A(NU) Thought

Harlen Coben is a master of crafting long, twisty stories packed with suspense. I had read Fool Me Once (also adapted into a TV series) quite some time ago, and I remember being blown away by how effortlessly he creates chaos out of simple threads. The Innocent is no different. The story begins with Matt Hunter, an ordinary teenager whose one tragic mistake, an accidental murder, haunts him for life. After serving his sentence, Matt tries to rebuild his world, but just as things seem to settle, he’s thrown into a web of shocking secrets and mysteries involving his pregnant wife, Olivia. Add to it the emotional turmoil he goes through. From there, the plot spirals deeper as more characters enter, old crimes resurface, and new twists unfold.

  A Tale of Two by Abhishek V . is a gripping crime thriller that tells the story of two childhood friends, Nitesh and Vatsal, whose lives take drastically different paths. Nitesh, eager for quick success, becomes involved with local goons and gets entangled in illegal activities. In contrast, Vatsal pursues his dream of becoming a dancer with honesty and dedication. Though their lives progress like parallel train tracks, a tragic intersection leads to bloodshed. The story begins with the murder mystery of Vatsal, where Nitesh is the prime suspect. The plot explores the outcome of this violent incident, which results in 14 deaths, and follows Inspector Sawant's ruthless investigation to uncover the truth behind the killings and determine Nitesh's involvement. The narrative alternates between past and present, giving the readers a vivid portrayal of life in Mumbai’s slums. It explores the themes of friendship, ambition, betrayal, and morality, highlighting the struggles of s...

What is visible to our eyes, may not be the scene always. What lies beneath the surface, no one knows but the one designing the master game.... "Until I Find You" authored by Kanchana Banerjee and published by Om publication is a fiction thriller set in a small town Bannod in Rajasthan. The story follows two key characters - Jenny and Virat, on their quest for redemption and truth, respectively.

Book: Faith And The Beloved (Kindle Edition) Author : Kochery C Shibu Faith And The Beloved authored by Kochery C Shibu is a thriller that intends to weave a complex story with many key characters. The book begins with a good hook when, Alice, one of the key characters,  murders Tony after a good sex session with him. Turns out Tony was her stepfather, who also attempted to kill his wife (and Alice’s mother). This got me interested in the story.   As we move further, we see there many key characters and their parallel stories running around. Prem, for example, another key character, who is on his way to take revenge from his brother's killer. Then there's Naithy, Alice's mother.          

Book : Yakshini  Author : Neil D’Silva Publication:  Rupa Publications Fiction – the best part about fiction is that it sets your imagination free. The writer of fiction can expand his/ her limits to infinity. Something similar is what I experienced with Yakshini, authored by Neil D’Silva and published by Rupa Publications. The plot is set in the late ’90s and early 2000. The story is about a simple village, Meenakshi, who turns out to be a seductress, unknowingly and unintentionally, which later puts her into problems. It is only later that she learns that in her body lives another creature called Yakshini, owing to a curse.

Book : 13 Unusual Short Stories Author : Brendon Faife Publication: Kindle edition An anthology is a blend of so many characters, genres, and thoughts. Brendon’s book – '13 Unusual Short Stories' is one such amalgamation of various streaks of thoughts. This book is available in the online (Kindle) format. Grandma’s Touch will take you down the memory lane, but it ends on a jerking twist. The Call-Centre is a good piece that will surprise you towards the end. The Hearing Aid is a novel concept, that I have come across in this book.   

Book : A Useful Death Author : Sriram Chellapilla Publication: Westland Books A Useful Death – sounds like an intriguing title, isn’t it?   The plot is indeed as captivating as the title appears to be.   Authored by Sriram Chellapilla, A Useful Death, published by Westland Books, is a murder mystery set in Hyderabad. A young girl commits suicide and there are several people from an influential family who would have driven her into it. The protagonist, Partha is up to find the truth, but when he and his team digs deeper, they realise there’s a lot more than just what appears on the surface. The journey to deciphering the truth is interesting.  

Book : The Stalker Author : Sandeep Sharma Publication: Redgrab Books & Anybook Thriller and suspense are fun-reads, isn’t it? It makes you think and keeps you guessing who the culprit is. It compels you to analyse the hints and find out the culprit even before the author breaks it to you in the book. Well, I had a similar experience with The Stalker authored by Sandeep Sharma. The plot revolves around Randhir Kamat, a well-known name in the entertainment industry. He is being stalked by a woman named Deepali on social media that puts him and his company in the limelight. He decides to use this event to his benefit, which worked well, almost. 

Book : They Go To Sleep Author : Saugata Chakraborty Publication: Notion Press They Go To Sleep authored by Saugata Chakraborty and published by Notion Press is a collected of 12 short stories. The stories largely based in Kolkata in addition to few other parts of the country as well. In a bunch of 12 stories across genres, one may not have similar opinion about all; however, I would share my honest review here on my overall reading experience.  

Book : In Love with Simran Author : Kulpreet Yadav Publication: Srishti Publishers & Distributors In Love with Simran is supposed to be a romantic thriller, authored by Kulpreet Yadav. It starts with Simran, protagonist – Sanjana’s best friend being murdered. Sanjana decides to bring the murderer to justice; and in that quest she quits her academics, hires a detective and does a whole lot of jassosi  and ends up falling in love with the supposed culprit Nik Sethi.  Meanwhile two more murders take place with the same weapon. There are a few characters in the book to be considered under suspicion - Ruby, Nik, Nik’s mother Rajbala.

Pic Credit:  Varun N Rao Book : Sniper’s Eye Author : Mainak Dhar Publication: 4 Hour Press “Are you sure the one whom you trust the most is worthy of it?” In midst of umpteen thrillers based on terrorism, Indo-Pak issue etc. Sniper’s Eye is a fast-paced, high on adrenaline, short and a refreshing action thriller.   I have always been a fan of this genre and never feel like putting a book down at the end of the day.   The adrenaline rush it pumps is worth missing out on your sleep for few hours. Well known writers such as Tom Clancy, Robert Ludlum etc. fuelled my thirst for fast-paced, action thrillers before and Mainak Dhar is topping my list with Sniper’s Eye.

Book: 8 Hours Author: Upendra Namburi Publication: Westland Books Trust, as they say, is an expensive souvenir, you shouldn’t give it to everyone... Going by the title ‘8 Hours’, and the blurb, one would think the book is a fast-paced thriller, well, I wouldn’t call it so. The story progresses at a relatively normal pace, educating the readers on the detailed background of the event and briefing on the past of the characters, well that’s much required, isn’t it? The most prominent character in this book is an inevitable device – mobile phone. Yess! The author Upendra Namburi would have mentioned about 80,000 calls in the 8 hours (not literally, com ’on, I did try counting it, but lost the track :P)

Book: Fragments - A Collection of Short Stories Author: Janaki Nagaraj Publication: Self Published Life is made up of big and small moments, rather memories that stay with us for a very long time. A collection of short stories is more or less similar to that. Different memories, different thoughts all woven in a string, together. Fragments is the debut book of the author Janaki Nagaraj, it is a collection of 13 short stories that covers different aspects of life. The first story ‘The Ritual’ – a murder mystery is indeed a psychotic thriller. It has unexpected twists and is the best among the lot. The next story ‘The Homecoming’ is about a father - son relationship, it is soft-hearted story. It could have been more elaborate on the state of mind of the father, who is a soldier back from war field.

Image Credit Book: Unlawful Justice Author: Vish Dhamija Publication: HarperCollins India This is the first book that I have read of Vish Dhamija. After reading this book, I am now tempted to go back and read all his earlier books. Vish has beautifully described the plot and moves from one scenario to another with fluid grace. His language is simple, yet it carries the weight of the story, the emotion and tension between the characters with ease. He doesn't attempt to overdo things, be it explaining the characters, or a particular scene and keeps the suspense well-hidden within the story. The book has the potential to become a Bollywood potboiler. As you read the book, the pre-murder, murder scenarios and the court-room saga becomes a visual scene inside your head and you do not want to put the book down. Not even for a moment.

Image Credit Book: The Royal Roommate (Kindle edition) Author: PG Van Life is unpredictable. We plan many things but not everything happens as planned. Infact, most of the times life has surprises in store for us. The key is to play along and play it well. This is what you will find the protagonist -Amy doing in this book. Accepting the twists and turns life throws at her and running along with the stride. This the first book of PG Van that I have had a chance to read, and hence I didn’t have any set expectations. Good!  The story is about Amy, a young intern with a law firm (oh that just doesn’t matter). Turns out her new roommate has been replaced by an irresistible, sexy, tall and handsome hunk - Sid (now that’s what is important, right). There begins a love and hate – push and pull kind of chemistry between the two. Needless to mention, lust and love (in that order) blooms in the room. Interestingly, Sid is a spy and Amy is his suspect. However, from suspe...

The Mahabharata Murders: Dark & Fast Paced Murder Mystery Book: The Mahabharata Murders   Author: Arnab Ray Publisher: Juggernaut The beauty of a murder mystery is that it keeps the reader engaged and thinking in parallel, as the story proceeds. The Mahabharata Murders (TMM) by Arnab Ray is no different, at least not in this sense. Like a good thriller, it keeps the reader thinking about the mystery killer, his choice of modus operandi and potential motives. The narration and the plot are the heroes here. A definite a page – turner!

Book: Key To My Soul Author: Probal Mazumdar Publisher: Maple Press The title of the book and the cover design gives an impression of a romantic journey in the pages; however, the beginning of the story speaks of a physical assault to the protagonist giving you a hint that this book is more than just a vanilla love story. For me, the author has managed to hook me to the story right at the start. As the blurb says, the protagonist Siddharth (Sid) goes back to find her childhood sweetheart in a state of coma. The story revolves around the flashback of childhood and letters that Sid should have received about 15 years back; and if he actually did that, his life would have been completely different. 

Book: The Party orker Author: Omar Shahid Hamid Publisher: Pan Macmillan India The Party Worker is a full-fledged masala movie material, oh yes!!! The story starts with an attempted murder and gradually moves on to a wider net of politics, murders, corruption, underworld secrets, rising of a don among others. The book revolves around the lives of four important characters a hitman, a cop, a journalist and an old man. The plot connects them all very strategically. Certainly credit goes to the fluid narrative and flawless storyline. Their lives crosses that of each other’s, while there are several parallel stories also. The story is set in New York and Pakistan. The author has successfully penned an interesting book, that’s just not put downable. It’s a gripping crime thriller that’s racy and an exciting read.      Wait for some hard-hitting and shocking events in the story. I received a copy from Pan Macmillan India in exchange for an hones...

Image Source Book : Fool Me Once Author :  Harlan Coben   Publisher : Random House If I have to sum up the story, I would say it in a phrase (from a Bollywood song), 'shikari khud yahan shikar ho gaya'. I had lost the number of count I encountered twists in this tale.  The story begins with the funeral of the protagonist Maya's husband, who was (or is) a rich businessman and one of the heirs to a wealthy and affluent family. His murder, witnessed by Maya alone, is supposedly an unthought-of act by random robbers; however we know that there has to be something more to this death (and the story). It’s all going fine, when one day Maya sees her dead husband in her house, with her daughter in the nanny cam. Now this gets her started (and me too) in search of the truth. In the process we come across plenty of elements that may not be connected to the murder mystery - family secrets, business secrets and Maya's past to name a few. Did I mention that abou...