The Treasure of Kafur by Aroon Raman

Blurb (from the jacket):

‘The fate of an Empire trembles in the balance…’

Hindustan, 1580 AD. The Mughal Emperor Akbar is at the height of his power, seemingly invincible. But twenty years of war have earned him many enemies, and rebellion is brewing, led by Asaf Baig, the tyrannical ruler of Khandesh. Baig has stumbled upon the knowledge that the fabulous lost treasure of Malik Kafur, that will guarantee victory to Akbar’s enemies, is known to an old woman called Ambu.

Baig Kidnaps Ambu to wrest the knowledge of the treasure from her; but her twenty-year-old grandson, Dattatreya, escapes and flees across Hindustan to enlist the help of the one person who has the most reason to stop Baig – the Mughal Emperor himself.

Staying one step ahead of capture and death, Datta is swept up in a world of kings and warrior princesses, of uncommon friendships and an implacable evil; and a desperate race against time to save his grandmother – and the Empire.

Aroon Raman, national bestselling author of The Shadow Throne now brings us a riveting saga of action and adventure set in Mughal India.

The Shadow Throne by Aroon Raman

Foreword:

It was well before now, when this book had just got published, when this blog was nonexistent, when I was pretty new to reading and I was roving around asking people for recommendations but only Indian. I had this special tang for Indian authors back then. Even now, for that matter. The stories they narrate could be related to and the feeling own-ness will never leave while reading.

That is when Vinit K. Bansal (author of I'm Heartless) recommended me two books - The Cavansite Conspiracy and The Shadow Throne (this one). Both were thrillers and by Indian authors. I got my hands on the former one and read it. I pretty much liked it. Though, I consider it an average book to the present standard. It was  pretty intriguing for a noob like me back then.

But then, I never got a chance to get this book. Though I have been coming across this book more than once, on various online-selling portals in their page of "Best Sellers", I didn't quite paid much heed. Until the author himself has contacted me recently.

I got a message on GoodReads from the author, Aroon Raman, asking to review his book. As I wanted to read that book for a long time, I immediately accepted to review his book.

Blurb (from the jacket):

India faces nuclear armageddon...

A mysterious murder at the Qutub Minar triggers a call to ace journalist Chandrasekhar from his cop acquaintance, Inspector Syed Ali Hassan. The victim is unlike anyone Chandra has ever seen: a white Caucasian male who has all the looks of a throwback to Greek antiquity. Soon after, Hassan calls in to report the case has been taken away from him – in all likelihood by RAW – the Research & Analysis Wing, the uber-agency of Indian intelligence.