Saturday, 22 August 2015

Not even 'a minute's' rest

In a word - gripping!

I'm talking about a 100-odd paged novel that was handed to me by a dear colleague, who said his niece is a budding writer. What caught my attention was the title - A Minute To Death. Murder mysteries are generally a fast read, 'sure-to-not-bore-you' theme. It was easy to carry... kept me engaged even through my most important of assignments at work. Kudos to Ganga Bharani, the author.

Set in Chennai, I could relate to the context - right from the name Raghavan Colony to Kamal's movie - Vettaiyaadu Vilayadu... Reason is simple, the city has always been my first love... It was a refreshing change from the books that I have read where it starts in Philadelphia or a Seattle. But to see a Roshan and a Riya there was a bit alien, until you get used to the names in the following chapters.

The story had to start with the death of a young girl that sets both Roshan (an inspector) and Riya (a passionate fresher of a writer) rolling through a spate of thrilling events discovered through interrogations... chilling facts drawn through social media analysis and ultimately find themselves drowned in solving what appears to be a serial murder.

The disappointment comes when you realise a few typos that impedes the speed as the suspense grows rapidly through the chapters; 'stuffs', for instance. Certain scenes (I almost imagine a book like a movie as I read) too could have been said better... scenes involving the romance between the two, for instance...

However, all said and down, I couldn't stop for a minute until I finished 'A Minute To Death' entirely. It taught me what death is... it made me feel old when I learnt the trending talks of youngsters in college... It made me smile when the guy in love makes a fool of himself... and finally, it made me write this to let Ganga Bharani and my colleague know that we would love to read many more such books. Good Luck!

1 comment:

  1. Thanks a lot for the review Pratiba :D I am glad you liked it :)

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