Book Review: Scarlet Nights by Mayur Patel

Title: Scarlet Nights
Author: Mayur Patel
Publisher: Half Baked Beans

About the Author:

Mayur Patel has studied Civil Engineering. He has worked as a civil engineer and an Interior Designer. He was a part of an orchestra as a singer some years back. At present he works in a Newspaper as a sub-editor.
His first book ‘Vivek and I’ was a work of romance and was published by Penguin Books India. He writes Novels, Short Stories and Columns in Gujarati, too.
Besides writing, he enjoys a wide variety of activities like reading, gardening, singing, watching movies and playing badminton. Travelling is an addiction which enables him to bring life to his writing.
The author lives in Valsad, India with his family. He can be contacted at: markmayur@gmail.com.

Review:

In his captivating second novel, Scarlet Nights, Mayur Patel explores memory, privacy, and fear, and what happens when the jarring incidents of our past catches up with us. 

As elegantly plotted as it is—and it is—the novel stands out not only for its thrills alone but rather for Mayur’s eye for details. It is more than a classic psychological thriller: it is also a haunting portrait of existential crisis in the aftermath of a trauma. It is a gripping tale with irresistibly engaging characters who sharply illuminate psychological issues in modern times.

‘Scarlet Nights’ is the story of Malvika Chauhan. Smart, sexy and confident, Malvika lives an enviably perfect life in Mumbai. She has a flourishing career, a loving boyfriend and a promising future. In contrast to the protagonist’s character is Margarita Spiteful, fearless and mysterious, Margrita lives on the extreme ends. Self-merriment is the only thing that matters to her. Destiny plays wicked and brings the two women face to face with each other. While Malvika knows nothing about Margrita, Margrita is well-aware of the hidden secrets of Malvika's past. Malvika's life turns sour as she struggles against the insufferable circumstances inflicted upon her by Margrita. It's a situation she cannot escape. If the hidden secrets get disclosed, Malvika will be finished. She will lose every precious thing she has... her career, her prestige, her love.

The novel scores points with its beautiful cover but loses some because of the writing style. It could have been better. The narrative sounds stilted more often than not. The writer comes across as trying too hard. Some graphic scenes could have been avoided easily. But all in all, it is a well researched, pacy novel that is worth a read.

Buy Link:

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Trailer:

I'd like to thank the author for letting me review his book. I do hope you end up liking the book when you read it. Thank you so much for stopping by, and happy reading! 

Book Review: Half a Shadow by Anurag Shourie

Title: Half a Shadow
Author: Anurag Shourie
Publisher: Inkhorn Publishing

Review:

In Half A Shadow, Anurag Shourie investigates the power and perils of the medical world in a consistently absorbing narrative.

In the city of lakes, Udaipur, when three dead bodies turn up at different locales but within a very short period of time, it leaves the investigators wondering: were these instances of accident or murder. The unrelated victims – a young businessman, a beautiful bride and a famous doctor – share a common connection. They had gone to the same nursing home before they died abruptly. Vijay Raj, the chief investigator helped by his nephew Aditya Deshmukh, covers most of the investigatory components, which ultimately bring to light the gloriously elaborate connections to the death. A week is all it takes for the otherwise tranquil city to get caught up in a mayhem that is a result of greed and power play. In order to redeem himself and to solve the murders, Aditya sets out to find the missing links between Abraham and Sarasvati, Abhimanyu and Sumitra, Yasser Arafat and Vladimir Putin. The body count continues to rise as he gropes in the darkness for answers only he can find. A ruthless Suvasini is somehow related to his past and to his present. Surrounded by her flunkeys, she is all set to wreck havoc in the lives of the doctors that work under her. The hunter, Kanti lal Johri, is reduced to a prey and watches helplessly as his life, instead of falling into place, falls into pieces.

The setting of the story feels vertiginous and shiny, but this lushness is described in matter-of-fact observance. Medical procedures and facts are described in details. A lot of hard work and research has gone into the making of this novel and it is evident in the way the story unfolds. Anurag Shourie has indeed penned a medical saga that packs a sizable number of plot twists and characters without getting tangled.

Author bio:

A poet at heart, a writer by choice and an anaesthesiologist by default. He has degrees in medicine and hospital administration in his kit, but love for the written word in his soul. An ardent Ruskin Bond fan, his hobbies include music and sports which he pursues with equal fervour. His poetic wares are on display at his blog – dranuragshourie.blogspot.in. He is presently employed with a multinational Clinical Research Organization. He can be reached at sdranurag9@gmail.com. 

Link:

Amazon

I'd like to thank the author for letting me review his book. I do hope you end up liking the book when you read it. Thank you so much for stopping by, and happy reading! 

*'I received a free copy from Writersmelon in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.'

Book Review: False Ceilings by Amit Sharma

Title: False Ceilings

Author: Amit Sharma

Publisher: Lifi Publications Pvt. Ltd.

Review:

Readers who are accustomed to easing slowly into a story will probably want to get a grip on their socks before settling down with Amit Sharma’s debut novel False Ceilings. The story leaps out of the blocks, giving us Aaryan, one of the many protagonists that populate the story, in the stressful mindset where he equates life with an ‘If-Then-Else’ statement. The narration jumps between a distant future and flashbacks. The story takes on a meandering course with characters introduced in almost every chapter and one can only connect the dots after having meticulously read what the author has to offer. It can be a little confusing but if one can stick to it, the plot is promising. 

The book begins in the current period, moves briefly to an imagined future almost 50 years from the present day and then transports us to the Dalhousie of pre-independent India where we are introduced to Kanshiram and his household. His daughter, Shakuntala, is a pampered baby. We get glimpses of her life and later her lineage. On her wedding night in 1946, she is gifted a secret to draw on judiciously once the moment comes as she moves on from the green valleys of Dalhousie to a village in Punjab that is reeling under the communal hostility of 1947 and from the Delhi of 1950s with its exciting whiff of independence to the Delhi of 1970s drenched in the hippie culture. The secret is fortuitously passed along, concealed beneath insecurities and jealousies, sheltered in its vanity and leaving a shadow of wreck as when her great-grandson by chance discovers the furtive he is bewildered by the malevolence that flowed in his family's blood.

A passage from the book reads: “Sometimes people go through a lifetime of pain by holding a secret that could have changed everything. It is an intoxicating addiction, an act of dominance to know that you hold something in your grip that could have changed the life of a person you detest.” This in fact is the crux of the story. Secrets are bad news in real life but for readers these secrets are what keep them hooked to a story. Amit has done a great job of maintaining this secrecy till the very last page all the while tantalizing and egging the readers to turn the page.

Amit is guilty of over-plotting this novel, packing it with developments that, while they may be unexpected and diverting, aren’t really necessary and could have been done away with. Yes, this book leaves you constantly unsure of what lies ahead. But the writer slows down frequently enough to illuminate the darkened, delicate recesses of his characters, so that one doesn’t feel obviously manipulated, thrust forward by his storytelling structure. Not everything succeeds in these pages. A few plot twists are more convenient than credible. Yet Amit Sharma’s False Ceilings remains a satisfying yarn about folks trying to surmount the limits of their heredity and circumstance, overcome the inevitability of fate and find the power within themselves to get beyond their own pains and thus transcend in spite of all odds.

Author Bio:

Having studied M. Tech in Computer Science from Kurukshetra University, Amit Sharma is currently working as a Software Engineer in Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) for the last ten years. His wife is a teacher and they are blessed with a daughter who is in her terrible twos.

Link:

Amazon

Contact:

Website

I'd like to thank the author for letting me review his book. I do hope you end up liking the book when you read it. Thank you so much for stopping by, and happy reading! 

*'I received a free copy from Writersmelon in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.'