Sword of summer by Rick Riordan

"Sword of summer" by Rick Riordan. This book is published by Puffin in Oct 2015 and has 528 pages. This is Book 1 of 'Magnus Chase and Gods of Asgard' series, based on Norse mythology.

Magnus Chase has become homeless in Boston two years ago when his mother was killed by wolves. On his sixteenth birthday he is told that he is the son of a Norse God. He miraculously retrieves a sword lost thousand years ago, fights a fire demon and dies. Ya! You heard right, he dies.

Is the series over at the beginning of first book? Where does Magnus go after death? What is he destined for? What is sword of summer? Why is it so important? Who is his father?

After his three previous series' on Greek mythology, Egypitian mythology and Roman mythology now Rick has ventured into Norse mythology.

The book contains life after death, dwarves, demigods, elves, giants, gods, serpents, Valhalla, magic and what not. There is a quest for sword of summer, Loki wants to release 'The wolf' and Magnus must stop him with the help of a dwarf, an elf and a valkyrie.

Rick has used some of the ideas from his previous book like the protagonist being a demigod, gods claiming their offspring at the camp, prophesies, quests etc. He has also used the name Annabeth which became famous in the Percy Jackson series. This repeated use of ideas could have been minimized. For an imaginative writer like Rick it was even avoidable.

Most gods are depicted as either stupid or lazy or ignorant or all of it. Author has made use of mythical Norse legends like Loki and Wolf constrained, Thor losing his hammer, Loss of sword of summer, concept of Valhalla, As hard, Midgard, Yggdrasil, nine worlds and Norse gods etc. And he has put them to good use. The story remains interesting till the end, but it's not over yet. More books are still to be published.

Magnus is a young boy who has special powers and a Destiny to fulfill, much like Percy Jackson. His character is still developing. His accomplices, the dwarf, the elf and the valkyrie fight with him along with his floor mates at Valhalla. Would they be there in next book? Well, they should be but author has created a small doubt about it.

Author has done a good job of introducing the readers to Norse mythology and legends through the story. Author has written the book in his trademark 'sarcastically witty' style that has become legendary. It's a joy to read this style of writing.

Book ends with (of course) victory for Magnus. Although this battle is won, the war is not over. Wait for the subsequent book to know what comes next.

If you have liked Percy Jackson, you will like this too.

The Hollow by Agatha Christie

"The Hollow" by Agatha Christie. This book is published by HarperCollins in 2002.

There is a gathering of distant cousins, friends and their families at Lady Lucy and Sir Henry Angkatell's estate, 'The Hollow'. Guests include Midge - Lucy's cousin, Dr. John and his beautiful but stupid wife Gerda, Henrietta - a sculptor, Edward Angkatell, another cousin David and Hercule Poirot. Veronica, John's ex, also gate crashes.

There's a murder. Who is murdered? What is the motive? Whodunit?

It's a typical Agatha mystery with a large house of rich people, many characters, murder in the house, many suspects, scattered clues and mystery.

What I liked most of this book was the fantastic characterization. It's an assortment of peculiar characters. Lucy who is absent minded, vague, has hyper active mind. Henrietta who is devoted to work, slightly ruthless, in love with John. Gerda who is slow and stupid, but not as much as everyone thinks. Dr. John, a magnet for women, who has had a number of affairs and is passionate about finding cure to Ridgway's decease. Edward who is book lover and would not marry if not Henrietta, Veronica a typical egotistical star who gets what she wants with her charm etc.

The interrelations between characters are also curious. There are tangled feelings of love, care, protectiveness, sympathy between the characters. Some questions remain with the readers. Why John did not marry Henrietta? Why did John marry Gerda? Why did Gerda worship John? Why Henrietta cared for Gerda? Did Edward love Midge?

While reading the book I learned a new word Yggdrasil. Search for the meaning yourself :) !!

One important thing that is almost missing from this book is the investigation, that tantalizing cat and mouse game, gathering of clues and deductive reasoning. Readers are left unsatisfied because murder mystery is not only about finding the murderer but also the process of finding the murderer. The mystery is revealed on its own. As a result Hercule Poirot's role is much smaller as compared to other Agatha mysteries. End is also unconvincing.

The buildup is good but then the remaining story and climax does not live up to the expectation. I sort of fizzles out.

An OK book. Not a must read.

Piranha by Clive Cussler

"Piranha" by Clive Cussler & Boyd Morrison. This book is published by Michael Joseph in 2015 and has 432 pages. This is the Book 10 of Oregon files.

Oregon is in Venezuela and authorities have made out Juan Cabrillo and Corporation. Trap is set. There are simultaneous attempts on lives of Oregon crew. A mysterious person known only as Doctor is able to spy on Oregon and know all their plans. Pirhana designs are stolen.

Can Oregon crew survive? How does Doctor know all plans of the 'Corporation'? How can they plan a fight back if enemy knows their plans as soon as they are made? What is Pirhana? What's connection with Venezuela and Haiti?

Again Cussler has delivered an exciting thriller with a nail biting finish. I am amazed by his ability of delivering thriller after thriller. The story is fast paced, full of inconceivable planning, meticulous execution, daredevil acts, high-tech gizmos and it's very interesting. Concept of derelict looking but technologically very advanced ship based Corporation working as good mercenaries is fascinating. This is tenth thriller in the series.

Pirhana stealth submarines are top of the end technology. It could do wonders in right hands. Nutrino telescope that can see and hear through matter using subatomic Nutrino particles is almost sci-fi. I don't know if such a technology is really in development.

I had a feeling that the initial portion of an elaborate rouse to fake the destruction of Oregon, though very good, was not the requirement of the story. It could have been avoided.

Why is the book named Piranha? That's a misnomer. Significance of Pirhana is minuscule. Real technology and real story is about Nutrino telescope or sentinel. Sentinel should have been the name of the book.

The main mercenary (and right hand of Doctor) is implied dead in the book. Is he? Or will he resurface in next book? Well, we will just have to wait for next book.

Oregon and Cussler fans must read it.

Close call in Kashmir by Bharat Wakhlu

"Close call in Kashmir" debut novel of Bharat Wakhlu. This book is published by Penguin metro reads in August 2010 and has 232 pages.

Dr. Michael Zutshi is a professor of South Asian art and history in USA. His sister is abducted by terrorists in Kashmir. Pirzada Shamsuddin Bandey is the head priest of the Dargah at Aishmuqam. He is opposed to terrorist violence and is vocal about it.  'Amanat' needs to be protected. Artefacts worth millions of dollars are stolen from Srinagar.

Will Michael come back to India? Who is stealing the artefacts? What stand does Shasuddin take? What is 'Amanat'? Why it needs to be protected?

Bharat has written a very good debut novel. Narration is good. Pace is maintained. Reader's interest is retained. Story is delivered with ease. But I felt that author has missed a few opportunities to make it more interesting.

This story centers around a legend of Dara Sukoh, elder brother of Auranzeb, who Aurangzeb beheaded to become Emperor. The book talks of a legend where great treasure was handed over to six mystique saints by Dara to be retrieved at a later date when he became king. He never became king and the treasure was lost.

Kashmir has a long tradition of mystique saints. The book addresses the Islamist terrorist threat to the shrines of mystique saints (sadhus and sufis, Hindu and Muslims). It also addresses terrorism in general including killings, sympathizers within government, black marketing of precious artefacts, kidnappings, ISI etc.

Although the treasure was handed over to six saints, author doesn't make it clear how it ended where it ended. Author has not elaborated the contribution of six. It could well have been one. Here one feels something amiss.

The climax is devoid of any action. In such a book with all ingredients of a thriller, I expected an action packed climax. It was easily possible to do so but the author chose not to.

The artistic key on the book cover tells us that the book has something to do with the hidden treasure. It's an interesting cover. Use of black colour is also symbolic.

Despite purchasing a brand new book, it had yellow pages. The quality of paper used was sub standard. Was it done to keep the cost down? In any case, it hindered the joy of reading.

A good book. Recommend reading.

For complete review, please visit:
Mandar's Book reviews
http://mandarbookreviews.blogspot.com/

Killer in the shadows by Amit Nangia

"Killer in the shadows" by Amit Nangia. This book is published by Red ink publishers in Feb 2015 and has 128 pages.

Allahabad. A man is Found dead in a public urinal. Naina, a young beautiful divorce lawyer with a troubled past, tells police that she might have killed someone. Pronto. Inspector Abhay Pandey in action. He is a fun and female loving, easy going, skirt chasing, shameless, handsome and intelligent cop. Do you remember Salman Khan of Dabangg? Well that's exactly what he is.

Who was murdered? Did Naina kill anyone? Why is her past troubled? Who is threatening her?

Character of Abhay Pandey is of a typical macho rowdy U.P. cop who loves bowdy language. Naina is the most beautiful, enticingly shapely lawyer who has a partial amnesia and doesn't remember her childhood. The book shows instant chemistry between the two and sex on the third encounter.

The book is full of sexual connotations and implicit or explicit sex overtures. One does not understand whether Abhay's day job is that of a cop or of gigolo. These things take the attention away from the main story. More page space is allocated to amorous activities than the real plot.

There are limited number of characters in the story. Thus the suspects become evident very easily. Experienced readers bring down the list of suspects to four before reaching halfway. Then it's a matter of going through the story to reach the end.

This is a small book. Such a small murder mystery is bound to be short on build up and matter, and so it is. However it is written in film style and I could not help allocating the roles for the film. My cast included Salman, Priyanka, Sonu, Deepshikha and Mohan Agashe.

The book was published this year that is much after film Dabangg. Why did author decide to use the same cop for this story thereby making it unoriginal? It's also not clear why Naina leaves her career in Mumbai to come back to Allahabad? Author seems to have nothing new to offer.

Thankfully it's a small book.

Give it a miss.

Chronicle of a death foretold by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

"Chronicle of a death foretold" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez translated from Spanish by Gregory Rabassa. This book is published by Penguin India in 2000 and has 122 pages.

Bayardo San Roman, a mysterious young man weds the beautiful Angela Vicario in a Colombian town. On their wedding night Bayardo discovers that his wife is not a virgin. He takes her back to her parents. Her brothers want to know who is responsible. Angela names Santiago Nasar, a rich and handsome young man. Angela's brothers declare that they will kill Santiago. But Santiago is unaware of this. He starts his day like any other.

Will he know about threat to his life? Will Angela's brothers muster courage to salvage family honour? Will Santiago be killed? Will it reconstitute Angela's life?

It's a strange book. The writing style of author is very different. Story is slow but since it's a small book, you sail through. The whole book centers around the killing of Santiago. All the events of the day are detailed in the book. The atmosphere of the book is mysterious. Characterization is also mysterious. A lot of threads remain untold.

Pablo and Pedro, brothers of Angela, announce their intention to kill Santiago to everyone they meet, in the hope that if someone stops them they will not have to kill Santiago and they will get satisfaction that they had done everything to salvage family honour. However somehow no one stops them and they had to kill Santiago.

Some things have been left unanswered by the author. Is Santiago really responsible for Angela's loss of virginity? What does Bayardo do after he leaves Angela? Why does Angela write letters to Bayardo?

It's different, read for a change.

The Bhairav Putras by Suhail Mathur

"The Bhairav Putras" debut novel of Suhail Mathur. This book is published by Red ink publishers in 2014 and has 343 pages.

The story is set in British occupied India of 1936 in a town called Bhairavgarh, a town famous for temple of Lord Bhairav (a manifestation of Shiva) and brave inhabitants, where British decide to set up cantonment.

A motly crew of Son of a Zamindar, a Carpenter, a Dhobi, a Priest, a stable boy, an Architect, a bomb maker and a couple of Indian British soldiers decides to fight back. They are assisted by four mysterious men calling themselves Vairavar's. Existence of an ancient secret from the times of Samrat Ashok is revealed.

Will the Bhairavwasis succeed? What's in the book of Bhairav (Bhairashokapustak) from the times of Samrat Ashok? Who are Vairawar's?

Freedom struggle, resistance to British, an ancient secret that will grant immense power to the holder and mysterious Vairawars is a heady mixture and can make a very interesting story. Suhail has indeed managed to create an interesting story out of it. However I was left with a feeling that more could have been done. It could have been even more thrilling and even more interesting.

The narration is good. Story keeps you interested. However story becomes slow at the trial of revolutionaries. This being the story from old times, the things happen at their own pace.

Suhail has done a good job. As per the book he is still pursuing his BA LLB, so must be young. He has shown great promise in his first book and a good writer is in the making. We can expect more good work from him.

However in some cases author has written about past as if it happened in today's time. For example things happenned at 10.30 pm like train arrival, end of dinner etc but in those days things did not happen so late. Bira hugs his lady love in public, it did not happen publicly in those days. Word terrorist is used in the book which was not prevalent in those days.

Author has used some amusing and witty word play in the book that is delight to read. These remarks are really good. Full marks to Suhail for that. However that word play could only happen in English and revolutionaries and Indiana did not speak English, it's only the book that's written in English.

Epilogue added to the book was entirely unnecessary. Apart from sowing seeds of a sequel, it does not serve any purpose and was avoidable.

Nevertheless it's a good book. Recommend reading.

Mrs Funnybones by Twinkle Khanna

"Mrs Funnybones" by Twinkle Khanna. This book is published by Penguin books India in August 2015 and has 240 pages.

Twinkle Khanna is known as an actress, daughter of Dimple / Rakesh Khanna and wife of Akshay Kumar but not many know about Twinkle, the writer. She writes column in TOI and DNA. Those who know her personally are aware about her habit of cracking jokes.

This book is a collection of twenty six articles. These articles are small things that happen in the life of Mrs Funnybones aka Twinkle. Be it messy children, pesky neighbours, embarrassing mom, arrogant aunt, indifferent husband, unreliable employees, unpredictable mother in law, weird friends, well wishers, domestic help, girlfriend of her son, pets, sisters, brothers and cousins of husband and of mother in law etc. Author has also written about occasions like Valentine's day, annual vacation, Karwa chauth, rakshabandhan, picnics etc. In short people and events that occur in everyone's life.

Twinkle refers herself as Mrs Funnybones, Akshay Kumar is called Man of the house, her son is referred as Prodigal son and their daughter is The baby. She confesses that the characters are based on the real ones but she has added fiction and spice to it. So it's not autobiographical and can be enjoyed without reading between the lines.

Twinkle writes about simple things that give you joy, familial contentment, feeling of being loved, irritate you, upset you or make you insecure. In short things that make a house a home. Each article has random thoughts on a particular subject. Most of them are are written with a timeline like a diary entry of a particular day.

Twinkle has a easy writing style. She writes simplistically, without complicating things. Her writing is witty and hilarious. She has hilariously criticized everyone in her life including herself. Her power of observation is commendable. Her self deprecating jokes are also good. While delivering a hilarious article she also touches base with life's reality, the joys & sorrows that make you stop and think and make you sombre. She has a peculiar self amusing way of looking at life.

The articles are not very old or written long time ago. It has references to Iphone 6, Akshay's role in film Boxer, WhatsApp etc... confirming that they are contemporary and ensuring that the relevance is not lost.

Between the articles she has given snippets of her valuable thoughts on random matters like 'Getting ready for an event', 'Why do women have longer lifespans', 'Neighbours', 'Three things women talk about constantly', 'Three magical Indian things', 'Four people you bump into at Indian funerals' etc.

These are writings of a modern woman about our daily lives. So some of the references are bold for the traditionalists but are reality in today's life.

Chapters are alphabetical (A, B, C etc) and each title starts with that alphabet. Interesting way to title the articles. I learned a new word while reading the book. It's Illeist. I won't tell the meaning, refer dictionary or internet.

It's a simple, light, likable book that connects to your heart. Twinkle has come out with flying colors.

A very good book. Must read.

Private L.A. by James Patterson and Mark Sullivan

"Private L.A." by James Patterson and Mark Sullivan. This book is published by Random house in 2014 and has 512 pages. This is sixth book in Private series and third starring Jack Morgan.

A killer calling himself 'No prisoners' murders four persons on a beach. A Hollywood writer-director-actor and his actress wife, working on their dream project, go missing with their three adopted children. Jack Morgan and his firm Private is pressed in action. 'No prisoner' gang conducts more killings and demands money. Jack's twin brother tries to usurp his agency with an underworld character. Orphan children of celebrity couple are released.

Will LA administration give in to 'No prisoner' demands? Where is the celebrity couple? Where does the money trail lead? Why is there an assassination attempt on Jack Morgan? Will Private succeed?

The story is not fluid. The pace is uneven. Is it because the two writers could not gel? Although there is nothing apparently wrong in the story or narration, something is amiss. Two stories of No prisoner and celebrity couple run in parallel. Readers wait and wait Anna wait for them to converge but they remain separate like oil and water in a mixture. Why did author's tell two different stories in one book?

Celebrity couple who has adopted 3 children and who are involved in charity for orphans is definitely based on a real life Hollywood couple.

No prisoner gang members call each other as Mr. Cobb, Mr. Nickerson etc.. When you work together, have gone through hardships with each other and watch each other's back it's expected that you are on first name basis.

Justeen's dilemma at what she has done is unclear. Love between her and Jack that would never come to fruition is intriguing.

Epilogue appears stretched. Reduced length of book might have made it more effective.

This book is not as good as 'Private India', a book co written by James Patterson with Ashwin Sanghi.

Give it a miss.