Maid In Singapore - Kishore Modak

Maid in Singapore, a tale based on true events, relives the bizarre and often troubling journey of a family consisting of an Indian woman and her British banker husband, forced to move to Singapore from their home in London. Their chemistry quickly turns acidic with the hiring of a maid who enters their web of carnal excesses, redefining the rest of their lives.

The blows dealt on each member are enough for any to give up, choosing actions that are shocking, as only true events can be.

Nimue Says :

Before I got this book, I read a review of the book on some blog and I was turned off a bit. If the book was really all about sex and that too a web of multiple partners sort , I certainly was apprehensive. when I started the book , the sex part came in quite early in the pages and I was beginning to feel uncomfortable. Maybe i am quite old fashioned in this regards, yet somehow I could not put the book down. The events were written so clearly and even if the language was sophisticated and simple , the flow of the book was inspiring.

The book is in three parts : Shame , acceptance , laughter. It is written in form of a journal by Rashmi starting from her move to Singapore with husband David and son Jay. It tells us of the maid Mary’s entry into her household and subsequent exit – the circumstances , the consequences and later in second part she tells about how she dealt with all this. Sometimes when we push a limit , or accept some one doing it , we forget that there is no turning back. How our actions affect the ones connected to us , we do not really comprehend. Human mind works in weird ways and often truth is far stranger than fiction. While I read this book, I felt myself connect to Rashmi at many of her thoughts and decisions.

The Last chapter is in another voice – of a lady Eve. For some reasons , that is my favorite part of the book. Where everyone sort of escapes the eyes and words of Rashmi and spoke for themselves.

I am not sure how to describe the book is mere words. This was a journey for me to understand that even in weirdest of events happening around you , all you need is to keep your head and heart clear. Communication is must in every relationship and no means is ever better than talking face to face.

I liked this strange tale.

True or not , I know such people do exist. And I feel for all of them.

Rating : 3.5/5

Yatin Says :

I really dont know from where to begin with. When I got the blurb about the book, I got a fair idea from its title that what it is going to be all about. Still, I thought, I should give it a shot. May be, the book can surprise in some way. So, I said yes to it. 

Kishore Modak, an engineer from NIT-K and MBA from IIM-A, has come up with a weird story with Maid In Singapore. Apparently, based on true events, the book is set up in Singapore, London and Philippines.

The book is divided into three parts, first two taken from the personal journal of Rashmi Kettlewood. Rashmi is an Indian, married to a britisher, David with a fourteen year old son Jay. David gets a job in Singapore and the family shifts their base from London to Singapore. They hire a house help Mary and then happens a series of indigestible events. David had this habit of making love to Rashmi in a perverse way, pointing a gun to Rashmi and making her do weird things. David's lust and desires overshot and one day Rashmi catches him making out with Mary and then unfolds a lot of weird things. Rashmi gets to know a lot of things and it opens a Pandora's box for her till the very end. 

Kishore Modak's writing has a flair, the vocabulary is good and the book just flows. But somewhere I couldn't connect with the story. It was too much to handle for me. Sex was the only thing that was driving the book is weird ways. If you will read the book, you would know. As it is said that the book is based on true events, I am just wondering how difficult would have been for the person to face such things. Just to encourage Modak's writing skills, I would say, give this book a shot. May be you find the story gripping. 

Book Source : Publisher
Publisher : Grapevine Publishers
Genre : Fiction
ISBN : 978-38-184-1235

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

This review is a part of the biggest Book Reviews Program. for Indian Bloggers. Participate now to get free books!

Not A Penny More, Not A Penny Less - Jeffrey Archer

I don't know whether I am doing justice to this book by writing its review and I don't even know whether it would be right for you to read this review. Its a Jeffrey Archer book, it has to be good. As simple as that. But just to satisfy my hunger to share my experience with this one, I am writing this review. 

The book was gifted to me by a dear friend and a person I respect. Initially she got me a box set of Ashwin Sanghi's all three books ( The Rozabal Line, Chanakya's Chant, The Krishna Key) as my birthday gift , but I had read them already, so I asked her if we can change it and she agreed. Then I picked up Not A Penny More, Not A Penny Less and Kane And Abel and I started off with the former. 

The tagline of the book says "Don't get mean, get even" and I totally believe in it. Harvey Metcalfe, a polish man living in America makes it big mostly through sly ways but he does make it really big. Then, he frames another plan to make more money and dupe people and he successfully manages to do that. He hires a person named David from US and sends him to London as a part of the company Prospecta Oil and spreads a rumour. A lot of people fall for this rumour and among them are Stephen, Jean-Pierre, James and Dr.Robin. All of them put in a lot of their hard earned money in Prospecta Oil's shares. 

Once they figure out what exactly has happened, Stephen takes the charge to get his money back and makes a plan and shares it with the other three and then begins a roller coaster ride of preparing and executing the plan prepared by Stephen and others to get their money back out of Harvey Metcalfe's pockets, obviously by crook ! ;-) 

The book is definitely a page turner and while I was reading it, I could very well figure out why it is still topping the charts among people who want to read good stories. I am not revealing anymore about the plot here! Give it a shot, the story will keep you on your toes. 

Book Source : Personal Copy

Publisher : Pan Books

ISBN : 9780330419048

Genre : Fiction

Meeting the LORD Himself - Jeffrey Archer !!!

Before I begin this one, I must must must thank Ravi Subramanian. What I experienced that day was all because of him, so it would be unfair if I begin the post without thanking him. He doesn't need any introduction. His latest book The Bankster is already topping the best sellers list.

And Jeffrey Archer needs no introduction. If you don't know him, I feel sad for you. He is THE best story teller according to me and I have grown up reading his books. Kane and Abel was the first book by him that I had read and trust me the book is still fresh in my mind.

Jeffrey Archer and Ravi Subramanian                               Photo Credits : Ravi Subramanian's Facebook Page

Jeffrey Archer and Ravi Subramanian we going to be in a single event at Jaipur and when I got to know about it, I was like there is no way, I am going to miss this one. But circumstances weren't favourable and then I decided to give it a miss. It was only because of Ravi, I could attend the event and the memories are forever etched on my mind. The arrangements he made for me were overwhelming. Who would have thought that I would get to see and hear Jeffrey Archer from the first row and that too in such a huge gathering. I couldn't even imagine about it but it was true.

I can quote each and every thing Jeffrey said during the event. Such a charmer he is. He talks as if he is telling a story. Shared many anecdotes and the way he narrated everything, I just kept on swooning and clapping throughout the event.

A lot of people asked him, how to write a good story? How to write a book? Can he train them in writing or all sorts of questions. He answered everything and was at his wittiest best. He told everyone, if you wish to write a book, GO OUT and do it. Why do you need inspiration, training or any sort of guidance. He didn't require any. He just started writing and look where he is today. He has sold over 30 million copies of his books and it is said that in every 5 seconds, a Jeffrey Archer book gets sold somewhere in the world.

He also read a story at the event, Death Speaks, which was the first story I had read in his book To Cut A Long Story Short.

Whatever he said was so inspiring, though it took some time for me to made all his words sink in my brain but now they have and trust me I can go on and on and on with this blog post because I have so many things to share but I won't do that.

I must put this here that Jeffrey was highly disgusted with the piracy of books and traffic in India. Both are the matters of huge concern. He always launches his books first in India because once he got to know that, when a book is released in any other part of the world, within 2 days, they were pirated and were being sold on the Indian streets, which is quite true.

The high point of the evening came for me, when I got a chance to get my books signed by him. He patiently signed all the 4 books that I was carrying with me. Here is one of them

And when I asked him if I could shake hands with him, in no time he agreed. It was definitely one of the most memorable moments of my life. I shook hands with Jeffrey, got my books signed, thanked Ravi and left the venue. The whole thing felt like a dream but it was true. I do not have many pictures of the event, but if you wish to have a look at them, you can see them here on Ravi Subrmanian's facebook page. Must say, the event was well managed, Marriot as venue and a huge gathering of people who love Jeffrey Archer, he got a standing ovation at the end of the conversation. He loves India because people are warm and caring and offer selfless love. He was overwhelmed with the kind of love and appreciation that he has got from his fans in India.

I am eagerly waiting for his next book from The Clifton Chronicles series, Best Kept Secrets which would be out on 14th March 2013 and if you haven't read a Jeffrey Archer book yet, trust me, you are missing out something. Buy a book today and start reading.

Drop Dead - Swati Kaushal

It took me quite some time to finish this time and I would like to blame it to the things I am dealing with currently. Too much work pressure, travelling and too much running around. I am only getting an hour or two daily to read. Drop Dead by Swati Kaushal is a well thought story with interesting characterisation and series of events.

Swati Kaushal, the author has penned down two books previously named Piece of Cake & A Girl Like me. Drop Dead begins with the a death, death of Rakesh Mehta known as Rak who is the CEO of Indigo, a leading publishing house of India. Rak had an high held ego and people working at Indigo were not actually fond of him. His colleagues, Adit Bhatnagar, Meher, Rina, Pawan, Manav Luthra hated him for some or the other reason. Niki Marwah, the protagonist of the book is the superintendent of Police and with her efficient team of police officers having ACP Shankar Sahay, Inspector Pande and Gupta took charge of the case. Also, it was Niki Marwah's Daadi's 80th birthday and her family kept on bothering all the time because they thought she would be attending the celebrations as she is busy solving the case.

A lot of other characters get introduced as the story progresses. Each one of them having a significant role in the story. The only thing I disliked about the book is the length of it but I must also point out that I couldn't figure out who the murderer was till the very end of the book.

Swati Kaushal surely knows how to twist the story and keep it moving swiftly from one character to another and the same goes for the plot. Thumbs up for Swati Kaushal's Drop Dead and if you like reading women centric stories, then pick this book up.

Book Source : Publisher
Publisher : Hachette India
ISBN : 978-93-5009-449-5
Genre : Thriller, Fiction

The Eye Of The Predator - Abhisar Sharma

Abhisar Sharma's latest book The Edge Of Machete is already creating buzz in the reading circuit. When it dropped at my doorstep for review, I did a bit of googling to know about the author and when I got to know that it  is the second book of trilogy named The Taliban Conundrum, I decided to pick up the first book of the trilogy which is The Eye Of The Predator. Though, both these books are not interlinked in anyway, but if they are a part of any series, I try and read all of them. 

The Eye Of The Predator has a tight plot. The book just flows from one plot to another. A nicely woven plot with twists and turns and betrayal. Baitullah Mehsud, the leader of the terrorist group Tehreek-e-Taliban is trying hard to make a strong mark on Pakistan but Baitullah gets killed in the most insane way. With the untimely death of Baitullah, a lot of people try too hard to get a hold of his position as the leader of Tehreek-e-Taliban. Too many meetings, discussions, arguments and planning goes among a lot of people including confidantes of Baitullah and people who had sheer disliking for him. Also, Afghanistan and United States involvement in rooting out Baitullah creates a lot of fuss and things go for a toss. 

The book has a tight plot but what was tough for me was to remember the names of the characters. At times I used to get confused because to keep a track of so many long names becomes tough, but that doesn't take away the flair and power of Abhisar Sharma's writing. The Eye Of The Predator is a dark thriller and you already know what is going to happen in the end but if you enjoy such books, give it a shot. You might like it. 

Book Source : Personal Copy
Publisher : Hachette India
Genre : Fiction, Thriller
ISBN : 978-93-5009-074-9 

Shades of Love ( Anthology of stories edited by Ankit Mittal)

Reviewed by Nimue, Yatin and UCV

UCV Says - 


The last time I read an anthology was during my BA days, when hours would be spent trying to thrash a Keating or a Chekov into submitting all interpretations of their work in the Lit. class. I think it was the nostalgia that prompted me to accept a review copy of 'Shades of Love', despite my professed fatigue of reading Indian English writing. Also, the endless intrigue of love pushed me further. Thankfully, it wasn't a bad pick.

Edited by Ankit Mittal (who needs to find a better proofreader, considering the number of errors I spotted), 'Shades of Love' is a collection of short love stories by Indian authors, known and unknown. Some names I was familiar with; Sachin Garg, Naman Kapur, Aastha Atray Banan and Rohit Gore among them. The other new names, were as good, if not better, than the published crop. Mittal needs to be credited for making mostly poignant choices, reflecting indeed the many shades of love in this anthology. However, some stories are entirely forgettable.

I shall recall, here, the most unforgettable ones.

'A Pop Tart's Psychotic Love Story' by Aastha Atray Banan with its 'LOOK AT ME!' title, also has the meat to go with it. We have the story of a girl, unable to forget the lover who has ditched her, pushed to the threshold of madness. She will do what it takes to have him back, even if it means to kill him or his present girlfriend. When she finally walks up to the ex's house, all guns blazing, she is met with a rather unexpected turn of events...

'A Hero Greater Than Shahrukh Khan' by Rohit Gore has a cheesy title (Gore has a penchant for those), but is deserving of mention because of its tenderness. Caught in Mumbai's infamous deluge, an underdog becomes his family's hero; winning love at the cost of his life.

'Stolen' by Naman Kapur is a sharp little story about love between two equals - in crime and in bed. A pickpocket zooms into a target, sparks fly, and the one out to steal is stolen from. Fun.

Apart from these, 'The Remedy' by Sachin Garg, and 'She Called It, Kikugasane' by Tushar Rai are also fair reads.

However, Durjoy Datta's 'The English Teacher' is the most remarkable and shocking story of the whole lot, about an obsessive love, and that's all I am going to say about it for fear of ruining it for a reader. If you need a reason to buy this book, buy it for Datta's story. Yes, ignore the horrible paper quality of the book, ignore the lame stories, even ignore the choice of font on the book cover. Read Datta's story and ask Grapevine India to rope him in to write a novel that would stick to a reader's mind forever.

Rating - 2.5/5

Nimue Says -

Short stories never disappoint me *much*. I feel even a  single gem that stays with you forever , makes a book worthy.Shades of Love is of 25 short stories but shades of love are many in each story.The book cover is a real beauty with definitely many shades of red and pink in it ( goes with the book name :D )

There are stories for all age groups ( since love has no age right ! ) , settings and moods.
Love happens all the time. Every one has a love story to share and the ones listed here are some really unique ones. A married man finds love right before he dies , two people find love when they are not even searching for it. A wife tries to understand infidelity , a lady returns beyond death to her love , a girl re thinks her decision to marry on her wedding day. Each plot is different , each mood is different. Every emotion and character living it is different. and yet , you find yourself relating to so many of them even in bits and pieces. some of the stories impressed a lot with unique plot , some with poetic writing and some  for just showing love in impossible shade maybe.I dint like a few stories that sort of sounded predictable to me. Also the writing was bit not as good as some others. But then, that's the beauty of a story collection. 


I am always a biased reader when it comes to story collection. Though I will not point out the ones I didn't like , I damn sure tell you of the ones I liked. The one story that totally caught me into its web of words and images was "She called it,Kikugasane". I have read and retold it to my best friend and  every time I can feel the power and magical feeling of Love surrounding me as I finish this.

As Ankit Mittal says , "There are always stories to tell and interpretations to extract." , This book sure will take you to a journey of exploration of not just the words but feelings in your life.

Having said all this about the stories and the writing , I want to add that the pages of the book I received were a let down. The beautiful cover doesn't open into crisp fresh pages but to dull grey ones. I personally didn't like that though I did enjoy reading the book.

Rating : 4/5


Yatin Speaks -

Shades Of Love dropped in this afternoon. It is a collection of short stories edited by Ankit Mittal and Grapevine Publisher's first anthology. Honestly, I am not a person who likes reading short stories. I have tried reading them a couple of times but by the time my interest starts developing in a story, it ends. But, with Shades Of Love, the case was different. I read each and every story. Though, I skipped 4 stories because I couldn't relate to them.

The title of the book is so apt because the book shows some 25 shades of love through 25 different stories. Every story is unique in its own way. There is infidelity, psycho behaviour, secret love, lust, dark desires, genuine love, lost love and many other shades. Also, I would want to point out the forward of this book written by the editor, Ankit Mittal. It says, "Love is the most complex, perplexing, phenomenon one can ever encounter, spanning the most insipid to dark emotions known to man" and this line comes true through this book.

It would be unfair of me to my favourite story from the whole collection because every story represents a different character of love. I am impressed with the way new budding writers are coming in and Grapevine is giving them platform. Though, honestly, I was a bit disappointed when the book started with a man and woman making out. But, towards the end, the story took such a turn that left me aghast. The list of people whose stories have been published in the book is as follows

All and all, Shades Of Love is a book that you would want to pick up if you want to see the different extremes of the most complex term known to the mankind, LOVE. Try it out. You might like it.

Publisher: Grapevine 
ISBN: 9789381841143 
Pages: 240
Editor: Ankit Mittal

Open - Andre Agassi

Open, though its a popular book about world's best tennis player but I first got to hear about it from Delhi Book Club's Facebook group. The book's cover as you can see features Andre Agassi. His eyes look as if they are dying to tell hundreds of stories and he does that in his autobiography. I got this book as a birthday gift from one of my twitter friends, Renu ( @Thodi_c_crazy ) with two other books, thanks to Uread.com ! :P 

Open opens with a shocking fact about Agassi, that he actually hated tennis, why ? Well, you would know about it in the first 2 chapters of the book. It was a heart breaking fact for me. I remember, when he used to play, my dad used to stick to TV during the matches and he used to pray Agassi's style of playing tennis like anything also when he got retired, dad stopped watching tennis! :) 

The book opens with Agassi gearing up for the last match of his career. In extreme pain and myriad of thoughts occupying his mind, his journey from his hotel room to the court, he explains it with such intricate details that you are instantly hooked to the book. His style of writing and the way he has expressed what used to feel in those times makes you feel sad about him. Though, I like one of the quote from the book which I would like to share here 

"Stop Thinking and Start Doing, If You Are Thinking Too Much, You Are Not Doing Anything"

 which is the rule I follow in my own life. I don't think much. I believe in doing and learning ! :) 

Also, the book teaches you a lot about life. Agassi, despite of  hating the game of tennis, seeing its highs and lows, still marvels at it. That is something I really admire about him. His rage, his attitude and his thought process is something that is forever etched on my mind after reading this. Extremely focussed in his own way, fighting with his mind and heart constantly, he achieved what his father had always wanted. I really don't know how to put this across, but I think one must read this book just to understand that how is it like hating something that you do for a living and still excel at it. 

Agassi's journey with people around him and how he treasured and dealt with them is something to look out for. The way his brother supported him, his mother, always calm and composed took care of him, his friend Perri, his coaches, his opponents and many other people, he has given all the details about each and every one of them. I absolutely loved this book and I might read it again in future. Also, I have made a pact with myself that weekends would be kept for biographies and autobiographies. They teach you a lot and give you thousands of thoughts to introspect on. Open is a MUST READ for all those people who love tennis and Andre Agassi. Pick this book as soon as possible.

Book Source : Personal Copy
Publisher : Harper Collins
Genre : Autobiography
ISBN : 978-0-00-741679-0 

Who Let The Dork Out? - Sidin Vadukut

The Dork Series or The Epic Saga Of Robin "Einstein" Varghese, what should I begin with ? ROFLMAO is an understatement for Sidin Vadukut's new book "Who Let The Dork Out?". Right from the beginning, the protagonist of The Dork Series has successfully managed to leave me in splits during each chapter and that too several times. I remember, it was because of a friend's suggestion that I picked up God Save The Dork, and ended up recommending it to a lot of people. I still remember that Vietnam episode in that book while Robin addresses a conference. Such a LMAO description it was. Who Let The Dork Out? is no less to say the least.

This time, Robin Varghese is sent to India to oversee and Allied Victory Games 2010. The whole plot is inspired from the Commonwealth Games Delhi chaos and has been represented in a hilarious way. As usual, the preparations were much behind the schedule, politicians trying to outdo each other in scams, government officials going berserk and media is busy creating a shit storm out of everything and nothing. The Prime Minister Of India asks for someone to oversee the preparations for the games and thats when Lederman the company for which Robin "Einstein" Varghese works steps in and hence inspiring Robin to talk to his diary endlessly.

Along with that, Robin pours his heart out about his relationship with Gouri, work, and all that crappy jazz that happens on day to day basis in his life.

Sidin Vadukut surely knows how to catch the right nerve of the reader. Throughout the book, you would keep grinning from ear to ear and at some points I burst out laughing and scaring my sister who is preparing for her exams these days. Dork, God Save The Dork and Who Let The Dork Out, all three of these books are highly entertaining and takes you to a different world altogether. Try them out over a weekend. I am sure, it would be a happy weekend. :D

Book Source : Personal Copy
Publisher : Penguin Books
Genre : Fiction, Humour
ISBN : 978-0-143-41409-4

The Bottom Line - Sonu V C

I am not much of a fan of self help and philosophy books to be honest. I would not pick a self help book if given a choice, but if a book of this genre comes for review, I never say no to it. Sonu V C got in touch with me through a common friend and asked me if I can read and review his book and in no time I said yes. He gave me a brief about the book over phone and sent the book in a couple of days. 

The Bottom Line, is not a guidebook or it is not going to help you in any way. The book is written to understand the mere existence of your life and "Why" you should do things and "Why" you shouldn't. A lot of self help books tell people how and what about life and various other things but The Bottom Line focuses on "Why" part of things which most of us miss out on pondering over. This is the debut book of the author and Sonu being a novice has focussed on the key points of basic philosophies of life in a short, simple and straight forward way. 

The book is of 104 pages and is divided into 4 sections. My favourite part of the book is section 3 and section 4 namely Practical Line and Bottom Line respectively. People often say that they are practical, they know how things work, they have seen the world, but trust me those who say this, they have no clue what they are talking about. The author has kind of managed to give you an insight about what practicality is all about. 

Section 4 of the book, Bottom Line, is further divided into four parts namely, what is in our control ?, love and forgiveness, strong value system and selfless life. Each of the four sections give you a lot of food for thought. The book has been written keeping in mind that it won't solve your problems related to life. Life is a concept that one cannot understand on the whole but there are tits and bits of it, if you introspect can be resolved and broken down into various small things which can be resolved easily.

Overall, I liked the book. I felt that there could have been more examples to explain things mentioned in the book, but considering the fact that it is author's first book, I would not highlight more things. Give it a shot.

Book Source : Author
Publisher : World Book Company
Genre : Self Help/Philosophy
ISBN : 978-93-82417-19-4 

The Bankster - Ravi Subramanian

Reviewed by Yatin, Blahblaholic and Swarnali

Publisher : Rupa Publications

ISBN : 978-81-291-2048-9

Genre : Thriller , Fiction

Price:  Rs 250

Find the author at :

Website: http://www.ravisubramanian.in/index.asp

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Authorravisubramanian

Twitter: https://twitter.com/SubramanianRavi

Slideshare: http://www.slideshare.net/authorravisubramanian

Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/AuthorRavi

~ Summary ~

Back Cover

In  Angola, a covert CIA agent is about to exchange weapons for blood diamonds.

In Kerala, an elderly man will do whatever it takes to fulfill a promise made to a dying son.

In Mumbai, an international bank is stunned by the mysterious deaths of its key employees.

It begins in Angola, as a man exchanges weapons for the infamous blood diamonds of Africa.

In Kerala, the head of a family is accused of a crime he says he didn't commit.

And in Mumbai, the GB2 Bank are losing their key employees in a row ..

~  Excerpt ~

"Why blame him? You are allowing yourself to be used. While I have nothing against the protest and I am with you in this cause, you got carried away by the fact that this was making you famous in your neighborhood. "

~  Blahblaholic's Review ~

This is one of those books that you just CAN NOT put down once you start reading it!

There are three parallel plots running together, as you read each chapter, your mind darts from here to there and back again.

It is a legit page turner, which keeps you hooked.

The background is banking but the author here, manages to not use terms which would completely confuse and put a reader off. All the banking terms used are explained, and not in dumbed down, just-so-you-understand-way.

Along the story, you feel bad about Arvind and Laila, and more so, with Arvind's father Krishna.
You realize how cosmetic appearances go a LONG way, and not always for the good. You read about the insecurity and I could actually see it playing in my head as Harshita started to fall apart.

Wherever you go, from banks to corporate offices, there always are these basic problems that arise, and they will continue to arise, because yes, we have computers, and yes, we have brilliant advanced technology, but a human operates them at the end of the day.
Greed, lust, thirst for power, jealously, betrayal .. These are but basic human emotions!

When I read the withdrawal email (page 128) , I felt so bad for him.
It reminded me of those times when I was forced to apologize, when you're not really at fault, but you just HAVE to, and it is embarrassing and humiliating, but one's gotta do what one's gotta do eh?

There are moments when you are insulted, and then there are moments when you are just numb as you realize all you ever were, is a pawn. You try and plan this mega move, but you fail, miserably, and the way the author has depicted all of this, including the wife's dialogues as she tries to console and talk to her husband, I found it very realistic and beautiful.

One of the parts I liked the best, were related to the post mortem and the tides thing. It was right there in front of everyone, but they couldn't guess it. It was very probable, and it reminded me of Hermione in DH as she said that she wasn't super intelligent, just really precise and perspective.

Not for a moment during reading of the book can you guess the ending, as i starts falling apart piece by piece, I went all, "Really?! I never would have guessed that!"
Quite honestly, the culprits were a shock to me! One of them, I detested since the start, but the way they conducted it, it was quite an interesting read!
The best part about this book is that it isn't drab for a moment, there are so many things happening simultaneously that will scream for your attention.

~ Final Verdict ~

4/5

It is an exceptionally well woven book,
Because once you start reading this book, these 358 pages will literally fly by!

  Yatin Says :

Long back, when I was studying, I borrowed this book from a friend, "If God Was A Banker", the title was intriguing and my friend was praising the book too much, so I picked it up. Absolutely loved the book, recommended it as well to a lot of people. Post that, I never really kept a track of Ravi Subramanian's books, in fact, to be honest, I had no clue that the Ravi Subramanian who started following me on twitter around a month back is an author, till I checked his bio.

I never really thought in my wildest dreams that I would actually get to meet Ravi, he was in Delhi recently and I got to meet him as well, my first one on one meet up with any author and he gave me a signed copy of his latest book that has got released on 19th October. Here is the pic of it, just to make reader of this post a bit jealous ! :P 

Enough anecdotes now, lets get to The Bankster now. Honestly, there are very few thrillers that I have read in which you are not able to spot who is the real culprit, the same is the case with The Bankster. An absolute page turner, spread over 358 pages, 47 chapters, that would definitely make you bite your nails. I started reading it last night after meeting the author who has just been awarded with a popular choice award for his previous book "The Incredible Banker". 

The book opens with a man who lands up at Angola. There he strikes a deal in which he exchanges weapons for the world famous blood diamonds of Africa. Then the plot shifts to a family in Kerala, the head of the family accused for a crime that he hasn't committed. The person is concerned about a social cause and with all his honesty and sincerity he is backing up the cause till some opportunists get involved with the whole thing and things take an ugly turn. A parallel plot runs in Mumbai at the GB2 bank, where their key employees get murdered one after the another, but every murder was presented as if those people have died in accidents and a suicide in one case. 

I could hardly relate all these parallel plots, but the way they have been weaved together as the book progresses turned out to be complete shocker for me. The Bankster has definitely got all the elements of a best seller for sure and I would not be surprised if we get to see it in the best sellers list in the next coming weeks. The author knows how to keep the reader on his toes till the end and everyone who has read any of Ravi Subramanian's books knows about his writing style. There is too much of banking involved, but it never creates any headache for the reader. The language is simple and you don't need to refer to dictionary as well ! :D 

I am now looking forward to read "The Incredible Banker" as well and I think I am also gonna pick the rest of the books written by him pretty soon and for you who has read this post, go pick up the book. You would thoroughly enjoy it ! :) 

Swarnali Speaks : 

This is one book I heard a lot about ever since it was on the stands and I had almost planned to buy it when I saw it on Blogadda's review programs. 220 copies for the much awaited The Bankster were available and I'm pretty sure almost everyone who had applied for the book must have received a copy. :P

The book is worth the wait and is a complete page turner. What I loved best about the book is the fact that the author has done a brilliant job in withholding the suspense till the very last. There are moments when you think you've got the whole thing figured in your head but then a totally unexpected twist to the tale makes you realise that you've been digging in all the wrong places till now. The end is completely unpredictable. The entire book can be summed up as a jigsaw puzzle with all small pieces scattered here and there and you cannot make out which piece fits where until the author takes you by the hand and connects the dots and you are left with a sense of awe.

The author efficiently uses his banking background to his advantage in the setting of the book. The language is pretty simple but the book does contain a few banking jargon spluttered here and there but that doesn't act as a hindrance to the reading process. The book begins in Angola’s alluvial diamond mines and then the scenes keep seamlessly shifting from there to Devikulam in Kerala to Mumbai and to Vienna. I loved the wonderfully detailed descriptions of the setting which made the whole reading process feel like a movie watching experience. Despite the skips from one location to another, the reader does not feel a sense of fragmentation which is a big plus point for the book. The first few pages are a tad bit slow as the settings and characters are slowly established. I was in fact pretty puzzled trying to figure exactly what was happening and how all these different incidents happening at seemingly unrelated places relate to the main plot that is the deaths of the employees at the bank as mentioned in the blurb at the back. The protagonist of the book, Karan Panjabi arrives pretty late in the book and has a very casual entry and all of a sudden the book begins to move at a neck breaking speed.

The book was a pleasant read apart from a few minor issues here and there. There are a few typographical errors which were missed during the proof reading process. Another problem I found was with the usage of a few Hindi terms in the dialogues and a few direct and literal translations of Hindi terms and phrases into English. The use of colloquial language does make the story feel more believable and real but it obstructs the complete understanding of the connotations for a non-Hindi understanding reader.

I would definitely recommend the book to all readers who love fast moving thriller plots.

 Swarnali's Rating : 4/5