CHARACTERS: 3/5
WRITING STYLE: 2.5/5
CLIMAX: 4/5
ENTERTAINMENT QUOTIENT: 2.5/5
There is one thing which scares me the most in any book – the number of pages it contains. There are a few exceptions to this – Lee Child, Tolkien, James Patterson, etc.
Their books are a delight to read and even those 400+ pages do not satisfy you and leave you wanting for more.
I received this book from Leadstart Publications and was shocked to see the number of pages in it, a whopping 460.
But I was settled as soon as I began reading it. From the first few pages, I could guess that this would be a legal thriller which, as a genre, is one of my favourites.
The book, A Passion beyond Extremes, is divided into three parts: Ashwini, Sonia and Aasha – all characters in the book.
Ashwini is married to Sonia and Aasha is his ex-girlfriend. One morning, Sonia is found battered to death in her house; all the clues point towards Ashwini and he is arrested.
There is only one person who can save him and that is Aasha, his ex and now a famous lawyer.
Aasha initially refuses to help him as he had left her heart-broken and married Sonia, an insanely rich woman. The rest of the plot is about Aasha changing her mind, forgiving Ashwini and finally, proving his innocence in the court.
Reading the above para one would see a very rosy picture of the plot, well that is not the case.
I admit that the plot is a decent one but it is diluted with too much detail about very mundane things. The book literally describes everything done by the characters in too much of a detail.
From the present, it jumps to the past, talking about Ashwini’s and Aasha’s relationship and then jumps even more back in time to Ashwini’s and Aasha’s school days.
Every movie they planned, the trips they went to, sickness they faced, the sports they played, eatery they visited, etc. is explained in great detail and take up most of the book.
I, personally, did not enjoy reading about this random stuff which does not contribute to the core plot whatsoever. Sticking to the main theme and trimming all the unnecessary sub-plots would have done justice to the plot.
The characters of A Passion beyond Extremes are okay but not that good that I’d fall in love with them.
Ashwini is a gifted architect/engineer who has big dreams in life. Aasha’s character came across as a cheesy one – “Jaan, this; Jaan, that”. I couldn’t digest the romantic dialogues between Ashwini and Aasha.
They are probably close to reality but I prefer non-filmy romance in my books.
Sonia is portrayed as a spoilt brat who gets what she wants, by hook or by crook. She suffers from serious mental disorders and is portrayed such.
The rest of the characters, too, failed to leave a mark.
The one thing I enjoyed most in this book is the court sequence in the climax and the identity of Sonia’s killer.
It was well woven into the plot and deserves an applause. It was as good as the sequence in “Road Humps and Sidewalks”.
Many technicalities, related to civil engineering, business management, human body and other similar areas have been well explained by the author. I enjoyed reading these too.
If you prefer reading a slow-paced book with tinges of a thriller, this book is for you. I would prefer reading Rajnish’s next book if it is a shorter one and sticks to the main plot.