The Sicilian by Mario Puzo (Mario Puzo's Mafia)

Blurb (from GoodReads):

Michael Corleone's exile in Sicily is ending, but on the instructions of his father, The Godfather, he must bring back to him the young man known as Salvatore Giuliano - if he can find him. At sea amid the treacheries of a brutal and unfamiliar land, Michael must find a way through the labyrinthine deceits that surround him, while Giuliano prepares himself for a final confrontation with Don Croce, Capo di Capi of the Sicilian Mafia. A novel of explosive suspense, heroic action - and evil on an epic scale. In the hands of Mario Puzo's brilliantly sinister talent, the reader comes to know again the terrible magic of the Mafia.

Is It Maya? by Saikat Baksi

Blurb (from the cover):

Maya Mukhija is charming, intelligent and enigmatic.She has all the riches and power of the world. Maya loves to overpower men. She is the arm-candy wife of an ageing media mogul. Maya is not a loser. 

But one ne morning, Mumbai police knocks the door of her posh apartment and handcuffs her. "You killed Veena, your daughter," the Police Commissioner declares. 

"Veena was my sister, not daughter. And I wished her dead. But I never killed her," Maya Mukhija replies. 

The hunt begins through the shadowy yesterdays of Maya Mukhija. 

Love, treachery and a web of lies peel off the dark truth one by one. 

Who killed Veena? ls it Maya?"

Operation India One by Shiv Kumar

Blurb (from the jacket):

Dedicated police officer, ACP Gautam Dhaliwal, takes it upon himself to root out the MAF, a major Naxal organization based in the remote village of Bhagatpur, Bihar, as part of the central government backed, ‘Operation India One’. As his investigations on the ground progress, however, he uncovers behind the official facade of development that he had set out to defend, an ugly nexus of unscrupulous politicians, bureaucrats and businessmen feeding off the oppression of the underprivileged. 

Torn between his commitment to the Indian State and the sympathy he begins to feel for the miserable plight of the people of the area and the supposed terrorists fighting for them, an agonized ACP Dhaliwal is forced to rethink his earlier views on the meaning of one’s responsibility towards one’s fellow countrymen.

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Blurb (from the GoodReads):

There are two sides to every story...

On a warm summer morning in North Carthage, Missouri, it is Nick and Amy Dunne’s fifth wedding anniversary. Presents are being wrapped and reservations are being made when Nick’s clever and beautiful wife disappears from their rented McMansion on the Mississippi River. Husband-of-the-Year Nick isn’t doing himself any favors with cringe-worthy daydreams about the slope and shape of his wife’s head, but passages from Amy's diary reveal the alpha-girl perfectionist could have put anyone dangerously on edge. Under mounting pressure from the police and the media—as well as Amy’s fiercely doting parents—the town golden boy parades an endless series of lies, deceits, and inappropriate behavior. Nick is oddly evasive, and he’s definitely bitter—but is he really a killer?

As the cops close in, every couple in town is soon wondering how well they know the one that they love. With his twin sister, Margo, at his side, Nick stands by his innocence. Trouble is, if Nick didn’t do it, where is that beautiful wife? And what was in that silvery gift box hidden in the back of her bedroom closet?

Logicops by Vaibhav Mukim

Blurb (from the jacket):

A new department of police which solves crimes using the technique of logical communication—a method that allows communication through walls, over long distances and simultaneously with a lot of people. It uses nothing but the person’s surroundings. And just as peculiar as the method, are the crimes they solve.

KARM by Aditya Mukherjee, Arnav Mukherjee

Blurb (from the jacket):

2020. Mumbai a fetid city, full of crime and violence.

Rising above it, a flattened obelisk of polished black granite, stands the Rustomji Group's imposing headquarters the One World Tower. And at its very tip, is Babylon, Vishnu Rustomji Mistry's famous garden on top of the tallest building in Mumbai the centre of its wealth and power.

It's the day the flamboyant billionaire will make his big announcement. Yet, it'll be one of the few days in the year when his won't be the biggest story. It's the day a letter will be found that could change the meaning of everything. A simple letter, signed ‘The People's Guardian', which threatens the Chief Minister with dire consequences.

When model-turned-newscaster Tara and rookie journalist Sudhir Navkar stumble upon clues about this possible vigilante, they are led on a breadcrumb trail from the eerie slums of gangland Mumbai to the high-rise towers of SoBo. 

As the two of them try desperately to solve the mystery, they begin to uncover a frightening conspiracy that threatens to cast a shadow on the entire nation and on their lives. 

In a choice between love, life and their karm, will they have the courage to pursue the truth?

The Thirty-Nine Steps by John Buchan (Richard Hannay #1)

Blurb (from the jacket):

'My guest was lying sprawled on his back. There was a knife through his heart which skewered him to the floor.'

From that moment Richard Hannay's own life is under threat. A few days before, the dead man had told him of a political assassination that was shortly to take place in London and which would have terrible repercussions around the world. In mortal danger he sought refuge in Hannay's flat. Now he had been murdered and Hannay had to move quickly if he was not to suffer the same fate. 

Pursued by both police and killers he heads for Scotland. There, among the Scottish moors, a deadly game of cat and mouse ensues, and Hannay needs all his resourcefulness and courage to stay one step ahead. His only hope is to persuade someone in the British Government of the impending danger. But will he be able to get to them in time and save the country from certain ruin?

The Thirty-Nine Steps is the most famous of the five novels featuring Richard hannay and established John Buchan as one of Britain's finest writers of suspense stories.

Metamorphing by Kunal Pancholi

INTRODUCTION

METAMORPHING-THE HUNT BEGINS

AUTHOR: Kunal Pancholi

EDITOR: Anushree Nandee

COVER DESIGN: Avinash Sathianathan

Publisher: Leadstart publishing Pvt Ltd

PAGES:252                                             

JOT(From the jacket):

28th APRIL, 2000: Flight No. 9x4876 bound to Srinagar has crash landed into the Everest Base camp. Unconfirmed reports suggest that the flight mysteriously went off the radar for few minutes and missed its landing. All passengers are feared dead… except for three bodies that are yet to be recovered.
8th DECEMBER, 2050:This, without doubt is the most gruesome murder in recent times. Early this morning, an unidentified woman was found mutilated at the western gates of the abandoned Victoria Terminus Station in Mumbai. Authorities report her head was … well … semi-decapitated and she was drained of all her blood. The shocking part - the crime scene was devoid of any signs of blood spatter…
ROHAN: He was shorter than the shortest girl in school; he had to be ahead in the game!
RUDRA:A man without a past, coaxed into a murder investigation; will he ever grasp the true nature of the 

crime?

Perfume by Patrick Süskind

Blurb (from the GoodReads):

In the slums of eighteenth-century France, the infant Jean-Baptiste Grenouille is born with one sublime gift: an absolute sense of smell. As a boy, he lives to decipher the odors of Paris, and apprentices himself to a prominent perfumer who teaches him the ancient art of mixing precious oils and herbs.

But Grenouille's genius is such that he is not satisfied to stop there, and he becomes obsessed with capturing the smells of objects such as brass doorknobs and frest-cut wood. Then one day he catches a hint of a scent that will drive him on an ever-more-terrifying quest to create the "ultimate perfume"—the scent of a beautiful young virgin.

Told with dazzling narrative brillance, Perfume is a hauntingly powerful tale of murder and sensual depravity.

Ten Days by Leela Nandan

INRTODUCTION

TEN DAYS  Obessions...revenge...and murder most foul

AUTHOR: LEENA NANDAN

EDITOR: Shobit Arya and team

PUBLISHER: Wisdom Tree.

PAGES : 211

JOT(from the jacket): Tina is the brightest young executive in a call centre ,and an office romance adds spice to the hectic pace of world...till a stalker strikes terror in her life. 

Vikram , a police officer, is sent to investigate a cybercrime in the same call centre .His life takes a dramatic turn when his ex-girlfriend, leila, now married to someone else, re-enters his life. Soon after, his assistant ends up dead.

Tina,on one stormy evening, stumbles upon the plot behind these seemingly unrelated events which plot behind these seemingly unrelated events which turns out to be something infinitely menacing...

MY REFLECTION:  The life in a call centre is always quick, hectic, busy. The life at call centre , people over there, the emotional bridging between the people, their vulnerabilities and intentions etcectra are addressed in a realistic and appealing way. Tina our protagonist is a happy-go- lucky, cherubic and a charming woman. She seeks happiness from her little world. 

Things take an odd turn suddenly, Tina is in danger.She encounters few strange consequences , few events put her in bewilderment and shock. 

The book is a thriller but it is too gory.It's hard to digest many parts of the book. They are very painful. 

The author has given a  lot of description and addressed so many characters which is so confusing and deviating I guess. 

But this book addresses the atrocities against women , the irrationality and cruelity against them which will emotionlay shake the readers.

About the Author: Leena Nandan is an IAS officer of 1987 batch , Uttar Pradesh cadre. A graduate in English Honours from Patna Women's college, she has a Master's degree in Development Managment from the Asian Institute of Managment, Manali.

ISBN 978-81-8328-364-9

              

The Twelfth Imam by Joel C. Rosenberg

   

INTRODUCTION   

AUTHOR : JOEL C. ROSENBERG

PUBLISHER: JAICO PUBLISHING HOUSE

PAGES : 490 pps

JOT(from the jacket):  WHAT IF THE ISLAMIC MESSIAH COMES TO EARTH ?
                                          WHAT IF THE WORLD WAITS TOO LONG...AND
                                              IRAN DEVELOPS NUCLEAR WEAPONS?

Tensions are rising in the middle east . Iran's president vows to annihilate the United States and Israel. Israel's prime minister says someone must hit Iran's nuclear sites "before it's too late." The American president warns against a preemptive strike on Iran's nuclear facilities and says negotiations are the key to finding peace.

And amid it all, rumors are swirling throughout the region of mysterious religious cleric claiming to be the islamic messiah known as the Mahdi or the Twelfth Imam. Word oh his miracles ,healings,signs and wonders is spreading like wildfire.

CIA operative David Shirazi was born for this moment . he is recruited and sent into Tehran with one objective: use all means necessary to disrupt Iran's nuclear weapon programs, without leaving American fingerprints and without triggering an apocalyptic new war.

But time is running out.

MY REFLECTION :  This book being a Evangelical fiction was like a cultural and literary shock for me. It's  a religious thriller and it's narrated  mmarvelous The language is rock solid. The traits of all the ccharactersplaying in this thriller are presented intricately without missing a single nuance.

Coming to the plot. It's captivating. Especially , it's so amazing how the plot maneuvers towards the crucial events that made me feel awestruck. I definitely need to appreciate the author for the kind of research he has carried out  in understanding the theology of both Islam and Christianity The best part of the book for me is ,while connecting the dots between the two religions.

Overall the book is written fabulously with a stir of suspense,crime,mysticism religion, riots, politics, etc. The book revolves around issues which are very deep to my conscience, but I somehow made it to fathom them.

The only thing that bothered me is  the abrupt closure of the novel, with hardly a note of climax. without this the entire book is  good.

 WARNING: This book contains literature which may hurt the sentiments of people who believe in Islam. And  this book  has biased description about Bible and Jesus.

As this book is a work of fiction, I sincerely request the readers  to look at it  from a creative writer's point of view. I cordially request all the readers ,not to take any part of the book  granted as it triggers the feelings of Fundamentalism

I hope all the readers will  respect the "freedom of expression" and accept the author.

About the Author: Joel C. Rosenberg is the NEW YORK Times best-selling author of five novels. Joel is the producer of two documentary films based on his nonfiction films. He is also the founder of The Joshua Fund , a nonprofit educational and charitable organization to mobilize Christians to " bless Israel and her neighbors in the name of Jesus" with food,clothing ,medical supplies,and other humanitarian relief.
                       

ISBN-13: 978-81-8495-447-0

                    

Private India by James Patterson and Ashwin Sanghi (Private Series)

Blurb (from the jacket):

In Mumbai seemingly unconnected people are dying, strangled in a chilling ritual and with strange objects carefully arranged with the corpses. 

For Santosh Wagh, head of Private India, the Mumbai branch of the world’s finest investigation agency, it's a race against time to stop the killer striking again. 

In a city of over thirteen million, he'd have his work cut out at the best of times but this case has him battling Mumbai's biggest ganglord and a godman who isn't all he seems.

And then he discovers there may be an even greater danger facing Private India. Hidden in the shadows is someone who could destroy the whole organisation along with thousands of innocent Mumbai citizens...

Sherlock Holmes A Death in Venice and other cases by Ted Riccardi (Jaico Sherlock Holmes Series)

Blurb (from the jacket):

After a thrilling jaunt in the Far East, Holmes and Watson return to England to address an inheritance left by one of Watson’s relatives in Cornwall, half of which is entrusted to Sherlock Holmes. 

Financially secure, the two are now free to spend as much time on Baker Street and the Continent as they please, and the duo find themselves as comfortable in Rome on the banks of the Tiber as they do on the Thames. As Holmes rationalizes and ratiocinates his way through adventure after adventure, from The Case of Two Bohemes to A Singular Event in Tranquebar, it is all in a day’s work, until clues surface that his great nemesis, Professor James Moriarty, might still be alive...

“There’s no way to dance around it: Ted Riccardi’s work is absolutely brilliant. It is as if he is channeling Conan Doyle. Once you’re a few pages into these stories, you would swear that these were newly discovered manuscripts, unearthed by Conan Doyle’s estate. I had the feeling that I had stumbled upon some pulp magazines in an alternate universe where Conan Doyle was still writing. Riccardi has it all down—the cadence, the language, everything. He doesn't try to subtly update Holmes for the modern audience, either. It is as if each and every tale was written at the turn of the century, and not the twenty-first."

Anti-Social Network (Inspector Virkar #2) by Piyush Jha

Blurb (from the jacket):

When college students across Mumbai are murdered one after another in gruesome ways, inspector Virkar from the crime branch is called in. As Virkar investigates, he stumbles upon a ruthless gang of young, tech-savvy miscreants who use social networking sites and the Internet for blackmail and sextortion. But how are the two cases linked? And who is the mastermind behind these killings?

As the case grows murkier, the computer-challenged Virkar finds himself greatly out of his depth, chasing a killer who always seems to be one step ahead and a group that soon trains its sights on him. He must race against time to unmask the gang and to find the murderer before his reputation is ruined forever. Thick with suspense and layered with grit, anti-social network brings to you inspector Virkars toughest case yet.

The Great Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Donald Thomas

Blurb (from the jacket):

Holmes returns! In five ingenious new novella length tales featuring the Great Detective. 

Once again the game is afoot, in these highly original stories featuring Sherlock Holmes at the height of his powers. Crossing historical fact with inventive fiction, the master of pastiche Donald Thomas plunges Holmes into London's Siege of Sidney Street, where he ratiocinates alongside Winston Churchill in obstructing an anarchists assassination plot led by Peter the Painter. In the next adventure, Holmes and Watson are confounded by the Riddle of the Zimmerman Telegram during World War I, as Holmes must employ all his wits to defeat a plan for a German led invasion of the United States. In other mystifying tales of detection, Sherlock Holmes searches for the treasures of King John, lost in 1216. Foiling a foul extortion attempt, Holmes and Watson aid in discovering Lord Byron's epic poem evoking his secret journey to Virginia. Finally the great detective, in a bravura performance, confronts a supernatural curse in Lord Arthur Savile's Crime.

Rage in the jungle, Raj on the street by Doctor Kesi

Blurb (from the jacket): 

'Rage in the Jungle, Raj on the Street', is a story that captures the essence of a group of people caught in a strange predicament. 

Political activist Neema unwittingly puts her family - a widowed mother, old husband, a little daughter in jeopardy, while pursuing Buddha, the encounter specialist, for his false encounters. Buddha, with his dogmatic belief in an extreme definition of patriotism, was tempted to stage false encounters on a terrorist couple. Chased by his pursuers, he finds himself in an awkward place, which he must have not dreamed of in the wildest of his dreams. 

Sambhu, an absconded bonded labor-turned Maoist was in Neemas company, knowing precious little of how fast his criminal past would catch up with him. Or that he would again meet the same terrorist-cum arms peddler from whom he had purchased the AK47s, in exchange for hashish, cultivated to fund Maoist activities.

What fate awaits Sambhu, Neema, her husband Dr. London and Buddha?

Will justice prevail?

The Secret Cases of Sherlock Holmes by Donald Thomas

Blurb (from the jacket):

Donald Thomas combines his expertise as a novelist and criminal historian to give a breand-new twist to the adventures of Conan Doyle's famous creation.

Accompanied as ever by Dr. Watson, Holmes here investigates: The alleged bigamy of King George V... The theft of the Irish Crown Jewels in 1907... The bizarre circumstances of the death of President Faure of France... Such dramas are not fiction but historical reality. 

The investigations described in this volume relate the part played by the great detective in seven major crimes or scandals of the day, some of them too damaging to the monarchy, the government or the security of the nation to be fully revealed at the time. 

Compiled in narrative form by Dr. Watson soon after the great detective’s death, Holmes’s notes have been kept under lock and key at the Public Record Office in Chancery Lane. Now, seventy years later, we can finally open the secret casebook of Sherlock Holmes.

Prisoner, Jailor, Prime Minister by Tabrik C.

Foreword:

This is the first book received for our blog, for reviewing from BlogAdda.

Blurb (from the jacket):

India has a new Prime Minister but is Siddhartha Tagore the product of his genius or of his dangerous mind? 

-----------------------------------------------------------------

India is on edge, as a subversive internal revolt against the Constitution and the threat of Jehadi terror of an unthinkable level, are looming on the horizon. Ringing Shivas damaru in and out of Parliament, a sudden turn of karma catapults outsider Siddhartha Tagore - a conflicted genius, music maestro and prodigal son, with forceful views on China and Pakistan into national prominence as the head of the Opposition Alliance and finally as the newly elected Prime Minister of a disturbed nation. 

But buried secrets are being resurrected and threaten to expose the past. Twisted within the double helix of menacing politics and hidden lust, Prisoner, Jailor, Prime Minister is a scorching account of Siddhartha Tagore's fascinating journey from Harvard to 7 Race Course Road.

The Cosmic Clues by Manjiri Prabhu

Foreword:

It has been quite some time since I have received this book for reviewing from Jaico Publishers. With time, it was lost among the various books and I totally forgot about it, until I was updating the TBR list lately, and noticed the picture of this book there.

That is when I started my search for the book until I found it. It was good shape and its head-note declarede proudly: Soon to be a major motion picture! Very unlike the contemporary head-notes of most novel: National Bestseller.

I remember what I thought when I requested this book for reviewing: Soon to be a major picture? I must read it. 

However, till now (the book was first published in 2004 by Dell Publishers) the book is nothing more than a book. And also I had done a little research on this book, not once I stumbled on a article that informed that this book is going to be a filmed.

Intentionally or not, it is a kind of fraud to misguide the readers for whatever the reason maybe. And then, the book is just a work fiction. The head-notes might be, too.

Like various other books sent earlier from Jaico, this book is also sent by Marina.

You can check out various book from Jaico here: BR with Jaico...

A Country for Men by RKSJ

Foreword:

Out of our usual stackers, I have received a mail from BlackBuck Publishers. Heard of them before? Neither did I, until then.

They were new into the publishing industry. Their first book was, Life's Like That by Prashant V. Shrivastava, which clearly bore the signs of immaturity. It was poorly edited and was boring in more instances than one.

The mail from them contained with the request to review their books the details of four books. Each book's cover design was uniquely assembled and I was right away tempted to accept the offer.

So they sent four of their books over. The other three of the books are,

• SUDHI-KANNAN: An Elephantic adventure
• LOVE @ AIR FORCE
• THE RELUCTANT MESSIAH

The reviews of these books are yet to follow...