The Absolutist by John Boyne

"The Absolutist", by John Boyne. This book is published by Other days in 2012 and has 320 pages.

This is the story of Tristan Sadler, a young boy who enlists in the army to fight against Germans by providing false age. Tristan is loathed by all and is as good as dead for the family. The reason, he is homosexual.

He becomes friends with Will, another recruit at the training academy, a son of Vicar. Both train together and talk about their lives. Upon completion of training, they are sent to Germany to fight. Will captures a young German soldier. One of their colleague kills him. Will can not digest the murder of an unarmed soldier. He fights for justice but is unsuccessful. This is when he declares himself an absolutist.

What is an absolutist? Can Tristan help him? Are they lovers? Does Tristan or Will survive the war? Who is Marian?

Author has handled the subject of homosexuality in this book. Mind you that although the book was published in 2012, the story takes place between 1911 and 1919. Even saying the word was a taboo in those days. Tristan is always at the receiving end because of his sexual orientation. He still finds some human beings who understand him in those days.

The story is very slow. Not much happens for pages. The tone is gloomy. But you want to keep reading. The book is written more at a psychological level than material. Tristan goes on to become a writer and confesses that he is the most feather man.

An OK book. Only serious readers should try it.

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.

RIP by Mukul Deva

"RIP" a thriller by Mukul Deva.

A group calling itself RIP, short form of  The Resurgent Indian Patriots, starts killing corrupt politicians, their aids and corrupt businessmen. The group consists of ex army special operatives (read commandos) lead by Colonel Krishna Athavale.

Objectives of RIP quickly catch attention of TV channels and general public. Government assigns the case to Special Director Vinod Bedi and Home minister Karunakaran, representing corrupt politicians, secures services of 'gun for hire', and ex special operative, Captain Raghav Bhagat to track and kill RIP and not let police catch them alive.

The game of cat and mouse begins. How and who does RIP plan to kill?  Who is their high value target? Do they succeed? Does Bhagat get to them? Or is it Bedi who gets to them? To what extent will politicians go? Is there a traitor?

Paths of Krishna and Raghav have crossed in the past. Were they on the same side then? Added to the mix is a love triangle of sorts and pasts of the protagonists.

Too many times the good guys and bad guys fail to identify a tail on them. Strange thing for professionals. A number of characters are based on real life figures like Sonia, Rahul, Raja, Kalmadi, Anna Hazare etc.. And there are numerous references to recent scams. Writer's attempt of making this fiction appear close to reality has succeeded. Although there is one and half lose ends that need to be tied up, they can be ignored.

Although Mukul has written 7 books earlier, this was the first one I read. Now I look forward to reading his previous books.

It's a page turner. Recommend reading.

Rarang Dhang (रारंग ढांग) by Prabhakar Pendharkar

"Rarang dhang" (रारंग ढांग) a Marathi novel by Prabhakar Pendharkar.

I chose this book for reading because of it's strange name. Sheer cliffs in Himalaya are called 'Dhang' in local language and 'Rarang' is name of one such cliff, through which a road is to be built, by 'Border Road Organization' of army.

Vishwanath Mehendale, a civil engineer and civilian, is recruited for the job. He is the only civilian between army personnel. This book is the story of building road through Rarang Dhang. What does he experience? Does he succeed? Can he complete on time? Are his efforts acknowledged?

The difference of thinking and approach between army and civilians is nicely portrayed by the author. Civilian logic and army discipline are always at loggerheads.

Vishwanath, his humanity, his rebellion and his thought process are portrayed beautifully. The books ends on a turn that keeps you guessing wheather justice was served.

A few things could have been done better editorially e.g. when narrative changes from 3rd person to 1st person sectionalization should have been there, dialogues should have had quotations etc.

Considering the backdrop of Himalaya and Sutlej river and the dare devil activities, this can become a spectacular movie.

It's a page turner. Don't miss.

The Karachi deception by Shatrujeet Nath

"The Karachi deception" , a debut novel by Shatrujeet Nath.

Indian army has an ultra secret special ops group called 'Unit Kilo'. They undertake a commando mission (Project Abhimanyu) to assassinate Irshad Dilawar (An Indian living in Pakistan and wanted for a number of terrorist activities; definitely based on Daud Ibrahim) in Karachi deep inside Pakistan. Another group has already made an attempt on Dilawar and failed, but they too have not given up. However Project Abhimanyu is compromised and ISI knows everything about Indian commando mission. Indian commandos and this unknown group converge in Karachi to kill Dilawar.

Will 'Unit Kilo' deliver? Is there a traitor within Indian intelligence organization? Is Dilawar killed? Is there another international conspiracy? How will it end?

This is an intriguing story where you can not make out a friend from a foe, where hunters become hunted and killers become protectors. There are double agents. Friends of India inside Pakistan and vice versa. Although the book is short on action, it is compensated by the story and narrative. Writer manages to keep you interested till the end. There are two major twists to the story to rekindle the interest.

I purchased this book on impulse, without knowing the author and without having any feedback about the book. This was a big risk of disappointment. But the book has come out very well. It doesn't appear to be a debut novel. Shatrujeet's writing is of professional quality. Indian writers are often found short when they discribe a portion of story in other country, Shatrujeet is at ease in Indian as well as foreign setup. He describes Pakistan as if he has lived there.

The only thing that I found odd was that the characters use their names and details of their locations while talking on phones. In the business of spying this is always avoided in enemy territory in order to avoid detection of SIGINT and code names or aliases are used.

Shatrujeet's writing style is factual, riveting and non melodramatic. I liked the writing style and his way of story telling. The book keeps you interested and on the edge of you chair till end.

A very good read. Recommend reading. Looking forward to Shatrujeet's next book.