R.I.P by Mukul Deva

The Resurgent Indian Patriots (R.I.P.)

Author:Mukul Deva

Publisher:Westland

Price:INR 200

Pages:286

Source:Review Copy via blogadda.com

First Published: 2012

Homeshop 18

In the late ninetees South Indian film directors S.Shankar and Shaji Kailas used to make good vigilante movies.From Gentleman to Shivaji there were innumerable films in the genre which had it’s protagonists taking on the ‘corrupt and the mighty’ almost singlehandedly using their intelligence and will power.Most of these movies were super duper hits too at the box office .The second half of the next decade witnessed less talented film makers trying to cash in on the same formula with limited success(Susi Ganeshan’s Vikram starrer Kandasamy being a case in point).Bollywood also had a good vigilante movie in ‘Rang de Basanthi’ directed by Rakesh Om Prakash Mehra which got released in the year 2009.You may be wondering why I am writing all this while reviewing Mukul Deva’s latest work ‘Resurgent Indian Patriots’.R.I.P is the kind of work that will surely remind you of the S.Shankar brand of good vigilante films.The book is a fast paced, socio political thriller which packs in a lot of twists and turns at regular intervals.

The Plot-The K team comprises of a group of retired Army officers led by Colonel Krishna Athawale who are fed up with the rampant corruption,nepotism and scandals rocking the very own foundation of the country.They start knocking off the trusted aides of the most corrupt and influential politicians one by one which they believe will provide momentum to the ongoing anti-corruption movement led by activist and Gandhian,’Hazarika’ and thus ensure the passing of a strong anti corruption ‘Lokpal’ bill in the parliament at the earliest.Meanwhile there is a rogue para commando Raghav Bhagat who is hell bent on stopping the K team.Caught in the cross fire are Vinod Bedi,a special director of CBI,Reena Bhagat,a news anchor and two boys,Sachin and Azaan.

The writing-Like his earlier work Lashkar(2008,the only other work of Deva I have read so far),R.I.P is also a page turner.The narration is pretty lucid and interesting which helped me finish reading the book in just about 2 hours.Though the English is pretty simple, the repetition of a couple of words and phrases again and again is a bit of a dampener.(For instance,the six foot tall Captain Bhagat gives ‘sardonic grins and smirks’ n number of times in the story!).A couple of grammatical errors also have crept in which may adversely affect the overall prospects of the book.Considering the target audience of the book and the kind of commercial success which it aspires to attain, the usage of simple,conversational type of language is justifiable though.

The characters-As I have mentioned before the protagonists of the novel ,the K team(Krishna,Karan,Kashif et al) are a group of ex-army men who are on a mission to cleanse the corrupt system.The characters The book is more or less like a recap of the major political events of the country in the last couple of years.The thriller has references to almost all the major scams and scandals which shook the country in the recent years and has even got a character,Hazarika modelled on the anti graft crusader ‘Anna Hazare’.Most of the other characters in the book too are ‘inspired’ by real life politicians.So we have Prime Minister,Nirmal Khanna with a spine as infirm as his name,Sheila Kaul,the National Democratic Congress party president and the widow of India’s previous PM ,her son Ranvijay,the PM-in-waiting to name a few.The backstory of  Krishna’s brother-in-law reminded me of the R.Madhavan’s track in ‘Rang de Basanthi’.Since the story is more focused on the ‘missions’(or well planned assassinations) which the A team carries out,the writer hasn’t bothered much to create three dimensional characters.Except for the lead character,Colonel Krishna Athawale the characters aren’t well etched out and at the same time the character of the pretty news anchor Reena gets undeserved importance in the book.

What I liked the most about the book

1.It’s genre- As I had mentioned earlier,I am a great fan of the ‘vigilante’ genre.R.I.P is a well written,gripping work which remains true to it’s genre.

2.The cat and mouse game between Krishna’s A team on one side and Raghav Bhagat’s parallel ex-commando team and the team of cops on the other side was pretty interesting.

3.Mukul Deva’s military background,technical know how and research ensures that no goof ups creep in the descriptions of the ‘missions of the K team’.

What I didn’t like-

1.The romantic track between Krishna and Reena seemed forced and could have been done away with it.It doesn’t quite gel with the mood of the whole book.

2.The proceedings feel a bit jingoistic and too bollywoodish(the high jack scene and the personal loss which Col.Krishna faces after the ‘mission’,for example) atleast in a couple of instances.Perhaps the writer was catering to a young adult audience!

3. Similarly,the book reads like a newspaper at times.The 2 G scam,fodder scam,housing society scam,Common wealth games scam all find a place in the book.Even the ‘fictional’ politicians linked to those have striking resemblance to their real-life counterparts.Honestly wish the author had applied more imagination and skill while writing those portions.

Verdict-On the whole,R.I.P is no literary marvel and it neither pretends to be one but the 286 pages long book is undoubtedly pure unadulterated fun.If you love reading fast paced vigilante thrillers,don’t hesitate to grab a copy at the earliest.Rating-3.25/5

            The tail end- In this era of growing intolerance,it’s a miracle that a book like R.I.P which exposes the corrupt real life politicians mercilessly hasn’t faced any serious objections from the ruling party or it’s politicians so far!

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reviewed by nikhimenon 2013

(please don't copy)

RIP - Mukul Deva

R.I.P.

Author: Mukul Deva

ISBN-13: 9789382618195

Binding: Paperback

Publisher: Westland

Number of Pages: 298

Genre: Fiction, Thriller

Language: English

Price: Rs. 200 

About the Book: 

R.I.P. The Resurgent Indian Patriots. Self- appointed guardians of a nation seething with anger at the endless scams and scandals rocking its very foundation. Vigilantes who vow to stop corrupt politicians and colluding civil servants. Even if it means killing them. 

Colonel Krishna Athawale and his team of Special Forces officers rally to protect the country from the enemy within. They call themselves the K-Team. And no one is safe from their deadly intent. 

Hellbent on stopping them is Raghav Bhagat, rogue para commando, gun for hire and Krishna's bete noir. 

Caught in the crossfire is Vinod Bedi, Special Director CBI. Reena Bhagat, a glamorous news anchor, embittered by her husband's betrayal. And two young boys, Sachin and Azaan, torn apart by the loss of a parent. 

It doesn't get bigger. 

About the Author:

An alumnus of La Martiniere College, Lucknow, the National Defense Academy, Pune and the Indian Military Academy, Dehradun, Mukul Deva was commissioned in December 1981 into the Sikh Light Infantry of the Indian Army. He took early retirement from the army after fifteen years of service, including a decade of combat operations in India and overseas. Now settled in Singapore, he is an entrepreneur, motivational speaker and an executive, business and creativity coach. He is also a Mentor on the United Nations Institute of Training and Research Afghanistan Fellowship. He is India's leading writer of military thrillers, including the bestselling Lashkar series. For more about him, please visit his website www.mukuldeva.com.

Yatin Speaks:

RIP by Mukul Deva is going to be an interesting read, this came in my mind right after I saw the book. A Syringe, a man carrying a gun and sun shining real hard on the cover, the book cover looked very promising and the book didn't disappoint as well and in the first chapter only, three well planned murders take place. WHATTAY !! The book had me from the first chapter itself. 

RIP here means Resurgent Indian Patriots. A team of 6 special forces ex-officers named K-Team. K-Team because all six of them had their name starting with K. Colonel Krishna Athawale leading the team. K-Team is a self appointed guardian of nation and is fed up of current political structure, corruption and scenario of the country. They want Jan Lokpal bill to be passed and a lot of other demands which they keep in front of GOI and want them act on them immediately. The political structure used in the book is similar to what we have in India and you can actually figure out whom the author is trying to target there but let's not get in there. A series of events take place intermingled with the personal lives of the characters of the book. Jealousy, love, ghosts of the past, patriotism, insanity, lust and a lot of emotions are infused in the book in an apt way.

This was my first Mukul Deva book and I just couldn't stop turning its  pages. The story grips you from the first page and forces you to keep turning the pages till the very end. A series of storms one after the another keeps you on your toes and you just keep guessing what is going to happen next. Thumbs up for RIP by Mukul Deva and if you  like pulse pounding thrillers, this one is definitely not going to disappoint you.

Swarnali Speaks :

Starting with the cover, the book has a very interesting and apt cover with a soldier carrying a gun , a syringe at the top and a bullet replacing the "I" in R.I.P. The significance of all three can be understood as the reader finishes the very first chapter. 

The main plot concerns a group of six ex-army men who call themselves the K- Team pledge to avenge the wrong  that the corrupt politicians have been doing to the nation and its people since its very independence. Why are they called the K-Team? Simply because all these six men have their names starting with a K - Krishna Athawale, Kevin David, Kulwant Singh Bajwa, Karan Singh, Kashif Nadeem and  Kamlesh Saikia. Corruption, nepotism, favoritism and the "rape" of the nation that has been happening  for over 60 years have reached the ebb as these R.I.P- Resurgent Indian Patriots decide that it is high time somebody made an effort at changing the prevailing conditions. A very utopic idea if you ask me but the book does manage to provide the readers with a momentary wish fulfillment  at a time when the real scenario of  the nation is exactly the same as depicted in the book. What I found very surprising is how the book managed not to create any political ruckus despite the fact that the author uses names and characters directly from contemporary politics. Characters like Hazarika, Sheila Kaul and her son Ranvijay, D.M. Karunakaran and Lalit Yadav are completely based on current social-political leaders like Anna Hazare, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, Karunanidhi and Lalu Prasad Yadav respectively. Incidents like the hijacking of  the Indian Airlines flight IC 814 (which actually took place in Decemeber 1999) and the Ajmal Kasab case (from the 26/11 terrorist attack) are entirely taken from history (the author however, takes the literary freedom to change the time frames of the two incidents) .

The book is a complete page turner as the very first chapter has three quick immaculately planned murders taking place one after another, taking the reader into its grip for the rest of the 298 pages. The language used in the book is extremely simple with very few ornate words used. I loved the description that the author uses at certain points to describe the particular type of weapon and chemical used for the operation. The effects of the succinylcholine, the C-18 hand grenade and its functions are explained briefly to help the reader understand the mechanism and yet not losing track of the main plot by excessive detailing. The occasional  flashes from the past are nicely blended into the stories which help in understanding the characters better. Apart from the occasional repetitive phrases and a few grammatical and typographical errors, the book is a pleasant and quick read.

The book does extremely well for a military thriller ( a genre completely new to me) and I'm planning to read the other books he has written. Grab a copy or borrow it from a friend, if you love thrillers and action, this book won't disappoint you.

Rating :4/5

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