Sesishi Yokomizo's The Inugami Curse

 

Thanks to the overnight success of the English Translations of kiego Higashino, many forgotten classics from Japanese Mystery have started finding their way to global readers. The efforts of  Pushkin Vertigo in reviving many of the forgotten Japanese classic murder mysteries and presenting them to bibliophiles worldwide are also worth mentioning.

Since this one is a mystery, and I don't wish to spoil the fun for those who are yet to read it, I am not going much into the plot details. But if you ask me to brief a bit, here it is- The story is set in the 40 s, the wealthy head of the Inugami clan has just died, and his family is eagerly waiting for the reading of his will. But a series of bizarre, graphic murders ensue, and how these all are connected with Inugami's will and his past is what the Novel is about.

Though this work is almost 82+ years old, it has to be noted that it hasn't become outdated. The twists and turns feel fresh, and not even during the narrative can the reader feel that the whole story is happening in an era where mobile phones and modern gizmos were unheard of. It is also recalled that even though this work was written a long time ago, that hasn't given way to any jarring plotholes in the narrative. Though I have had this book with me for almost a year now, I had so far refrained from picking it up to read as I had anticipated this one to be a confusing mystery. Still, I am glad this one ended up as a pretty straightforward, engaging Mystery for me. Special thanks to the Publishers for including the character list upfront so those who might find it difficult to follow the character names can use this as a ready reckoner. The translation is quite good, and special mention the efforts taken by Yumiko Yamazaki for making this an enjoyable read for present-day readers. The backdrop of the War and Japanese tradition also comes across nicely in the Novel.

On the downside, I found the climax revelation slightly underwhelming. Agreed, all the loose ends have been tied up, but still, the villain's identity didn't come as a shocker to me.

Overall, The Inugami Curse by Seishi Yokomizo, Published by Pushkin Vertigo, is engaging. If you love Mystery thrillers, you should try this one.

-nikhimenon

 

Ultra Short Review: Harlan Coben's 'Missing You'

 ‘Missing You’ is a stand alone Novel by Harlan Coben which first came out almost eight years back. The protagonist, Kat Donovan is a forty something NYPD detective who has a past. She had to call off her engagement with Jeff, the love of her life almost eighteen years back. Now, she stumbles across his profile in an online dating site only to find out that he is no longer interested in her.

In a parallel track, in the quest to find out the truth behind her father’s homicide, she gets to know that someone very close to her might have had a role to play in his death. As she is battling her own demons, she gets a call from a troubled teenager asking for help. His mother has suddenly disappeared with a man whom he thinks is a scamster. How Kat finds out the mystery behind all these seemingly disconnected events and how it impscts her otherwise troubled life is all this book is about.

Like Coben’s other stand alone works, Missing You is also an absolute page turner. There are twists happening at regular intervals and the moment you think that you have figured it out all, the master story teller pulls the rug from under your feet. The characters are real and relatable and I liked the gentle references to Windsor Lockwood somewhere in the narrative. Kat Donovan is a likeable character and her ambitions and apprehensions feels genuine. The track involving the scamsters was also decently done.

On the whole, Missing You is an intriguing thriller.  

-nikhimenon

Stephen King's ' The Colorado King'

 

Colorado Kid is a Stephen King Novel that first came out in 2004 and has been out of print for the last decade. Published under the Hard Case Crime imprint by Winterfall LLC (in association with Titan Books), this one is a fast-paced mystery read which can be devoured in one sitting.

On an island off the coast of Maine, a man is found dead. Though seemingly a case of choking, there is no body identification, and the local investigators never cared much about the case either. A pair of local newspaper journalists and a graduate of Forensic Science take up the investigation and try to find out the truth behind the death.

This Stephen King Novel works to a considerable extent as a neatly written mystery. Colorado Kid is not your conventional police procedural, as the focus here is mainly on the identity of the victim and the reason for his mysterious appearance on Maine Island. The interactions between the principal characters, I believe, are the highlight of this book. Though a mystery thriller, the writer gets due credit for not making this too dark. Written in a light-hearted tone, the novel also takes a satirical look at the tabloid culture and police apathy. The book also has underlying themes of discrimination, high-handedness of investigators, investigative journalism, tabloid culture, and life in the 80 s. I liked how the author managed to throw little clues at regular intervals  (the pack of cigarettes with the stamp, the Russian Coin ), slowly unraveling the mystery. The climax is also decently done.

On the downside, the book takes its own sweet little time to arrive at the main plot as the initial pages are mostly spent introducing to the readers the news staff of The Weekly Islander and their new intern Stephanie and her deduction skills. As mentioned earlier, the initial few pages feel a bit off as a lot of time is spent establishing the setting. Also, there might be mixed feelings for those looking for a straight forward climax.

This new edition published in 2019 is also an illustrated one, and I must say that it did help in making it an enjoyable reading experience.

The fans of the author would relish this one!

-nikhimenon

 

Book Review(Regional): Mini P.C's Devil Tattoo

 

Malayalam Crime Fiction is going through a golden period now. Gone are the days when crime Fiction writing was looked down by mainstream critics and publishers. More young writers and publishers are not only coming up with their titles; the better works among them are also getting lapped up by the readers. Mini P.C's Devil Tattoo from Mathrubhumi Books is a crime thriller novel set in the backdrop of West Kochi and the thriving tattoo artists residing there.

Kasim is the personal Chef of Ronaldo Douglas, the dreaded Don of South Goa. The latter is hugely fond of Kasim's Naadan dishes, and as the adage goes, he has found his way into Don's inner circle through the excellent meals he cooks for him. But things go wrong when his sons go missing, and the Don has every reason to believe that Kasim is in some way connected to their disappearance. Left with no other choice, Kasim runs off to West Kochi and finds his hideout in West Kochi with the help of his old friend Vincent. In West Kochi, Kasim finds company in Pranchi, Veroni, Ann Lucy, and life slowly settling down for him, but soon a series of mysterious deaths get reported from the town. Grossly disfigured bodies get piling up, and the local Inspector Ravi starts investigating the case. With Kasim and the events surrounding him and the seeming act of a serial-killer happening in what appears as two parallel tracks in the beginning, as the story progresses, twists are thrown in at regular intervals making the reader question the real identity of each character. Who is Kasim? Who is the 'serial killer on the loose? Why are the victim's bodies mutilated with mysterious tattoos on their torso?

Unlike some of the recent Contemporary crime thrillers in Malayalam, which only focus on delivering instant shocks and surprises, Devil Tattoo has a solid story of revenge and redemption to narrate. The language though pretty simple, has a literary flavor and might appeal to those who are also looking for some degree of academic quality. The world and the characters that Mini P.C builds in are so lively and set on a vast canvas. The dark underbelly of the Tatoo Industry has been touched upon, though a bit topically, in this Novel. The characters, be it Paulettan, Veroni, or Hena, are tangible yet believable. The culture and life at West Kochi also become an integral part of the narrative. Though the book's cover page indicates that this one is a "crime thriller," which it certainly is, I must say that it is much more than that. Devil Tattoo is the story of a few hapless people, their troubles past, and their efforts to seek redemption.

On the downside, I felt that at 240+ pages, the book is a tad too long for a crime thriller. Towards the beginning, the writer seems to spend too much time narrating the backstories of every character who comes into the picture. Some of it could have been quickly done away with. Also, the investigation part is underwhelming, with the principal investigator, Ravi, not adding much to the story. The climax also felt a bit clunky, with too many things happening in a pretty short period.

On the whole, Devil Tatoo is an engaging read.You won’t regret buying this one!

-nikhi menon

The Perfect Wife by J.P Delaney

 

Anthony Capella's 'The Girl Before' was kind of an okayish read for me. So, I picked up this book with mixed expectations and after finishing the read, I am left with pretty much similar feelings.

Tim Scott, the brain behind Scott Robotics has just lost his beloved wife Abbie to an accident. The loving husband that he is, he cannot get over her memories and decides to create a robot (cobot) which looks just like her. The robot  has Artificial Intelligence and it can also think and behave like Abbie Scott. Dany is Tim's Autistic son and has his own share of issues. However, the cobot Abbie soon realises that something is just not right and Tim is hiding something from her. Will Abbie-the cobot be able to unravel the mysteries revolving around Tim Scott is what the plot is all about.

The book has got a pretty novel and interesting premise. The writing is quite fast paced and manages to hold the reader's attention. The book does touches upon issues like Artifical Intelligence, parenting and issues faced by Austic children (full marks for it).The premise is fresh and innovative. There are twists happening and regular intervals but the problem is as the plot unfolds, the twists become far and few in between. The constant shifts between the past and the present becomes irritating after a point and often confuses the reader. At 400+ pages, the book is quite overlong and becomes monotonous after a point.The climactic suspense was quite predictable.

On the whole, I am giving this one a 2.75 out of 5.

-nikhimenon

#BookReview: Ground Rules by Richard Whittle

Ground Rules by Richard Whittle
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Called out one night in the hope that she can identify the body of a man found in a field, Edinburgh forensic geologist Jessica Spargo (Jez) inadvertently becomes involved in the investigation of a university lecturer's murder. The investigating officer, Tom Curtis, hands her a small glass vial and asks her to analyze its contents. The results confound everyone.
An object discovered beneath a construction site shocks everyone, including the police. Employed by the firm's owner to attempt to solve the mystery, Jez falls foul of an uncooperative site manager. Unruffled, she perseveres. To Jez's dismay, there are more deaths. As she says to Curtis, 'I don't do bodies. I'm a geologist, I look at rocks. If I'd wanted to look at bits of the body I would have become a surgeon or a pathologist.' Yet she keeps digging ...

Review: One of the reasons I wanted to read this book was that the subject matter was quite intriguing and very unique. The book shows author's knowledge of the same quite clearly. I had some trouble getting into the story in the beginning when we have a lot of geological information is discussed by the characters. It can make one think that the story might be too detail-oriented to follow easily. Please do not let go of the story so soon because things do get smoother and the characters take over the plot to make it more engaging. There are different kinds of investigation going on within the story - police procedure, geological explorations, adventures based on old maps and such. 

I also struggled a little with very little background on Jez & Curtis. In fact, theirs was quite a hot & cold sort of relationship which I found a little inconsistent. From this book I wished I would have liked a little more light on the first case where they met because of Jez's father [ which I realized is a prior book by the author and I am equally intrigued to read it now ]

But once I had crossed the part where both the cases are revealed and Jez is involved, I followed her investigation and her questions closely. It was fascinating to know that ground we see or walk on daily has so much going on below it and how it was like an integral character to the storyline. Jez might appear as a little arrogant but hats off to her for having the patience to deal with all the men around her with their personal bias and attitudes. She is curious, hard-working, respectful of others but she also very humane in showing her weakness when she refuses to handle bones and such stuff or think of dead bodies in any situation. This made me bond with her more because none of it stops her sense of justice and fighting for the victim. She is not perfect but is a damn admirable female lead and I would like to read more of her series.

I liked all the secondary characters in the book but I totally loved Jez's old colleague Andy. I wish he appears more in other books of Jez & Curtis and plays a bigger role in the investigation with his internet friends. Also, can we please have more of Cavendish working with Jez than Curtis. Cavendish sounded a fun police guy from this book. 

Overall, this was an enjoyable read for me as an introduction to Jez's world. 


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Review: Deadly Waters A Detective Jane Phillips Novel by O M J Ryan

Deadly Waters A Detective Jane Phillips Novel by O.M.J. Ryan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Several young women have recently drowned in Manchester’s vast network of canals. A coincidence? Or something more sinister?
When star detective DCI Jane Phillips begins to investigate, her finely tuned instinct tells her these are no accidents. And when she discovers that each of the drowned women has a mysterious circular bruise on the back of her neck, Phillips is sure of it -- she’s up against a very clever serial killer.
But how are the victims being chosen? And who will be next?
With the body count rising, Phillips and her team find themselves in a fight to the death with a shadowy figure who always seems to be one step ahead.
Can Phillips stop the killer before the next victim dies? Or will she herself become an offering to Manchester’s deadly waters?

For most of the crime thrillers, the lead investigative officer and the team dynamics are the deciding factors for me in liking a book/series. This is the third book in the Detective Jane Phillips series but it can be read as a stand-alone. As the blurb says, it revolves around multiple killings of young women with similar life history & profile - something that Jane Phillips refuses to consider a mere coincidence from the get-go.

Her feelings and efforts to find answers and justice for the women was really inspiring. She is a likeable leader and the respect she gets from her team is admirable and looks very well earned. Every character, though new to the reader is fleshed appropriately so one gets comfortable with the story. the story proceeds in a logical manner and even a little cryptic, it never gets confusing.  Any time I thought I had the plot figured, the author threw a twist in the story. The book kept me hooked until the very last page.

There is not even a little detail placed unnecessarily or left unexplained in the end.   I spent the whole afternoon on finishing the last 40 per cent of the book in a single sitting. I enjoyed this police investigative thriller a lot. I am looking forward to reading the previous books having Jane Phillips as the lead now.

I would recommend this book to anyone who does not prefer much violence in their crime thriller books and a very good female lead. 

Hailing from Yorkshire, OMJ Ryan worked in radio and entertainment for over twenty years,
collaborating with household names and accumulating a host of international writing and radio awards.

In 2018 he followed his passion to become a full-time novelist, writing stories for people who devour exciting,
fast-paced thrillers by the pool, on their commute – or those rare moments of downtime before bed.
Owen’s mission is to entertain from the first page to the last. 
DEADLY WATERS will be his third novel published with Inkubator Books. 

Social Media:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/OMJRYAN1 @OMJRYAN1

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OMJ-Ryan-2449880305025779/

Website: https://www.omjryan.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/omjryan/

Purchase Links:

Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/Deadly-Waters-thriller-Detective-Phillips-ebook/dp/B0852PXLBY/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=deadly+waters+by+OMJ+Ryan&qid=1583327466&sr=8-1

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Pradhamadrishtya-Malayalam Crime Thriller: Update

I'm really glad to share the latest update of the upcoming Thriller , 'Pradhamadrishtya' here.The latest teasers of the book have just got released.There has been a positive buzz about the book all around.Thank you all, for the support.Book is being published by greenbooks,india.It is expected to come out by early March, this year.

Thanks and regards

#alexmorrisiscoming#

-nikhimenon

Book Teaser: Malayalam Thriller Novel 'Pradhamadrishtya'

Presenting the teaser of my debut Novel. Please do support. A lot of effort and a lot of struggle have gone into this.

Thanking the almighty for giving the strength to complete this work.

-nikhimenon

#PratsReads Reading Wrap up : November 2019

So, I am once again trying to do a wrap up of my reading adventures on a monthly basis. This will cover all books that I have not reviewed in detail ( and might never do ) or ones I re-read and I have any new thoughts on the same. So here is the list for Nov 2019 [ Review posts from the blog linked ] - 

People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks - Historical fiction | 5 star | Story of a Jew Prayer manuscript passed and saved from destruction over centuries.

You beneath Your Skin by Damyanti Biswas - Indian thriller | 4 star | story of an investigation into a series of murders in Delhi involving a psychologist and a police officer and their families. 

The treasure syndicate by Jatin - Indian mythological thriller | 4 star | A group of five men seeking a treasure buried centuries ago for using it for the benefit of society. 

The Blossom Twins by Carol Wyer - Thriller | 4 star | Detective Natalie Ward series (book#5 ) | A case from the past gets linked to the present and it complicates a lot of things for Natalie. 

The Speaking Stone by Ratnadip Acharya - Indian historical thriller | 4 star | A couple in present times searching the truth about a couple in the past , bound by a stone figurine. 

Mixture is the new secret by Anusha Sridharan - 5 star | a small Poetry collection coupled with some lovely pictures. 

Marked Men series [books 2-6 ] by Jay Crownover - Adult romance | 3.5-4 stars for various books | Stories of a group of tattoo artists & friends and their search for love and meaning in their life. 

Apart from reading these lovey books,  I finished writing and published two kindle books of my own - The Muse ( a short fiction ) and Mosaic ( poetry collection ) [ Linked to amazon page of the books ]

The Woman In the Window by A.J.Finn

                I am not sure whether I can really call this post as a review. Infact, I don't intend this to be read as one either. A lot has already been written about this book and it has already become some sort of a global best seller by now. Frankly speaking, more than the merit of this work, it has become what it is now as a result of smart marketing and aggressive media push.
               The book falls in the same zone of 'The Woman In Cabin Number 10';(Ruth Ware)  'The Girl on the Train'(Paula Hawkins) and 'Her Every Fear' (Peter Swanson).Anna Fox suffers from agarophobia and she lives alone in an apartment somewhere in Newyork. She has just parted with her family and spends her time drinking too much of alcohol and binge watching on old English Films. Her only connection with the external world are the website/on-line community where fellow people with agarophobia share their experiences and the window in her room which overlooks to the next apartment.One Night, she sees something bizarre through her window and the shocking secrets which follow take the story forward.
                 Now, I will come to the issues which I have with this book. It took it's own sweet time to establish the characters(there aren't many either!) and the principal character Anna turns out to be a really annoying and irritating female.The suspense about her family was easily predictable and for the first 200 pages or so, nothing really happens(except for whatever already revealed in the book blurb) and our heroine simply wastes (our) time trying to remind us of all those classic films(which she loves), chatting in that online community of her's and making us convince how 'twisted' her mind has become.The book picks up pace only towards the final forty pages or so, thanks to the 'un-expected' villain(thankfully, I never saw that 'twist' coming!)

On the whole, this one is a really over-hyped thriller. It's an okay work at best. Nothing less, Nothing more! 

-nikhimenon

The Moving Shadow -electrifying bengali pulp fiction

                   

                  A few years back, Westland released a book titled : The Blaft Anthology of Tamil Pulp Fiction. If my memory is right, the book came out in two volumes and it apparently featured the English translations of  some of the most celebrated works of 70 s-80 s Tamil Pulp Fiction.I badly wanted to read those books then, but for some reason I have never been able to read them yet.

                The Moving Shadow, is a similar attempt on Bengali Pulp Fiction by the award winning translator ,Arunava Sinha (incidentally the jacket cover of both books are also strikingly similar).

                 The book is basically divided into two parts. While the first half is a collection of four crime stories written by some of the biggest names of Bengali Pulp(Premendra Mitra,Swapan Kumar,Vikramaditya,Muhammed Zafar Iqbal) , the second half (Satyajit Ray,Adirsh Bardhan,Gobindolal Bandhyopadhyay,Bhabhani Mukhopadhyay) comprises of an equal number of carefully hand picked horror stories. Though some of the stories were first written almost 60-70 years back (evident from the descriptions and the dates mentioned in them), they never fail to engage and intrigue the average reader.

                 Of the four crime stories featured in the first part, I liked the first one the most (Parashar Sharma makes a bid).It tells the story of a multi-millionaire and his spoilt son. The suspense was good and the climax twist was also un-predictable. The second story, ‘Moving Shadow’ about the escapades of a mad scientist, though too far fetched was also entertaining (provided you don’t take it too seriously).The third one, ‘The Secret Agent’, incidentally the longest one in this collection is some sort of a spy-crime-thriller which badly needed some better editing. It’s not only over-long but also gets monotonous after a point. There are too many characters also in the story which confuse the reader after a point.However the loose ends get tied neatly towards the end and the twist is also neatly done. Copotronic Love is about a robot which is madly in love with a woman. An illogical,yet interesting short story, this one is.

                 Among the four horror stories ('Bhuto','The Moon is Back','Saradindu and this body','Foreshadowed' featured in this book, my pick is 'Saradindu and this body',about a doctor with mental illness penned by Gobindolal Bandyopadhyay.The story has got a killer twist which manages to send a chill down your spine.

               Arunava Sinha deserves accolades for his wise selection of stories as well as for the translation which is quite neatly done. The language is pretty easy-to-read and the editing is also crisp.

On the whole, I’m giving a 3 out of 5 for this anthology. It’s a fun read!

-nikhimenon

 

The Lying Game by Ruth Ware

Book Cover

The 'Lying Game' is a 2017 thriller by Ruth Ware. Much like her previous works, this one also has an atmospheric setting and a good mix of interesting characters with grey shades and relies heavily on their antics to take the story forward.

Thea, Kate,Fathima and Isa are four childhood friends.They used to play a secret game in their childhood-the lying game!Seventeen years later, all of them receive a text message from Kate which says that she needs to meet them all urgently.At the drop of a hat, the three of them rush to meet Kate(!),only to witness some bizarre experiences at Kate's 'Tide Mill'.Pretty soon they realize that their past is catching up and it has something to do with the disappearance of Kate's beloved father, Ambrose and their expulsion from the Salten boarding school, all those years ago.

The Protagonist is Isa and the story is being told from her perspective.The supporting cast include Isa's toddler Freya, her friends Kate,(step)brother Luc,friends Fathima and Thea and a few others.The basic problem with this book is that while Ware has invested so much time and pages in getting her characters right, she has forgotten to add some layers and twists to the story.The 'Lying Game' angle is also forgotten after the initial gimmicks(the school re-union scenes)!  Things get highly predictable and boring after the first hundred pages or so and the overall length of the book at 370+ pages doesn't help in making the proceedings racy or interesting either!

Ruth Ware gets her setting right, the claustrophobic premise is quite unsettling and to be very frank, the episode involving the dead goat is also quite scary.But from then,the story goes downhill , the next 350 pages or so is sheer boredom.The narrative gets some life again only towards the last ten pages or so,by then the reader has totally lost interest in what Mrs Ware has got to say. The basic problem with the book is that it has only one genuine suspense to tell and the entire plot is an excuse to reach that point!

On the whole, I am giving it a 2.5 out of 5.

-nikhimenon

The Pledge by Friedrich Durrenmatt

                 The Pledge is a classic Novella by the Swiss Author ,Friedrich Durrenmatt, recently re-released by Pushkin Vertigo.Though on the face of it, it's a crime /mystery thriller, it's much more than that and delves more into the obsession of a criminal Investigator.
                The story is narrated by a character named Dr H (the former chief of Zurich Police) to a writer(who remains unnamed) of detective fiction. It's basically a tale of a man's (Matthai's) solitary search for a serial killer. A young girl, Gritli is found murdered in the woods close to a Swiss Mountain Village and a local felon is arrested for the crime.But Matthai is convinced that the real killer is someone else and he might also have been responsible for two similar murders which happened a couple of years back. Matthai's hunt for the real killer doesn't yield fruitful results and soon his obsession takes him to borderline insanity. How Matthai overcomes his obsession and how he manages find the truth behind the murder is what 'The Pledge' is all about. 
                The Pledge is what can be called as a realistic take on detective stories. Durrenmatt's disdain for formulaic crime novels which proceed like mathematical equations with a definite solution is pretty evident through out. Infact, the origin of this novella itself stems to the fact that Friedrich was unhappy with a formulaic screenplay he had written for a crime thriller film!
                The characterisation of Matthai is flawless. An aloof ,highly intelligent man who values his 'pledge' more than anything else is what Matthai is. It's brilliant characterisation which makes us root for him and it's again these character traits which makes his obsession look convincing.There aren't many other characters in this book and the climactic reveal is also decently done.
                What makes this book a masterpiece is the author's brilliant vision and his razor sharp observations about formulaic mystery thrillers. Most of his observations remain true to the day and it's quite difficult to believe that this book was written almost 60 years ago!

On the whole, I'm giving a 4 out of 5 for this work!

-nikhimenon

Don't Let Go by Michel Bussi

                   Michel Bussi's 'After the Crash' was an International Best Seller which had a unique theme.I had reviewed it here, sometime back. 'Don't Let Go' is another gem from this French story teller which has enough twists and turns to surprise you.
               Marshal Bellion and Liane Bellion are on a holiday in the reunion Island with their Six year old daugher, Josapha Bellion. But Liane Bellion suddenly disappers and the blood stains in the room makes Marshal Bellion a potential suspect. Soon after,the police digs up Marshal's blotted past and are quite convinced that he is the killer. Finding himself cornered, Marshall decides to go underground with Josapha. But if Marshal is not really the killer, why does he appear so guilty? Don't Let Go is Marshal's race against time and is all about his attempts to escape from the Police with his beloved daughter by his side.
                Don't Let Go is the kind of book which rightly deserves a screen adaptation. It's such a visual experience and almost every chapter ends up with a cliff-hanger.The narrative is so fast paced that an average reader can finish it in one or two sittings.The book is definitely more fast paced and enteraining when compared to 'After the Crash' and 'Black Water Lillies'.
               On the downside, the book is not devoid of illogical twists either. The scene in which Christo recognises the killer's handwriting on the windowpane was a bit of a stretch.

On the whole,I 'm giving a four out of Five for this thriller.

-nikhimenon

Chalkman by C.J. Tudor

             The Chalkman by C.J Tudor was one of the most hyped books of 2018. Had read much about this debut work by Tudor and was quite excited to grab a copy.I must confess that the book did meet my expectations to an extend. Set in the small town of Anderbury, a fictional town in England, Chalkman is a decent weekend read but with a confusing ending! 
          The story is set in two time frames, 1986 and 2016. Ed, Fat Gav, hoppo, Nickey are a gang who spend their time fooling around. One of them receive a box of chalks as a birthday gift and soon they devise secret codes to communicate between themselves. But little did they realize that this sweet little game of them was going to land them in big trouble!
          It's 2016, thirty years have passed and Ed is now a school teacher. When Ed receives a letter reminding him of the 'Chalkman',he figures out that nothing is over yet and he has to find out who killed the 'Waltz girl' all those years ago!
          While I was reading this book, I was reminded (on more than one occassion) of Joel Dicker's Baltimore boys and Stephen King's iconic 'IT' which also delt with  childhood gangs and their sinister secrets. Infact, the narrative and plot structure of 'The Chalkman'  (which alternates between two time frames) are also pretty much similar.
         Tudor's debut work is a pretty easy read. There aren't too many characters the most striking one being, Mr Halloran. This character could have been better etched out though.Though his entry does manage to elicit dread and fear, it fizzles out soon.This one is a pretty violent work with gory deaths and bizarre imageries, the scene depicting the Waltz girl's (Elisa) death being a typical case in point.The 'spookiness' quotient is also quite high.The parallel's drawn between Ed's father's condition and that of Hoppo's mother has been quite competently done.
           The basic theme of cryptic messages indicating something sinister/ a harmless children's game ending up in something gruesome is not new. Infact it has been explored before (Want to Play? by P.J. Tracy , works by Stephen King to name a few) by even experienced authors.The childhood timeline in 'Chalkman' is heavily inspired by Stephen King's 'IT' ,I guess! But still ,what makes 'Chalkman' interesting is it's layered narrative and compelling situations which infact gets the reader hooked into it. Even though there are multiple twists happening in both the time frames, the author has succeeded in not confusing the reader ( and thereby losing track of the events) for the most part. But where Tudor's writing falters heavily is towards the last twenty pages of the book.
          The biggest weak point of the book is it's climax. It is a big mess and reads like a hastily written first draft. Honestly, I was not that surprised when the big reveal about Eddy was made (but what was the whole point about that 'big reveal'?Was he suffering from a medical condition? Or was it a plain case of Kleptomania?But then ,how do you explain the bouts of strange dreams Eddy was experiencing every now and then?).There are far too many loose ends and quite an implausible climactic twist.

Why did the villain wait all these years to attack them? 
Was he faking his concussion?
Who was the one who was drawing the chalkmen? Was it Nicky?

         The recurrent (lucid) dream sequences involving Eddy was also quite boring and repetitive after a point. As I mentioned before, some of the other twists were also quite unbelievable. It's quite startling that noone  bothered to find out the truth behind the attack on Reverend Martin.Likewise, Fat Gav's accident (and the events leading to it), Mickey's murder was also not looked upon by the investigators seriously.
          Well, for those of you who are too lazy to read the whole review which I have written and have just scrolled down to see the verdict/bottomline, let me quote Fat Gav (from the book) - this one is definitely not a pile of stinking Buckaroo! There are many good things about this book, it's (though a bit formulaic)  an engaging work for the most part, but has a grossly underwhelming and confusing climax. I am giving it a 2.9 out of 5 

-nikhimenon

Peter Swanson's 'Her Every Fear'

                                                        Her Every Fear
                                        Peter Swanson
                                      Thriller/Psychological Thriller
                                        400+Pages

                         I had read Peter Swanson's previous book 'The Kind Worth Killing' sometime back and absolutely loved it.So, when I got a chance to pick up his follow up to that work,I never felt the need to think twice.'Her Every Fear' revolves around the life of Kate Priddy who is suffering from PTSD.

                        Kate has just agreed for n house swap and she has just relocated to Boston from London, to her cousin's (Corbin Dell) apartment whereas he has gone to her at London.But a day after her arrival at Boston, she figures out that her neighbour,the twenty something girl has gone missing and in all probability might have been murdered. Pretty soon she realises that her cousin, Corbin might have had something to do with the young girl's disappearance. Enter Alan, the stalker-neighbour who lives just next door and Jack Ludovico, the mysterious man (with secrets) who claims to be the missing girl's friend and the proceedings get murkier.

                     Like his previous work,'The Kind Worth Killing', 'Her Every Fear' is also pretty long at 400+ pages, but that doesn't mean that the narrative is slow paced. Infact the writing is crisp and replete with twists and turns and most of the chapters end with cliff-hangers! The pathological relationship between Henry Wood and Corbin Dell has been beautifully described but the repetitive detailing of the same events from each of the principal character's point of view could have been done away with at times (especially towards the end).There aren't many characters in the book and the main characters like Kate, Corbin ,Henry have been etched out well.

On the whole, I'm giving it a 3.6 out of 5.This one is an engaging read!

-nikhimenon

Book Review: The Girl In Room No 105 by Chetan Bhagat

                   Well, Chetan Bhagats books are like Salman Khan films. They are obviously immune to any kind of reviews or criticism.No matter what you write or think about their works, they will invariably rake in the moola.

              First things first- The girl in Room No 105 (TGIR) is neither a  parody nor a rip off of Ruth Ware's "The Woman in ..."(which was no masterpiece by any stretch of imagination), infact the only similarity between the two works ends with the title. To be very frank, TGIR is far better than Bhagat's last two outings. Though it has all his usual cliches' in place (the loser IIT alumni hero, the ''liberal, super sexy heroine and their chance meeting at the IIT , to name a few ), this one is more of a crime thriller (pretty half baked one at that) with a few genuinely funny conversations thrown in between.

          Our protagonist is Keshav, the loser IIT guy who is now employed with 'Chandan classes', an IIT JEE tuition centre. His best buddy is Saurabh aka Golu who is also his colleague at ''Chandan'.One night, Keshav gets a call from his ex- girl friend inviting him to visit her at her hostel room. Keshav turns up there only to find her murdered.How Keshav along with his Watson (Saurabh) finds the mystery behind her murder is what the book is all about.

        As I mentioned before, TGIR is far better than any of Bhagat's recent works. Chetan has tried his hand in a new genre and has been able to come up with something half decent.The book undoubdtedly is a time pass read with the typical Chetan Bhagat elements in place. But that doesn't mean that it breaks any new grounds as far as the mystery thriller genre is concerned. If Bhagat's earlier protagonists were used to globe trotting for finding his (their) estranged girl friend(s),here Keshav is doing the same for finding her murderer.The suspense is pretty much predictable and the mystery is the 'kindergarten' variety and obviously there isn't much space for sense and logic in Bhagat's universe!

       Coming to the characters, Golu comes aross as a genuinely funny guy and is the sole source of the occassional one-liners in the story.The other characters are Captain Fyaiz and Raghu (Zara's fiance).The writing and language are typical Chetan Bhagat.

Verdict: I'm going with a 2.75 out of 5.The book is a time-pass read for Chetan Bhagat Fans!


-nikhimenon

Tell No One by Harlan Coben

'Tell No One' reads more like Sidney Sheldon than Harlan Coban . Elizabeth Beck was murdered a good 8 years ago and her husband Dr David Beck has never been able to get over the gruesome incident which happened almost a decade back.Suddenly,a mysterious e-mail lands up in his e-mail and soon, David realizes that his past is back to haunt him once again. With twists and turns happening at regular intervals,'Tell No One' is an absolute page turner!
The 2006 French Thriller was based on this book.

-nikhimenon

Book Review: Coffee House by Lajo Jose

                   

                 
                   Lajo Jose’s Coffee House is a work which aspires to be a new-age crime novel but unfortunately is  heavily influenced by the S.N. Swamy –K Madhu movies of the 90s. (Infact the basic thread itself - of the convicted killer opening up about his innocence a few days before his execution, reminded me of the third film in the CBI series)

                  Benjamin is convicted for multiple homicides and is awaiting execution. A few days before his execution he expresses desire to meet the journalist (Esther) who has been instrumental in his conviction and wants to convince the world of his innocence. Esther who works with a leading Malayalam Magazine, 'Kuleena' (modelled on 'Vanitha' and the Malayala Manorama group) half- heartedly accepts the invite and decides to 're-investigate' the case. How she manages to solve the puzzle and clear Benjamin's name of the murder/murders is what 'CH' is all about.Also aiding her in her journey are Peter Achan ,Sub Inspector Chris and Aparna, the scribe's colleague and best-friend.

                First things first.This debut novel is undoubtedly a quick and easy read (no long, boring prose or pretentious metaphors thrown in just for the sake of it).Even an occassional/newbie reader can finish it off in a couple of hours. Quality work of crime fiction is a rare thing as far as new age Malayalam writing is concerned and hats off to Lijo for trying to revive a long lost genre! As mentioned before, the writing is straight forward, the language used being simple and easy to comprehend even for the lay reader. Lajo also makes some interesting remarks about Kottayam town and pretty much succeeds in making this central Kerala town also a part of the narrative. 

              However the book is not devoid of flaws either. For an ambitious new-age crime thriller, Coffee House is tad too slow and the identity of the true killer is predictable quite early on. A lot of time (and 'pages') are spent on the pointless (and often cringe worthy) banter between Esther and her close buddy Aparna. Believe me, Aparna's ('Amma package') is definitely one of the most annoying characters I have come across (read) in recent times.  

              The characters are too shallow and none of them have been well etched out. There is a passing mention about Benjamin’s family but the author hasn’t really bothered to elaborate on his back story. As a result, the reader never gets to empathise for him. The same lack of detail is evident in the case of Esther’s characterization. Okay, we get to know that she has a liking for a pretty upmarket café in kottayam town (Tonico Café), but apart from that, what does she like actually? And what about her family? The less said about the shaky characterization of Chris (the cop), the better-  the guy seems to be in a very bad mood when we are first introduced to him (and seems to be only interested in settling scores with his bête noire , Esther )  but pretty soon , he is seeing hobnobbing with her and helping with the investigation!- His transformation and change of heart (remember the scribe had caused great humiliation to him in the past with even a molestation case filed against him!) pretty unconvincing and whatever meek justification rendered to it too weak and hard to swallow!

             Also, the romantic track between Benjamin and Jinu has not been worked out well. As a result, like one of the characters himself states at one instance in the book, Benjamin only comes across as a typical stalker for the average reader.

            To give due credit to Lajo, I liked the character of ‘Solly Jacob’ and how her character and her magazine were modeled on 'Vanitha' , but again it’s a shame that she has very little (and quite insignificant) presence in the narrative and in this 220 + page long crime novel.

Towards the end, the author seems to be in a hurry to wrap up the proceedings and before we realize, the climax is up leaving behind room for a possible sequel (and even for a new series featuring Esther!)

So the logical issues which I had with this 'thriller' are listed below-

• If the case was such an open and shut case right from the beginning, what was that made Esther & co wage a prolonged media battle to implicate and arrest Benjamin?

• Esther could easily crack the mystery behind the multiple homicides within a span of two days, just based on her intuitions, the 'killer's statements  and a few incidental findings which cropped up during her '3-4 day long' investigation but then, why did the initial investigating officers so easily overlook these same facts during the course of their investigation?Noone seemed to have bothered to even cross check the veracity of the true ‘killer’s initial statements to the police!(they could have atleast verified 'the cell-phone range' thing!)

Looks like the author is keen on making this into the series and also having a film adaptation for this work (as  indicated in the closing chapter) but I genuinely wish he enhances the original source material at hand and make it more taut and racy by adding some more meat into the (future) feature film script.

Verdict: On the whole, Lajo jose’s Coffee House is a decent start for a first time author, but doesn’t qualify as a truly engaging mystery thriller. I sincerely hope that his follow up to this debut work will be much better. I’m giving it a 2.5 out of 5.

-nikhimenon