Mahabharata Quest - The Alexander secret by Christopher C. Doyle

"Mahabharata Quest - The Alexander secret" by Christopher C. Doyle. This book is published by Westland Ltd. in 2014 and has 355 pages. This is Christopher's second book.

Vijay, Colin, Imran and Radha (who featured in the previous book Mahabharata Secret) are drawn into a new mystery. A medical facility conducting unauthorized trials on patients is discovered near Delhi. An ancient Greek tomb is excavated in Greece. Directors of excavation try to kill all involved, but a lady archeologist survives and reaches India to join hands with Vijay and team.

In 391 AD Alexander the great decides to conquer Persia. After his victory he decided to invade India. Troupes are told that Sindhu river is the end of the world and they will conquer the world. But Alexander has a mission, a secret quest.

Are the unauthorized trials and excavation in Greece related? What is Alexander's quest? What is it's relation to Hindu mythology in general & Mahabharata in particular? What is the objective of the organization known as 'The Order'? What is Alexander's secret?

Since the last book by author was a very good book, one can not help but compare the two. I think this book is not as good as the previous one. Some of the tricks and ideas from previous book are used here again. The clues that people could not decipher for 2400 years are deciphered by Vijay and team easily.

The story keeps you interested but does not entice you. Pace of the story is on a slower side. Narration is good with lots of medical, geographical & mythological details. It shows efforts and research that has gone into making of the novel.

The story has all the ingredients to make it interesting. It has ancient riddles, kidnappings, lost documents, an ancient secret order, cavern full of snakes, bacteria and viruses, cave with two openings etc.

The book ends without conclusion of the story. At the end of book, there is author's note saying this is the first book of the series. I felt cheated. It is unfair of author to declare this after reader had read 348 pages. The book cover does not say that it is first of the series. Whether to read a series or not should be the decision of reader, not author. Unfair !!!!

Avoid; because, dear reader, author has deceived you.

The Ekkos Clan by Sudipto Das.

"The Ekkos Clan" a debut novel by Sudipto Das.

Story starts in Senpara, a village now in Bangladesh, before partition. How a family is devastated by the inhuman atrocities during partition and how a mother, Kubha, makes ultimate sacrifice to save 2 of her 4 children. This account is riveting.

Then there is a time leap to present time. Protagonist is grand son of Kubha. Kubha's family had migrated from Hindu kush region to Senpara long time ago. Kubha tells stories to her children that have been passed to her orally through generations. The same stories are passed on to the present generation.

There is a deep meaning in these stories. What is it? Are the stories very similar to Rig Ved? What does it mean? Someone is trying to kill Kubha's family and decendants. Why? Who is murdering? Is there a bigger conspiracy? What has Russia or a young and beautiful linguist of Pakistani origin to do with it? Who are Kalash people in Pakistan?

Scientific name of horse is Equus caballus.
It is said that before the arrival of Aryans (some say they never arrived, they were always here), India did not know the animal called horse. Hence the title of the book.

Sudipto has done a decent job in narration. The expectations and excitement is set high in the first few chapters during partition, but author could not maintain the same tempo in the rest of the book. Story gets boring at times. Sometimes  characters find very old information very easily which is far from reality. Although the seed of this book is brilliant the execution could have been better.

Chetan Bhagat has started trend of IITans writing books and Sudipto had continued the tradition. We can expect more from his next book.

An OK book. Read if you have time and patience or for a change.