Ajitabh Pandey's Soul & Syntax

Exploring systems, souls, and stories – one post at a time

Tag: fiction

  • A Darkness More Than Night by Michael Connelly

    Book Cover of A Darkness More Than NIghtThe book started with LAPD detective Jaye Winston visiting a retired FBI profiler, Terry McCaleb for his help in profiling the murderer. Initially reluctant McCaleb agreed to help and then he got involved too deep in the investigation, almost loosing his life at one point. The investigation almost threatened his peaceful personal life.

    Another parallel story which was running in this book was a murder trial of a film director Storey who was accused of killing an actress and making the whole thing look like a suicide. Detective Harry Bosch to whom Storey boosted of the murder was the main witness in the trial.

    Finally as predicted (by me) both the stories converge and the guilty were found and arrested.

    This is the first book by Michael Connelly which I have read. As usual with most of the detective style books, there are many descriptions and its not a very fast paced book and hence need a lot of patience. I would give 3 stars (out of 5) to  this book. I am definitely going to read other books by this author.

  • The Eagle Has Landed by Jack Higgins

    The Eagle Has Landed Book CoverThe Eagle Has Landed is a second world war fiction written by Jack Higgins. The author has done some historical research and tried to present the story as if it has already happened. The plot is towards the end of second world war when Hitler was desperate for a victory and big blow to the allies. He wanted abduction or assassination of Winston Churchill.  The action was planned by Himmler and executed by the paratroopers of Germany. However, things started to go wrong and Churchill was saved.

    I have read second world war fiction after a long long time and really liked it. The language and writing style are simple and there is no unnecessary descriptions anywhere. The story moves very fast and is able to continuously build the interest of the readers.

  • Temple by Matthew Reilly

    Book Cover of Temple by Matthew ReillyThis book is a real page turner, from the first page itself I was finding it difficult to resist finishing this in one go. I have read almost all of the books by Matthew Reilly and this is the best so far. Reilly has written quite a good number of books which can be classified under historical fiction. Temple is one such book where the author has taken a plot based on the fictions historical account of of Incan empire. He has beautifully fitted Nazis (or Neo Nazis) into the plot along with some of the elements causing civil unrest in the USA.

    In this book along with Spanish, Incan, American and Germans, there is one special being also. This special being is an animal from the Cat family and is called Rapa.

    This is an action packed book and a very fast paced. Happy Reading.

  • Business Doctors by Sameer Kamat

    business doctors book coverBusiness Doctors is a debut book by Sameer Kamat, who is the founder of a top MBA admissions consulting firm and also writes about book publishing in India.

    The story line is uniquely based around using the principles of management in underworld. Yes you read it right, “underworld”.

    For the folks in the underworld, the illegal work they do is business for them. And like every business there are ups and downs there also. While the business is on a downside it  may need help from business consultants, who are supposed to indicate the gaps in processes, people and revenue lines and potentially suggest remedial action items.

    This book revolves around WFB a.k.a Woody Family Business which is running from three generations and is now seriously impacted by the recession and entry of new players (or so the boss thinks). He called in a consultant Schneider to help him revive his business. Schneider understands the business and presents the gaps in the same and also help Mr Woody hire appropriate talent by helping them in breaking the jail and thus spending 6 million dollars in the process. Angie, wife of Mr Woody played a very important part in all this action.

    Overall the storyline was one of a kind, with a simple writing style and keeps the reader interested throughout. There was a place where I felt the sentence had a typo (don’t remember the page number though, but a grammar check in word processing software should pick that up). And I must say the climax was something which came as a little surprise to me. While the author has taken his time for various phases in the story line, the last 20 or so pages demanded a little bit more and the climax could have been wrapped up nicely. I was feeling that something was missing when the book came to a sudden end. The cover design and fonts could have been a little better and catchy.

    Disclaimer – I received a review copy from the author and my review is not biased by that fact.

  • The Treasure of Kafur

    The Treasure of Kafur Book Cover The treasure of Kafur is the second published book of the author. However it was the first one written (as per the notes at the end of the book). This is an historical fiction book based on the time of Mughal Emperor Akbar. Malik Kafur looted treasures during his raids to the Southern India, while he was in the army of Alauddin Khilji. The plot in this book is based on the riches looted during Kafur’s raid and which was hidden somewhere.

    The story revolves around a young man Datta who along with his grandmother Ambu is aware of the location of Kafur’s hidden treasure. His grandmother was abducted by a warlord of the South who wanted to conquer the Mughal empire. Datta successfully made alliance with Akbar and together they fought the battle.

    The is a simple, yet gripping story. The language is very simple. The starting of the book was quite good. It slows down for couple of chapters after the initial one and then picks up the pace. There are no unnecessary details given anywhere, yet the reader does not feel (s)he is missing anything.

    I enjoyed this book and finished it late last night. Looking forward to the next book from the author.

    Disclaimer – I received a review copy from the author and my review is not biased by that fact.