The twelfth Imam by Joel C. Rosenberg

"The twelfth Imam" by Joel C. Rosenberg. This book is published by Jaico publishing house in 2013 and has 500 pages.

David Shirazi is a American Shia Muslim and becomes a CIA agent to capture of kill Osama Bin Laden. He is reassigned to Iran to prevent Iran going nuclear. Iran and Shia world is awaiting appearance of twelfth Imam as per the prophecy.

It's David happy to be reassigned to Iran? Will Iran go nuclear? Will twelfth Imam appear? Will Jesus appear? Will there be a showdown between them? Can CIA prevent Iran going nuclear?

This book is about the legend of Twelfth Imam from Shia eschatology. Imam's appearance in modern times while Iran nurses nuclear ambitions is a potent recipe.

Author has written a book with off the track thinking. This is neither a pure thriller not pure mythological. It does not oppose legend of twelfth Imam nor does it support it. It looks at one particular religion with tinted glasses.

Characterization is OK, but a number of questions remain unanswered. Why father of David's lady love breaks contact? Why David's boss does not believe him? How come he gets so close to Iranian authorities so easily? Etc.

Strange things happen in this book. The twelfth Imam makes an appearance, Jesus Christ makes an appearance, both try to convince that their religion is better, God speaks to man.

However the book ends upon public appearance of the twelfth Imam. What happens next and what happens to Iranian nuclear war heads remains unknown. Probably it will be in a sequel. But author does not tell the readers that this is first part of sequel.

The book is different from regular thrillers. But it's inconclusive. Give it a miss.

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.

Shadow Hunter by Jeffery Archer.

"Shadow Hunter", by Jeffery Archer.

The story is set in cold war era. A nuclear submarine captain, whose father is presumed dead in a submarine accident long ago,  learns about multiple infidelities of his wife; latest being a Russian spy. He learns this just before his departure with his submarine for a major NATO exercise near Russian waters, on a special mission.        

Can he cope up with the breach of trust? What can he do about the security breach on top of it? Has he a plan?  What are his intentions? Defect or destroy?  Can his best friend and captain of another nuclear submarine help?

What does it have anything to do with future of Russia and who rules her? What would happen to Peristroika and Glasnost?

The books explores life on a nuclear submarine, cutoff from outside world for weeks. The chain of command, technical details, submarine protocols are explained in detail and give us a sneak peak in another world.

Pace of the story is fairly uniform and you want to read till end, however you can guess the end.  International politics and Russia's internal politics is captured and used aptly. Climax could have been made more interesting.

A good book to read but not a must read.

The shadow throne by Aroon Raman

"The Shadow Throne", debut novel by Aroon Raman. 

There is a sinister plot, code named Shadow Throne, to assemble nuclear war heads in Afganistan and launch them using Ghauri missiles from Pakistan, destination India.

A journalist, an Inspector and a History professor with support of a bureaucrat must stop the world from nuclear WW III. Story takes place mainly in India & Afganistan.

Who is behind the plot? ISI, RAW, Taliban, Shia Hazaras, Kushans (8 feet tall giants of indo-greek origin) who are believed to be extinct? Can this madness be stopped? What is the damage? What are the repercussions?

The story seems somewhat far fetched (but thats what thrillers are supposed to be, isn't it?). The pace is not even, bit jerky at times. However the seed is good & narrative is fine. Climax is abrupt. Current political situation in India is used as apt backdrop. Considering that this is the debut novel of the author we can expect more good novels from Aroon in future. 

A new age has dawned where english fictions of Indian writers are being widely accepted. This story provides a fresh perspective & a different landscape if you read too many western novels. One should read such novels to support Indian writers.

The Bankster by Ravi Subramanian

"The Bankster", by Ravi Subramanian, who is dubbed as John Grisham of banking, by Wall Street Journal. This is his 4th book, although 1st one I read.

Three stories run in parallel. A CIA agent works as arms supplier. A nuclear power plant is built in Kerala and locals oppose it. Three employees of a multinational bank are murdered.

Who has done it? Is it related to money laundering? Is there any connection between 3 stories?
How does it end?

This book has all the ingredients for a thriller. Corporate politics, governance issues, ambitious managers, extra marital affair, use of good looks to further ones clause, NGO's controlled by external powers, nuclear politics, religion, murders and investigative journalists.

Character of Indrani appears to be inspired by Chanda Khochar of ICICI. All characters are sufficiently developed. Inner workings of banking industry is used as background for the story. How bankers run after business, how protocol is overlooked, how rules are bypassed and how things are influenced is shown in detail. I liked the title. By calling it Bankster, author has simultaniously raised curiosity and made it look sinister. Full marks for the title.

Story keeps you interested. Pace is even.You do not get bored. After reading this book, I do not mind reading other 3 books by Ravi.

Although it is not a 'wow' book, it's a good read.