betrayal. And two young boys, Sachin and Azaan, torn apart by the loss of a parent. It doesn’t get bigger."

This pretext is sufficient enough to guess the theme of this novel. Colonel Krishna is the head of K-team. An early-retired Special Forces officer, he takes on himself to remove the corruption out of political and judiciary class thro' his special means (of taking them out of the equation of life), after the deaths of his wife and his brother-n-law owing to corruption issues remarkably prevalent in Indian political class. Captain Raghav Bhagat, a corrupt and rogue paratrooper, is handed over the responsibility outside system to capture and kill the assassins, the RIP. That said, it's like the right guys are going for right thing but by not-so-right means, and the wrong guy is wrongly given the duty to rightly pursue the right guys. Whole lot of interesting characterization from the start, isn't it!

RIP as it is, Resurgent Indian Patriots, acts as a vigilante group to give a hard lesson to the corrupt in power in order to bring a stop their nefarious scams and make them resign and bring all black money back to India. This all at a time when non-violent anti-corruption protests are being observed on a large scale under the leadership of a Gandhian, Hazarika.

The story starts directly with the action of killing vital aides of a few most corrupt politicians and bureaucrats. And the thrill starts when RIP sends out killing threats for its next set of victims (amusingly, they aren't victims at all :P). The planning and precision of taking out the next three targets in 3 days and their chase by Capt. Bhagat hired by corrupt home minister constitutes the most part of the first half of the novel. The second half picks up pace when the govt. still doesn't take any action against the scam-guilty and RIP plan to kill the most important target which will cause tremor in the heart of the nation, and CBI director Vinod Bedi (clueless most of the times about RIP) finally getting some clues in to who is behind it all.

Amidst all this, the human interest (in author's words only, when I met him at a recent Bangalore bookclub meet) is taken care of by the isosceles love triangle between the two lead males and Reena, ex-wife of Capt. Bhagat. The blossoming relationship between Krishna and Reena is quite romantically captured as well as the doubts in their minds about their future together speak out very well.

What happens at the end? Who wins and how? Does RIP get successful in making their intent visible to the political high command? To find out all these interesting twists, pick & start reading RIP asap.

Likes:

The measured writing Deva has provided just to make the storytelling quite believable and authentic too

Fast paced full-Indian military action adventure

The chase and hunt game between K-team, ex-Capt. Bhagat, and CBI is the actual page-turner

No unnecessary raunchiness put up in the story

Expectations/Dislikes:

Writing, I should say, is quite amusing and so many real life people and actual scams have been taken fictitiously used throughout the book, that at first it is hilarious but after sometime, it starts feeling like an overuse of it.

And that the whole setting has been fictitiously taken from the recently real life scenario in India sends a wave of a lack of a bit of originality in the minds of readers.

Plus, overall it seems that the novel is written as a ready-made Bollywood story, just waiting to be launched as a movie, which should not be the case with a novel as I think.

Well, nevertheless, the novel is author's thrilling treat to us, and I, as a matter of fact, really liked it.

Overall, 3.75 out of 5 stars :)

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

An open letter to Central & Delhi govts. and to my fellow countrymen/women

Just came back from watching news on tv. I rarely do so nowadays, knowing what all crap these so-called news channels serve us full 24 hrs. But today is no normal a day. The whole country's pulse is beating high with aggression over law & order situation over last few days. A girl in her early twenties is fighting for her life every second in hospital after her brutal gang-rape 6 days ago. And the incident has provided the spark missing to the already built-up explosives of tension in common man's mind over the insecurities of safety for their womenfolk.

News channels, ah, mostly sensationalizing and cheaply appealing most of the days, today seem to have stricken a chord right at the angry nerves of the countrymen. Watching scenes of protests at several parts of Delhi, leading from Vijay Chowk to India Gate to Raisina Hills, first thought that came to my mind was 'Why the hell am I not in Delhi/NCR today?' Well, since being there was out of my control, I decided to join candle march protest going to be held tomorrow in Bangalore, which I was earlier not fully sure of joining (80-20 situation).

Coming over to the scenes in the news I had watched for more than an hour today (which is quite huge compared to the figures of the last few years), I felt a sense of gratification seeing thousands or even lakhs of young protesters there doing their bit. Their only demand - strengthen law & order, and capital punishment for the rape guilty. And suddenly, I was taken aback at the scene where police were shown throwing water cannons, tear gas, even lathi-charging at protesters. 

Water cannons in the chilling December winters of Delhi?!>!/// Where is the humanity, idiots?!

Why! Just because they were trying to break the barricades put up to block their way so that they couldn't reach Raisina Hills or Rashtrapati Bhawan. I agree that proper security has to be maintained as these are sensitive areas w.r.t. national security; but deploying RAF (Rapid Action Force) to beat the protesters like this doesn't come under the name of Democracy. 

First, the govt. can't maintain law & order; there is no details about the patrolmen on duty that night in that area in the police report submitted in the court hearing; and then, the rulers have the guts to control aggression like this?! So many of them, around 100s, have been injured and given first aid and taken to hospital on suspicion of minor fractures / for stitches.

This will only aggravate people's anger. They say they have caught all the accused and case is going on, what else do we want? Madam/Sir, we want Delhi and whole of India to be safe n secure n rape-free. You, bloody hell 'rulers', even after the case, haven't you seen that Aaj Tak reporter's video where on the same road just after a day of the incident, a few passersby in a car passed comment on her, and only drove away when they saw the cameraman taking their video?

Is this your security situation just after a shocking rape incident on the same road after a day of its happening?! 

Ms. Shiela Dixit! What are you doing as Delhi CM for last 15 years, if this is how Delhi operates day and night, where no woman is safe?! And now you order police and RAF to 'control' protesters! Ha! LOL over you.

This was just a trailer today.. you see, what happens tomorrow and the week ahead. If the guily are not punished by Hang Till Death, the Delhi streets are going to be like Libya/Egypt/Syria streets. This is not at all acceptable.

People from all of India! if you are there or could be there in Delhi tomorrow.. go, join the protest with your family, especially womenfolk. This is required not because of only this case, but becausewhat will you answer when your wife/daughter/sister asks you how you make them feel safe n secure!

All is in your hands, males and females, this is your present, it's gonna be your future. Take a step, if you want to feel free in Delhi or wherever. 

Jai Hind!

Book Review for BlogAdda: The Krishna Key by Ashwin Sanghi

Well.. first of all, a big thanks again to Blogadda for providing me this opportunity to review the latest book from the arsenal of Ashwin Sanghi, The Krishna Key.

Background:

Ashwin Sanghi, as it is being referred to for some time now, is the Dan Brown of Indian adventure, and this book puts a stamp on it. :) After two bestselling titles, Rozabal Line (2007) and Chanakya's Chant (2010), The Krishna Key (2012) is his 3rd book, all of them under adventure genre.

Characters:

Prof. and Historian Ravi Mohan Saini is the protagonist of this novel. Juvenile Priya is his associate. History is in their genes. Then comes Inspector Radhika, a toughened-up cop after family loss and her subordinate Rathore. Other characters who play important roles at times are Taarak Vakil, the villian, and a CBI director with grey shades.

Various mini characters (historians and scientists, mainly) have their share too in providing the historical, mystical and mysterious flavor to the story. The reader will like them in regard to the shape their involvement with the protagonists gives to the story.

Not all characters are well-established but such ain't missed as the story has its own pace to follow.

Story: 

In author's own words: "Five thousand years ago, there came to earth a magical being called Krishna, who brought about innumerable miracles for the good of mankind. Humanity despaired of its fate if the Blue God were to die but was reassured that he would return in a fresh avatar when needed in the eventual Dark Age - the Kaliyug. In modern times, a poor little rich boy grows up believing that he is that final avatar. Only, he is a serial killer."

This pretext is sufficient enough to guess what is the theme of this novel. Yes, it's a Krishna based story but of modern times. Every chapter begins with a small first-person narrative of Krishna, and then the story in our times continues. It is all about discovery of what precious thing did He leave here on earth when he left/shredded his mortal form some time after the Mahabharata war.

There are so many mythological and historical facts embedded and weaved into the story which most of us had no idea earlier (I did, a li'l bit) of their being into existence. Like the Mahabharata war date has been factually calculated based on simulations; then there are the submerged ruins of Dwarka, among various other important sites including Mt. Kailash, Somnath temple, Mathura, Vrindavan, Kalibangan, Taj Mahal, etc.

The chase and the hunt game pursues as Prof. Saini tries to bring together all the pieces of the historical/mythological puzzle (besides running for his life) and put them together as The Krishna Key to open door for the best kept secrets of Lord Krishna for thousands of years, and not let it fall into the wrong hands of self-serving puny humans.

Writing is plain and lucid and chilling. And the end of the story is a welcome conclusion, as much as the journey to the end is thrilling and exciting. :)

Likes:

The amount of research Ashwin has gone into just to make the book authentic and chilling.

Fast paced full-Indian adventure

Twists and turns keep the guessing game at reader's fingertips

Plethora of Indian mythological+factual information for mytho-n-history buffs out there

When history is presented in the form of actual stories and not just plain facts, it adds taste to our reading experience; that's what we get here in this novel most of the times.

Expectations/Dislikes:

The character of the starting villain (one who assumes believing himself to be the final avatar of Vishnu) who starts out as a dreaded antagonist seems to get lost midway taking orders from his spiritual boss, and gets into the role of a mere side-villain towards the end. Could have been avoided or given a better shape. 

Well, nonetheless, the novel is author's treat to us, and I, as a matter of fact, truly loved it, savored it, and devoured it.

Overall, 4.75 out of 5 stars :)

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

Book Review for BlogAdda: The Bankster by Ravi Subramanian

Well, first of all my gratitude towards BlogAdda to provide me the opportunity to review this book.


Background:

Ravi Subramanian, it is said for some time now, is the John Grisham of Banking thriller genre, and not wrongly. He has hands-on experience and has written on the banking sector earlier (although I haven't read any of them till now), and The Bankster conforms to all the banking and thriller standards in its story lineup.


Characters:

The most likable fact of this novel is that all major characters are given their fair share of development and face value. Be it Vikram (Retail Head), Tanuja (HR head), Nikhil (cluster head), Anand (branch head), Indrani (CEO), Harshita and Zinaida (RMs), Raymond (Compliance head), and Karan Panjabi (ex-banker-cum-media person) among others. This thing is evenly visible from the book’s trailer on youtube easily.

Almost all characters get their due time to be established well within the story, most in the first half, step by step.


Story:

The story starts with a normal tell-tale of an international investment bank GB2’s Bandra branch in India and the daily worklife of its employees, RMs, HR, branch heads, cluster head, CEO, etc. It briefly and at a steady pace takes you explaining work culture in any such bank, the politics, minor and major money-launderings, mind games, relationships, etc. in the first half.

The turn in the story comes when in the author’s own words:

Bankers build their careers on trust, or so everyone thinks, till a series of murders threaten to destroy the reputation that the Greater Boston Global Bank (GB2) has built over the years. Who is behind these killings, and what is their motive? Is the banker at GB2 fast turning into a bankster? Or he was always one?

In addition to Banking scam coming up, two other minor stories go on being narrated side by side; one dealing with an international arms dealer, and the other one about being a nuclear reactor being commissioned in Devikulam, India. But all the stories begin to merge as the scam starts unravelling under the finance-detective eyes of Karan Panjabi, an ex-banker who works for a national daily now. He comes close to the case only when his best friend is murdered who was getting close to uncovering international money-laundering scam on the basis of fraud accounts getting set-up within GB2 branches.

The second half encompasses Karan’s efforts along with help of a few others in the bank, with only 36 hrs at their disposal, to uncover the grappling truth behind all these murders and the proper reason behind them. The script is very good and narration has imprints of an established writer. The author has done a commanding work from start till the end taking the story at a fine and steady pace, unfolding all events at seemingly right timings.

The reader will always keep wondering after all who is The Bankster! Is it Vikram or Nikhil or Anand or Zinaida or Tanuja or Indrani or Juliana or Jacqueline or Hemant or even Karan?! An intelligent work, if not masterpiece, of mystery webs and speculations (from reader's point of view).

And hey! what a big moment when he/she is brought open at the climax!!!


Likes:

Balanced details of investment banking and other events at right pace

Balanced character development of most characters

Genuine thriller

Author’s successful intent on maintaining mystery at various turning points

Raunchiness not much overplayed


Dislikes:

Few loosing ends of the story (like no further issue taken up on what happened to people who put up fraud accounts initially in GB2 which were later found a part of a global money-laundering scam)


Expectations:

Initial backgrounds of certain RMs who come tainted out of the story could have been provided just briefly somewhere (at the end) of the story, but not a big issue. Everything can’t get covered fully.


Well, nonetheless, likes are much heavier here than dislikes and other expectations. And the epilogue provides a fitting end to the novel. Read it for entertainment and thrilling 2nd half.

Overall, 4 out of 5 stars

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My quotes

I try to make a literary fool and a common genius out of me whenever I compose/write

Copyright act

There is a great need of a forum for all writers and editors in India. I have come to know that many face problems in publishing their books. Writing a books comes under Intellectual
property and our Indian Copy Right Act provides safety to all such writers. Therefore, I appeal to all writers of the country to register their work under copyright act of India. The fees is only Rs.50/= for each work. First get the copyright and then give it to a publisher for publication. In this way you will be protected under Indian Copy Right Act. I have come to know that Publishers in India do not pay royalty in most cases. Some of them do pay but not more than 15% and in most cases less than 10%.
This condition is really pity. The work is created by an author but profit is eaten up by publisher.

I appeal to all authors and prospective authors to be cautious of such publishers. Please remember your work (A story, a poem or a book) is your intellectual property and you should be profited most by your intellectual work.

What I see that there is not a single forum in the country for writers where all of them can exchange their ideas and views. Such a forum is NEED OF THE DAY. Such a forum can o a long way in protecting the needs of writers.

(copied)