Quantum siege by Brijesh Singh

"Quantum siege" by Brijesh Singh. This book is published by Penguin books and Blue salt in 2014 and has 246 pages.

Pakistani terror group LeT conducts bomb blasts on patrolling ship INS Sudarshan off Mumbai coast. They have acquired a nuclear bomb. Their demand: Declare plebiscite in Kashmir within two days; Independence for Kashmir.

How did they get hold of a nuke? What is the target? What will India do? Will it annihilate Pakistan? ATC chief Rudra Pratap is released from jail and pressed into action. Can he save the world from a nuclear war?

First 150 pages of the book is a thriller. It's action packed, fast paced and tantalizing. After that it becomes a tech thriller with a lot of technological jargon. There are two climaxes for the two thrillers. It's an interesting way of writing a book. Very unconventional but well executed.

The story is fast, characterization is interesting. The characters connect with the readers. Capable Rudra, Foul mouthed beauty Sana, Willy commissioner, efficient Quazi, the brilliant hacker; all of them make an impression. The electric chemistry between Rudra and Sana is tantalizing.

Brijesh has written a good book. His police background has helped him in this story. Narration and characterization is also good. The very end of the book, though, does not keep up with the book. I read the book in one day.

A good book. Read if you have time.

The third world war by Humphrey Hawksley

"The third world war" by  Humphrey Hawksley.

As the name of this book suggests, it's a fiction thriller. Book opens with an attack on Indian parliament on ground and by air. Pro US president of Pakistan is assassinated. There is Islamic uprising in South Philippines, Indonesia and Brunei. North Korean conventional missile strikes American airbase in Japan. An attempt is made on the life of Prime Minister of India. North Korea is in possession of nuclear warheads and biological weapons.

This book does not waste time in preamble. There is action from the word go. Characters are developed during the action and crisis. This is something new.

The author has demonstrated very good understanding of global politics, it's intricacies and fine balance required while making important decisions. He has predicted how each country and it's leadership will react in extreme situation. The book shows how world leaders think only about their country but still call themselves world leader. The speech of Russian President at the informal summit of important head of state is marvelous and sums up world politics precisely.

Some things however seem strange like president of Pakistan deciding to drop bomb on India in person or easy murder of America's national security advisor or character of Lazaro Campbell that acts as field operative and emissary of US president simultaneously or character of Hasan Muda who can breach the security of any country at will.

However the author seems to have lost the control some what after the nuclear war starts. The buildup to the nuclear war is excellent but the actual nuclear war is covered very quickly and author has given a miss to the opportunity to make it more interesting and dramatic. Readers wonder why the author chose to miss this opportunity and preferred to keep it vague, leaving so much to readers imagination.

Behavior of head of states during war sums up authors views on respective societies. American president comes out as unimaginative. Indian Prime Minister as most humane and nonaggressive. Chinese president as intelligent but who does not have absolute power. Russian president as wily. English prime minister as surprisingly firm. Japanese Prime Minister looking to regain pride. Pakistani and North Korean presidents demonstrate brinkmanship.

First  half of this 514 pages long book is unputdownable, second half is good but not unputdownable.  Recommend reading.

Salim must die by Mukul Deva.

"Salim must die" by Mukul Deva. This is the second book of Lashkar series.

The book shows that Osama Bin Laden (without naming him) was captured in Hyderabad, Pakistan, but died of medical conditions within hours. Mind you this book was written before Osama was captured. Shows clairvoyance of the author.

Brigadier Murad Salim of ISI, whose death was faked in previous book (Lashkar), and his side kick Major Cheema are back in action. This time the plot is much bigger. Objective is to carry out multiple terror strikes at multiple locations simultaneously. The perpetrators, this time, are not misguided youth but sleeper agents from various countries of different races, age groups and backgrounds. The strike wepon is also very deadly and objective is to create a bang bigger than 9/11.

What is the plot? Who will execute it? What kind of weapons will be deployed? What is the role of a Chinese scientist in all this? What  are the targets? Do they succeed? Which intelligence agency will be pressed into action? Would they be able to act in time?

Author has spent a lot of pages to describe the preparatory work for the grand terror plot. The book is 415 pages long. By the time the preparatory work is over you are through half the book. This part does not make you sit on the edge of you chair. Then the story gains speed. Force 22 (the ultra secret Indian special operations group headed by Colonel Anbu) is pressed into action. A decision is made to kill Brigedier Murad Salim of ISI. However this decision comes after 250th page and leaves limited page space for the actual killing. Iqbal from previous books makes a vital contribution.

The breakthrough needed by the intelligence agencies to unearth the plot comes as a lucky break rather than fruit of hard intelligence. The story gains speed after the break and you enjoy the climax.

Although this book is sequel to Lashkar, it is not as good as the predecessor. This book is good as a standalone book but seems bland in comparison with Lashkar. The story is slow. It keeps you interested, you don't abandon it, but the heightened expectations after Lashkar are not met.

An OK book. Read if you plan to read the next two books in the series.

The hundred year old man who climbed out of the window & disappeared by Jonas Jonasson

"The hundred year old man who climbed out of the window & disappeared" by Swedish writer Jonas Jonasson . This book has won many awards and has sold more than 3 million copies. Of all the books I have read so far, this one probably has the longest title. I read a book with Swedish background after a long time, after Millennium Trilogy.

Allan Karlsson, a hundred year old man, decides to run away from an old age home on his hundredth birthday. Once out he acquires a suitcase that happens to be full of cash.

His journey begins. The quirky nature of old man, his willingness to enjoy life rekindled and the fact that he does not mind a few things that do not adhere exactly to the law make him an interesting specimen. He is just wired differently. On his way he meets and/or collects interesting people and animals, unaware that the police are only one step behind them.

The story takes you from Sweden to all over the world. Story toggles between Allan's past and present. Character of Allan, an explosives expert, is a curious one. He has met a number of world leaders and had been on first name basis with them but moves on playing important role in events, that have shaped the history of world, on his way. The story is full of incredible tales, all involving Allan and his role in atom bomb, communist revolution, French unrest, star wars etc. I liked the narration of his past more than present.

Where does he go? Who does he meet? Who does he save? Why is he arrested? How does he escape? Who does he spy for? What does he want? Does he get what he was looking for?

Although the characters in this book are rogues, thieves, world leaders, common folks and law breakers; readers love them nevertheless. Credit goes to author's writing style which is very different from traditional writers. It's difficult to describe it in words but it's very refreshing. He creates humor without appearing to be taking efforts for it. I think this is the key to the success of the book. I could not help smiling on many occasions and laughing out aloud a eee times.

In short it is a crazy, senselessly hilarious, satirical black comedy. You are expected to read it and enjoy it without thinking much. And that's exactly what you do.

Don't miss this. Highly recommended. A must read.