The eye of heaven by Clive Cussler & Russell Blake

"The eye of heaven" by Clive Cussler & Russell Blake. This book is published by Putnam adult in Sep 2014 and has 400 pages.

Treasure hunters Sam & Remy Fargo are back with their sixth adventure. They are helping Spanish government retrieve goods from a sunken ship when Janus Benedict and his brother Reginald try to steal them. Fargo's foil the attempt. Janus takes it personally and starts shadowing them.

A Viking ship is found in Northern part of Canada. But Vikings had never reached American shore! There is an earthquake in Mexico, that unearths subterranean tunnels and vaults. Fargo's find a clue of a hidden tomb of Quetzalcoatl (not the Mesoamerican deity but the famous Toltec ruler). It is said that he was buried with a treasure including an emerald of the size of human heart called 'The eye of heaven'. Very little is known about Quetzalcoatl as Toltec civilization predated Aztec civilization. Moreover Spanish conquistadores twisted the history to suit them. Fargo's bring in Laslo from Laos & rehabilitate him, to help deciphering the manuscript that they illegally photographed from Cuba.

Can the Fargo's find the tomb? Do they find 'The eye of heaven'? Can they loose the tail attached by Janus? Can Janus get hold of the emerald? Does he get his revenge? Is Kendra a traitor? What does Reginald do to prove himself? What is the Viking connection? Did Vikings reach America?

The story is full of action. It contains sunken ship and treasure, ancient clues, thrill, gun fight, loss of life, traitors, drug cartel connection & treasure hunt. There are tombs, hidden chambers and maps to treasure. In short all the Cussler ingredients are present. The story has too many things to remember.

Character of Kendra is newly introduced and she is shown to have adopted to managing Fargo logistics and research on the fly. A little too far fetched. The ease with which Laslo solves the riddles and deciphers the clues also appears too easy. Sam and Remy are shown taking meals & drinks tens of times in the book, the story would not have altered without them.

The story takes place in America, Laos, Cuba and Mexico. Reader is taken on a whirlwind tour and is not allowed to think. Probably this is why the reader has no time to get bored, although they should have occasionally. Authors have also created a seed for the next adventure. This is a typical Cussler potboiler. Nothing great, nothing bad.

Read it if you are a Cussler fan.

The unknown soldier by Gerald Seymour

"The unknown soldier" by Gerald Seymour. This book is published by Penguin group USA in 2006 and has 400 pages.

This is a very complex story. Caleb, who servives shootout by American soldiers, is arrested in Afghanistan and sent to Guantanamo bay. He assumes the identity of  the Taxi driver, in whose cab he was riding at the time of shootout. He convinces that he was arrested by mistake and is released. But he is not a taxi driver. He is a soldier of 55th brigade of Taliban.

He is transported to Rub-al-khali (The empty quarter), where the terrorists are regrouping, by a small camel caravan. After he is released, Americans realize their mistake and the hunt begins. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), electronic and human intelligence and investigations begin.

Who is Caleb? Why is he so dangerous that Americans don't leave any stone unturned? Why is he so important that Taliban spares no effort for his safety and is ready to sacrifice men to save him?

The story has numerous characters. Dr. Bartholomew (Bart), who is a coward,   Edward Wroughton (Eddie) who is a bully intelligence operative, Lizzy and Marty who operate the UAV, Jed who has interrogated Caleb, Beth who is a professor in Saudi Arabia and has fallen in love with unknown stranger, Rashid the guide in Rub-al-khali etc..

The depiction of arid dessert of Rub-al-khali gives you goose bumps. The dessert can kill anyone and can be ruthless and brutal. Lack of water is accompanied by quick sands. The effort America takes to track the terrorists is amazing.

The story is slow. Although the description of dessert is good, the rest is mediocre. It's a big book and long story. Author just about manages to keep the reader interested. This was my first book of Gerald Seymour and I have not become his fan.

Beating of Eddy is surprising and unexplained. Why Caleb goes towards part of terrorism is also not entirely clear. Character of Bart is very complex and appears to be wasted unnecessarily.

Give it a miss.

The Pianist by Wladyslaw Szpilman

"The Pianist" by Wladyslaw Szpilman. This book is published by Picador USA in 2000 and has 224 pages.

Wladyslaw Szpilman Worked as a Pianist on radio in Warsaw, Poland. This story is of the time when Hitler's Germany invaded Poland, the days of brutality and holocaust.

Occupying German forces forced the Jews, including the author to stay in ghetto, within Warsaw, for almost two years but his memory of the time is like a flash as if it happened in a single day. He can not identify the incidents date wise or in chronological order. Hence this section of the book is in the form of memoir but not written chronologically.

The story shows how the rights of Jews were first infringed, then restricted. How all the Jews were confined to a Ghetto within Warsaw - Poland. How Jews were sent to labor camps. How they were left to die. They took days to remove corpses that were left on pavements wrapped in paper (Their precious cloths taken off). Half a million people lived in ghetto that was for a hundred thousand.

Author lost all his loved ones. His father, mother, brother Henryk, sisters Regina & Halina were killed in has chamber. He did not even see their corpses. A number of his friends and acquaintances were brutally murdered.

Author lived under Nazi rule in Ghetto for about two years. Then he managed to escape from ghetto and lived in Warsaw in hiding for another four years. He was helped by non Jew Polish friends, other kind hearted Poles and even a German officer called Captain Wilm Hosenfeld. He came within a whisker of death a number of times and survived miraculously every time. It's a heart wrenching description.

Atrocities of German Gestapo: Shooting, labor camp, gas chamber, asking people to run and then chasing them in vehicle and shooting them down, throwing men from balconies to ground, killing for not saluting, for not getting out of the way and even for no reason at all. It is a story of horrendous killings and senseless waste of life. It shows naked picture of inhumane behavior of Nazi's.

The Jews lived in an atmosphere of constant fear and terror. Not knowing if they will be alive the next day and having seen the deaths of their near and dear ones. A huge uncertainty hung over them and they did not know whether to consider themselves lucky for being alive or unlucky for not having escaped suffering through death.

This memoire was written by the author. His daughter found it and published it. Although author was at the receiving end of gross injustice, his narration is unusually factual and dry. There is no emotion of revenge or hate. It appears as if he reached the limit of his sufferings. After the war was over he went on to compose a number of tunes for the radio and movies.

This book also contains extracts from diary of Captain Wilm Hosenfeld. This adds depth to the book. Length of this book is ideal. Longer and it would have been an overdose, shorter and it would have been curtailed.

A good book. If you have a strong heart, read it.

No time for goodbyes by Andaleeb Wajid

"No time for goodbyes" by Andaleeb Wajid. This book is published by Bloomsbury India in 2014 and has 205 pages.

It's 2012. Tamanna, a sixteen year old, is bored out of her bones. She goes to the attic and finds an old sepia Polaroid photograph of her young mother, her two sisters and an unknown youth. While she is looking at it, she is sucked into it and time travels to 1982, 30 years back to her grandmother's house when the photo was taken.

Here her mother and aunts are of her age. She is mistaken for the pen pal of Manoj, the youth in photo. It's a different world for her. It's the same city, Bangalore, but looks very different and beautiful. Her mother and aunts seem to have a crush on Manoj. Tamanna tells Manoj how she came in 1982. It becomes clear that the time machine is the camera of Manoj's grandfather had assembled. But no one knows what triggered time travel. Grandfather does not know how to send her back. Inevitably Tamanna and Manoj are first attracted and then fall in love. Both know that this is not correct, it won't workout, but can't help it.

Can Tamanna go back to the present? Can she stay away from Manoj? Is her mother helps of her? Why Manoj is not there in 2012? Will she travel back to 1980s? Will they unite?

Andaleeb had used two tried and tested formulae. One of time travel and another of love, but she has used them to put together a very good story. Time travel is not new for fiction readers but reading it in Indian context was a novelty.

Andaleeb has shown the emotions of teen aged girl very well. First love, infatuation, emotional upheaval and change of time period to top it up and you have a heady mix. Old time Bangalore is described in detail on the backdrop of today's Bangalore. Bangloreits would like it. The reactions and wonderment of today's teen to the good old days 30 years ago is depicted very well. Although it's about time travel it's essentially a love story.

The language used in 1982 sounds more like year 2000, much modern for the times. This appears to be the only drawback.

The end of story could have been anything and it would have still made some readers unhappy. Author has chosen to end the story very beautifully. Rather than giving answer, she has left it for the readers to decide and ended on a beautiful turn. Full marks for the end.

After completing this book I came to know that this is first book of the trilogy. Second book is already published. Looking forward to read it.

A very good book. Must read.

Ayushyache dhade giravtana (आयुष्याचे धडे गिरवताना) by Sudha Murthy (सुधा मुर्ती)

"Ayushyache dhade giravtana (आयुष्याचे धडे गिरवताना)" by Sudha Murthy (सुधा मुर्ती). The book is translated in Marathi by Leena Sohoni (लीना सोहोनी). This book is published by Mehta Publishing House in 2013 and has 156 pages.

This book is a collection of 23 short stories like most of Sudha's books. Most of the stories have come from her own experiences while working for Infosys foundation and has her as one of the characters. All the stories are about common people that we encounter in our daily lives as well as some special ones. Most of the stories are from Karnataka.

Rahmanchi awwa (रहमानची अव्वा) has a lady who raises two children with two different religions, Upawas (उपवास) depicts the importance of milk for a poor person and how the moneyed are insensitive to it, Gunasutre (गुणसूत्रे) shows that honesty and loyalty is not passed down through chromosomes, Teen jalashay (तीन जलाशय) tells us stories of extraordinary contribution by ordinary people to solve the problem of water in their town, Chikatgunda(चिकटगुंडा) is the story of a person who talks too much, Bhootabarobar watni (भुताबरोबर वाटणी) is an incredible story of poet Bharvi, Shraddha (श्राद्ध) tells us about clash of feelings and tradition, Ayushyache dhade (आयुष्याचे धडे) are lessons learnt by author from small incidents, Tumhi mala wicharayla have hote (तुम्ही विचारायला हवे होते) shows need of a person to establish his importance and how author goes round it.

The stories I liked most are Gunasutre (गुणसूत्रे), Teen jalashay (तीन जलाशय), Tumhi mala wicharayla have hote (तुम्ही विचारायला हवे होते).

Some people behave, the way they do, due to their situation and some despite their situation. It's amazing to know the depth of human beings. Sudha's power of observation must be acknowledged. Many such incidents in our lives go unnoticed but for Sudha, they form a story.

It's a good book. Recommend reading.

The Calcutta chromosome by Amitav Ghosh

"The Calcutta chromosome" by Amitav Ghosh. This edition of the book is published by Harper Perennial in 2001 and has 320 pages.

The book starts in some undetermined time in the future. Antar's computer stumbles across a half burned identity card. It belongs to Murugan, an employee who disappeared in 1990s in Calcutta. Murugan was self proclaimed expert on Ronald Ross, who discovered how malaria is transferred from mosquito to humans, in India, during British Raj.

Murugan has a conspiracy theory that a secret group in India nudged Ross in a particular direction very intelligently. This group was headed by two people, Mangala and Laakhan. Wagner-Jauregg had showed that artificially induced malaria often cured, or already mitigated, syphilitic paresis. Mangala used this property of malaria for something else. Something much more advanced for any scientist of the time or much more advanced for any scientist, even today. She exploited it for cross over of personality traits from malaria donor to recipient. The personality trait will be in an item that is different, non standard & unique; dubbed as Calcutta chromosome. This chromosome is not symmetrically paired and not transmitted from generation to generation because it only exists in brain. This process can allow person to change bodies and gain virtual immortality.

Is Murugan right or is he hallucinating? Is he a meticulous person with monumental self belief or is he a crack pot? Does Calcutta chromosome exist? What does Antar do? Are Mangala and Laakhan real or are they figment of Murugan's imagination?

The story takes place in USA and India. It's a science fiction set in history and in future, however most of the story happens in 1990s.

Murugan is the central character. He is a typical genius who is not recognized by his contemporaries because he is ahead of his time. Urmila, Sonali, Romen all play their part in helping or guiding Murugan towards the discovery.

Author has been able to create the mystique atmosphere. The book is very interesting in the beginning but the same level of interest is not maintained till the end. The end, which should take the story to crescendo, seems abrupt. I thought that author could have made the last section of the book more interesting. Sometimes author has chosen to keep things complicated rather than simplifying them for the readers.

You have to read the book carefully and with attention so as not to miss important tid-bit. At the end it remains unclear why Antar, who is nearing retirement, is chosen as torch bearer rather than another young man.

An OK book. Read if you have time.

Time of attack by Marc Cameron

"Time of attack", by Marc Cameron. This book is published by Pinnacle in Jan 2014 and has 448 pages. This is the 4th book of Jericho Quinn series.

Jericho Quinn is attending a wedding of his colleagues. His ex wife (Kimi), daughter, girl friend (Veronica Garcia) and best buddy (Jacque Tbido) are all present. A young Japanese girl tries to kill his daughter. His daughter moves at the last moment and his ex wife is shot in the leg, resulting in leg amputation. Emico Miyagi, Jericho's martial arts teacher, tells him story of her past and tells him that the girl who shot him is her daughter and arranges fake passport. He leaves for Japan.

A Pakistani terrorist procures a deadly plague virus from North Korea and unleashes it on America. A Japanese pharma company has developed vaccine for the plague. Governer of Oregon state and Speaker of Senate are working for terrorists.

Why did they shoot at Jericho's daughter and not him? What does he find in Japan? What kind of plague is it? Who is behind the Japanese pharma company? Are these two things related? Can Jericho Quinn find answers and save the world?

The story is fast paced. It takes place in USA and Japan. Emico Miyagi's character aquires a different dimension in this book. She blossoms into a main character from assisting character (in previous books) and provides vital skills and information to the hero. The book also tells us a lot about Japan and Japanese culture. It also shows the importance and significance of tatoo in Japan. This book too, like previous three books, has characteristic motorcycle chases.

Last 10% of the book is too fast to keep track. It is so fast that it appears to be wrapped in a hurry. However the book ends at a very interesting and tantalizing turn of events. The readers would feel the urge to wait for the next book in the series and know what happens next.

You can read this book even if you have not read the previous three books as there is very little reference to the past books.

An OK book. Read if you have time.

Half a rupee stories by Gulzar

"Half a rupee stories" by Gulzar. Translated from Urdu to English by Sunjoy Shekhar. This book is published by Penguin in 2013 and has 232 pages.

This book consists of 25 stories. The stories are divided into eight sections and each section has a theme. First section has stories about cine personalities, second is for stories from slums and footpath. One section is for stories about Indo-Pak border. One section is for Naxalite movement. Another section is for miscellaneous stories.  And so on....

'Dusk' and 'The adjustment' are old age love stories, 'Ghugu and Jamuni' is the love story of a bird, 'Kuldeep Nayyar & Pirsahib' is mystique, 'LoC' depicts futility of war, 'The stench' gives slum dwellers perspective on redevelopment, 'The charioteer' shows how change of surrounding makes a king out of a lowly man, 'The search' provides a Kashmiri angle of the story of terrorism.

In the story titled half a rupee, bhau tells Chandu that he counts everything in athanni (Half rupee) because common man like us eats half plate, half night sleep, half laughing, half crying and half living.

Of all these stories I liked 'Ghugu and Jamuni', 'Pickpocket', 'Sahir & Jadu' the most.

I felt that some of the stories were too short. Since they were too short they did not create the intended impact. In some, author appeares to have left a lot unsaid and to readers imagination; deliberately.

The stories cover wide range of emotions, wide range of strata of the people and various cities. However the common theme is human emotions. Gulzar's ability to see the story in the most unlikely places, where a common man can not see it, is amazing. The stories intrigue you, make you wonder, laugh and pity. It is a light book that makes you think and introspect.

When I first read the title of this book it felt strange. After reading the book I realized that 'Half a rupee' is title of one of the stories and the book takes name after it.

A good book. Recommend reading.

Parshudhari Parshuram (परशुधारी परशुराम) by Sudhakar Shukla (सुधाकर शुक्ल)

"Parshudhari Parshuram (परशुधारी परशुराम)", a Marathi book by Sudhakar Shukla (सुधाकर शुक्ल). This book is published by Mehta Publishing House in Aug 2008 and has 264 pages.

The book is narrated in first person by Parshuram. It starts with the story of his grandfather Ruchik to his parents Jamadagni (जमदग्नी), a sage with legendary temper, and Renuka (रेणुका). Then it comes to the story of Parshuram.

He considered himself Brahmin (ब्राह्मण) by birth who is also a Kshatriya (क्षत्रीय). He learns brahmavidya from his father and shastravidya from Sage Kashyap. He conducts strict meditation and obtains Shivadhanushya from Lord Shiva, Vaishnav dhanushya from his grand father Ruchik and Parshu (परशु) from Lord Ganapati. This Parshu gives him the name Parshuram.

His life goal is to salvage the populace from oppressive kings. If that calls for war, so be it. If he has to kill the kings to achieve his goal, so be it. War and killings were not considered job of a Brahmin in those days. A Brahmin carrying weapons was a curious sight in those days. It is said that Parshuram got the earth rid of all Kshatriyas, 21 times. This book, however, is exponent of the theory that he got rid of bad Kshatriya kings and not all Kshatriyas. The first big war he fought was with Sahastrarjun (सहस्त्रार्जुन), a very bad and oppressive king, and all his ally kings. The second big war was against Vimalasur (विमलासूर), a demon who made life difficult for everyone.

His second life goal was to create a new land by asking the sea to retract, invite all kind of people to relocate there, build important temples and make a heaven out of the barren land. This land is present day Kokan.

Finally the meeting of two legends; Ram and Parshuram, takes place. This meeting is the devine signal to Parshuram that his work on Earth is coming towards end and there is someone else to fight the bad guys.

Parshuram is a very interesting character. He is Brahmin by birth and Kshatriya at heart. Forgiving, austerity and non violence are characteristics of Brahmin and war, violence and opulence are characterized in a Kshatriya. There is a constant dual between these two personalities within Parshuram. On one hand he wants to follow path of non violence and on other hand he can not accept the reign of unjust kings. Various sages, including his father and his guru, try to contain his anger and rage so that he doesn't go too far in his revenge and harm or kill the innocent.

Although the story of Parshuram is fascinating, author has chosen to narrate it blandly. Either he has missed the opportunity to make the narration interesting or he has done so deliberately. Thus the book just manages to keep you interested but you have a feeling that it could have been better.

The narration is decent. Some of the events are wrapped up too quickly and others are stretched. Author has used the word haslo (laughed), more than 100 times in this book, in the form of मी हसलो or तो हसला or ते हसले.

All in all a good book due to the fascinating story. If you  are interested in Parshuram, read it.