Book ReviewReviews

Book Review – The Devil’s Gate: An Impossible Journey by Deepak Kripal

by Tina Basu
written by Tina Basu

Here’s the second book that I read over the long weekend. It’s called The Devil’s Gate by debutante author Deepak Kripal. It’s an adventure fantasy novel with a social message. So let’s see how this read of mine has been.

The Story

The story involves these characters called Katy, Dug & Billy a cat a dog a bird who are sidelined by the humans. Katy the secret agent of United Animals is entrusted to with the mission to travel to the mysterious island – Five Hundred Graves – which is visible only on a full moon night and is under the control of demons. Katy and Dug do not get along well, because of their obvious differences. They need to get permission from the demons for cohabiting in the island. How they reach the island, what is the game by the UA chief have a little thrill offered.


My Thoughts

Debutante author Deepak must be someone who really loves animals, stray ones specially. Because the thoughts with which he has written this novel are quite genuine. Yes we as humans are quite intolerant about other living organisms though we might not admit it. He has expressed the pains and emotions of the animals beautifully. There are sparks of thriller and suspense but I felt it went too long.

Writing style is a little too long with long sentences and is not quite fast paced as you would expect in a thriller. The thought is quite interesting because you don’t see a lot of main stream writers delve in such a topic so a loud shout out from my side to the author.

About The Author

Deepak Kripal is a doctor by profession and a writer out of passion. This is his first novel. He is a well known blogger in the Indian Blogosphere who write poetry at The Original Poetry. SO he is yet another blogger turned author. I am hoping I take that plunge too someday. Should I?

My Rating – 2.75. I think it will be enjoyed by the teens and tweens more.

Book – The Devil’s Gate: An Impossible Journey
Author – Deepak Kripal
Genre – Fantasy Thriller
Publisher – Lead Start Publishing
Published in – Nov 2013
ISBN-13 – 9789383562060
ISBN-10 –9383562064
Pages – 248
Format – Paperback
Price – 175  

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The Book was sent to me by the publisher for a review, the views written here are entirely mine and I try not to be biased. 
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Long weekend ends

by Tina Basu
written by Tina Basu

Sunday nights are always sad, specially after a long weekend. And more so for me because I have a terrible headache now. 

Anyways I did laze around and caught up with lot of reading. I ended up finishing two books and am on the third one now. 
We had a great weekend with loads of good food, (am I bragging about my own cooking???) hell yeah I am coz hubby told they were all great!!! 

So here’s how I spent my long weekend in the company of books and food. What did you guys do??? 
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Book ReviewReviews

Book Review – Private India by Ashwin Sanghi & James Patterson

by Tina Basu
written by Tina Basu

So in my earlier post I told you about my reading updates. And as I’ll be done I’ll keep posting the reviews. The first one to go is Private India by Ashwin Sanghi & James Patterson. Now Patterson’s the Private series is extremely popular in the west and this collaboration brings Private to India and Ashwin handholds it. So, Private is one of the most secret and discreet investigating agency and Private India is their India chapter. So let’s see how has been the experience.


The Story

A woman is found dead under mysterious circumstances in a hotel room. Santosh Wagh the head honcho of Private India is called upon to solve the murder case along with Mumbai Police. By the time Wagh and his team of experts make any progress on the case another lady is found murdered with similar tell tale signs left by the killer. Before the police or Private investigators can crack anything a serial killer is on the loose and corpses keep piling up across the city. The only common link found across all murders is all victims are women and they are being garroted in the same pattern. The killer leaves signs with every corpse through props but the investigating team cannot pick up his mind. After the murders of a pop star, a film actress, a politician, a judge and a yoga guru the killer’s next victim is one of Privates investigator Nisha. A walk during the Navratri celebrations and a trip to the Asiatic Society library throws a good amount of light on the clues left by the killer. Can Santosh and his team of experts including Jack Morgan, the ex-marine and Private Inc head, solve the puzzle? Can they hunt down the killer before he garrotes Nisha?

My Thoughts

Knowing Ashwin Sanghi’s pervious works I was quite aware the plot will have a reference to religion and mythology. Here however, it’s a mix of ancient mythology, modern day corruption, terrorism, medical advancement et all. The story almost has two plots (which probably was not required). You have this eccentric killer who leaves his victims garroted and tied to props and then you have the ISI plotting to take down Private India. You get all the usual masala from mafias, to religious babas, a corrupt police officer. The plot started off quite well with the murders building up. If you know your mythology well you will get to decipher the clues from the second murder on. I like the way Ashwin intertwines mythology and religion in his works. There are subplots and characters to distract you from zeroing in on the killer, though the killer is present in day light.

But what I didn’t get was the need of the track of the ISI and a terrorist attack alongside. It was okay without it. That is also true for the climax – actually you have two climaxes for the two tracks. This distraction could have been avoided.

Coming to characterizations – Santosh Wagh, the protagonist is an ex- RAW agent who now is the head of Private India. He is weird but brilliant guy trying to cope with his drinking problem and memories of his deceased wife and son. We see the plot unfold through his eyes. Rupesh, the corrupt police officer’s character looks little odd to me, the way he sees and imagines the victims’ corpses. The villain however, in interesting and his way of killing is interesting too. Now I don’t want to mention all the characters and give out the story. Jack Morgan, however, was finding it hard to fitted here but how can we have a Private book without him?

Things that I liked: The thrill of murders, the clues left by the killer, the sophistication of the forensic science, sequence at the Tower of Silence. I somehow liked the killer more than anything else. Yes I like these dark stuffs.

About the author:

James Patterson is a well known name in the thriller genre and is the best-seller author for the Private series, Alex Cross series, Women’s Murder Club series and many more. This is his first collaboration with any Indian author. 

Ashwin Sanghi on the other hand is a well-known Indian author who specializes in mixing mythology and Hinduism in his thrillers. Some of his noted works are The Rozabal Line, Chanakya’s Chant, The Krishna Key. I had reviewed The Krishna Key earlier and you could read it here. Here he does a good job in building up the murders and the references to mythology.


My rating: I would give 4 out of 5. Overall it was a good weekend read. The book is fat enough for the weekend but I somehow finished it in a day and a half because I liked the murder descriptions!

Book – Private India
Author – Ashwin Sanghi & James Patterson
Genre – Fiction, Thriller
Publisher – Random House India
Published in – July 2014
ISBN-13 – 9780099586395
ISBN-10 – 0099586398
Pages – 448
Format – Paperback
Price – 350 flipkart has a good discount though 
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This review is a part of the Book Reviews Program at BlogAdda.com. Participate now to get free books! 
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Fiction & WritingFive Sentence FIctionMicro FictionUncategorized

Five Sentence Fiction – What do I do?

by Tina Basu
written by Tina Basu

Should I accept it…or should I just tell him to buzz off?


She felt in her heart Aakash had serious feelings for her… but why her… is a question that lingered in her mind.


What was it in her that attracted the son of such a famous industrialist?  

She loved him from the moment they had met in college but she wanted to stay away from him… will he be always true to me… she didn’t want to be his spring muse.


It was time… he’ll enter the café anytime now…ohh these conflicting thoughts… what do I do? 

source

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This post is for Lillie McFerrin Writes Five Sentence Fiction for the prompt CONFLICT.  

Also linking this to Write Tribe Pro Blogger Challenge as my Day 29 post
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The long weekend ahead

by Tina Basu
written by Tina Basu

So the long weekend is here…. Three days of bliss. I have decided I’m not working at all… I’ll try to not go out and just laze around. I’ll get into my sloth mode. I have not been in that mode for sometime now. 

I have to catch up on a lot of reading In these three days. And also update my cook blog. Ohh if you already do not know I have a food blog www.twinklingtinacooks.blogspot.in do visit there sometime and let me know how you like it. 
Okay, now food just reminded me our long weekend binge has already started. I’m sharing tonight’s dinner pic with you. A pretty bong dinner with pulau kosha mangsho and fish fry!!! 

 

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Short Story – Am I doing it Right?

by Tina Basu
written by Tina Basu
Ohhh… enough of random posts. Today i’m in mood to write… write a short fiction than my little flash fictions. I’m also going to link it with the ABC Wednesday. 

There you go.

While driving back home after work Rakesh thought it was time he told Lekha. She will come to know one day anyway, it’s only better if he told her.

It was late and Rakesh felt he needed some fresh air before he faced the storm at home. He parked the car near the park and went inside. The evening walkers had already left and the park was relatively vacant. With only some hawkers wrapping up their karts, Rakesh felt there weren’t many to disturb him or his thoughts.


He sat on one of the green benches… the cool Delhi breeze calmed him. How he wished he could enjoy a life without any tension.

‘Lekha I want to tell you something…. Lekha let’s discuss something….. Lekha hear me out first….’ He kept thinking how he was going to break the news.

His thoughts were disturbed with the sound of a giggle. He turned around but didn’t spot anyone. The park was not well lit, but the giggle continued. Rakesh looked closely and saw a couple seated at a distance. The guy had his arms wrapped around the girl which made her giggle…

‘ohh the young love’… he thought.

He couldn’t see the girl properly under the faint light but the couple reminded him of something. Rakesh and Lekha had spent several such times cozying up to each other when they had met in Meerut during their college days.

‘Ahh…those days…..’ he sighed,

How he always felt nice when he met Lekha. He was in love with her simplicity.

For a few seconds he could visualize their dates in front of him like a movie.

The loud ring on his phone brought him back from his memory. It was her. He disconnected without answering. He wanted to be alone for some time.

‘Am I doing the right thing?’ he found asking himself this question.

‘Am I?’ he asked looking up at the dark cloudless sky

‘Things have changed now. I shouldn’t think so much’, he told himself and started moving towards his car.

The drive back home seemed longer and slower. He remembered how they got married against their families wishes, how Lekha joined him in this big city and how they built up their nest over last three years…

When he rang the bell, Lekha took time to open the door….

That is unusual, he thought.

“I have a surprise for you”, stated Lekha as she opened the door.

“Lekha, I am tired… I want to tell you something”, he said as he handed over his laptop bag to her.

“I will not listen to anything… you just come”, she stated without listening to him and pulled him towards the kitchen.

“Lekha listen….. what is this… I want to…..” he tried telling her but she didn’t pay any heed.

 “Why is it so dark here? Don’t we have a light here” he snapped.

“Because… I have made it so” she called out while lighting the candles on the dinner table.

“What is this?”

“The Surprise”….

The table was laid out perfect – restaurant style – and the dinner spread looked even better.

“What’s special today?”

“Nothing, I just wanted you to be happy and I know how you love your food. See.. All of these are your favorites, isn’t it?”, excitement was visible in her eyes.

Rakesh didn’t have the heart to ruin this now. The beautiful aroma of food reminded him how hungry he was. He decided he’ll tell her after the dinner.

The food tasted divine… Lekha was such a great cook, he felt. She must have spent the entire day at kitchen for such this five course dinner.

And she did it for no reason…. Just for me, he thought.

This question lingered on his mind as did the awesome taste of the delicious food.

“And here is something that is very dear to you”

“What”

Lekha opened the lid of a serving bowl and the sweet aroma of the ‘gajar ka halwa’ filled the room.

“Ohh… that’s great.”

He savored every bit of it, this was not only his favorite dessert, Lekha was a pro in it. His friends and neighbors were fans of her cooking.

By the time they were done with the dinner it was quite late. He kept sitting on his chair while Lekha was putting away the plates. He kept looking at her. 

This is the lady he had loved and she still loved him more than anyone. He meant the world for her.

What was he thinking all this while? Is it normal to get distracted? Is the grass always greener on the other side? He closed his eyes to think.

After this gastronomical experience he was even surer. He will go and explain it to Trisha…. Lekha was the girl he loved, she will be the one. He got distracted with the cities glitter and gold and had started feeling Lekha was boring… but so what she stayed back at home and didn’t work…. so what she didn’t speak English fluently like other Delhi girls… she loved him from the bottom of her heart. And that’s what mattered.

Rakesh thanked God for directing him in the correct way. Tonight he’ll sleep at peace with his love. He could always explain it to Trisha next morning at office.

source


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Linking this post to The ABC Wednesday G is for Gastronomical.
Also linking it with Write Tribe Pro Blogger  challenge as my day 27 Post.
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