Surprise me Gentlemen (Book review)

"A treat for hungry readers." -Me.

Amitabh Manu, an IT professional is a self confessed argumentative guy, when occasion demands. His first work "The Blogging affair" which was a murder mystery, got huge appreciation by the audience. Exploring the dark sides of life, he has come up with another story which is more experimental in its own way. 

The story of "Surprise me Gentlemen" is a story of a bored dictator who captures twelve writers and asks them to write the best stories of their lifetime with only condition that it must have a twist in the end. The best story won't have any rewards while the worst of all will result in the death of the writer. This begin a series of stories by all the writers in their particular fashion and style of storytelling and a discussion about the story in the end.

The story starts right from the first page, and the writer has managed to hold the interest and excitement of the reader throughout the book. The story runs in two tracks one of the twelve writers and the dictator while other is the story told by each writer. The perfect description of characters in minimum yet ample words makes the reader not only enjoy the story but also takes him into the world that it creates. Another plus point is that the writer has managed to portray the psychologies of  twelve different writers differently.

As a reader, this book has almost every thing for everyone though in very small quantity. Though in this quest sometimes the narrative becomes redundant as the story progresses. In the word of developing digital cinema and short films, the content of this book is definitely going to find interest of many film makers. As the writer himself have already stated in one of his interviews that the core place of storytelling is going to flourish in near future with more creative writers and different stories, I thing this is the first outcome of the same. I personally have enjoined the overall read and writing for more stories from him. I'll give four stars out of five and recommend to all the hungry readers who want to read new and different stuff.

This review is part of review program conducted by MySmartPrice.com.

The Wordkeepers (Book review)

"Reverting and Unforgettable" - Amish Tripathi.
"Ultra-Super-Fabulous"- Me.

Jash Sen, an IIM Graduate, an IT professional and a Mathematics teacher makes her writing debut with a very fast paced and engaging story which combines the key events of history with the whimsical imagination of the future. Forwarding the legacy of Indian writers like Amish and Ashwin Snanghi, Jash brings up a tale which has its root in the end of "Mahabharata" era. The perfect to the point narration of the writer keeps the reader engaged and thus makes the book a page turner.

The story of The wordkeepers starts from an important act in the Mahabharata era which lays the seeds for series of events to happen in future. The story then jumps to the present (Which is in year 2028) where it proceeds with two protagonist characters Anaya and Bilal who are blessed with certain secret legacies of which they both are unaware. They both living in two different parts of the country are bound to join each other so as to save the world from entering into a worse, miserable condition that Kali (the antagonist) is planning for it.

The story begins right from the first page and paces up as proceeds. The writer has managed to hold the nerve of reader's interest to such an extent that the reader may read the whole book at once. The story runs in two tracks, which is another key point which manages to keep the pace and interest of narration. Being the first part of a trilogy The Wordkeepers not lays the foundation of an ineresting story but also have created a unique platform for the writer to run a long race in world of story telling.

Although the book is perfectly framed, crisped for unnecessary events, it seems that the writer was very keen  to make it very action oriented. In this quest somewhere the classic detailing is found missing for instance, there is no detailing of Anay's surrounding environment like friends, neighbors etc. Though these points do not have much effect on the story but the characters whereabouts are left untold which results in a situation that a reader does not have much information about the back story of the characters.

The classical loving audience may find it a quick wrapped , a high potential story underutilized while the mass action lovers may find it an extraordinary fantastic stuff. I personally loved the entire journey of the first part and eagerly waiting for the further installments for more action and adventure. I'll give it a three and a half stars out of five and recommend it to all the readers who follow Amish similar kind of contents.

 This review is part of review program conducted by MySmartPrice.com.

The Hunters- if you seek, they will find (Book Review)

"Life is a quest. A quest to find the ultimate Treasure"

Chris Kuzneski has once again returned with another adventure ride with his latest book "The Hunters- if you seek, they will find"

Chris Kuzneski is an international bestselling author of mind blowing thrillers like "Sign of the cross" and "The death Relic". Having his books translated in more than twenty languages and sold in more than forty countries, Chris Kuzenski's books have received both critical as well as readers acclaim. Now living in Gulf of florida, more information about the writer and his writing career can be found on his official website: www.chriskuzneski.com.

Chris who have given birth to many of series characters, In "The Hunters" also continues the same tradition by introducing a team of An ex-soldier, A computer whiz, A weapon Expert, An Historian and A thief. Along with these lead there are number of characters adding up to the flow of the story. The story of "The Hunters" is basically a treasure hunt of a long lost train full of gold and ancient artifacts worth about 3.5 billion dollars. The team is employed by a billionaire philanthropist who is found of ancient artifacts and has his own reason to find the treasure.

The point to be specially underlined is that the narrative style of the author. The story is framed in such a way that the reader is stick to to the book throughout the entire read. The regular action sequences, the detailed description of history part of the story and some witty funny conversation between the team members keep the reader engaged through out the book. One more point is that the story never slows down in the entire read, which gives full marks to the narration of the writer. Also the detailed study of Russian-German history is depicted by the perfect and convincing narration by the writer. 

The book concentrates on the readers who reads for entertaining themselves along with gathering some information from it. The classic readers may find immaturity in the read. But considering the huge-ness of the readers targeted, it can be forcasted that this is going to be a yet another international bestseller in the writing career of Chris. Over all I will give it a three star out of five and recommend to the readers who like the adventure flicks like Indiana Jones and National Treasure.

 This review is part of review program conducted by MySmartPrice.com.

Nano (Book review)

"Medic is next to God, He can heal and kill as well.."

Robin Cook's latest medical thriller Nano is a spell bounding tale of mystery and suspense.

Robin Cook, having a writing career of now more than 30 years, have given lots of medical master pieces from subjects like organ transplant, alien viruses e.t.c. Now he is back again with another subject that has surely caught many attentions since last few years. Nanotechnology, can be called an unexplored territory, where many mind shaking discoveries are being made almost everyday. "Nano" successfully touches this subject softly with controversial area of stem cells and research patenting. The in depth description shows the huge sack of knowledge and research of the writer in the field.

For the readers, I would like to tell that "Nano" is a sequel to Cook's previous "Death benefit". Most of the character like the protagonist Pia Gazdani and George Wilson have been repeated with a lot of other characters and their back story. Pia who was a medical student have now become a researcher at a multinational giant called "Nano" engaged in molecular manufacturing, with an intent to find cure for friend Will, who was shot head during a cross fire encounter (Death Benefit part of story). But as she spends time, she finds that the organisation has some secrets and is warned by her seniors not dig the unnecessary wells. But this has a inverse effect and she starts investigating the secrets by all means she could find.  

Though this is one of the best Cook's creation I have ever read, still the book has a lot of positives and negatives. Firstly the story seems to go offtrack many times due to the in depth description. There is a huge span of time between the two important events to occur. Also many sequences in the story doesn't result in anything productive, so it is possible that a reader may loose interest and give up the read. A very huge patience is required to cross this span until the story picks up the pace. Also when the story actually paces up, the climax is soon to be approached is realized by the reader. Hence the reader is disappointing twice firstly as the story doesn't paces up and secondly when it paces up the end is arrived.

In spite of all these negatives on most important and powerful factor that over rules all is the story. The story is so strong that it keeps the reader spell bounded at the end. The character of Pia has been developed as a perfect protagonist for a thriller as a women ready to do any thing to uncover the truth. The writer takes all points for the in depth research and his perfect descriptive style to convey a medical thriller when he knows that maximum of the readers are not familiar of the medical technicalities and terminologies. It is also possible that after reading the book  the reader might take some action if he finds a patient in emergency.

Over all the book is strongly referred for patient readers and the ones who have read Cooks earlier work. I'll give it a two and a half star out of five as I am not very one of them.

This review is part of review program conducted by MySmartPrice.com.

The Bankster (Book review)

"Bullet and a coin weighs the same, and a Banker knows which one to use when.."

Ravi Subramanian's latest banking thriller comprising of web of lies, murders, political treacheries and international crimes, will give you a perfect example of same. 

Ravi Subramanian, winner of Golden Quill Readers Choice Award 2008, An alumnus of IIM Banglore, banker himself for more than two decades has a perfect narrative style suitable for a gripping thriller. The way he has dealt with a sensitive yet curious subject of what professional politics happens inside the secured walls of banks, has to be given distinction marks. The perfect introduction, establishment and the execution of every character in the story gets full marks to the writer. Also to he has handled the various tracks of stories very playfully which keeps the reader locked to the book.

The Bankster runs simultaneously in three different tracks at the same time where an international criminal (Joseph Braganza) is going to exchange weapons for dimonds in Angola, An elderly man (Krishna Menon) is fighting against Government of India for a nobel cause, while a series of murders of key employees of an international bank is soon to be un-covered by a journalist cum ex-banker (Karan Punjabi). All the three stories have been coincided very intelligently at the end which keeps the reader stunned.

The story takes a slow start and it is possible that an impatient reader may give up the read as the actual series of events takes more than almost a half of book to get started. Many times unimportant characters have been given more space which could have been eliminated. The description sometimes just get off limit which involves revealing of certain sequence or a character. This actually tests the patience of a reader. But the only thing that takes overcomes all the flaws is the perfect story line. The story is so strong, well framed and executed that at the end the reader is kept spell bounded. Another important key point is that a reader is never in state of confusion through out the course of read. This is according to me is the result of in depth description of every character and event drafted in the initial establishment section of the story. 

Over all the book is wroth spending a few days and is strongly recommended to the patient and the ones who actually want to read a original and classic piece of work. I'll give it a three stars out of five and actually congratulate the author for creating such a master piece at times where the content is losing it's hold, over cheap genres.  

 This review is part of review program conducted by MySmartPrice.com.