The Shadow Throne - Aroon Raman

Title: The Shadow Throne
Author: Aroon Raman
Publisher: Pan Macmillan India
ISBN: 978-81-923-9800-6
Genre: Thriller
Pages: 332

Ever since this book came into my notice, I wanted to read it. The title was intriguing and the cover of the book also appealed me. Finally, I got a chance to lay my hands on this book thanks to Pan Macmillan India team and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. This is the first work of fiction by the author Aroon Raman and he finished writing this book in 6 months which is remarkable.

The book opens up with a murder at Qutub Minar (Instant hit for me). A freelance journalist, Chandrashekhar is called upon by a cop named Syed Ali Hassan. Hassan is one of the key characters of the book and Chandrashekhar is the protagonist. When Chandrashekhar visits Qutub Minar to see what has happened there, and thats where the series of unexpected events and horrible things come into the picture. Also Meenakshi, Chandrashekhar's wife's friend comes is roped in by Chandrashekhar, as she is a historian and has an interesting part to play in the plot. The whole plot revolves around a nuclear armageddon planned by a set of people who want nothing but destroy the prevailing peace among the countries.

The Shadow Throne is an absolute page turner. I wanted to finish reading this one in a single seating but couldn't do it thanks to all the daily chores and unwanted things that turned up. Aroon Raman's writing and vocabulary is something to watch out for. I had to use dictionary a lot of times, which is good for me. My dictionary has definitely got some new words, thanks to the book. Also, I would like to mention here, the way author has explained the geographical features of Afghanistan. I dont know, but it felt like Aroon himself have visited the place quite a few times.

 You would definitely love The Shadow Throne, if you enjoy fast paced thrillers with subtle logic and not too many characters. Divided over 26 chapters and 332 pages, the book has a potential to make it to the best sellers list.

(Review asked by Pan Macmillan)

A Twist In The Tale - Jeffrey Archer

Title : A Twist In The Tale

Author : Jeffrey Archer

Publisher : Pan Macmillan

ISBN : 9780312933524 

I think, I am gonna read all the books by Jeffrey Archer real soon. I mean, the books are too irresistible. Once I pick a book of his, I put it down after finishing it. Though, “A Twist In The Tale” was an exception to this routine. Its a collection of short stories by Archer and Sunny ( @SunnyOnHunt ) from twitter suggested me to read it after I posted the review for “To Cut A Long Story Short”. I picked up one short story at a time and thats how I completed the whole book in some twenty days. Sunny sent me an epub of this book, and I thank him for that.

A Twist In The Tale, is a collection of 12 short stories. Though, I felt that twists were a bit predictable but one cannot deny the fact that Archer’s writing is just kickass. The narration of each and every story was tight and one has to read each and every line with throughout attention. You miss out a point and the whole story goes for a toss for you.

The 12 stories presented in the book are as follows :

1. The Perfect Murder

2. Clean Sweep Ignatius

3. A La Carte

4. Not The Real Thing

5. Just Good Friends

6. The Steal

7. Colonel Bullfrog

8. Checkmate

9. The Wine Taster

10. A Chapter Of Accidents

11. The Loophole

12. Christina Rosenthal

Out of all the 12 stories, I thoroughly enjoyed reading 5 of them.

The Perfect Murder, because it was the first story and I had to read it 3 times to figure out what the twist was. Once I found it, I felt really dumb 

Not The Real Thing and Just Good Friends, for their narration.

Clean Sweep Ignatius, because corruption is the thing that we keep talking and blabbering about these days. I am talking about India.

“Christina Rosenthal” story touched my heart even though it has sad ending. Nice love story.

Pick this book up, if you are into reading short stories,  I can vouch, you won’t be disappointed.

One Summer - David Baldacci

Title : One Summer
Author : David Baldacci
Genre : Fiction
ISBN : 9780330533706
Pages : 368
Rating : 3/5
Publisher : PanMacmillan


This book came to me out of nowhere. I never ordered it and never intended to read it. But, I am glad I did that now. Though most of the people might not like with what this book has got to offer. It feels like you are reading a bollywood movie, where all izz well in the end. This was my first David Baldacci book who is known for his blockbuster thrillers. I think in future I am going to pick up one of his thrillers because I liked his writing. 

The story is about a man, Jack Armstrong, who is a war veteran and a happily married man. He is struggling with an unknown disease which doctors say is fatal and is gonna take his life away in a few months. Jack feels helpless and wants to make sure that before he dies, he must get closer to his three children and tell them how much he loves them. 

Lizzie, Jack's better half is a constant support for him and things fall when she dies in an accident. That's when Jack realises that how important it is for him to take the charge of his falling family and mend his relationship with his children and thats when the journey begins. 

I things that I couldn't comprehend that how Jack overcomes his disease miraculously and at times it felt like I am watching a Karan Johar movie, which has a tagline "It's all about loving your family". One thing is for sure that you would instantly feel connected to the emotions attached with the story and would not drop reading this one. The book becomes interesting towards the end and what I loved was Jack's letter given in the end of the book. 

A light read if you are traveling a long distance in a train or flight.