Circus by Alistair Maclean

"Circus" by Alistair Maclean. This book is published by Harper in 2009 and has 288 pages. 

A circus has a star performer, a naturalized American, who is a trapeze artist and a mentalist. CIA recruits him to go to his former home country and break into Fort Lubylan to steal the documents regarding anti matter. In the wrong hands, a few grams of anti matter can annihilate entire world.

Will Bruno accept? What obstacles will he face? How many lives will be lost? Will there be a romance? Will he accomplish the job?

Bruno, his brothers, the big man Candan, the knife thrower, CIA recruit Maria, Dr. Harper and owner of circus are the main characters. The story is good. Book is not lengthy. Bruno's unique skills make him the only person who can accomplish this apparently impossible job.

Two main characters who start the story die very soon after the story begins and the plot thickens. Narration is leisurely, no hurry. So even the high adrenaline scenes glide easily. It's a different style and sounds good.

As expected, there is a twist in the tale that comes towards the end. East Europe under the influence of communists Vs Capitalist America tussel may seem out of context in today's times but one had to understand that the book was written in cold war era.

Read if you have time.

State of emergency by Mark Cameron

"State of emergency" by Mark Cameron. This book is published by Pinnacle. This edition was published in 2013 and has 416 pages. This is Book 3 of the Jericho Quinn series.

Dirty atomic bombs (very low intensity) explode in America and Russia simultaneously. College students are used as mule to carry radioactive material. Shady arms dealer Ivan Zamora gets hold of a Russian nuke. Jericho Quinn and Jacque Tibido are pressed into action by NSA, assisted by buxom Veronica Garcia and with support of the enigmatic Emico Miyagi.

What is Babayaga? Who will acquire the bomb? What is the target? Can Jericho save the day?

Marc has written a decent story for most part. However the pace is on the slowish side. With a nuclear bomb in question one would expect a more frantic pace. The climax also does not keep up with the story and turns out inadequate.

Motorbikes are constant feature of Jericho Quinn novels. This one has them too. To make matters interesting here Jericho and Ivan participate in Dakar really.

The story takes place mostly in America and Bolivia / Mexico. A new character of a female Russian spy has been introduced but if I remember correctly she does not appear in the fourth book. This books end is the start of next one.

You can give it a miss.

The Kite runner by Khaled Hosseini

"The Kite runner" debut novel of Khaled Hosseini. This edition of the book is published by Bloomsbury Publishing in 2013 and has 352 pages. Khaled Hosseini Is an Afghan-born American novelist and physician. This is his debut novel and he has written two more after this

This is the story of Aamir, a motherless child born in 1964-65, to a wealthy father. They live in Kabul, Afghanistan. Ali and his son Hasan are Hazara's and are their servants. Hasan is also a close friend and confidant of Amir. Amir is also close to Ibrahim Khan, business partner of his father. One day there is a kite tournament and timid Amir unexpectedly wins it. Hasan is a kite runner and he runs the last kite Amir cuts for him. But something terrible happens and they do not remain friends anymore.

After Russian occupation, Amir and his father flee to America and start a new life. Ibrahim Khan calls Amir to meet him one last time in Pakistan after 15 years. A secret is revealed.

What marked the end of their friendship? Is Amir repentant? Does he marry? What career does he choose? Who had betrayed whom? Can he reunite with Hasan? What was the secret? Will there be a redemption?

Character of Amir is the most important character. His refusal to acknowledge Hasan as friend when confronted, his possessiveness about Hasan, his repentance about not standing by him in his hour of need, his anger at his own cowardice, his attempts to forget everything, his return to his roots and his attempt at redemption is all captured beautifully.

Khaled's description of war ravaged Afghanistan, the destruction it has caused, the resultant loss of business, loss of jobs, consequent poverty and level to which human beings stoop when defeated by hunger melts your heart but it is also objective at the same time. Readers start thinking 'what have the poor Afghans done to deserve this treatment'. When economy, way of living and life comes to a standstill, hollowness occupies all the spaces. There is no future, no destiny and no hope.

Afghanistan before and after war and the difference of life is depicted powerfully. The period in America is relatively slow and less interesting. Hearts of the readers goes out for Sohrab and they wish him well.

Why Amir's father leaves Hasan behind, why Hasan's letters never reach Amir and why there is little to no control on Afghanistan Pakistan border remains unanswered. I was surprised to find that there are a lot of words common in Hindi, Urdu and Farsi.

A very good book. A must read.

The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri

"The Lowland", by Jhumpa Lahiri. This book is published by Random House India in 2013 and has 352 pages. This book was shortlisted for Man Booker prize in 2013 but lost to Eleanor Catton's 'The Luminaries'.

Subhash and Udayan are brothers born 15 months apart and brought up in Tollygunj, Kolkata. Subhash is careful type and Udayan is daring. They are inseparable in their childhood. Subhash goes to America for higher studies and Udayan is drawn in Naxalite movement. While Subhash is still in America, Udayan marries Gauri.

One day Subhash gets a message that Udayan is killed. He reaches Kolkata and finds that he was killed by Police and that Gauri is pregnant. Sensing antipathy of his parents towards Gauri, he marries her and takes her to America.

Will he be a good husband and father? Will Gauri come to love him? Will Subhash love Udayan's child? Will the marriage work?

Author shows the transitions in the lives of Subhash and Gauri. The book jumps back and fourth in past and present and covers a  time period of 70 years. It's a tragedy all along.

The narration seems jerky. The story starts well, drifts for majority of the time and becomes interesting at the very end. Reader does not understand exactly what message author is trying to convey. Background of naxalite movement introduces a dark undercurrent but it is not the soul of the story.

Gauri's character is an enigma. Author had tried to decipher why she behave the way she does. Gauri appears to be an escapist and Subhash seems to be destined by faith to suffer. I found some similarities between the character of Gauri in this story with Moushumi in 'The namesake'. Author should have curtailed the book by about 70 pages.

At the end of the book, I asked myself what did I read? Did I get the satisfaction of reading something good? Did I understand what author had to say? The answer is NO.

AVOID.

Clear line of fire by Badrinath Nuggehalli

Mandar's book review (24th April 2014)

Completed reading "Clear line of fire", debut novel of Badrinath Nuggehalli. This book is published by Rupa and has 232 pages.

Czech republic has an agreement to provide Howitzer guns to India. America leans on Russia (after the break up of USSR) and Russia leans on Czech republic to cancel the deal.

There is no gun better suited for mountain terrain as it can fire from steep slopes. Uzbekistan has the technology to make the gun but does not have the requisite software (Fire control unit - FCU). A niche Indian software company headed by Satyan Sharma can develop the technology. Indian defense ministry ties up with Satyan to develop it. This joint Uzbek - Indian gun will be the best in the world. The gun is close to prototype testing. It will then be produced en mass and inducted in Indian army. The big contractors will lose out.

Now America wants it. Russia wants it too. Covert operatives from these countries are pressed into action. Politicians  want to  discredit the indigenously developed gun as there would be no kick backs from local contractors. Other gun manufacturers and Pentagon is also interested. There are attempts of sabotage, threats, physical violence, kidnapping.

Satyan doesn't know who to trust. Who is a friend and who's the foe. The only person he can trust is his fiancé and TV journalist Rubita. Can he save his software from bad guys? Can he save his company? Will he get caught up in red tape? Who is behind all this? Is there a traitor? Are the politicians really patriots? Is the army corrupt?

Author has tried to create a spectacular story with unimaginable twists and turns and make it grand. However in this what has come out is only an unsuccessful attempt at everything and success in only a few. Author has tried to cram in a lot of things thereby either not justifying them or making them unrealistic (even more unrealistic than fiction writers freedom)

He had not been able to decide if the protagonist Satyan Sharma should be portrayed as a technocrat, a hero or a businessman who does heroic deeds in a particular situation.

Politicians are all corrupt and traitors. So are the bureaucrats. Russians and Americans operate freely in India and Indian intelligence does not even know it. Satyan is backed by some powerful persons but acts alone as if he is the sole savior.

The end of this book baffled me.  Completely out of synch. It had little to do with the story and could have been avoided completely.

It would have been a good book if author had not tried to do too much. Avoid.

Oleander girl by Chitra Banerjee Divakarun

"Oleander girl", latest novel of Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni. This book has about 300 pages.

This is the story of a girl called Korobi derived from Bengali word for Oleander (कण्हेर or कणेर), a flower bearing poisonous plant.

Korobi, an orphan, is raised by her maternal grand parents. They are one of the important khandans in Kolkata. Korobi shares a special bond with her stubborn grandfather. She is engaged to Rajat, who comes from a rich family that owns art galleries in Kolkata and America.

Her grandfather suffers a heart attack on the day of her engagement and dies, thereby releasing her grandmother from the oath of secrecy. When Korobi learns the secret, her world turns upside down. She doesn't know who to trust and embarks on a quest to America.

What was the secret? Why is she confused? Why does she go to America? Why everyone is trying to discourage her from traveling? How will she raise money? What will she face in America? Will she get what she desires? What realization dawns on her? Can she digest the shock? Will her love stand test of time? Will Rajat go back to his old flame?

Author has shown the differences and similarities between Korobi's family and Rajat's family, between India and America, between the nuovo-rich and the khandani's. The pendulum in Korobi's mind, how she is torn between two lives, how she wants both and almost loses both.

Korobi demonstrates the qualities of Oleander, fragrant & beautiful but sturdy and capable of taking care of herself in hostile surroundings. Exactly what her mother wanted her to be.

Author has shown her versatility in portraying emotions and action in traditional Indian as well as American surroundings.  Some of the things in the book look either unrealistic or probably they lack the requisite justification like the financial status of Korobi's grandfather or Bose's, Korobi's America attraction, personality change of Bhattacharya etc.

Apart from these, the book keeps you interested, although you can guess the end. This book is not a thriller. It's a family drama but it had enough twists, excitement and emotions to hook the reader.

A good book. Recommend reading.

National security by Marc Cameron

"National Security" a debut novel and thriller by Marc Cameron.

There is a terror attack on America, 1st time after 9/11. A bio wepon, a deadly virus, is unleashed on an American airplane. Are these 2 incidents all or is it the tip of proverbial iceberg? Who is behind this? What is the plan?

Jerico Quinn is recruited from airforce as OGE (Other government agency-for black ops) alongwith a Marine. Will they unearth the mega plot? Can they stop it?

This book has the usual ingredients of terrorists, a hateful Iraqi, beautiful bio wepons scientist, our protaginist and a lot of action. Author has gone in a convoluted way to bring in high adrenaline motorbike chase in the climax. What's absent in this thriller is double cross and traitors. This story is a straight fight between good and bad.

Cameron's story telling style is simple, story hasn't got too many complications or twists. I liked his writing style. We can expect more in his recently released 2nd book.