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 Terrorist by Juggi Bhasin

"The Terrorist" by Juggi Bhasin. This book is published by Penguin India in 2012 and has 512 pages. This is Juggi's debut novel.

The story starts with investigation of Capt. Suvir Suri that may result into eventual court martial. It goes into flashback to tell us what Suvir is made up of and comes back in present with an imminent terrorist attack by Pakistan trained terrorists in Delhi.

Who is the terrorist? Who will defend India? What role does ISI play? Will the plot succeed?

This is a thriller written by a first time author. But author displays a finess in writing, developing the story, racy narration and good climax. It's a big book. First half is the story of making of Suri and the terrorist and second half is the terrorist attack.

The memo prepared by ISI officer Mir, justifying major terrorist attack, about socio-political situation in India aptly describes the situation, though the conclusion is proven wrong in every terrorist attack on India so far. Every attack has united India.

Transition of the character of Murad from a normal human being to a hate filled individual begs more work on author's part. That part appears shallow and bit too easy. Author also tells us that Murad turns into a ruthless, brave and brilliant strategist and terrorist. How does it happen remains unexplained. His past does not indicate these personality traits.

The elaborate plot of terrorist attack is laid out in great detail. Author has gone into minute details and explained how preparations were done, how big the plot was and what could have been the repercussions. The plan is huge and would cost many lives. (Recent Pathankot terrorist attack seems to be lifted from this book).

It's a very well paced thriller. You sit on the edge of chair, especially, in second half. Sequels starring Suvir Suri are already published.

A very good thriller. Recommend reading.

RIP by Mukul Deva

"RIP" a thriller by Mukul Deva.

A group calling itself RIP, short form of  The Resurgent Indian Patriots, starts killing corrupt politicians, their aids and corrupt businessmen. The group consists of ex army special operatives (read commandos) lead by Colonel Krishna Athavale.

Objectives of RIP quickly catch attention of TV channels and general public. Government assigns the case to Special Director Vinod Bedi and Home minister Karunakaran, representing corrupt politicians, secures services of 'gun for hire', and ex special operative, Captain Raghav Bhagat to track and kill RIP and not let police catch them alive.

The game of cat and mouse begins. How and who does RIP plan to kill?  Who is their high value target? Do they succeed? Does Bhagat get to them? Or is it Bedi who gets to them? To what extent will politicians go? Is there a traitor?

Paths of Krishna and Raghav have crossed in the past. Were they on the same side then? Added to the mix is a love triangle of sorts and pasts of the protagonists.

Too many times the good guys and bad guys fail to identify a tail on them. Strange thing for professionals. A number of characters are based on real life figures like Sonia, Rahul, Raja, Kalmadi, Anna Hazare etc.. And there are numerous references to recent scams. Writer's attempt of making this fiction appear close to reality has succeeded. Although there is one and half lose ends that need to be tied up, they can be ignored.

Although Mukul has written 7 books earlier, this was the first one I read. Now I look forward to reading his previous books.

It's a page turner. Recommend reading.