Book Reviews

Tigers Don't Confess

2013-01-27T18:30:00.000+05:30

Tigers Don't Confess Cover Page

Tigers Don't Confess is a fact based fiction about the LTTE and Sri Lankan Civil War. The narration is quite simple and it seems like the author has tried to showcase every aspect of life, from politics to love and how it is affected by the conflict. There are some twists and turns in the story but it lacks the captivating element that a thriller should have. The book is quite neutral and does not showcase any one side as the villain, as it is usually, mistakes are of both sides in a conflict.

The author Visakesa Chandrasekaram is one of the few Sri Lankan Writers who write in English. After the end of the civil war in 2009 things have improved in Sri Lanka. I am not sure if the individual events in the book are true . But certainly some of them are if not all.

It is quite disturbing to realize that how easy it is to commit even the most heinous crimes out of hatred or the belief that you are right. And how equally easy it is to expect forgiveness for the same.

War has always brought pain and sorrow to mankind and yet we have not learnt our lessons. While reading about hundreds getting killed in the newspaper looks just a number, reading about one of them in a novel can shake your very conscience. It is here that fact based fictions succeed.

The story also reminds us why it is important to always ensure that the innocent are not punished. It is the oppression of the innocent that leads to war and sustains it.

Tigers Don't Confess Book Review 2/5

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Prey

2012-10-08T00:24:00.001+05:30

Prey by Michael Crichton is about something that we fear might happen one day. Humans cause their own extinction, this time the means turns out to be nanotechnology. Microbots have gone rogue and are threatening the existence of Human Species.

The book starts in a rather disconnected way. The actual plot starts to reveal itself when Jack has to go to Julia's lab. I must say quit captivating turn of events happen when jack reaches the lab. the question of if the nano bots affected julia's behavior or how are they evolving in the city is still not clear though. especially the baby having turned purple.

I wasn't expecting people to actually die in this book though, but a lot die and a lot quickly.
Not really sure how are they disinfecting themselves with just external blowers.

The helicopter incident made me suspicious that there was some kind of deal between Julia and the bots, it was quiet far fetched though.
Surprisingly my suspicion turns out to be true by the end .

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The Secret of the Nagas

2012-03-10T22:28:00.000+05:30

The Secret of the Nagas Book Review ★★★★☆

The Secret of the Nagas by Amish is the Sequel of The Immortals of Meluha. This is a very anticipated book since The Immortals of Meluha ends at the heights of climax. Sati is pregnant and right in front of the temple Shiva and Sati notice a Naga, Shiva Screams and that's when the first book ends. Its an evil ending in my opinion , but well it does make the second book worth waiting for. The Second Book mainly deals with the Nagas.

**Spoilers**

It was pretty clear from the First book that Shiva hasn't yet found the right enemy or the evil one's and indulged in a war which was quite unnecessary. And from what it looks like even the Naga's aren't that bad. Except for the attacks on Shiva and Sati every other action of theirs seems to be noble.

The book also forays into a Menaka vs Vishwamitra style love story, which I must say is very amusing.

And of course the birth of Shiva and Sati's child. The way the author has merged mythology and fiction is applaudable. Shiva wanted to name the child Kritika, after Sati's companion during her bad times, as he was sure of having a girl child, but when the child born is a boy they name him Karthik!!

The obvious questions of scarcity of Somaras were also answered in a quite surprising yet not so surprising way. While it was only obvious that a kingdom would want to keep backup of the most important thing - Somras.

The simultaneous wealth and poverty of Branga is a grim reminder of how fate can play a cruel game.

The entrance of Ganesh into the picture was so dramatic and unexpected that it really brings out the amazing mixture of myth and fiction in the book. And when Kali emerges it's very hard to stop appreciating the imagination of the author.

The Actual Secret of the Nagas is something that was kept till the last page of the book and as with the first book, it answers it but leaves many unanswered questions. Will be looking forward to the Next book The Oath of the Vayuputras.

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The DaVinci Code

2012-03-09T11:09:00.001+05:30

The DaVinci Code by Dan Brown is an amazing book. The premise is that the belief that Jesus had no descendants may not be true and there is a closed group that guards the secrets surrounding this. This also involves the much sought after Holy Grail. The members of this closed groups are now under attack. The book has been denounced heavily by the Church but Its certainly worth reading as a piece of fiction.

The DaVinci Code Book Review ★★★★☆

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Angels And Demons

2012-03-09T10:58:00.000+05:30

Angels & Demons by Dan Brown is a story that revolves around the question of who will be the next pope. Since it involves the Vatican there are several very interesting debates on the most common topics where the church has strong views. But the best part of the story is in the climax. It seems to so befitting to name the book Angels & Demons when you realize that the angels are the demons.

Book Angels & Demons Review ★★★★☆

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Digital Fortress

2012-03-09T10:42:00.000+05:30

Digital Fortress by Dan Brown is a mind boggling thriller involving the best encryption cracking computer in the world. What happens when the best machine is pitted against the best minds. Can the Best machine crack the latest development in encryption. Or will it become useless as newer forms of encryption are encountered. The story has all the elements of suspense, lies , treachery, murder and best of all a very lucid writing style.

Digital Fortress Book Review ★★★★☆

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The Exile

2012-03-09T10:21:00.000+05:30

The Exile by Allan Folsom is a thriller that is captivating and certainly deserves to be a best seller. The whole story has so many twists and turns that it gets hard to believe what the truth is. The characters are all very strong and extremely significant. The story goes into different countries and goes through a lot of rather interesting climax's .

This is a book that should not be missed.

The Exile Book Review ★★★★☆

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The Immortals of Meluha

2012-03-08T21:40:00.000+05:30

The Immortals of Meluha is a alternate fictional story of who Lord Shiva was. The Book takes ancient India from the History books and creates a fictional story. There are several occasions when creative situations have been made based on mythological events and actual historical places. The most striking thing in about the book is the way an alternate story has been made from mythology. This book is
certainly not to be missed by anyone.

The Immortals of Meluha Book Review ★★★★☆

Shiva's companion Nandi, and the famous Neelkanth all have been given a very different portrayal than what is usually thought of . And the picture that is painted of ancient India is certainly appeasing, but I do wonder if that is true. The Caste system is too described in the way it actually was perceived and not the ridiculous and deviated way it is practiced now.

And the simple yet lucid way Shiva performs the Natraj Pose is certainly one of the best examples of how the author has come up with an alternate life for the character Shiva that we know.
And the author goes on and creates a rather human depiction of Lord Brahma himself. In fact he is addressed as a scientist. Also the near perfect portrayal of the gurukul system is just astounding.

The book is filled with scientific and logical explanation for almost all the mythology surrounding Lord Shiva and the Suryavanshi's. This is a treasure trove for those who love logic.

The War is certainly interesting but the few remaining pages after that proves to be such a climax and the last line will certainly ensure that the next book i read is The Secret of the Nagas.

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Mockingjay

2012-03-08T12:26:00.000+05:30

Mockingjay Book Review ★★★☆☆

Mockingjay by Suzzan Collins is the Third book of the Hunger Games Series. This book was rather dissapointing compared to the first two books. The book is by itself interesting and captivating but doesn't stand a chance when

compared to the First Book.

The book goes into a full fledged war between Katniss and the President. The fact that Katniss was almost passive during the whole book was extremely disappointing. The whole character of Katniss has taken a beating as the book has progressed. It would have been so much better if Katniss was leading the revolution rather than being just a tool.

It was a relief though that Katniss finally had a clear view on her love life. This love triangle was more of a pain than pleasure anyways.

The whole Series in fact was quit ridiculous in concept, but then hey that's what fiction is .

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State of Fear

2012-03-06T23:55:00.002+05:30

State of Fear is a novel by Michael Crichton is actually an environmental thriller. The world is in danger this time from Radical Environmentalists. The book keeps swaying between interesting and boring. It gets even worse as its considerably bigger than the usual Michael Crichton books. There isn't really much of an adventure that is really worth it. Does a few incidents of
gory incidents though.

State of Fear Book Review

The first half of the novel pretty much is a drag as it revolves around the the various pieces of the puzzle that Michael has tried to create here. It fails to generate much of an interest though. The veil of secrecy of what is actually going on also doesn't fall till almost half the book is done. This makes it pretty hard to comprehend the magnitude of the adversity.

There are 2 major women Characters in the book and both of them have been portrayed as stronger(or better) in some way or other than our hero of the book. But Michael spoils it by displaying the vulnerable male ego of our hero.

The environmental details and technical stuffs seemed way too exaggerated but were still believable than most other books. The bigger problem with them was that it was plain boring.

There is just one event in the whole novel that seemed to be exciting and that was the incident involving the lightning, though the survival of the characters of such events is something i did take with a pinch of salt.

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Airframe

2012-02-25T02:17:00.001+05:30

Airframe Book Review

I have always been fascinated by Airplanes and especially Air Crash Investigations. Airplanes are extremely complex and yet the incidents that happen never involve just a single reason. They are an example of perfect machinery. And yet its humbling how a series of mistakes can bring down a plane in seconds. This makes investigating Air Crashes very difficult and also interesting as its one thing to find a fault and a totally different ball game to find a series of errors , that caused something so tragic.

The book is about an Airline Airframe manufacturing Company. An Aircraft develops problems mid air and rises up and falls down steeply for several minutes causing a couple of deaths and dozens of serious injuries to passengers. No one is sure of how and why this happened. The investigation gets more complicated due to the labor unrest and corporate games.

In the middle of all this is Ms Singleton , whose job is on the line. She has to find the reason of the Aircraft's malfunction before the media destroys the credibility of the Airplane.

The story is bit of a drag in the first half of the book, but it gets really interesting towards the end. Happy Reading.

I leave you with a video of How To Survive an Airplane Crash

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Catching Fire

2012-02-18T12:51:00.000+05:30

Catching Fire Book Review

I had great expectations from this book as it is the second part of The Hunger Games. And to my hearts content it lived up to it.
While it is difficult to enjoy the first book fully due to the radical circumstances the book is based on. Once the reader gets accustomed to the plot its easier to enjoy the book, this in particular is the appeal of the second book.
The only downside of the book that I felt is that the character of Katniss seems to be loosing the strength it had in the first book. The last thing I would want is any portrayal of Katniss as weak.

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A Case Of Need

2012-01-07T14:51:00.000+05:30

This is certainly not one of the best works of Michael Crichton. Its rather disappointing for a murder mystery. In Fact its not even a murder. The book revolves mainly around medical ethics so shouldn't be read with much expectations of a mystery.

It is a good book on medical ethics aspect of abortion and nothing else.

A Case Of Need Book Review -

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Eaters of the Dead

2011-12-21T22:36:00.000+05:30

The story of an Arab courtier who visits the vikings, the language is unlike any other Michael Chrichton Novel , I had to refer a dictionary quite a number of times.

Most of the incidents are elaborately described and are sometimes hard to believe to be true, but then there seems to be good enough reason to believe that its a true story. In any case it is amusing to read and does give an insight into the lives of the arabs and the vikings.

Eaters of the Dead Book Review - A Good Read

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Disclosure

2011-12-20T00:01:00.000+05:30

In this world where man dominates everywhere, its difficult to believe that a woman can victimize a man. It's even hard to imagine it being sexual harassment . However Michael shows us how harassment is not a quality of gender but of power.

The novel breaks quite a lot of our pre conceived notions about the world and about the psychology of human beings. This is a book that must be read for the sheer brutal truth.

Disclosure Book Review - Good Read

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Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest

2011-12-19T10:32:00.003+05:30

Lisbeth Slander's past is revealed in the third and final book of the Millennium Series. The whole book seems like a mystery unfolding and saying anything about the book seems like a spoiler. It certainly is an apt ending to a marvelous story.

Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest Book Review - Must Read

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The Girl Who Played With Fire

2011-12-17T22:11:00.001+05:30

Stieg Larsson continues to amaze with the second part of the Millenium Series. While The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo brought Mikael and Lisbeth together , now they face dangers and mysteries that are much bigger than what they had to endure last time. And it gets really personal this time. Lisbeth takes the center stage here and rightly so , after all she is the The Girl Who Played With Fire.

Stieg Larsson continues to keep the focus on violence against women and also gives new insight into the Sweden Security Agencies.

And once this book is read there is only one thing that is more satisfying , reading the next and final book - The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest

The Girl Who Played With Fire Book Review - Must Read

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The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo‎

2011-12-11T21:30:00.001+05:30

This is part one of the Millennium Series of Books by Stieg Larsson. The book starts with parallel stories of the life of a journalist and a very unique girl(no prizes for guessing what tattoo she has). And continues into a murder mystery which gets both of them involved.

Stieg Larsson's personal views are very evident in the book. This is an excerpt form Wikipedia

When Larsson was 15 years old, he witnessed the gang rape of a girl, which led to his lifelong abhorrence of violence and abuse against women. His longtime partner, Eva Gabrielsson, writes that this incident "marked him for life" in a chapter of her book that describes Larsson as a feminist. The author never forgave himself for failing to help the girl, and this inspired the themes of sexual violence against women in his books.

The plot is based in Sweden and provides an insight into a hidden world within Sweden. As it is claimed that - Everything described in the book is a real life incident that has happened to someone in Sweden.

The violence depicted in the book gets extremely graphic at times, it would be prudent to stay away for those who are disturbed easily , especially by sexual violence.

The novel in itself is very thrilling and leaves the reader waiting to get their hands on the next part of the series - The Girl Who Played with Fire

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Book Review

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The Host

2011-12-11T14:48:00.001+05:30

I had almost given up reading this book after the first few pages. Nothing made sense as the story begins abruptly, and can be confusing initially. But after that the book turned out to be quite interesting.

The plot is extremely unique , love triangle involving two bodies. It certainly has a good mixture of romance, thrill and bizarre .

The story narration is from the alien's point of view which makes it quite interesting.

The Climax and Anti Climax both were interesting and surprising.

This is certainly a great book from Stephenie.

The Host Book Review

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The Diary of A Young Girl

2011-12-10T22:19:00.001+05:30

This book is a must read for everyone. While we all have heard about the world war II, this book gives a totally new insight into another side of the war. The diary starts before the war begun, and ends abruply days before anne and the residents of the "secret annexe" were arrested. Unfortunately only her father survived but anne still lives in her books.

The diary has quite interesting accounts of the problems and difficulties they faced during the years of their hiding. It also provides a great understanding of what was going through the minds of a teenager. How she changed in the years and coped with the problems that most teenagers never even have to think about.

Anne wanted to be a journalist or famous writer, if only she knew how her wish has been fulfilled.

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The Diary of A Young Girl Book Review

The Lost World

2011-11-09T09:03:00.000+05:30

The Lost World

This is a sequel to the book Jurassic Park. In spite of their best effort in trying to destroy all the dinosaurs from the Islands, Some Survive and thrive in a remote Island. And as always there is some rich crazy guy willing to take the risk.

Unlike the first book there is more of "running around" and "fighting dinos" and less of technical mumbo jumbo. That makes it a very interesting read. While it does have a lot similarities to the previous books in terms of the plot . But overall a great book.

The Lost Word Book review - Must Read

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Jurassic park

2011-11-07T08:46:00.000+05:30

Jurassic park by Michael Crichton

Most often movies that have been based on books, tend to be a watered down version and hardly seem to be of much interest. So while reading Jurassic park I was hoping to find something that would be better than the movie.

However there was hardly any difference between the movie and the book. The book thus is as good as the movie.

I wonder how much of difference it would make for those who read the book first.

Jurassic Park Review - Must Read

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Pirate Latitudes

2011-11-06T08:17:00.000+05:30

Pirate Latitudes

Pirate Latitude is a book by Michael Crichton about a daring adventure in the high seas. The story get a bit dull in the middle but does reward with lots of twists and turn at the end.

However in comparison to other books of Michael Crichton , Pirate Latitude leaves the reader rather disappointed. The narration is rather bland and doesn't really spark much imagination. probably because of the rather extinct lifestyle and plot that it is based on.

The Ending also leaves the reader confused whether it is a good or a bad ending.

In short a good book but not the best works of Michael

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Pirate Latitudes Book Review

The Hunger Games

2011-10-30T15:15:00.000+05:30

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Seldom do we come across books that have plots as fiery as that of Hunger Games and yet are interesting. The Story is about a very "disturbing" event called as the Hunger Games where children from different districts are pitted against each other for survival and only one can survive and be the victor.

In spite of having a very gruesome and heartless plot to begin with, the sole theme of the book seemed to be love. How can love be blossoming in such an event of hatred and blood. Well I suppose that's what lotus in mud symbolizes.

Once you have overcome the initial reservations, due to the rather extreme plot, its a very unpredictable story. Every time you think that you had expected this turn of events the author manages to surprise.

A Must read for everyone .

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Hunger Games Book Review