Sniper's eye by Mainak Dhar

"Sniper's eye' by Mainak Dhar - Corporate, intelligence, action!

This book is published by 4 Hour Book in 2018 and has 225 pages. This book is Book 1 of 7even series.

Aaditya Ghosh is roaming in the R-city mall with his girlfriend, Zoya, when a man in front of him is assassinated by a sniper. Aaditya goes after the killer and kills his accomplice. This is just the first of the series of killings and now Aaditya's name is on the list.

Who is Aaditya? Why are ex servicemen being killed? How to stop the sniper? Who is the sniper?

The story starts with a bang. Aaditya appears enigmatic until his past is revealed. Series of killings adds to the mystery. Entry of IB thickens the plot. A solid twist turns the story around. The story has a flow and relatively small size of book makes it tidy. 

Character of Aaditya is hero. He becomes center of attraction. Zoya plays his love interest. Ravi and his wife are his friends and only family he has. Phadke is a rare honest cop. Thapa is typical bureaucrat. Aman, the sniper is a very interesting character. 

However, it's not then end. This is first book of 7even series. So it appears that 6 more are to come. If this book is the benchmark, subsequent books should be readable. Mainak is a well known author of reputation. 

Book cover of view through sniper's scope supports the title. However, the title is not an apt one. Yes, there is a sniper. But his eye is not exactly the subject of the story. 

A large part of the story happens in Powai. So there are many familiar landmarks. 

The sentence I liked most from this book is "Bleeding heart activists who crawl out of the woodworks at every opportunity, talking of how evil our forces are, and in the same breath not hesitating to glorify terrorists as innocents"

Why did I read this book? Author, title.     

What did I like? Story, twist.  

What I didn't like? Title. 

Recommend reading. 

The Zero-Cost Mission & The wily agent by Amar Bhushan

"The Zero-Cost Mission & The wily agent" by Amar Bhushan - Real life spy stories!

This book is published by HarperCollins India in 2018 and has 190 pages. This is a collection of two spy stories based on real events. 

The Zero-Cost Mission:

Jamat, a politico- religious outfit in Bangladesh, is spreading anti India venom and actively aids entry of Pakistan sponsored terrorists in India through Bangladesh. A mission is conceived to teach them a lesson by Indian intelligence. Sujal Rath, an unconventional officer, is tasked with the operation. The operation soon runs in funding crisis and is dangerously close to be abandoned. Will it go ahead? How will the funds be secured? Will Sujal and operation succeed? What will be the consequences?

Author has based the story on a real mission. As the author states in the introduction, real operations have boring phases. This story too has its share. Title of the story is best suited for the story. 

Buildup and planning of the operation is interesting. Quirky nature of the character of Sujal makes one wonders if such officers exist and are allowed to work freely. Climax is anticlimactic. The climax comes to the reader as a news from a cable. It saddens that even a successful mission has a price to pay. 

The wily agent:

Jeevanathan heads unit of India's external intelligence agency in the Indian High Commission in Dhaka. A Bangladeshi source is identified and recruited. The source provides quality input and also tries to recruit additional sources. He accuses Jeev as insensitive and aloof. How long can Jeev run this source? Is he insensitive?

It's a tale that hangs in balance. Is the source real or fraud? Is he scheming or simply greedy? Is he confident or over enthusiastic? Who is Wiley? Author has managed to maintain the see-saw. Readers keep guessing where the story is headed. 

Author does a fine job. He keeps the story interesting and also gives a small surprise at the end. 

There are some important points made by the author either overly or covertly in these two stories. Officers in high places either retire or are transfered. This causes loss of continuity and adversely impacts missions and officers. Our intelligence agencies are still marred in bureaucracy and petty politics that hamper missions. Decision making is still an issue and rather than national security, other implications of mission play a very important role. External intelligence agencies are short of cash. 

The book has two stories but the printing is unconventional. Second story does not start after end of first. You have to rotate book by 180 degrees and then flip it and you read second story. In short one side of book is one story and second side of book is second story. 

Why did I read this book? Curiosity. 

What did I like? Concept of double sided book. 

What I didn't like? Climax

Read if you want to read crossover spy stories rather than pure fiction.

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.