PLOT: 3.5/5 CHARACTERS: 3/5 WRITING STYLE: 3/5 CLIMAX: 2.5/5 ENTERTAINMENT QUOTIENT: 3.5/5 Whodunits are one of the best genres to read. They drive the readers to think, compel them to envisage the twists in the plot, and then give out shockers which are totally unimaginable. These stories are more like a game of cat-and-mouse played […]
The Prisoner | Omar Shahid Hamid | Book Review
PLOT: 4/5 CHARACTERS: 5/5 WRITING STYLE: 5/5 CLIMAX: 4/5 ENTERTAINMENT QUOTIENT: 4.5/5 Of all the books that I have reviewed, two will always remain on my recommended reading list – Narcopolis, in which Jeet Thayil brings out the dark side of Bombay, and ‘The Black Coat’ in which Neamat Imam writes about the chaos in […]
Spy in Amber | Manohar Malgonkar | Book Review
PLOT: 3.5/5 CHARACTERS: 4/5 WRITING STYLE: 4/5 CLIMAX: 3/5 ENTERTAINMENT QUOTIENT: 4/5 There are many Indian authors who have made it big on the International stage; Rabindranath Tagore, R.K. Narayan, Salman Rushdie, Vikram Seth, Jhumpa Lahiri, Kiran Desai to name a few. Manohar Malgonkar, whom R.K. Narayan once referred to as his “favourite Indian novelist […]
Sycamore Row | John Grisham | Book Review
PLOT: 3.5/5 CHARACTERS: 5/5 WRITING STYLE: 5/5 CLIMAX: 3.5/5 ENTERTAINMENT QUOTIENT: 4/5 People say that John Grisham can write only legal thrillers and so cannot be considered a legend. If you are a Grisham fan and have read even a few of his books, you’ll realise that this statement is baloney. Sticking to a single […]
End of Story? | Arjun Shekhar | Book Review
PLOT: 3.5/5 CHARACTERS: 4/5 WRITING STYLE: 4.5/5 CLIMAX: 4/5 ENTERTAINMENT QUOTIENT: 3/5 There are few books which leave you with mixed feelings when you finish reading them. There are times when you love the story and cannot have enough of it, and then there are times when you just want to put the book down […]
Black List | Brad Thor | Book Review
PLOT: 5/5 CHARACTERS: 5/5 WRITING STYLE: 4.5/5 CLIMAX: 4/5 ENTERTAINMENT QUOTIENT: 5/5 Edward Snowden was in the news recently for disclosing top-secret US surveillance programs to the media. These expose, which gave accounts of the extent to which the federal agencies eavesdropped on private conversations and social interactions, came as a shock to the US […]
Baramulla Bomber | Clark Prasad | Book Review
PLOT: 4/5 CHARACTERS: 4/5 WRITING STYLE: 3.5/5 CLIMAX: 3.5/5 ENTERTAINMENT QUOTIENT: 4/5 Spy thrillers are perhaps the most popular genres among people who are voracious readers. There is nothing like a good spy thriller to get your adrenaline flowing. In fact, most of my childhood has been spent reading spy thrillers, courtesy the works of […]
The Kill Room | Jeffery Deaver | Book Review
PLOT: 5/5 CHARACTERS: 4/5 WRITING STYLE: 4/5 CLIMAX: 4.5/5 ENTERTAINMENT QUOTIENT: 5/5 What is the most important thing you look for in a thriller or action novel? My first pick is always the protagonist. I tend to judge thriller novels depending on the characterisation of the hero. The next in the list are a fast […]
Never Go Back | Lee Child | Book Review
PLOT: 5/5 CHARACTERS: 5/5 WRITING STYLE: 5/5 CLIMAX: 3.5/5 ENTERTAINMENT QUOTIENT: 5/5 “Jack Reacher is back and this time he is in the capital, in his old office. This is his yard, his playground. Do not mess with him.” Finally. Finally, I get this chance to review a Lee Child novel and I’m super excited. […]
A Passion Beyond Extremes | Rajnish Gambhir | Book Review
PLOT: 3/5 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 […]
The Name of the Rose | Umberto Eco | Book Review
PLOT: 4/5 CHARACTERS: 5/5 WRITING STYLE: 4.5/5 CLIMAX: 4.5/5 ENTERTAINMENT QUOTIENT: 4.5/5 Set at the brink of the Early Modern Era, a time which remains a landmark in the power struggle between the Pope and the Roman Emperor, Umberto Eco’s inaugural novel, The Name of the Rose, is as much a murder mystery as it […]
Behind the Silicon Mask | Eshwar Sundaresan | Book Review
PLOT: 3/5 CHARACTERS: 4/5 WRITING STYLE: 4.5/5 CLIMAX: 4/5 ENTERTAINMENT QUOTIENT: 4.5/5 There have been numerous books these days on office life – “The Bankster”, “31: A Thriller”, etc. but most of them have been based on either financial or advertising industry. Behind the Silicon Mask is based on the lives of Indian IT professionals and […]