Book Review: Kaalkoot The Lost Himalayan Secret by S. Venkatesh

Book Review

Kaalkoot The Lost Himalayan Secret by S. Venkatesh

Kaalkoot by S. Venkatesh

Author: S. Venkatesh

ISBN: 978-8193642450

Genre: Historical Fiction (Crime, Mystery & Thriller)

Length: 335 Pages

Publisher: TreeShade Books (7 December 2018)

My Ratings: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Order your copy right now: https://amzn.to/2YU4AGK

About the author: 

Venkatesh wears many hats. In his roles as private equity investor, executive coach, business leader, entrepreneur and Board member, he has helped businesses thrive and grow. He has spent a significant part of his professional life in the stock markets with Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank and JP Morgan and continues to be an avid investor. Venkatesh has been keenly interested in Eastern philosophy and mysticism right from his college days at IIT Delhi and IIM Calcutta.

He has found his inspiration to write in rather curious settings - while crawling through war tunnels in Vietnam, coming face-to-face with a bear in the Nilgiris, chancing upon an Indus Valley ruin while on a road trip, listening to “Madhushala,” or just drinking cutting chai by the roadside. He is passionate about self-discovery and the power of stories to inspire and transform.

S. Venkatesh at Higginbotham's, Chennai

Follow him on Instagram: @authorsvenkatesh

Twitter Handle: @AuthorVenkatesh
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorSVenkatesh/ 

REVIEW

Narration

Kaalkoot is a crime thriller with the backdrop of mystery, as the subtitle suggests─ The Lost Himalayan Secret. The story has many aspects like the history and the warfare. The book initiates from the time when Quit India Movement was launched. The story is narrated in the third person point of view. The voice is very clear and gives the exact information the reader would want. The narration doesn’t follow any character in particular, it narrates thoughts of every character being followed. The structure of the book is clever and evenly spaced out.

Location and Setting

Kaalkoot has covered many monumental places which includes Mumbai, Kolkata, Goa, Delhi and locations of Himalaya terrain. The novel takes place in June 2018. The story starts with a Prof. Bani living in Kolkata who is poring over some conspiracy theory he had come to know thirteen years back. Damini is an agent at underground Anti-Conspiracy Group (ACG) formed by Indian Government. The setting really complements the plot that absorbs the reader into the world full of agents, hackers and the danger imposing on them all.

Theme

Kaalkoot is a crime thriller with the adventure that comes along discovering the truth and revealing mysteries. In the prologue itself, the author mentions the destruction of the whole earth. Sameer Rajan is the protagonist for the novel and he is one of the strong and courageous characters. While searching for his missing girlfriend he comes to know about the looming threat to thousands of lives from bioweapon called Kaalkoot. These three characters cross their paths only for what fate has destined for them and that is keeping the evil from succeeding in their plans.  

Plot

The story is divided into five parts each focuses on the different task and revealing something new. The book is packed with action scenes and others are intriguing ones. The baseline being the conspiracy theory and the study of history, a history geek would love to reflect on past events. Along the story comes various characters of distinct background from across the country and some foreign. Mostly they are experts, mountaineer, agents and professors. The story doesn’t halt for a second, thus the characters are always in action making their lasting impression, e.g., and agents who don’t get the luxury of time to make a decision. Meanwhile, only three of them (Bani, Damini and Sameer) knows the forthcoming ruination. And they are being constantly followed by the minions of the antagonist. They have to make their choices wisely and quickly for saving those thousands of lives.

My Views

I completely loved Kaalkoot. This is one of the ever progressive novels I have read in my life. The book has many aspects covered from which I liked reading about the history and bioweapons. One of the interesting parts was warfare and international alliances. This might not seem different but it is very different in its own way. The Himalayan secret and the conspiracy theories are very fun to read about literally burying face into the book.

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Book Review: The Curse of Anuganga by Harini Srinivasan

Book Review

The Curse of Anuganga by Harini Srinivasan

The Curse of Anuganga by Harini Srinivasan

Author: Harini Srinivasan

ISBN: 978-8193642498

Genre: Historical Fiction (Mystery)

Length: 280 Pages

Publisher: TreeShade Books (28 April 2019)

My Ratings: 🌟🌟🌟🌟

Order your copy right now: https://amzn.to/2KzF00u

About the author:

An aficionado of literature, history and dance, Harini Srinivasan has found innovative ways of bringing her passions to her work. Among her achievements is her contribution as an editor of several prestigious publications published by the Publications Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India, such as Selected Speeches of the President: Pranab Mukherjee; The Republican Ethic: Selected Speeches of Shri Ram Nath Kovind; Indian Dance – Through a Critic’s Eye; Abode Under the Dome; Legends of Indian Silver Screen; and Selected Speeches of the Vice President: M. Venkaiah Naidu.

Harini Srinivasan

She also has to her credit a children’s book “The Wizard Tales - Adventures of Bun-Bun” (now into its second print) and a blog on classic Hindi films and books. Along the way, she undertook different roles (Civil Servant, Project Manager, Communications Professional and Editor) across countries (India, Germany and the Netherlands). A doting mother of a 10 year old son, Harini Srinivasan lives with her family in Gurgaon.

Check her blog: www.bagsbooksandmore.wordpress.com

Follow her on Instagram: @hsriniv12

Twitter Handle: @HSriniv12
Visit her Website: http://harinisrinivasan.com/

REVIEW

Narration

The Curse of Anuganga is a Historical Fiction based on the history of Vakataka dynasty capital, which is Nandivardhana. Driving the inspiration from the history of ancient India, the author Harini Srinivasan has tried to put her views and story which could have caused the mysterious events that took place at the end of the 4^th century. The story is narrated in the third-person point of view which follows the main character Shaunaka. The author has tried her best to portray Ancient India with the wealth of rich culture of architecture, developed imperial government, language and literature. She has used many Sanskrit words throughout the book quite often which affected the efficiency of writing style. The writing style and the structure is very good and the story is consistent and average paced throughout the book.

Location and Setting

The story takes place in 403 CE when the Rani Prabhavatigupta (390 CE – 410 CE) was the regent Queen, ruling over the kingdom Nandivardhana on behalf of her two young sons. Harini Srinivasan has successfully portrayed the image of this kingdom and how it worked, it is just perfect and is a remarkable point about The Curse of Anuganga. There are different quarters in the kingdom of Nandivardhana and the story mainly revolves around Buddhist Quarter, Administrative Quarter, Jewellers’ Quarter and the market of the city. The book also described the infrastructure of various constructions which added value to the magnificent period of Indian history.

Theme

The Curse of Anuganga follows a murder mystery and the constant threat to the kingdom from an unknown source throughout the course. The main character Shaunaka is the son of a well-known goldsmith, Vishnuveera. The prologue and the opening took me by surprise and my expectation got higher, but nothing sort of happened until towards the end. After studying the theories about Kalidasa, author went along with the theory that associates Kalidasa to the court of King Chandragupta II. So, there is this great element to read about, which is Mahakavi and his invaluable creations and accomplishments.

Plot

Shaunaka is given the charge to work on the bride’s jewellry at the corner house in Buddhist Quarters. Unfortunate Shaunaka and his brother Ashwini find themselves in front of the Vinayashura’s dead body. Vinayashura, the owner of that corner house who was rumored to have deep connections with the royal family, was mysterious enough to Shaunaka and now after the murder, he is intrigued to know more about the mystery at hand. Because of their logic and keen observation skills, Shaunaka and Ashwini have land duty of assisting the head of police to solve this murder. Also another event, the royal wedding of the prince is facing the obstacles and both mysteries are causing a threat to the security of Nandivardhana.

My Views

The use of Sanskrit might have compromised the capacity of the narration but it was very essential to the story and it was fun to learn bits of Sanskrit this way. I loved many characters and the list includes Devi Tanirika (wife of Vinayashura and mother of bride─ Tarika), Pitamahi Ahalyabai (Grandmother of Shaunaka and Ashwini), Bharavi and Yakshvatsa. I expected more from the character of Mahakavi Kalidasa. The story was not much intriguing as it was just moving straight forward without any major events in between. Thus, the climax was burdened with all the mysteries. While the language, setting and the representation of mysterious events in the ancient history of India were expertly carried out.

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Book Review: Snakes in the Meadows by Ayaz Kohli

Book Review

Snakes in the Meadows by Ayaz Kohli

Snakes in the Meadows by Ayaz Kohli

Author: Ayaz Kohli

ISBN: 978-9353333607

Genre: Fiction

Length: 278 Pages

Publisher: Rupa Publications India (20 May 2019)

My Ratings: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Order your copy right now: https://amzn.to/33ettfr

About the author:

Ayaz Kohli is presently serving as Joint Commissioner-GST, Mumbai. Having seen the rise and repercussions of militancy from very close quarters, and moved by the plight of the people of the border districts of Jammu and Kashmir, he has come up with his debut novel, Snakes in the Meadows.

Ayaz Kohli

Follow him on Instagram: @ayazkohli

Twitter Handle: @ayazkohli

REVIEW

Narration

Snakes in the Meadows is a saga of the onset of militancy, the suffering and the resilience of Pir Panjal ─ the ‘and’ of Jammu and Kashmir. The tale is narrated in third person point of view by the strong, powerful and robust voice. There are terms related to military, militancy and there are Urdu-Arabic words also. The structure and the narration of the book is very well-formed for accumulating all the different stories that revolve around Jammu and Kashmir and more importantly the lives of the residents of Pir Panjal over the span of 25 years. I don’t know the exact count but there are lots of tales of history too that author Ayaz Kohli has narrated that portrays the culture and the community values that of people living or rather surviving in the valley of Kashmir, Pir Panjal Range.

Location and Setting

Snakes in the Meadows, where the meadows are of the land of the hilly village of Pathri Aali. We will discuss snakes later in this review. Pathri Aali, being a village of Kashmir and across the PoK (Azad Kashmir), it suffers the constant threat of war and worst of terror. They’re being watched by Army Jawans and a little suspicion can turn into the death of villagers. As it may seem, making a living in Pathri Aali is difficult for the families so men migrate to Saudi Arabia for earning bread; leaving behind their children, wives, mothers and elders. That is why there are more locations like, Bombay, Saudi Arabia, Srinagar, Jammu and other nearby villages. Now, let me introduce you to the snakes, who are trying to destroy humanity in the villages like Pathri Aali. Saghir Khan, a smuggler and double agent happen to be put in house arrest at Saudi Arabia. In the name of Islam, they brainwash the youth and prepare them to fight in Jammu and Kashmir and form groups of militants.

Theme

Snakes in the Meadows is indeed a work of fiction but is also inspired by real incidents that the author Ayaz Kohli has written with care and intertwining it with beloved characters. The book follows many characters but Haji Mir Baksh’s family is one important family in the story which consists of a brave hero Aslam. Another main character is his love interest Ashwar. But as destiny would have it, they don’t get to choose their lives living in that land of heaven. I loved the character of Lal Jaan, an old lady who is fierce and fearless and stands for the villagers. The author also has portrayed negative characters like Saghir Khan and Major Dharam Pal Singh who are barbaric and merciless. The book shows the real image behind the curtains of heavenly land. Where those civilians suffer living the life of subjugation, misery, sorrow, horror, intimidation, unimaginable humiliation and organized annihilation. While the army isn’t of any help either because they should not trust anyone. So, they have to save themselves. The book also states the daily struggles of living in those hilly villages, the culture and how women have to make brave decisions for their families, for shielding them and for the generations to come.

Plot

The plot is the journey from simple villager’s life to the life of surviving torments. Life is not guaranteed for those who brave the situation. The civilians of the Pathri Aali need to stand together and strong. Militants are cruel as they are senseless, can take one’s life for no reason. Not every lionhearted have that luck for surviving. The sacrifice of such many lives makes a path to follow. With the help of such lionhearted leader and support of the army, they embark the mission for the destruction of snakes.

Don’t just live to narrate the stories of your cowardice. Someone will tell a better story of how you died, rather than you telling your children how you lived.

My Views

.I loved all the good characters as much as I hated those arrogant senseless characters, I mean ogres. All the tales that Ayaz Kohli has included, directly or indirectly affecting the plot are great and mesmerizing and some as melancholic. The struggles that each character is going through offers a lesson to remember for lifetime. You will learn ‘Freedom is priceless’.

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Book Review: A Year of Wednesdays by Sonia bahl | Exceptionally Brilliant

Book Review

A Year of Wednesdays by Sonia Bahl

A Year of Wednesdays by Sonia Bahl

Author: Sonia Bahl

ISBN: 978-9388810654

Genre: Contemporary Fiction

Length: 280 Pages

Publisher:  FingerprintPublishing (1 March 2019)

My Ratings: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Order your copy right now: https://amzn.to/2LYIKvw

About the author:

Born and raised in Kolkata, Sonia has lived and worked in Chennai, Mumbai, Delhi, Jakarta, Miami, Brussels, Johannesburg, and Singapore. With home being everywhere and nowhere, her belief in the power of the moment became a religion. An affirmation that unexpected and undeniable human connections are everything. Meanwhile, on the work front, she spent a huge chunk of her life, her days, and sleepless nights, in advertising—writing ads for all things from coffee and cars to condoms and candy—while dreaming of morphing 30-second commercials to full-length feature films. Not surprisingly, she threw caution, and her full-time job as creative director, to the winds and embarked on a riveting rejection-filled screenwriting journey in the US.

Finally her day job entails writing movies! In a recent, delightful plot twist, her debut novel, The Spectacular Miss, was optioned by a leading Bollywood studio and she was commissioned to write the screenplay. Sonia writes and re-writes in Singapore where she lives with her menagerie: gorgeous itinerant daughter, honorary proofreader husband, and her made-for-the-movies golden retriever, Ari Gold.

Sonia Bahl in conversation with HerStory

Follow the author on Instagram: @soniabahl.ink

Twitter Handle: @soniabahl
Check out her Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/soniabahl.writer/

REVIEW

A Year of Wednesdays is a work of Contemporary-Fiction, written with exceptional brilliancy and I’m not even exaggerating. The book felt more like an impromptu journey than a perfect plotted story. It’s a first-person point of view narration of two strangers connected through their first and only encounter. I found it wittiest that how these characters present their point of view to each other and even in their own minds. And oh, I can’t even describe how well the writing style is, like A++ minus─ (minus), eventually A+++. It is absolutely brilliant, the author Sonia Bahl enlightens us with insights on the planet & its population, climate change, lefties, a lot of movies and quotes.

"You should never have to tell someone how to love you."

The strangers are called Seat 7A and Seat 7B. Seat 7A is the cool Wall Street guy and Seat 7B is the mom-with-the-drool-stained-sweater-and-ordinary-aspirations. After the first encounter, they leave and continue to live their distinct and way too different lifestyles in New York. Seat 7A is a goal-oriented working in an oil-trading firm. Seat 7B works for a small nature fund, she’s a green warrior. Seat 7A has a girlfriend; Natasha is nothing-or-nobody-can-stand-between-me-and-my-career girl. Seat 7B is married to her love of life, Riz with two kids and one of them is a toddler. They have a pet also.

"Losing someone is always unfair."

A Year of Wednesdays, the collection of Wednesdays to look into their individual life and understand their perspective on life, whether it’s all about winning or the love and why is that? They might have left the flight, but not the memories of never-ending arguments. It’s like they are living in each other’s mind, still connected. Sonia Bahl has represented their lives in Wednesdays, through their daily struggles and for one reason or another happens to remember those arguments and defend their point of views.

"Imagine what a gift it is to have someone give you their full attention because they really do want to hear you."

One thing they don’t know is, what the other one’s going through currently in their life. The Wednesdays continue with its course, portraying moments of happiness, sorrow, fun, their life stories and never-ending thoughts. The major conflict of the book is capitalism and how that approach to the economy does not take into consideration the preserving of natural resources. The constant use of such economic system can result in depletion of natural resources and that we are living at the expense of our future generation. Anyways, Seat 7A does his job as demanded, enjoying the perks of being a trader and exaggerate the idea of saving the earth and there’s nothing wrong in what he is doing, supporting capitalism through oil trading firm. He would not understand the idea of pausing and reflecting back on life. Seat 7B is all about little moments of love, joy and kindness, she believes that if her boys learn and teaches kindness, her job is done. But we all know that nothing’s right or wrong. It always varies.

Towards the end, the author Sonia Bahl opens the secret doors to their lives, reveals their close-to-heart moments and the life stories, and explains what makes them who they are now. As the pages turn, the words seem to be touched by poignance. The feeling grows intense of confronting each other and putting the full stop to the never-ending arguments they’re having in the head. And that is what exactly happens.

"I can't decide if it's worse to carry the load of crazy sadness from losing a parent or the one that comes from knowing you'll never miss a parent you'll lose."

You would ask what all so good about A Year of Wednesdays, I will say ‘EVERYTHING’. As you start reading the book, you start laughing out loud. Like, the analogies and the comparisons the author has used are hilarious sometimes. Moving forward, you get used to the fun and joyful moments. A Year of Wednesdays is full of references─ quotes, movies, pop-culture and what not. Yes, Harry Potter is also a part of this, whose 39^th birthday was the last Wednesday of July. There are life-changing and life-saving insights that made me wonder only, how didn’t I know this before. That adorable couple parenting two little boys. With that, emotions take over you─ love, compassion, care and warmth. Then comes the feelings of sorrow and loss. But that humour, insights and arguments never fade away. In the end, the book leaves you filled with emotions yet numb. You get so used to with those impactful and captivating characters that you would not want to leave them because that means giving up those ever-lasting Wednesdays.

HAPPY READING WEDNESDAY!

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