"RIP" a thriller by Mukul Deva.
A group calling itself RIP, short form of The Resurgent Indian Patriots, starts killing corrupt politicians, their aids and corrupt businessmen. The group consists of ex army special operatives (read commandos) lead by Colonel Krishna Athavale.
Objectives of RIP quickly catch attention of TV channels and general public. Government assigns the case to Special Director Vinod Bedi and Home minister Karunakaran, representing corrupt politicians, secures services of 'gun for hire', and ex special operative, Captain Raghav Bhagat to track and kill RIP and not let police catch them alive.
The game of cat and mouse begins. How and who does RIP plan to kill? Who is their high value target? Do they succeed? Does Bhagat get to them? Or is it Bedi who gets to them? To what extent will politicians go? Is there a traitor?
Paths of Krishna and Raghav have crossed in the past. Were they on the same side then? Added to the mix is a love triangle of sorts and pasts of the protagonists.
Too many times the good guys and bad guys fail to identify a tail on them. Strange thing for professionals. A number of characters are based on real life figures like Sonia, Rahul, Raja, Kalmadi, Anna Hazare etc.. And there are numerous references to recent scams. Writer's attempt of making this fiction appear close to reality has succeeded. Although there is one and half lose ends that need to be tied up, they can be ignored.
Although Mukul has written 7 books earlier, this was the first one I read. Now I look forward to reading his previous books.
It's a page turner. Recommend reading.
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