Sunday, 19 June 2022

The Assassination of Rajat Gandy-Anurag Anand

Book: The Assassination of Rajat Gandy
Author: Anurag Anand
Publisher: Readomania

What do you think makes a good political thriller?

The Assassination of Rajat Gandy by Anurag Anand takes place in the most populated democracy in the world is going to vote. Stakes are high and the contest is intense. Afsha Khan, a political correspondent with a leading TV news channel finds herself embroiled in a conspiracy of devastating proportions. Sumit Anand, an officer with the Economic Offences Wing, is on the trail of an industry lobbyist who could lead him to the men behind one of the most notorious scams in the history of independent India. A road accident in New Jersey, USA, a communal uprising in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh; a troll attack in cyberspace Are these a series of disparate events or do they link up to something else, something far more sinister and viler? It is a gripping political thriller that can alter your views on politics and the political establishment.

Anurag takes up the contemporary political scenario and builds a gripping narrative that is quite thrilling. The plot moves at a decent pace and the story being linear helps keep the readers’ focus on the story. While the story is completely fictional, there are scenes that would make you revisit some of the things that are happening around you. I loved how Anurag brings various issues such as biased news, social media trolling etc. into the story and weaves it into a complex and convincing story. The language used is simple to understand and instead of heavy sounding language, it is something that is commonly used. The climax is well planned and the idea of how he brings it to fruition was quite interesting. However, there are somethings that could have been improved. Firstly, the writing could have been a bit crispier. I felt that there were points where the scenes seemed disjointed, specially in the second half. Another aspect I wanted to see was a bit more of the political aspect in the story which was present but the undertones were quite subtle and the focus was more on the media.

Coming to the characters, Anurag has brought to life some very interesting characters in this story. I loved Afsha’s character, mostly because of her zeal and grit that she displays in the face of adversity. Another interesting character was that of Sachin Jaywardhan and how his role in the story evolves from the first page to the last. I felt that the character of Rajat could have been explored a bit more as well so as to add a bit more of substance to the plot. Apart from that, what I really loved about the characters are their character descriptions and how easy it was to picture them as the events take place in the book.

Overall, a book I would definitely recommend to anyone who liked to read fast paced political thrillers. The book scores a 4.63/5 for me.

Get your copy of the book on Amazon India or your nearest bookstore.

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