The Bhairav Putras by Suhail Mathur

"The Bhairav Putras" debut novel of Suhail Mathur. This book is published by Red ink publishers in 2014 and has 343 pages.

The story is set in British occupied India of 1936 in a town called Bhairavgarh, a town famous for temple of Lord Bhairav (a manifestation of Shiva) and brave inhabitants, where British decide to set up cantonment.

A motly crew of Son of a Zamindar, a Carpenter, a Dhobi, a Priest, a stable boy, an Architect, a bomb maker and a couple of Indian British soldiers decides to fight back. They are assisted by four mysterious men calling themselves Vairavar's. Existence of an ancient secret from the times of Samrat Ashok is revealed.

Will the Bhairavwasis succeed? What's in the book of Bhairav (Bhairashokapustak) from the times of Samrat Ashok? Who are Vairawar's?

Freedom struggle, resistance to British, an ancient secret that will grant immense power to the holder and mysterious Vairawars is a heady mixture and can make a very interesting story. Suhail has indeed managed to create an interesting story out of it. However I was left with a feeling that more could have been done. It could have been even more thrilling and even more interesting.

The narration is good. Story keeps you interested. However story becomes slow at the trial of revolutionaries. This being the story from old times, the things happen at their own pace.

Suhail has done a good job. As per the book he is still pursuing his BA LLB, so must be young. He has shown great promise in his first book and a good writer is in the making. We can expect more good work from him.

However in some cases author has written about past as if it happened in today's time. For example things happenned at 10.30 pm like train arrival, end of dinner etc but in those days things did not happen so late. Bira hugs his lady love in public, it did not happen publicly in those days. Word terrorist is used in the book which was not prevalent in those days.

Author has used some amusing and witty word play in the book that is delight to read. These remarks are really good. Full marks to Suhail for that. However that word play could only happen in English and revolutionaries and Indiana did not speak English, it's only the book that's written in English.

Epilogue added to the book was entirely unnecessary. Apart from sowing seeds of a sequel, it does not serve any purpose and was avoidable.

Nevertheless it's a good book. Recommend reading.

The Stranger by Harlan Coben

"The Stranger" by Harlan Coben. This book is published by Orion in Mar 2015 and has 400 pages.

A stranger meets Adam, a lawyer, & tells him that his wife of more than 15 years faked a pregnancy and then a miscarriage two years ago. Adam's world turns upside down. The Stranger meets Haidi and tells her that her college going daughter works as a call girl. A stranger tells a father that his sportsman soon is on drugs. Two murders take place.

Who is The Stranger? Is he telling the truth? Why is he doing it? What are his intentions? Are they good? Is there more than meets the eyes.

It's the story of major upheavals in the lives of people when the stranger reveals the secret of their loved ones. Harlan has delivered a good story. Business in secrets is an interesting concept. He has paired it with vigilante aspect and added murder, embezzlement, fraud, prostitution & blackmail to spice it up.

It's not a story with uniform pace but it has enough in it to bind the reader to the book. The reason for murders seems a bit weak and author has also tried to justify murderers actions, but other than that it is a readable book .

What happens to Chris & Kimberly is left for the readers to guess. The book becomes very violent towards the end with five more murders. The book cover is boring.

Good book. Recommend reading.

The tenth unknown by Jvalant Nalin Sampat.

"The tenth unknown", a debut novel by Jvalant Nalin Sampat. This is a historical fiction.

Samrat Ashok discovers 9 books in royal library. These books  contains secrets about warfare that includes propaganda, weaponery, rocketery, aeroplanes, space travel, communication without using a messenger etc. He entrusts 9 individuals to hide the books, in 232 BC,  and pass on the responsibility to next generations because of the importance of information and to prevent it from falling in wrong hands. He also makes them promise that their loyalty will be only to humanity and not to any king or kingdom. He calls them the 9 unknowns.

It's 1938, Hitler's Nazi forces accidentally unearth the first book and using its contents Hitler garners public opinion of the nation in favor for war. Now he wants remaining books from British India. British come to know this and want the books for themselves.

The clue to location of next book is to be found near the previous book, hence the books can only be found in sequence. The present day 9 unknowns come to know of the German and British interest and decide to find the books before them. The onus is on young Prithvi Rathore, a rich care free and intelligent man, whose grand father is the head of 9 unknowns.

The chase begins all over the world. The books are located in various parts where Hindu or Buddhist religion had reached. Will Prithvi get the books? Can he match the might of British and Nazi empires? How long does it take? Does this impact the outcome of world war? Who is the 10th unknown?

The book shows that Americans get hold of two books and that enables them to manufacture atom bomb and send man on moon. Fascinating idea, isn't it?

Although the story takes place few years before independence, the author has not used period language. He has used modern language of today in a story of yesteryears. I think by doing this author has missed a great opportunity to create the impact and atmosphere of that time.

The book takes the readers on a roller coaster ride. The backdrop of world war is used intelligently. Some of the real incidents and characters are used to supplement the fiction very well.

Rather than publishing this as a pocket book, Niyogi Books (the publisher) has used large page size, good font and adequate spacing to make the reading experience better.

The author refrains from specifying what happens to the recovered books at the end and how they were hidden again. This may be a seed for a sequel.

A good book. Recommend reading for a change.