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.