Private India - [Book review]

Book details:
Title: Private India
Author: Ashwin Sanghi and James Patterson
Publisher: Random house
No. of pages: 480
Genre: Crime thriller

My Expectation: I like murder mysteries, had been an ardent fan of Sherlock Holmes from childhood :) I also like Ashwin Sanghi's novels, which are thrillers with a mix of mythology. Haven't read any novels of James Petterson, but knew that he is an expert in thrillers. After reading the blurb at the backside of the book, i was expecting an on the edge thriller.

Story: A series of murders come into light in Mumbai and a private detective agency 'Private India' with intelligent staff takes up the case. All victims are women and murderer leaves clues by placing some objects near the victim. It is very clear that murderer enjoys the art of killing. He takes care by not leaving any prints/ clues to trace him back although he leaves a strand of hair at every victim. Can 'Private India' team tackle the problem and stop the murders at right time? This forms the remaining story.

My Take:
Guys.. what is new in this story? we have heard of many stories of pschyo killers with series of murders and detectives finding clues to atlast find him to stop in the last murder. Sometimes, eventhough story is not interesting, the way it is written might impress to read you the book. I see a lot of confusion in the book, with many characters being simply added as masala mix. A connection to the murders with ISI, Indian mujahuddin, Nimboo baba, match fixing and drug dealer Munna, an Attorney General etc. doesn't seem very relavant.

Yes, story becomes interesting in the middle, but i lost interest at the end and i was waiting for the story to end soon. There are many things which i felt were unnecessary and illogical.

1. How Indian government can give a case like this (series of murders) to a private agency even though the agency is very famous and capable. Since Private India cannot deduce much until 6th murder and cannot stop the massacre till 8th one, at least Government would have included CBI logically. What say?
2. I don't understand the importance of a few characters like Munna and Nimboo baba. Good to read about some realistic characters, but how good it is when they are not directly relevant to the story or doesn't contribute much.
3. Epilogue and last few pages are very boring.
4. Too many cooks spoiled the broth. You heard the saying right? It is a disappointment for Ashwin Sanghi's fans, as they expect some mythology touch and something new to learn. Readers of James Patterson might feel better as it is a thriller, but the plot might not impress them.

My Rating: 3/5
I wouldn't recommend this to die hard thriller fans. Good for a time pass read in a train / bus journey. Forgot to tell you! the big font is a savior for eyes. No stress in reading 450+ pages, hope other publishers also concentrate on font too along with story line.

In case, you want to purchase book from flipkart at Rs.193, here is the link.

Until next time,

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

Ramayana - The Game of life : Rise of the Sun Prince - [Book Review]

Book details:
Title: Ramayana :The Game of life 
         Rise of the Sun Prince
Author: Shubha Vilas
Publishers: JAICO
Genre: Mythology
No. of pages: 252
Source: A free copy for review from blogadda.com

Expectation: 
I have been listening to Ramayana tales from childhood from my father and also watched them in television. Even though iam reading Ramayana again after so many years, i remember each and every small story of it. Those stories and  characters settled in my mind permanently. So, i was not sure initially if this book would interest me to complete till the end, as i hate reading known stories again and again. 

My expectation was to get a different perspective on the tale that i know from long. A different thought process which would help me to correlate with the current scenarios and problems of our country. Iam expecting to learn something new out of old story, which is not very preachy . So, let me tell you if this book really met my expectation :)

My take on story:
This is first part of the 6 book series of complete Ramayana and covers the story from the birth of Lord Rama to his marriage. Basically, story is taken from Valmiki Ramayana and Kamba Ramayana, though few tales are collected from other sources. It is good that author touches upon other characters in detail along with main characters. Actually, Author mentions that Viswamithra is the hero of this story as Balya kanda emphasizes mainly on how he transformed from a jealous king to Brahmarshi and other lessons he learnt in his journey. 

As a reader, we would surely love the extra information from footnotes, but at the end, we feel that there is too much information to comprehend from foot notes. I felt, few foot notes are unnecessary and very preachy. Liked these tidbits which are very less known facts from Ramayana :):

• Dasaratha had 353 wives!
• Dasaratha's wives bore the divine children Rama, Laxmana, Bharatha and Sathrughna for 12 months!
• Lord Rama's childhood is covered in Ramayana only in 10 verses!
• The famous Suprabhataham song 'Kaushalya Supraja Rama' that we use now for Lord Venkateswara is first sung my sage Vishwamithra to wake up Rama from sleep in the forest!
• When Lord Vishnu killed Khyati, wife of sage Bhrigu, Brighu maharshi cursed Vishnu to appear on Earth for 10 times, which are famously known as Dasavathara (10 incarnations)!

Also, liked these lines about special attributes a man should have to marry in Sita's opinion

"He must be valiant or have the ability to protect
He should be prudent and have the ability and wisdom to say the right things
He must have self control or the ability to resist temptation and control emotions"

And these lines about marriage

"Marriage works best with happy cooperation. Hearts are broken when couples compete. To avoid heart break, a couple must cooperate and complement each other."

So, overall, other than the story, we have lot of things to take away from this book. The Ramayana is not a book; it is a way of life. The next book in the series is 'Shattered Dreams'.

I would recommend this to:

• Children who want to read Ramayana for the first time
• Elders, who know Ramayana and want to read it to get another perspective and learn about other characters
• Any book reader who is interested in mythology and want to learn something new

My rating:
4/5
To get this book from flipkart for just Rs.159/- follow this link.

Until next time,

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

Baramulla Bomber - [Book Review]

A book review after a long gap.. Cool.. this book is fiction with some historic facts, which is a lovely combination.. Let me give you details..

Title: Baramulla Bomber
Publisher: Niyogi books
Author: Clark Prasad
Genre: Fiction, Mythology, thriller

Expectation: After reading the brief behind the book, i was expecting a rollar coaster ride of mythological, historical fiction. Something in the lines of a Dan Brown's novel. Thought, i can learn something on sound of the Universe which is covered in bible and also in Vedas. Sounds pretty interesting right?

Plot: A CIA agent gets killed in Shasksgam valley near Kashmir, where there is suspicious test conduced on a sonic weapon. This experiment is funded by both China and Pakistan to experiment a weapon which is developed from sound waves in infrasonic range, They want to use it for a planned attack on India in December. Another CIA agent Adolf, is appointed in the place of Kurt, who comes to Kashmir to find out the links between the mysterious weapon, killer Jalal, suspect Mansur haider and stop the attack by understanding the sonic weapon.

While reading the book, i see a pattern. Introducing many places, different characters in first 20 pages to elevate the suspense or to make the story more interesting, then running the story well and ending it with grace. I have observed same pattern in other novels like Sydney sheldon's or Dan brown's. I felt boring reading stories in this pattern, as i have read many books written in this way. The clarity of content that we get from first 20 pages is important to maintain interest levels. In this book, i felt, first 20 pages are confusing making it difficult to correlate and remember things. 

Explaining the concepts of sound, AUM with the help of science by a Buddhist monk and professor Dr Tamang in Dharmashala is very clear and good for a layman to understand. Mansur was selected to execute project Babylon(to use sonic weapon in attack) and he doesn't know anything about it and he will be tried in national cricket team and in few days he will also be selected to international team. This seems ridiculous. Even with any person having high influence on BCCI, taking a decision in few days to select some unknown player of the country to international team is not easy. I couldn't realize the relevancy of the title of the book until i read 50% of the book. Still, iam not very convinced on why it should be 'Baramulla bomber' and not something related to kashmir/ Srinagar. 

Author's writing style is very good, except for few pages, where the flow is missing.In some pages, i felt, usage of images is not appropriate/ unnecessary. I felt the scenes covering indian cricket matches are very lengthy and descriptive and it made me to skip those pages while reading. I appreciate the author for good research and explanation of concepts in basic terms. Overall, it's a learning experience and a thrilling journey. But missing points are clarity and proper flow of sequences.

What i liked? 
Characterization of Mansur , beauty with brains 'Ahaana' and intelligent Adolf. 
Concepts of sound, AUM etc.,

What i didn't like?
Not very relevant title
very quick turn of events making me think unrealistic
climax is not very effective
No clarity and not a smooth transition between different scenes

Rating: 3/5
When you compare with Davinci code etc., it will definitely fall below your expectation. So, these are my thoughts on this book. Please share yours in comments :)

Until next time,

Image courtesy: http://www.clarkprasad.com/

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

Salvation of a Saint - [Book Review]

Book Details:
Title: Salvation of a Saint
Author: Keigo Higashino
Source: Blogadda book review program

This book is a kind of crime thriller, from a Japanese author. You might have heard about best seller novel 'Devotion of suspect X'. This is from the same author. I haven't read the other book, but i think, now iam interested to read that too. :)

Story starts with the death of a rich married person Mr. Mashiba. His wife Ayena Mashiba goes to her mother's place just 2 days before the murder, posing a strong alibi. Mr. Mashiba is found dead by Hiromi who is a student in the patchwork class conducted by Ayena. It will be found by homicide department that death was caused by poisoned coffee, but no one knows how someone entered into the house which is locked from inside and escaped. Detectives Kusangi, Utsumi and professor Yukawa play a main role in investigating the perfectly planned murder of Mr Mashiba. There is not much suspense about the killer as all investigations and interrogations point to Ayena as killer, but only thing that police wait is for a clue to prove that she is the murderer.

Detectives find poison 'arsenic acid' residuals in water filter system attached to tap. Another interesting find is that this poison is added through filter one year ago and it was never used. Who can plan a murder that advance and wait for such a long time to execute? Even if they do, how can they take care that no one else use this tap water and die instead of Mr.Mashiba? This makes the crime a perfectly planned one without leaving any traces. This plot and timing seems un-believable. 

I don't want to reveal much about the story line as it may spoil the interest of new readers. Overall, this is a page turner and i couldn't leave this book in the middle. I don't feel it is a perfect crime thriller, as the way murder is planned is un-believable without leaving any clue/ trace.

Characterization is very good and writing style is simple and excellent. Mrs. Ayena Mashiba is shown as a brave and confident individual, she never shows her regret or fear about the murder during investigation until last minute. Character of Mr.Mashiba is also very peculiar. Professor Yukawa is excellent with his power of reasoning and driving the other detectives to the point. We love Kusangi's character by the end of the book as he continues his investigation in different angles and provides important evidence, even though he has a soft corner on Ayena. Utsumi is another such interesting character who is very sharp in observing the feelings of the person they are investigating. She brings out women thinking perspective for the investigation, which helps Kusangi a lot. Book is interesting throughout. Logical reasoning of the detectives and their investigation is very good. Since it's on Japanese background, remembering character names is quite difficult. One negative point is that i didn't feel title is very apt for the book, even though they gave some explanation, it is not very convincing. I would surely recommend this book for crime thriller lovers.

My rating: 3/5

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

Until next time,

Tantra - [Book Review]

Book Details:
Title: Tantra
Author : Adi
Publisher: Apeejay STYA
Source: blogadda.com book review program

Guys.. This is review time again! It's a supernatural thriller this time. Never read books on Vampires, though watched many movies :)

Story:
This book starts of with protagonist 'Anu Agarwal', a guardian who fights against vampires in New york coming to Delhi to take revenge on the person/ Vampire who killed her boy friend 'Brian'. Seems very unrealistic na.. While searching for his boy friend's murderer, she comes across a person 'Senaka' who claims to be a spiritual guru and does all evil practices like killing children for some ceremonies using black magic 'tantra'. So, she has to use her abilities to learn satvik 'astras' through concentration(saadhana) to fight against 'Tantra' and stop him from killing many innocent children. Will she be able to leave her search for Brian's murderer and fight against Senaka? Will she be able to get away from her attraction towards 'Gaurav' and concentrate on 'astra'? This forms the remaining story.

My thoughts:
First few chapters are not very interesting as no story takes place other than introduction of characters. Story seems to make sense when author introduces us to 'Tantra' (Black magic). In India, we cannot believe of any story involving vampires, but stories about black magic are common here. Author talks about meditation concepts, satvik, yoga etc.,A parallel thread, Anu agarwal's arranged marriage proposals and formal meeting ceremony with to be bride groom makes us laugh and correlate ourselves to Indian arranged marriage system :)

There are few things which i didn't understand properly like concept of shift, how guardians are trained and chosen etc., as book doesn't elaborate much about them other than using the terms directly. Book explains mediation and satvik concepts well. Author is able to make us understand the struggle that Anu goes through to keep her family safe and away from Vampires and Senaka's followers, her attraction towards Gaurav, her determination to learn and use astras in less time to win over evil.

What i liked -
Characterization of Anu, her zeal to learn astra, her concentration and her positive attitude overall. 

What i didn't like -
Felt story is not gripping enough to be a thriller. We cannot say it is an on-the-edge thriller. Seeing the cover, i expected it to be a horrific haunting story, but it disappointed me completely. At some places, i felt descriptions are very boring that i was unsure if i could complete the book. I couldn't pinpoint what was missing in the book, but just it couldn't meet my expectation of a super natural thriller.

Author's writing style -
Writing style is smooth and easy to follow. In some places, it gets boring.  Characterization, analysis on tantra etc., show author's research work and knowledge about the concepts.

Overall -
Not an on-the-edge, gripping thriller. But, good for one time read to avoid boredom. 
Rating - 2/5

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

One and a half wife - [Book Review]

Title: One and a Half Wife
Author: Meghna Pant
Publisher: Westland Publishers

My take:
         I got a chance to read this book by blog adda book review program. As the title sounds interesting, started reading the immigrant life story of Amara Malhotra whose American big dreams turn to ashes due to several reasons. Even though story line is not very unique, narration is good but it goes with very low pace. 
          First we are introduced to Shimla town , its beauty, the people and their behavior. Amara's parents, especially her mother Biji had big American dreams, their family gets a green card and they want to make her daughter marry a rich Indian immigrant, so that she will spend a happy life. Biji prepares Amara from childhood to adjust with her husband always after marriage and give importance to only his desires, ignoring her own passions/interests completely. So, Amara always thinks that adjustment is the only thing to make a marriage work. But, since her husband Prashanth roy is interested in some modern American and not an Indian wife, their marriage breaks due to compatibility issues and lack of love. Amara feels guilty for her failure in marriage and everyone else from Indian society blame her for breaking the marriage. No one actually try to understand that problem is with her husband and that she has done everything to save her marriage. Her parents see the word 'Divorce' as a big sin and they will return back to Shimla with Amara to avoid embarrassment from Indian immigrants in America.
               Remaining story is about how Amara gains her confidence, thinks about her interests, passions etc., starts a new business on her own and at last finds her true love.


Pros: There are some excerpts from book which i liked a lot:


About woman adjusting in an arranged marriage

A woman began her marriage by behaving like a new born baby who was utterly helpless and whose life depended on care taker, that is, her husband. Slowly, like a growing child, she had to pretend to gain ability as per his rules.Once she won over his loyalitiy and love, she could turn hostile, like a surly teenager, and live under the show of deep offense, mythical and hurtful to those who loved her most. And then, only then, could she come to a level playing field, come into her own, become her own person and lay her own rules.

About how India is a mix of modern and traditional norms 

Modern thought in India was gurgling along a river with two polarised banks. By one bank was an aberrant section of people, who had diverted from conventional norms, and by the other bank were the extremists who wanted to protect society by controlling the aberrant people. The two banks could never meet.

Cons:  Character of Amara doesn't look convincing as she is very much dependent on her family in the complete story until she is guided by Shikha didi to realize her dreams. Narration is good but at the end, it seems to be very much dragging that we lose our interest and everything is predictable at the end. I didn't like the climax especially. 


My Rating: 2/5


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


Until next time,

Urban shots - Bright lights - [Book review]

This time, i got a chance to read another short story collection edited by Paritosh Uttam titled 'Urban shots - Bright Lights'. 
Earlier, i read 'Wise and Otherwise' by Sudha murthy which is one of the best short story books that i read so far. You can find review here. 



Book details :
Name:  Urban Shots - Bright Lights
Price: Rs. 199/-
Publisher: GreyOak in association with Westland


It is a roller coaster ride of emotions when i go through this book as there are different stories with different story lines edited to  the perfection by Paritosh. Some stories make you feel the pain of characters, some are funny and light reads , some are emotional and we can relate to them easily, whereas some will make you think about the characters even after few days. There are also a few stories which are not that great. All stories are just 4 or 5 pages and so it is very easy to read. People who are not book lovers may also enjoy this book. 


Book starts with a story 'Amul'. Author 'Aravind chandrasekhar' takes you to the heart of an innocent child who is ill and how she perceives harsh realities around her life. It is interesting to read how she correlates maths principles to happenings in her life.
'Across the seas' is another heart touching story about a mother waiting eagerly for her son working in another country to come home and how happy she feels reading the letter from him. We can relate this to many people that we see around us, as author 'Ahmed Faiyaz' has written it in a very realistic way. Iam really impressed with the writing style of Ahmed after reading his other stories also like Mr Perierra, It's all good and Jet set Go!
'Maami menace' is very hilarious and a joyful read. 'Father of my Son' and 'Good morning Nikhil' doesn't have a story line exactly but every family can relate to those easily as they capture a simple happy family moments. My favourite story is 'The rain coat' by 'Rashmi Sahi'. Many parents try hard to get the best things for their children but children may not realize the value of small sacrifices made by their parents. In this story, 'Roma' could understand her mother's sacrifice at last. 
P.K Koshy's daily routine seems to be a unique story. It makes you involved in the character and make you think like a retired government employee and see his office and neighborhood through his eyes. It also shows how artificially an employer gives a send off to their employee after working with dedication for whole life when we read his reaction about the gift that he receives from his ex-colleagues.
The weeping girl is just awesome! climax is very funny indeed. 
I mentioned only a few stories that i liked out of 29 stories in this book.
My Rating : 3 out of 5 
Do read when you get time and let me know what you felt :)
Book is on a discount in flipkart.com. Try it if you are interested.


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


Until next time,

A calendar too crowded - [Book review]

Book Name: A calendar Too crowded
Author : Sagarika chakraborthy
Publisher : Niyogi Books
Price : Rs.295
 I got introduced to this book through book review program by blogadda.com. If not this case, i would not have tried reading this book, considering it as a serious read from the book synopsis on the cover. Basically, iam not interested in books with serious note and love light reads like Chetan Bhagath's. But, from the day i completed reading introduction and first story, i felt like its worth reading. 


What this is about?                
         A calendar too crowded is a collection of heart touching and realistic short stories and poems on empowerment of women. The background theme of the book is to remind us international days dedicated to women and compare with the realistic world about how these days are forgotten immediately after celebration. It tells us that there is more to do for the welfare of women than celebrating some days dedicated on their name. Characters in this book are nameless, to signify that we can relate woman in each story to someone who is around us or even to us. 
                
Few words about the author and her writing style
         Sagarika, a law graduate have published and presented papers at international conferences on diverse subjects like corporate governance principles, monetary economics, religion etc., She is excellent in story telling with humorous, satirical and realistic touch. Even though it's a fiction work, each story moves you and makes you think about the concerned issue at least for some time. Personally, i felt writing style is good and interesting. 


Some of the best stories that i liked:
The gift called 'Life' - Excellent narration. Every woman can relate to each and everything mentioned in this story. Somewhere in life she might have faced any of those situations mentioned
Finding an Ideal mother to my unborn child - A good lesson for all those mothers who pamper their son from childhood  without letting him know their own problems, sacrifice their time, ideals and life for them and expect the same from their daughter in law. It emphasizes on imbibing good values in children and making them ready to understand and solve problems in life instead of taking all burden away from them.
Witch without a broomstick - This is about a story of a young window and the way Indian society treats her. 
Behind those whispers - It's such a nicely written poem which iam sure every Indian woman can relate to.
Selling a Body to gain a mind - Story is about a prostitute who doesn't want her child to be like her. Amazing spirit and positive attitude of the characters leave us spell bound. I appreciate the way characters are molded and the internal message they give to us. 
Naked - its a very realistic story about the way society reacts to a situation.
Knowledge beyond the printed letters - It's about an ideal house wife cum social welfare activist. This doesn't seem to be practical but we might see those kind of women rarely in our day to day life.
Living by double edged sword - this is about dowry law (IPC section 498A) and to show how it is being misused most of the times.


Even though it is very tough for me to chose best out of many good short stories, i tried to share some above. I liked the way author has explained or touched upon an issue in a very simple way and with subtle manner. I surely recommend this book to everyone, especially women. 
You can buy this book from here:

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Until next time..