Mumbaistan by Piyush Jha

"Mumbaistan" by Piyush Jha. This book is published by Rupa in 2012 and has 248 pages. This book is the collection of three thriller novellas.

Bomb Day: Tanweer, a gangster, is recruited by ACP Hani to lure a prostitute in Kamathipura who is lover of Alamzeb, a Pakistani terrorist who had entered India on 26/11 in another dinghy with his accomplices and is staying in Mumbai as sleeper cell. The story is fast paced and full of double crosses and triple crosses. What is the target of the terrorists? Can ACP Hani save the day? Is Tanweer a patriot Muslim?

Injectionwala: A reputed doctor is killed by a lethal injection. After his murder it's found out that he was the mastermind of kidney racket. His doctor daughter and her fiancé know the identity of the killer. More people involved in racket are killed by injectionwala. He is liked by public. Who is injectionwala? Who's his last kill? Can inspector Virkar find the injectionwala?

Coma Man: Samir Khanna wakes up from coma after 19 years and finds the world changed frighteningly. The only thing he remembers is that it's birthday of his lovely wife Bahar. He escapes the hospital to find his wife and has harrowing experiences. With each experience some of his memory comes back. Where is his wife? Can he find her? Is she waiting for him?

Three thriller novellas in a book is an innovative idea. Generally it takes time to build a thriller. To do it in a novella (or long stories) is not easy. However one has to agree that none of these stories could be made into a full length novel without compromising on quality. So the idea of novellas was correct.

Piyush Jha is known as a talented film maker. This is his first step at writing. To my knowledge he is third film maker after Fahad Samar and Neeraj Pande who has turned author. Piyush has done well. The narration is fast, interesting and to the point. You hardly get bored.

There is a common theme in three stories. Each includes multiple deaths. Each has suspense. Each has a shock towards end when the mastermind is revealed. The mastermind is of a particular category. It is good to have a common thread in stories but here it becomes predictable. When I started third story, I more or less knew the ending.

Read if you like thrillers. Ideal if you don't like lengthy books.