Operation Chaos by Himanshu Rasam

"Operation Chaos" by Himanshu Rasam. 

There is a blast in Rashtrapati bhavan. Chief of security is dead. Indian black cast commandos storm a terrorist base in India near Pakistan border. Hypersonic BrahMos missile, first of its kind in the world, project completes phase 1. Terrorists across the border, headed by an intelligent man, have infiltrated India.

What is operation chaos? How is it related to BrahMos? Why Rashtrapati bhavan? What do the terrorists want? Who are the players? What is the objective?

The book jumps straight into action right from the word go without much preamble. The action or actions set the readers pulse high within first 30 pages. The national security is at risk, situation is grave. Commander David D'costa has to save the day.

This story is a treasure hunt with clues, ciphers, references in the books, archeological structures and artefacts from Gautam Buddha's time. It involves a historian, a cryptographer, a hacker, set of commandos and a scientist (now President of India) who had worked on Pokhran nuclear blasts.

Authors writing style is good, very good. He manages to bait the readers and readers take the bait: hook, line and sinker. What is better is that author manages to keep the reader interested till the very end. It's a thriller out and out. The narration is vivid. Moreover author has provided some photographs and maps to understand the action better. It makes reading pleasurable.

The idea of a brilliant person, having a grudge at a particular person and nation, hiring terrorists across the border and forcing the Indian securities on a treasure hunt seems a bit far fetched. If the person can do all this planning why he can not hire a team of mercenaries for treasure hunt of his own is confounding. The explanation given is not convincing. If he can take over an ultra secure facility, effect blasts in Rashtrapati bhavan, plant his moles in India and had money why can he not do it himself or wait till the missile goes into production and gain access to many more to increase his bargaining power?

This is the fifth book, I read, based on the legend of Samrat Ashok's nine unknowns. Looks like this legend is getting crowded. Are there no other legends in Indian mythology and history?

A good thriller. Recommend reading.

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.