THE DUST WILL NEVER SETTLE
By Mukul Deva
The king of Indian thrillers is back {on my blog, at least} : Mukul Deva. This is one of his older books...
THE CHARACTERS
Ravinder Singh Gill - Inspector-General Of Police: wish all police officers were like him
Govind Mohite - Deputy Inspector-General Of Police : give this guy a lollipop, he loves to lick! Also a first-class idiot!
Ruby Gill - Terrorist-Daughter, or Daughter-Terrorist? What does she turn out to be?
Raj Thakur - Home Minister, and a fool, not necessarily in that order. Should have stayed at home and ministered other ambitions and interferences. Royal nuisance and the pain in the Mohite-flavoured lollipop, if you get my point!
Mark - Ruby's sidekick
Chance Spillman - Good man... a gem
Simran Gill - The wife of the redoubtable IG, unforgiving but grand in every sense of the term
Jasmine Gill - Sweet, innocent but perceptive; the second daughter of the IG
THE PLOT & ANALYSIS
The plot is based on an inadmissible premise : that India plays host to a Middle-Eastern peace conference between Israel and Palestine given their proximity to both. As a result of this ill-conceived idea {Ill-conceived as per me; not a direct part of the plot} , the two warring parties head for Indian soil for a negotiation. This isn't a bad idea, as you will understand in due course of the story. Wont say more : read the book! A hint : We can learn from this, why invite trouble? Furthermore, why invite them despite a massive terror attack that was bloody effective? What are you - rank idiots, or what? Bhaiyya, Aa Bail Mujhe Maar kahaavat suni hai?????
Enter the Prime Minister, The should-have-stayed-at-Home Minister, IG Ravinder Singh Gill and DGP Loll - oops - idio - double oops - Mohite. Also enter the snobby and snooty American "Ms. Its Classified" {Already forgotten the name, with no intention of looking it up! That name I gave her - Its Classified - is so perfect} and less snobby and less snooty Englishman Chance Spillman. And of, by the way, some rank idiot and first class moron has - aah, how shall I put it - announced in "disinterested public of the wrong kind" that the meeting and peace conference is to take place. Even better, the same geniuses also announce the venue.
Well, it so happens that this - aah - "disinterested public of the wrong kind" decide that they want a part of this peace conference. And these ladies and gentlemen spell peace as w-a-r, with a synonym of t-e-r-r-o-r. Enter Ms Gill, estranged daughter of the redoubtable IGP, now an MI6 agent, who has been turned into a terrorist due to her mother and family's bad experience, and a nice little fib...
The lady gets to know her Dad is the IGP and in charge of security; the Dad gets to know his little princess for the first time since she was 3 years old. Perfect, wouldn't you say? At least, perfect from the lady's point of view, especially with a fool and an idiot in close proximity. The Dad and the Kid Sister aren't either, by the way. But did they wise up fast enough? Read the book for that!
The plot races along, as the terrorists build their capabilities, weapons and plans, and the police forces prepare the security, in full view of both the fool and the idiot-who-should-have-his-mouth-taped. The complicating factor is the proximity of the key terrorist to her Dad and his family, which begins to build bridges through the perceptive Jasmine. And critically, Ravinder tells Ruby the true story of her past... does she believe Ravinder? {Why should I tell you? Come on!}
The buildup is, in classic Mukul Deva fashion, filled with action and stunning combat scenes of the Jerusalam attack, and Ruby's escapades, skillfully recreated with awesome skill - you can almost smell the gunpowder, and visualise the scene. This sets the tone for the riveting climax, and the story is set for a thundering finish... this is not a book that you should miss. An absolute stunner, it stands as his best book, his best book by far. In fact, this book is the best action thriller I have read in my entire life.
The author is himself on record calling this book as the one closest to his heart in the preface. He has put his heart and soul into it, and it shows. This book is just plain brilliant, and sets a gold standard for fiction thrillers. It is also a lesson in terrorism, diplomacy, and plain common sense. A racy, fast, believable and stunningly realistic book, this is one that belongs in your collection...
The plot races along, as the terrorists build their capabilities, weapons and plans, and the police forces prepare the security, in full view of both the fool and the idiot-who-should-have-his-mouth-taped. The complicating factor is the proximity of the key terrorist to her Dad and his family, which begins to build bridges through the perceptive Jasmine. And critically, Ravinder tells Ruby the true story of her past... does she believe Ravinder? {Why should I tell you? Come on!}
The buildup is, in classic Mukul Deva fashion, filled with action and stunning combat scenes of the Jerusalam attack, and Ruby's escapades, skillfully recreated with awesome skill - you can almost smell the gunpowder, and visualise the scene. This sets the tone for the riveting climax, and the story is set for a thundering finish... this is not a book that you should miss. An absolute stunner, it stands as his best book, his best book by far. In fact, this book is the best action thriller I have read in my entire life.
The author is himself on record calling this book as the one closest to his heart in the preface. He has put his heart and soul into it, and it shows. This book is just plain brilliant, and sets a gold standard for fiction thrillers. It is also a lesson in terrorism, diplomacy, and plain common sense. A racy, fast, believable and stunningly realistic book, this is one that belongs in your collection...
Comments
Post a Comment