Book: Hell!
No Saints in Paradise
Author: A.K. Asif
Publication:
HarperCollins
It is often the thought of acquiring the
knowledge of the unknown that gets us curious and motivates us to do things, we
never thought we were capable of. Something beyond our reach and power, acts as
an influencing factor for achieving the unexpected and the impossible.
This
thought is what sets the plot of the book – ‘Hell! No Saints in Paradise’. This is a well- researched book by the author A. K. Asif and dives deep into the religious
teachings of Islam; he has carved out a blueprint of what the country would be in the
hands of the extremist sometime in the year 2050.
The protagonist,
Ismael is a lost lad, whose purpose in life is to prove (rather find out) that
his father’s teachings and beliefs, which were forced on him, are wrong. In his quest he is connected
with Pir – the man who can read minds and disappear in the thin air and surprise us with a
lot more (I will leave that for you to discover). Pir needs Ismael for his
mission, which is to free the country from the clutches of the extremist and
make it a better place to live.
It
is interesting to read, how a non-believer, simple and normal guy saves an entire
country and well beyond that too….In his journey of self-discovery, Ismael succeeds at some points and fails too, but importantly, he learns how to overcome his emotions and fears and importantly, purpose of his
life.
The first phase of the story, which sets the plot, is lengthy but not boring to read. However, the story takes a
little turn, just when we are expecting something major to hit. Somewhere in
between the hell and paradise, it seems the author has lost the track and is
following another path… for a bit too long. Some of the elements here could have been avoided, as it doesn't add to the story.
The
title of the book is as engrossing as much as the cover page. The blurb is not all what
you get to read in the book, there’s a lot more included in the story. The
description of the characters, events and surroundings are pretty good and
clear. It helps, since most of it out of the author’s imagination (I guess so).
The fluent narrative keeps the reader engaged.
Pick it up,
if you are a sucker of reads on fantasy, parallel universe and imaginative
elements beyond the ‘real world’ where we live in.
My take-away from this book: ‘You never know how strong you are until being strong is the
only choice’ (quote by Bob Marley).
My rating: 3.5 out of 5
I received a review copy of the book
from Writers Melon
in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.
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