Deadly shadows by Rajinder Prabhakar

​"Deadly shadows" by Rajinder Prabhakar - A thriller!

This book was published by Bloomsbury India in 2020 and has 308 pages. 

SAG53 is a special unit, that doesn’t exist, tasked to carry out ultra covert operations. It’s headed by Colonel Abhi Thakur. The deadliest and best operative of this unit is Adit Ohri. There are a spate of inexplicable events. 16,000 dead in two different incidents. 5 politicians are murdered. 10 villages have disappeared; men, women, children, animals, houses included. Blasts in Goa. Multiple MPs and MLAs killed. 

Who is behind these killings? Why? What is the endgame? 

So we have a megalomaniac billionaire who wants to change the demographics. There is Sergei Koponov, ex-KGB mafia drug lord of Goa and a Russian hit man. There is PM Romesh Desai. He is a sharp, no nonsense, sincere person with aim to make the country stronger. He has invigorated the bureaucracy. He has risen from bottom and was voted to power by overwhelming majority. Reminds you of someone? Then there is Abhi Thakur, not just boss of Adit but also his father’s best friend who is like a father to Adit. Then there is Adit, the protagonist. He is the best operative but he’s also emotional, an oxymoron. Then there is Alia, a scientist of NTRO, beautiful, intelligent, tasked to assist Adit. 

It’s a good story. A good concept. The action scenes are good. If such a weapon in invented, it can be disastrous in wrong hands. The concept of the weapon is bone chilling. However, why it makes the humans, animals and houses disappear but doesn’t make the ground below and grass disappear? Alia’s role is also ill conceived. She is assigned to help Adit but ends up offering almost no help using her expertise. The final logic of the mastermind is also a little twisted. But for these factors, it would have been a really good thriller. 

Book ends with a clear hint of a sequel. 

Book cover says that it’s a thriller inspired by true events.  Don’t know how much of the story is based on true events. 

Why did I read this book? Cover. Amazon ratings. 

What did I like? Overall story. 

What I didn't like? Flaws mentioned above. 

Recommend reading.