Race course road by Seema Goswami

​"Race course road" by Seema Goswami - Political Thriller!

This book is published by Aleph book company in 2018 and has 294 pages. 

Prime minister of India is assasinated. His elder son, Karan, is sworn in as PM. Younger son, Arjun, is possibly a drug addict and gay. Youngest daughter, Asha, (half sister of brothers) is a wild child living in London. She comes back. Elections are declared to take advantage of sympathy wave. Asha starts campaigning and becomes an instant attraction. 

Who will win the elections? What scandals will come out? Who will become PM? Who assasinated the earlier PM? What is the nexus?

The book has some interesting characters with uncanny resemblance with some real life figures. Gaurav Agnihotri, an obnoxious TV news anchor who out shouts everyone. Didi Damayanti, a dalit leader from UP who is very arrogant. Sukanya Sarkar, chief of Poribortan party from Bengal. The firebrand, unpredictable street fighter. The defense minister, an old timer who controls the party fund and always remains number two. The assassinated Prime Minister who had come to power on the promise of corruption free good governance. Then there is Karan, heir apparent but without charisma. There is Asha Devi who has flair of her father, who is a crowd puller, who is natural on stage and in front of camera but is not considered family by her step brothers. 

The book is about politics, power, politics of power and power of politics. It starts from declaration of election, candidate finalization, campaigning, scandals, results, cobbling up the majority, coalition politics and deal making. Author covers the whole process well. The story is interesting but it’s not a page turner. 

There are various instances in this book that remind us about real events that happened in Indian politics in the past. That makes it easy to connect to the story. 

My collectible sentence from the book:

The man really was irremediable.

Proof reading of the book is bad. There are several grammatical and syntax mistakes. 

The end of the book doesn’t give satisfaction of reading a complete story. It’s only a pause. The story is still to continue. Author definitely has plans for a sequel. I always believe that if the book is first of the series, it’s authors duty to inform readers beforehand, so they can make a choice to read it or not. Not doing so is a form of cheating. 

Why did I read this book? Politics.

What did I like? Interesting story. 

What I didn't like? Not declaring that it’s first of a series. 

Read if you plan to read the series.