Kanpur Khoofiya Pvt. Ltd.-Richa S Mukherjee

Book: Kanpur Khoofiya Pvt. Ltd.

Author: Richa S Mukherjee

Publisher: Black Ink Publishers & HarperCollins India

Each of us is amazed by mysteries and have a craze for the unknown. Detectives have always featured as one of the most interesting and riveting literary characters. Be it Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes or Karamchand close to home, there are such characters that have made a place in our minds.

Kanpur Khoofiya Pvt. Ltd is the story of Prachand Tripathi, a private investigator and the owner of the firm Kanpur Khoofiya Pvt. Ltd. Being a small-town PI, he handled cases like missing cats and the occasional tailing of an unfaithful spouse. Coming from a large Kanpuriya family, we meet the eccentric family that has all the hallmarks of a traditional Indian family. His luck turns when he gets a case to tail the actress Shailaja Kapoor. Thinking of it as a simple assignment with a good payout, he accepts the assignment and embarks upon it with his wife, Vidya and his close friend Yatish. What ensues next is almost out of a movie itself. The actress gets kidnapped on his watch and thus the owner of Kanpur Khoofiya Pvt. Ltd becomes a fugitive of the law. How the famed investigator of Gwaltoli solves the case forms the plot of the book.

Kanpur Khoofiya Pvt. Ltd is a wonderful book and has a very crisp plot structure. The author has taken her time to build the plot and lets the reader soak in the happenings in the story. None of the critical events in the book is hurried and has a decent pace. The storyline does not let the climax out until the very end and that is something that this book deserves a special mention for. The setting of the book is primarily in Kanpur, though it branches out to Banda and Mumbai for a part. The locations are very vividly described, and some very typical words are used that give an authentic flavor to the story as well. The plot has a perfect balance of humor, thrill and mystery.

Coming to the characters, Richa has created the characters in detail. Be it the character of Prachand or his Bieber-loving brother, Bhushan or for that matter any family member, each of them has a distinct personality and they have their contribution to the plot. I was impressed by the character of Vidya and the grandmother of Prachand as they have shown some unexpected moments in the book. The character of Yatish and its shades were a wonderful addition to the plot.

A special mention to the tidbits of Kanpuriya language scattered through out the book which was really amazing to see.

Kanpur Khoofiya Pvt. Ltd manages to investigate and reveal my rating of 4.5/5.

The Steal-Yuvaraja Dhayanithi

Book: The Steal

Author: Yuvaraja Dhayanithi

Publisher: Dreamblooms Media

There is a point in everyone’s life that they say was a pivotal moment for them, a point when everything changed, and things were never same after that.

Welcome to the world of Sofia who is a medical student finishing her internship in Germany. The book opens with Sofia having a nightmare and she is so scared that she decides to go for a walk and she sits on a bench in the park, where she encounters a man who comes and sits next to her on the bench and they start talking and when he asks why she was sitting there, she responds by saying that she’s planning to rob the “Bad Bank” which was right next to the park. Unknown to both of them, this sparks a chain of events no one would have imagined. As the days pass by, they hatch out a plan to actually rob the bank and meticulous planning ensues with decoys and the works, but what they could not have foreseen were some events that would change the course of their plans. With their luck, they pull off the heist successfully and they start living life out of a fairytale. Everything is perfect till the other shoe drops and the past comes calling. What happens next is the story of The Steal.

The Steal is a nice idea and the author has successfully created a different kind of a story but in this pursuit, the plot sidetracked a bit. The plot moves at an interesting pace initially, but some events seem extremely fanciful. The heist could have been projected a bit better with all the planning that was initially planned. The story after the heist moved at a very fast pace. Though a fast-paced thriller is appreciated, it went a tad-bit too fast and the ends started closing really quickly. As a reader, I would have preferred a little more context on the opening scene of the book, a meatier PI and most of all, a bit edgier Mohan & Sofia.

On the characters aspect, they are really superficial, and we just have a bit of the backstory of Mohan and nothing else. The back story of Mike was also very simple and could have worked wonders had we had more information on him. The climax got highlighted almost at the middle of the book but with due credit to the author, it was not that obvious.

A special mention to the cover of the book. It is designed beautifully, and the blurb of the book makes you pick up the book. The cinema-like credits on the back cover are an interesting touch. The credits page is a nice touch.

I enjoyed reading this and would recommend it for someone looking for a fast thriller. Yuvaraja Dhayanithi steals a 3.5/5 from me.

The Things We Do for Love-Raunak Agarwal

Book: The Things We Do for Love

Author: Raunak Agarwal

Publisher: Bigfoot Publications

In this age of social media, we tend to have many tags for a relationship. Friend, Best Friend, Friends with benefits and what not. As the interactions increased, so did our need for connecting and thus we now see people in and out of relationships fast.

(Cover Courtesy: Goodreads)

The Things We Do for Love by Raunak Agarwal is a take on a love triangle, where the characters are unsure about their feelings and how to approach the same. As the time progresses, we see the feelings of each of the characters change and that drives the story forward. The book is written from Rudra’s point of view and he is the protagonist with whom we make this journey. He thinks that he’s fallen for Ruhani, who he had met through a common friend. Things take a turn when Ruhani chooses her best friend, Kabir over him. To win her back, he rekindles his old flame, Tania and tries to make Ruhani jealous. But as love stories go, there is never a straight path and the paths of Kabir, Rudra, Ruhani & Tania intersect at many points and that is what makes the story propel ahead.

The Things We Do for Love is a story of jealousy, multiple second-chances and some uninformed choices. Through his story, Raunak touches upon subjects such as unrequited love, obsession and even friendship and the different forks it can develop. The book also brings to light the effects of social media on our relationships and how things said online can come back to haunt you later.

Written in the format of a diary entry, the plot is interesting and keeps you hooked on what is happening. Though you would expect a run-of-the-mill-ending, the last chapter is a real shocker. With such a cliff-hanger, the wait for the second part of the book now increases manifold. When the point of view changes in the story, a break or a header would have been better as the reader is looking at the POV of Rudra only and a sudden change takes them off-track.

The characters are built nicely and are relatable. The situations can be understood by the readers as most of them would have gone through the same or have a friend who has gone through it at some point in their life.

All in all, a good read. It deserves a 3.5/5.

A Man From Mandu-Manoj V Jain

Book: A Man From Mandu

Author: Manoj V Jain

Publisher: Notion Press

In this hectic age, we all have some belief of a person we turn to when we need advice. It can be a friend, family member, relative or maybe a spiritual leader, but everyone has someone they always turn to.

A Man from Mandu is a book that delves into the concept of Godmen and how behind the scenes action of how the system operates. It is a book of deception, transformation and growth. The protagonist of the book is Dhawal who is discovered by Tarini, a disgraced marketing executive when she goes with her friend to Mandu. As a part of a deal between Tarini and her friend, they create the brand of Avishkar Baba and she promotes him very successfully. He gains a huge traction on social media and uses the #SadhuofStories to get his sayings across. How the journey of Avishkar Baba progresses forms the plot of the story.

A Man From Mandu is a story that basically tells the reader about how people transform during the course of their life due to their experiences and the impacts of other people around them. The protagonist is Dhawal, his transformation into Avishkar Baba and how it changes his life and thoughts is the central plot of the story. Apart from Dhawal, the changes in the life of Tarini are also brought to the fore beautifully, specially the open-ended ending with her tells us how far she has come in the course of the year.

The book also focuses on the fact that we tend to focus and hear what we want to hear rather than what is actually being said. Through the character of Avishkar Baba, Manoj tells the reader that though everyone hears the same story, each one relates to it differently. With no specific endings to the short stories, it further emphasises on this point. This is what makes us relate to the stories of godmen and charlatans at times as well.

The plot is well built and executed. Manoj has given us wonderful food-for-thought through the story of Dhawal, Tarini and the team. The characters are well built with their flaws and strengths coming out beautifully. The past of the characters is revealed in phases as the story requires and this adds to the charm of the book.

A wonderful and a short read, I would give A Man from Mandu 4/5.

Chronicles of the Mortal Vishnu-Antar Atreya

Book: Chronicles of the Mortal Vishnu

Author: Antar Atreya

Publisher: Invincible Publishers & Marketers

What if Gods lived among us as mortals? What if our society started from scratch and we begun afresh? Would be free of all the evils that we see today?

The Chronicles of The Mortal Vishnu by Antar Atreya is set in the year 3300 of the new age where a new world was established after the annihilation of the old one and the society developed slowly and gradually. The Earth’s firstborn who mentored the new society soon got drunk in his power and became the tyrannical Bhuswami and created a new clan, The Daityas. He, with his penance, got boons from the gods and became invincible and thus turned ruthless. The book also explores the stories of 2 warriors who turn into unmatched warriors and they gain unparalleled powers through penance, hard work and love. While one of the warriors sets to discover his destiny alone, another gains the support of the one destined for him and together they accomplish feats which are beyond the means of any mortal. As the story progresses, each of them realises their destiny and set out to fulfil it. Though the warriors are demi-gods, but when one of them faces a surprise choice, would we see a god turn corrupt or would he choose his destiny?

The Chronicles of the Mortal Vishnu has a promising plot and a well thought out plot. The parallel storylines are well defined and give depth to the story. Antar Atreya has created the characters well and a reader can mentally create a picture of each of them to understand how things pan out.

However, the book suffers from some issues that needs to be corrected so that the entire essence of the story comes out. There are a lot of spelling and grammar mistakes in the book which take away the concentration of the reader. The parallel storylines should be marked with something because at times it becomes difficult which character is being talked about. The maps at the beginning of the book need to be designed better as they are of not much help in the current form. Though I liked the ending, it has  a few loose ends which should be tied as it is a long story and no one really likes loose ends, but that is my opinion.

Overall, keeping the issues aside, I somewhat enjoyed the book and would request the author and the publisher to come out with a revised edition which has the issues rectified so that this book can be enjoyed to its fullest.

For this book, I will give it 3/5.

That Thing About You-Abhaidev

Book: That Thing About You

Author: Abhaidev

Publisher: Write India Publishers

Everyday we come across certain incidents that we pass of as trivial and sometimes as coincidences. Be it while travelling, in college, in office or while talking to a friend, there are always some incidents which make explaining them a tough job.

(Image courtesy: Goodreads.com)

That Thing About You is a book that begins with such a chance event. It is a story of a common man, Subodh that becomes uncommon by virtue of an incident that changes him completely. He is a regular IT employee, who is perceived as immature by everyone and even the girl he has a crush on, Sneha, rejects him for the same reason. Dejected and at a low point in his life, his life changes when he goes on an office trip to a theme village and buys some antiques. He also befriends an unusual and a mysterious woman who knows everything about him and appears at her whims and refuses to reveal her identity. Hereafter, Subodh’s life takes multiple turns making him visit a psychologist, foiling an arranged marriage attempt and even a request by his boss to take some days off.

That Thing About You explores a wonderful concept that maybe coincidences in our lives are nothing but a result of a dice thrown by some higher being and we are mere pawns in a game of chess.

That Thing About You is a refreshing take on the conventional love stories and the usual boy-meets-girl stories. The plot begins on an extremely different note and for a moment the reader is disoriented. As the story progresses and the plot takes shape, the importance of the prologue comes to light. The crisp plot keeps the reader engrossed and guessing through the story. There are a few red-herrings which will make a reader guess a few endings but all in vain. Abhaidev has created a different take and hence I would recommend going for the book in a single sitting. The plot is engrossing and at no point does it falter.

The characters of the book are interesting. The author has kept the characters simple and hence the entire focus goes on the plot rather than focussing on the characters. The setting of the book looks authentic and encapsulates a typical corporate office environment with gossips, grapevine and office romances, coupled with work pressure.

The ending of the book is totally unexpected and gives a completely different dimension to how I was perceiving the plot and the ending. Just for this, it deserves a round of applause.

All in all, a definite read for someone looking for a refreshing book.

That Thing About You scores a 4/5 on my scale.

The Secret of the Palamu Fort-Razi

Book: The Secret of the Palamu Fort

Author: Razi

Publisher: Storymirror Infotech Pvt. Ltd.

Where there is an old fort, there are folktales of curses attached to them. Being a country of a rich history and even richer folklore, there are multiple stories that we can hear if we take a closer look.

The Secret of the Palamu Fort is set in the city of Ranchi, Jharkhand. The story opens with a prologue that set the tone of the plot when a couple of local thieves enter the Palamu Fort at night and discover the ghost of the folktales of the Palamu Fort.

We move on to the main plot where we see that an Associate Professor of History, Dr. Anand Tigga is found dead under suspicious circumstances. Since the case was a bit different from the usual cases, Inspector Patrick Minj enlists the help of a local lad, Detective Robin Horo, who had assisted the police during earlier cases as well and was appointed as a consultant to the police. As Insp. Minj details the case to Robin, he also asks about a friend of theirs, Babulal, who appears within the hour at Robin’s house and together they go to the crime scene. At the crime scene, they meet with the housekeeper Bheem and a friend of Prof. Anand, Prof. Anil. They all tell the group the same story of seeing a ghost and smelling Garlic at the same time along with some smoke. Add to that, the murder weapon is an ancient dagger. As the intriguing case progresses, the killer-ghost makes some more appearances. Detective Horo then unearths a clue that links the case to happenings which go as far back as 350 years. All the detective has with him is an ancient riddle and some old trinkets.

What happens next is the entire plot of the story.

The author has taken up a nice concept of a folklore to build up a suspense thriller that keeps you on your toes throughout. The plot of the book is suitably paced and at no point does it seem confusing or boring. Each aspect of the folklore is detailed and even the untangling of the suspense is gradual. This pace of the book helps the reader connect with the characters in detail and helps them keep pace with the plot.

The characters are built properly. Each of them is given due time and their personalities are quite definitive and distinctive. The one problem that I faced was the introduction of a couple of characters. They are introduced as if we know them from before, which is not the case. The development of these characters could have been a bit more detailed, but since they are not so crucial to the plot, the concession can be given to the author for keeping a concise storyline.

The climax of the book is good and does justice to the journey of the plot.

I would rate the book 3.5/5.

The Wise Man Said-Priya Kumar

Book: The Wise Man Said

Author: Priya Kumar

Publisher: Books That Inspire

Have you ever met someone who has changed the way you look at life?

Have you faced situations in life that have taught you valuable lessons?

Or sometimes a journey you have undertaken might have changed your life?

The Wise Man Said is a collection of 12 stories of Sammy, an 80-year old billionaire who decides to undertake a journey for 11 months in a year where he leaves behind his identity and money and allows his curiosity and his willingness to experience life as it comes.

The book opens with an introduction to Naina, an author who is facing a deadline to submit her book and failing to start the same. To get inspired, she decides to take a walk in the fields in Surrey, UK. After walking for a while, she sees an old man working in the field and feels a strange connection to the man. They start talking and Naina feels her boundaries breaking down and she starts confiding in the Old Man. She learns that his name is Sammy and that he travels for 11 months of the year leaving behind his identity and just experiences things as they come. After a while she dozes off and when she wakes up, she finds a diary next to her, signed The Wanderer and a note inside. She starts reading the book and along with her, we experience 12 stories of different adventures of Sammy and each of them has multiple emotions in it. Be it wisdom, surprise, humor or an eagerness to live, we see many of the, coming to the fore.

Priya has taken up the concept of a travelogue and penned a wonderfully inspiring book that teaches us the fundamental lessons of life. Each of the 12 stories is crisp and has a definite structure. After each story, Priya has penned down the lessons that come out of the story so that message does get across to the reader. Sammy’s experiences seem truly genuine and as a reader you imagine facing those adventures yourself. It is easy to relate to most of the stories as coming from something that the reader might have faced in his or her life as well.

Sammy is the dominating character of the story and his character is well developed. We see layers of Sammy unfold and with his character development, we get a chance to develop ourselves as well. The plot of the story is smooth as well. Despite being a motivational book, this one is refreshing and keeps the reader hooked.

The book has given something for me to work upon and I thoroughly enjoyed being a part of it.

I would rate the book 4/5.

The Coup India Missed- Lt Col K Gopinathan (Retd)

Book: The Coup India Missed

Author: Lt Col K Gopinathan (Retd)

Publisher: Platinum Press (Leadstart Corp)

We have all discussed politics at some points in our lives. Be it while sipping tea at a roadside vendor or a party over some drinks, politics has always dominated our conversations. For every incident that happens in our country, each one has an opinion and possible solutions to a myriad of problems that the country faces. Every election, we have proposed a lot of things to improve our country but as always, things move at a snail’s pace.

The Coup that India Missed by Lt. Col. K Gopinathan (Retd.) is a political satire which begins with a people’s movement that turns into a political outfit to change the system from within. The readers are presented with an alternative India that is free of the shackles that hold us today. There are serious political discussions on topics such as corruption, education, electoral reforms, foreign relations and many more contemporary topics. Facing the conventional political parties, Baba takes up the challenge to enter the parliament to clean up the system. He forms his own Party, the Rashtriya Punarudhaan Sangh (RPS). This party starts with the state elections of Delhi where it wins and then it turns it sights onto the National Elections. Beginning his campaign from Varanasi, the RPS fails to gain majority on its own but manages 210 seats out of 543 in the lower house of the Parliament. Along with the Heritage Party, it makes its government and starts its reforms under the leadership of Professor Murthy, a maverick politician who is chosen by Baba as the Prime Minister. After 20 months of being in power, RPS decides to let go of the burden of coalition partnerships and seeks a fresh mandate from the general public. Inspired by the slew of reforms, the people give a resounding majority to the RPS which paves a path for them to completely turnaround the system that is prevalent in the country. With a majority in the Upper House as well, RPS amends the constitution to bring in the Presidential form of governance with a detailed structure to avoid frequent elections in the country. Reforms continue in all directions, be it education, All India Services, politics etc. Even the issue of contentious borders is dealt with very efficiently in the book.

Lt. Col. K Gopinathan (Retd.) has taken up current issues that are plaguing our country and has provided efficient yet doable solutions for them. Though a fictional satire, he has highlighted the major problems that are holding us back from becoming a developed nation today. Many of the characters of the book can be related with their counterparts in the political system today. With references to incidents such as money laundering and the 2G Scams, the book is very much contemporary yet has a feel of fiction in it.

Towards the end of the book, the reader gets completely immersed in the plot and can imagine this becoming a reality. As a citizen of the country, I feel that the author has struck a nerve here and this should become a mandated reading for the students of politics and statecraft.

I would rate the book 4/5 for its sheer brilliance and aptness.