Mom and I love a terrorist by Leema Dhar

"Mom and I love a terrorist" by Leema Dhar. This book is published by General Press in 2012 and has 192 pages.

Kelly, a carefree teenager, lives with her mother, Lili Matthew, in Dignabad, Port Blair, Andaman. One day a black stranger walks in their house with her Mom and Kelly's life does not remain the same. The hunk in her class, Rico, is showing interest in her. She also meets mysterious Amaan.

Who is the stranger? Why does he live in their house? Why does her mother visit him at night? Who is the mysterious young Amaan living at the sea shore? Kelly can't find the answers and does not have courage to ask.

Author has tried to capture the process of emotionally coming off age of a young girl who has numerous questions, especially since the stranger walks in, but has no answers.

She is emotionally confused and does not understand who she hates, who she likes and who she loves. Life is full of possibilities one moment and gloomy the other. She is not able to make out what she feels about her mother. Should she love her for bringing her up as a single parent or should she hate her for getting involved with the black stranger. She likes Ricco. He makes her feel comfortable and his attention pleases her. She is in awe of Amaan who speaks cryptically and who she considers a superhero.

To add some drama and excitement, author has added the dance competition and birthday party. It lightens the mood a little bit and is fun to read.

However Kelly is oblivious to the truth that stares you in eye. She can't guess it. Her mother tries but can't tell it to her. Sounds unreal? If you want to tell something to your daughter desperately, you would make her sit and listen. Isn't it? But no. Here months pass without the truth being told.

The book is not interesting. I started this book in November last year and completed after four months because it could not keep me interested for a long time. Finally I completed it because it remained in my shelf for a long time.

Special mention should go to the book cover with a girl looking at a pathway where her mom is following the stranger. Cover captures the soul of the book. Title of the book also generated interest in you. Alas the story was also equally good.

Avoid.

Six suspects by Vikas Swarup

"Six suspects" 2nd book by Vikas Swarup. This is a whodunit mystery. By the way 'Slumdog Millionaire' was based on 1st book of Vikas titled 'Q&A'.

Vicky Rai is a young industrialist and son of home minister of Uttar Pradesh. He has a crime history of mowing down pavement dwellers, killing black bucks (based on Salman Khan) and killing a beautiful bartender for refusing a drink (based on Jessica Lal case). On the day Vicky is hosting a party, celebrating his aquital, he is murdered. There are six suspects. A corrupt bureaucrat, a tribal, an unemployed youth,  a top actress, a dim witted American, and Vicky's father (the politician).

What happened? Whodunit? Everyone has a motive to kill. But is it big enough to actually kill? Who is the killer?

Since the suspects are restricted to six the author has gone into the lives of these suspects in detail to establish the story (this is not usual in a typical murder mystery). Vikas has established the characters, their association with Vicky and their motives in detail. The collection of suspects is so diverse that associating them to Vicky is a Herculean task. That's probably why this book is being made in to a motion picture.

Vikas is a decent story teller and keeps you interested. However in explaining the background of six suspects he is left with very few pages for the actual crime and no pages at all for the investigation. Character of Vicky also goes under developed.

The climax is full of action. A new killer appears every 2-3 pages and readers keep guessing how many more twists are still to come. This makes it difficult for readers to recognize the killer. This is what a murder mystery should achieve. I could not recognize the killer.

We can definitely expect more from him in future.

A good read. Recommend reading.