Book Review - Bhrigu Mahesh, PhD The Witch of Senduwar by Nisha Singh

In the idyllic village of Senduwar, fortune seems to smile on its poor residents when they discover precious pieces of a lost treasure accumulating on an abandoned floodplain purportedly haunted by the spirit of an angry witch.
The gold pursuit that follows benefits the lives of many but destroys that of a mother when her son, Malthu, dies in a freak accident a few feet from the treasure site. The superstitious villagers believe that the witch, Jiyashree, has risen from her sleep to punish Malthu - the first person to invade her resting place.

Fearful, they abandon the hunt and return to their homes. When detective Bhrigu Mahesh arrives on the scene, the mother asks for his help to clear the mystery behind Malthu's mysterious death.

As Mahesh begins investigating with his unique style, he soon finds himself on the trail of a murderer that leads him to unveil astonishing secrets, beguiling lies, and a tragic tale of a selfless girl.

Book details:
Book title: Bhrigu Mahesh, PhD
                   The Witch of Senduwar
Author: Nisha Singh
Publisher: Patridge
Pages: 311

My review:

We have all read our share of detective stories, and we are familiar with them. Here, in this novel, the author has given us a new detective, Bhrigu Mahesh. And going along with the familiar trait, she has given us his companion, Sutte.

The story starts with Bhrigu and Sutte going to Senduwar, the native place of Bhrigu. There he is requested by an old lady to take up her case. On hearing her part of the story, he accepts the case, and promises to find the truth for her.

The old lady, Jayanti Devi, wants Bhrigu to find about her son Malthu's death. The villagers believe that his death was due to the witch of Senduwar, Jiyashree. Bhrigu hears about the tale of the witch from the old lady herself. The place of the witch had been haunted for ages. Her son, Malthu, a teenager was a special child, and he had gone to the haunted place. He had got a few gold nuggets, which he had shown to his mother. She had taken them to find its value, and the news had spread like wildfire. Ane everyone wanted a piece of gold in that old village. And suddenly, one day her son had been found dead. And post-morterm revealed it to be a broken neck that could have been by an accident. The villagers blamed it to be the witch. But, the old lady, doesn't believe it to be so.

Bhrigu and Sutte goes on to visit the relatives of the old lady. And little by little, they get to know clearly what had happened. Was the old lady saying the truth? was her son murdered? Why does she suspect her relatives? These form the remainder of the story.

The story overall has the flavour of a detective story, with hints and twists. But, the author could have done more in detailing the story, rather than concentrating on the characters. Character development is important, but in a detective novel, the character development should be more concentrated on the characters of the plot the detective is solving. In this novel, the story is told from the view of the person accompanying the detective, like in Sherlock Holmes, where we had Dr.Watson.
But, the plot of the story is less and you don't get to know major things until the final few pages. a detective novel is not the one where only detective knows about the clues. The reader is usually exposed  to all characters, their plays and such. The author could have concentrated more on it, and less emphasis could have been on explaining the two main characters.

The author while narrating the story has taken a classical approach in certain areas. It might be the influence of the classic detective. But, a story set in the modern era with mobile phones, it might have been better to take a contemporary approach altogether, rather than mixing it both. When one writes a detective novel, one is bound to think about Sherlock Holmes always. Even i have in my head while writing this review. But, with such a splendid plot, the author could have ditched the classical approach, and with a dash of little more twists, it would have been even more wonderful.

Overall, it was a good one. Could have been better.

My rating: 6/10

Book Review - Pound of flesh by Mukul Deva

Pound of flesh by Mukul Deva

Retired Inspector General of Police, Ravinder Gill knows that he has only few hours to track down and recover the missing girl, his daughter Jasmine's college mate and friend. As he digs deeper he realizes that Pamela is only one of scores of young girls who have gone missing. Not one of them has been recovered alive. And those found have had their organs harvested. 

The search for Pamela turns even more vicious and murkier as the finger of suspicion swings towards Harpal Singh, a powerful political broker with a shady past, and also the father of Dr.Mandeep, a surgeon, and recently betrothed to Jasmine.

Spearheading Harpal's operation is the mercurial Santosh Kumar aka SK aka The Hammer, a ruthless enforcer who hates Ravinder for killing his father. The battlr becomes intensely personal for The Hammer when he realizes that Pamela is the friend of Ravinder's daughter.

Torn between rescuing Pamela, finding the truth and protecting Jasmine's happiness, Ravinder battles alone.

Could Harpal be the man behind this deadly gang of human traffickers and organ traders? Could Mandeep, his future son-in-law, be the surgeon who is cutting up these missing girls and harvesting their organs? And why is Chetan, the police officer investigating the case, covering up the facts?

Book Details:
Book title: Pound of flesh
Author: Mukul Deva
Publisher: Westland books
Pages: 484
Cost: 350 INR.

My review:

A book belonging to suspense and thriller genre is always exciting to read. The same goes to this book. It was a racy read, which makes you want to know what will be happening to the characters in the next chapter.

The storyline involves human trafficking and organ harvesting. The core of the novel is a heavy topic, and it actually gives you a scare. But, the book has many sub-plots. Like, the romance of Jasmine and Mandeep. The story of Harpal Singh and his relationship with his family. The police officer Chetan.
Also, there is a small flashback, about the  main antagonist of the story, Santosh Kumar. It also shows the rise of his hatred for Ravinder Gill. But, being such an important one, it rather felt like a flashback in a movie which was inserted in the plot forcefully. Even the antagonist himself would not have been able to justify his actions based on such a weak flashback.

The search for Pamela, done by Jasmine, her father, Ravinder Gill and her other friend Rekha is interesting to read at first. As the pages are turned it keeps getting mundane. Ravinder is not satisfied with the help provided by the police officer, Chetan. But, he keeps on asking him to help.
Also the small fights between Rekha and Jasmine comes and goes throughout the novel. It comes so often that you are expecting it to happen, whenever their names come in the same page.
Also, there is Mandeep, a surgeon and the son of Harpal Singh. Ravinder doubts him to be involved in the organ harvesting scam, until the final pages. But, we readers know from the first few pages who was involved in the scam along with Santhosh Kumar. It would have been even more anxious for the reader, if we too saw Mandeep from the eyes of Ravinder Gill.

The whole plot would have been so great, if the reader could see only what the protagonist could see. And, as he discovers the hidden plots, we would have been as surprised as the protagonist too. But, the reader is fed with a good amount of plot from the beginning, and finally, the whole plot is visible.
For such a good storyline, the actual story lacked a few good elements of surprise. It will always be nice to find out something new in the last few pages.

A good suspense or mystery book should be like a treasure hunt. You should not know the final treasure until the last clue.

This book was a treasure hunt. But, like a treasure hunt, which was actually seen by the participant even before it started.

Overall, it was a good one. Could have been made better.

My rating : 6.5/10

I would like to thank the Westland Publishers for sending the book for review. The opinion expressed in this review is my own.

Book Review - Dancing with Demons by Nidhie Sharma

DANCING WITH DEMONS by Nidhie Sharma

-          A book review

BOOK TITLE:  Dancing with Demons

AUTHOR: Nidhie Sharma

PUBLISHER: Harlequin India Pvt Ltd

NO.OF.PAGES: 288

COST: 299 INR

Karan Pratap Singh is on the brink of winning the Amateur Boxing Championship, when in a moment, he loses it all. His fall from glory seems fuelled by ruthless arrogance and an out-of-control anger management problem. That, however, is just symptomatic of a deeper issue. Buried under layers of his fractured subconscious lies a childhood secret he cannot come to terms with.

Sonia Kapoor is a beautiful volatile young woman with a secret that torments her at night but a secret that she feels no guilt for.

When fate throws Karan and Sonia together in Mumbai, their personal demons and past collide and stir up trouble in their fragile and uncertain present. But, is redemption possible without forgiveness?

My views:

About the story and the characters:

The story starts with Karan Pratap Singh fighting his finals in the Boxing Championship. He knows he can win it, yet he loses it. What would be the reason for the sudden change?

After that incident, his life spirals downwards. The life is merciless to him in his entire endeavour. That is when Sonia enters his life. Her past is an enigma. Whether they were able to come out of their past and live in the present or were they chased by the past demons unable to find the door of freedom?

The portrayal of Karan Pratap Singh is that of an innocent yet strong man. Though haunted by the past, his soul focus is boxing. And he regards his coach Jerry as his own father figure. When life leaves him alone, though he finds it hard, his fighting spirit never dies. He is taunted by his own failures and his past haunts his life even more.

Sonia, on the other hand remains the mysterious and yet beautiful character in the book. The readers do not get to know about her in the beginning and that adds a mystery factor to the book.

Of the two characters, one is given as an open book. When Karan faces the woes of his life, the reader tends to empathize with him.  You can feel his emotions and regrets. The author has done a good job in portraying the mighty boxer. Sonia, on the other hand is painted as a girl running away from something and even she doesn’t know about it. But, before the end of the story, you get to know her more and the readers will end up wishing only the good for them.

The boxing scenes are penned by the author in such a manner that even a person with no prior knowledge in boxing, will be able to assimilate well. I, for one, thoroughly enjoyed the fighting scenes.

About the writing:

The writing in general had been kept simple by the author. It was easy to read, except for in some places, where I had to read twice to grasp what the author actually meant.

About the ending:

It was predictable and cinematic.

The author had mentioned about her intentions of directing a movie with the same story. But that doesn’t mean she should make the book filmy. And when reading the ending, I was remembered of a movie that dealt with boxing. It was similar. Because, most movies take the same route and one will not be expecting a book to end in that fashion. And there ended my liking of the book.

Final Verdict:

It had been a great and commendable effort by the author, but not impeccable.

There are places where the author should consider modifying and she should do it certainly, if it is going to be a movie. The movie goers have different expectations nowadays and if you are going to serve the same dish, it will not be palatable.

My Rating:

6.5/10

Book Review - Thar Express by Nagendra Murthi

It is not everyday that you come across a book that makes you want to know what is happening next?
Today I am going to review one such book. I received this eBook as a part of Blogadda's reviewer program and I didn't have any expectations before starting this one.
This book tells you the story of a person who has lost his memory. He doesn't remember who he is nor where he was from. He doesn't even remember his name. He was at an army hospital at Kashmir. He would have been left to his own good except for one glitch. He was found d unconscious at LOC.
Who was he and what was he doing at the line of control?
The army people are curious to know and they are not happy with his answer that he doesn't remember anything from his past.
One day he has a dream of his mom calling him Mano. He then remembers that everyone used to call him Mano. Except for this one minor improvement, he is left in the dark. Try as he might, he couldn't remember.

There had been a bomb blast and the hospital is filled with patients from the blast.
And one day, he gets an unusual visitor at his hospital bed? Who was the visitor?
Mano is then examined by a renowned psychiatrist. He believes that Mano's answer is genuine enough and he is further sent to Nashik for treatment by yet another renowned doctor.
From there, the reader gets to see the journey he takes. The novel takes you to Nashik from Kashmir and then to Trichy in Tamilnadu and next to Hyderabad and to Goa and to Odisha.
Mano is traveling to find about himself.
Who is he? Is he an Indian? Or is he a terrorist? Or is he a person from the Indian army? Is he innocent or guilty?
These are the questions I asked myself throughout the book until I read the end.
This book is what they call a 'page turner'.
I was so curious to find out about him that I was waiting for the answer to show up in every page.
When you read about how Mano gathers clues about himself, it is like a huge puzzle in your head too.
You can't help wonder out aloud along with him whenever he asks him questions. Who was he? Why was he there?
When Mano finds little bits about himself your mind starts playing detective. May be he was this or may be he was that?
And at the end when you get to know everything, I had really read a thriller. I sure didn't expect it and the author had aptly titled it as That Express.
The writing style is simple and neat. He doesn't throw in heavy words. With a great plot the book was easy to read and I completed it in one sitting.
The author must be greatly appreciated for his efforts and keeping the suspense until the end. And also if not for Blogadda I would have missed such a wonderful book.
This book is available only as an eBook.
My Rating: 9/10

This post is a part of The biggest Book Review program by Blogadda for Indian Bloggers. Participate now to get free books!

Book Review - The Archer's revenge by Destination Infinity

THE ARCHER'S REVENGE
by Destination Infinity
- a book review

First impression is the best impression. Always! It is not bias or anything. Just an impression. That is why we people tend to judge everything by the outer appearances.
When I first saw this book, my opinion was, 'Such a small book!'
But does first impressions always last forever? Read on.

Now, let us go into the review of 'The Archer's Revenge' by Destination Infinity.

After reading the synopsis from the back of the book, the reader gets a general idea about the skeleton of the book.

Of course! You have it in the title too!
Revenge.

Revenge is what the protagonist of the novel, Aryan seeks. Revenge against a minister, who is politically powerful. He wants the minister punished. Punished for his murder of Aryan's father. Thus the author forms the skeleton of the story.

The story of Aryan starts at New Delhi and continues to Tirupati and Chennai.
Aryan has cleverly planned to kill the minister by his only way, archery. The author then explains about how Aryan became a trained archer and how his father honed his skills. The plot starts from the place where Aryan is waiting to kill the minister and then it goes backwards in explaining the root of it.
The first plan goes awry and Aryan gets a company, Divya.

Divya is a trained archer too and she too wants to murder the minister. But why does she want to kill him? And do they plan together? Or do they go their own ways? What happens next? These are the questions the reader might have at this point and the story answers it.

Now, coming to the way of writing. The writing is crisp and clear. The story takes you in it's course. You don't have to check with the previous pages to continue your reading.

Regarding the characters, in addition to Aryan and Divya, the minister Guru forms the main character. The plot evolves with these three characters. Along the course of the story, there may be one or two characters coming to direct the story, but the three main characters are Aryan, Divya and the Minister, Guru.

The lead characters are both archers and they are supposedly good at it. So, the lack of much archery usage is intriguing. The character is a potential archer and his abilities could have been used better. The other character too was lacking in depth.

The villain of the novel is portrayed well and the changes in his life leading to his present state was good too. If the villain's psyche is explored to that level and the protagonists are not given enough attention, the story becomes the antagonist's.

The twist at the end is nice and it gave a good end to the story. But when Aryan blindly believes the character at the beginning of the story, the plot takes a step behind. He uses google maps for his every move and he is smart at that and he doesn't even doubt about that character even once. ( Read the book to know which character I am saying)

The story ends as soon as it starts. The story could have been extended and the plot could have been developed more. As such, the novel gives us a good read, but I did feel like it was cut short.

The ending came when you were engrossed in the story and it left you wanting more. It was a good plot and only if it had contained a little more matter. Finally, the story felt like it was just the base. The plot is good and only if it had been developed a little more and introduced some more characters, the reader would have been happier. Though we can say that this is the first novel by the author, it still needs improvising.

If it had been some 300+ novel, the ending would have led to a speculation about a sequel. Since, this is a short novel, we should accept the ending and put an end to the archer.

I enjoyed reading the novel and I hope the author writes a full length novel in the future.

Book name: The Archer's Revenge
Author: Destination Infinity ( Pen Name)
Pages: 136
Genre: Fiction
My Rating: 6.5/10

You can get the paperback copy from Flipkart here.
You can get the kindle edition here.