The woodcutter by Reginald Hill

"The woodcutter" by Reginald Hill - It's different! 

This book is published by HarperCollins Publications India Pvt Ltd. in 2010 and has 533 pages. 

Sir Wilfred Hader (Wolf), a self made knight is arrested and sentenced for pedophilia and financial irregularities. Dr. Alva Ozigbo is assigned as his prison psychologist. An incident leaves him with no other way than going back to what he was known as "The woodcutter".

Is Wolf guilty? Can Alva bring repentance to the fore? What incident changes Wolf? What does he discover?

Wolf's impulsive and stupid actions after arrest are the basis for the story to happen. Author has created a story that keeps you interested. A number of things turn out not to be what they appear. Readers quickly sympathize with Wolf, who loses all his wealth, fame, wife and daughter. 

Characters are interesting. Wolf is the real hero, a self made man who marries his love of life and whose reputation is destroyed overnight. Imogen, his wife, divorces him and marries his lawyer. His lawyer and friend betray him. Alva, a beautiful psychologist with black father and Nordic mother, does everything to get Wolf to repent his deeds. 

One would expect that Wolf, with his reputation, would go for violent revenge. But it does not happen. Author tries to give a major shock towards the end but it comes out as an afterthought and not really necessary for the story. The conclusion is also strange. It doesn't give reader satisfaction of good conclusion. 

Why did I read this book? It was on hand.

What I didn't like? Last surprise and conclusion. 

What did I like? A different story. 

Read if you have spare time. 

Who painted my money red by Sree Iyer

"Who painted my money red" by Sree Iyer -  Money series continues!

This book is published by Sree Iyer in 2020 and has 355 pages. This is Book 2 of 'Money Series'.

Breakup 20-20 cricket league by media mogul Agrawal is killed by Indian cricket body (ICB) and ICB floats its own 20-20 league. A lot of money is to be made. Dubai is the center of a lot of activity. Multiple minor actresses are drugged and raped. A special forces commando is frustrated by army bureaucracy  and quits for private sector. There is a buzz that one or more politicians were castrated. 

What is in Dubai? Why are actresses drugged and raped? What is money - cricket connection? Is lust in the mix? Who is the castrator?

There are characters that have uncanny resemblance with real life characters. Dipika Sharma (political supremo who never becomes PM) has her finger in many pies. Maker Wirewala, an ex-UN representative, a man with a penchant to use obscure and flowery English is trying to buy a team for Deepika. Mamaji is a politician from Maharashtra who had left the freedom party, joined back and become CM, has national ambitions and has close links to underworld. Don, a bright Muslim youth from Mumbai who takes over underworld. Maida, the home Minister from south. Supremo, a south Indian minister brought up in north and who was sacked from cabinet. Assassination of PM by suicide bomber. Remember someone or something? Uncanny resemblance to real life characters?

This book takes an inside look at money, show biz, lust and cricket. How cricket makes money and how it attracts politicians, black marketers, huge money, wannabe and struggling actresses and models and then how it results in chaos and exploitation. 

The narration is not uniform. There are errors of continuity and references. Sequence of events is some times garbled. Some of the chapters appeared to be out of sequence. Author gets way laid on the story of Dilawar and spends too much page space. Connection between obscene email and Dubai had no grounds. There is a 7 year time leap and then the book suddenly ends. 

Author hasn't tied all the loose ends. What happens to Rocky's symptoms? Are any other politicians targeted? What happens to the promise of castrator to the ladies? What happens to the three actresses? Are there any more castrations? Some of them may be on purpose for final book of the trilogy, but can't be all. So the story appears incomplete. 

Why did I read this book? First book was ok. 

What I didn't like? Lack of continuity, untied ends. 

What did I like? Closeness to facts. 

Not a must read. 

The wrath of hellfires by Shatrujit Nath

"The wrath of hellfires" by Shatrujit Nath - Vikramaditya Veeragatha concludes!

This book was published by Jaico publishing house in 2020 and has 556 pages. This is Book 4 of 'Vikramaditya veergatha'. 

Vararuchi has rebelled against Vikrama and Kalidas has left him and joined enemy. Shanku has gone in search of Danavas. Ghatakarpara is kidnapped. Amarsimha has gone in search of him. Vetala Bhatta has gone to garner support. A pair of Deva spies has infiltrated palace of Ujjaini. Asuras have attacked border world. Devas and Asuras are after Halahala and ready to attack Ujjayini. Naga and Kinnara (centaur) army, vyalas and Ahi are at Ujjayini's gate. Odds are heavily stacked against Vikrama.

Can Vikramaditya save Halahala? Is halahala worth making enemies out of Devas and Asuras at the same time? What will Vikramaditya do?

Vikramaditya is fighting an impossible battle. Enemies are too many and too powerful. His uprightness, his hellfires, his loyal councillors and his citizens are all he has. But he gets support from unexpected quarters. 

Author had a tough task of concluding the series. Vikramaditya is facing impossible situation and to conclude the story from this point while tying all the loose ends is a tough task that author accomplishes very well. He doesn't let the story slack. Ensures reader interest. Uses lot of characters with variety of traits. 

Mytho-fantasy is a genre that gives author unlimited possibilities but also certain responsibility. It's a fascinating world and nothing is impossible. I expected more drama in Vararuchi's rebellion. Ashwins and Maruts who were formidable in previous books appear to be minor irritations in this book. Strange!

Chadragupt Vikramaditya was a revered king more than 1000 years ago. He had 9 councillors called Navaratnas. They were Kalidas, Vararuchi, Ghatakarpara, Khapanaka, Shanku, Amarsimha, Varahmihir, Dhanvantari and Vetalbhatta. Following shlok identifies them.

धन्वन्तरिः क्षपणकाऽमरसिंह शङ्कुः

वेताळभट्टः घटकर्परः काळिदासः

ख्यातो वराहमिहिरो नृपते सभायाम्

रत्नानि वै वररुचिर्नव विक्रमस्य

All of them were scholars, experts, poets and laureates. Most famous of them was Kalidas. Author has used these Navratnas and accorded each of them a special power for this series. Also two of them (Shanku and Kshapanaka) are females in this story. 

Has author left a few things unanswered on purpose? What happens to Hiranyakashyapu, Holika, Indra and Shukracharya remains hanging in the air.  Final chapter could have been crisper. 

Why did I read this book? First 3 books were good. 

What did I like? Everything. 

What I didn't like? Unanswered questions, last chapter.

Read, if you have read the series, otherwise start from beginning.

 

The endgame by S. Hussain Zaidi

"The endgame" by S. Hussain Zaidi - A fiction sequel!

This book is published by Harper India in Jul 2020 and has 240 pages.

Ex Prime Minister Naidu suffers a vehicle accident. Special Director General of BSF, Somesh Kumar, comes to visit him in hospital  but is assassinated, on his way back, by home grown terrorists. Vikrant Singh and his boss Additional DG Shahwaz Ali Mirza (from previous book 'Eleventh hour'), who are now working for RAW, are tasked to investigate.

Who killed Kumar? Why? What will Vikrant and Mirza find? Why was Rehmat killed? Who are Al Mukadam and Al Bark? What was written in Mirza's report 10 years ago? What is the end game?

Almost all characters of previous book ('Eleventh hour') make a come back. The Lakshadweep team reunites. Vaishali and Naidu have reconciled and the father- daughter duo is staying together. Daniel is now a civilian and fiancée of Vaishali. DCP Mankame from ATS, Goyal and Jaiswal who are now DCP's with Mumbai police and  Mazhar who is living under an assumed identity in Pune, Shukla from Military intelligence make reappearance. Two Mossad agents also join them. Rehmat is a 20 year old girl doing social work and is also an informant. Al Mukadam and Al Bark are the terrorists. Singh is NSA who is pushing Mirza for results. 

The story is not very fluid. It's chunky. Yet it's entertaining. Since most of the characters reappear, author has to take efforts to show how they matured rather than building new characters. The climax is not very thrilling. It's not the high point of drama. The reason behind the elaborate plot is not laid out very convincingly. Role of Mossad is also not elaborated well. The major twist / surprise author wants to give could be guessed from a mile and thus doesn't surprise. 

A few questions linger after reading the book. How come Al Bark doesn't know Gazi is captured? What's with the scientists? Why does the villain change so suddenly? Why the name Endgame when it would have been a beginning if the plot succeeded?

Author suggests a very dangerous possibility. Possibility that there are sleeper cells in India and they have been hiding cache of arms for years to be used in future terrorist activities. 

This is Zaidi's first fiction sequel. Previous book came in 2018. A gap of almost 3 years makes reader forget the previous book. 

Why did I read this book? First book was good. 

What did I like? Continuity.

What I didn't like? Patchy narration. 

Read if you have read 'Eleventh hour'.

Simple genius by David Baldacci

"Simple genius" by David Baldacci - King and Maxwell continue!

This book is published by Grand Central Publishing in 2007 and has 420 pages. This is Book 3 of Shane King series.

Shane King and Michelle Maxwell are partners and private investigators. One day Michelle picks up a fight in a bar, she is hospitalized. Shane has to spend all his money to avoid legal proceedings. Michelle is admitted to psychiatric care of trusted Horatio Barnes. Shane has to accept a case of a murder investigation from his ex to raise treatment money.  Michelle starts seeing a conspiracy in the medical facility. Shane travels to Babbage town, a township doing secret research for private sector to investigate murder of a Babbage town scientist in CIA facility across the river.

Is Michelle hallucinating or is the conspiracy real? What goes on in Babbage town? What happened when Michelle was 6 years old that changed her behaviour? Can Shane crack the case? Would Shane and Michelle need each other's help?

The story has a decent pace. The questions that keep audience interested are 'What happened when Michelle was 6?' and 'What was Monk Touring doing on CIA grounds?'. Other than that the story falters at times. Viggie brings in some intrigue. 

The climax is not so good but the end is good. Are Sean and Michelle in love? We will have to wait for Book 4.

Not a must read

Why did I read this book? Author.

What I didn't like? A bit scattered.

What did I like? Michelle's past. 

Split second by David Baldacc

"Split second" by David Baldacci - King and Maxwell meet!

This book is published by Pan in 2013 and has 608 pages. This is Book 1 of Shane King series.

Shane King is a secret service agent protecting a Presidential candidate when the candidate is assassinated. His career over, he becomes a lawyer and is living a quiet life when a dead body turns up in his office. Michelle Maxwell is a secret service agent protecting a Presidential candidate when the candidate is kidnapped. Her career over. They meet, they click and join resources. 

Are the two incidents related or separate? Can they help each other? Who is the mysterious Buick man? What is the conspiracy?

King and Maxwell make a good pair. Both have sharp minds. One is younger than other. One is stronger than other. One is a better thinker. They both look good. Its an ideal professional match. 

Story is interesting for three fourth of the book. Until then audience is riveted. However in the last quarter the story loses its sheen. Things appear stretched to make them converge. The real reason for all the elaborate plot appears weak. Climax is not what it should have been. 

While reading the book reader can sense attraction between Shane and Mitchell. Looks like love is in the offing. But there is no amorous relationship between them till Book 3.

Why did I read this book? Author

What I didn't like? Last quarter. 

What did I like? Strong Michelle.

Read if you intend to read series (6 books so far).