Pages

Thursday, October 25, 2012

JFK by Jhangir Kerawala - A Book Review


Book: JFK
Author: Jhangir Kerawala
Publishers: Grey Oak/Westland
Genre: Murder Mystery/Thriller

 Alright generally when you say JFK you can only think of a single person. JFK. John.F.Kennedy. His assassination. You cant look beyond it.

Generally when you say Hero you think of Tall,Dark and Handsome and nowhere beyond a 50. (Given that most Bonds are above 40 mostly). A famous man. A cliche. But nope the JFK in question aint the famous man and he isn't your typical Hero. He is an average John Doe. But he does do something that a hero is to do. He solves a murder mystery.

Now what are the cliches of a murder mystery.
 It all starts with the murder.
A vague unconnected mysterious clue.
A hefty insurance claim.
 A usual prime suspect who by the way never really did it.
Cosmetic Surgery.
 Incompetent Policemen.
 A rather surprising culprit.

Well, the book has them all.No, it doesnt mean its bad. The book is engrossing while it lasts. But in its wake,we are left thinking we knew all this. We have read this somewhere. There is nothing new. But having said that, the same story is told in an interesting way. If I dont leave a book half way through, I am happy with it. Though, I may not read it again.

 The characters are very real. Someone from your own neighbourhood Bengali Community.I had some trouble taking in how Renu, the wife was treated so indifferently. I would be serving a divorce notice if I was her. My favorite character was Montu. His character has a great sketch throughout the novel and only character I felt was given justice. Jatin is endearing. But I found it a little hard to sympathize with him.
Ram Prasad Yadav is the one who gets the most attention from the Author. His character goes through all shades of Black and White and provides a lot of depth. He manages to steal the thunder from Jatin in the end. 

This is author's first attempt. A very good one at that. I am looking forward to more novels from him.

 Go read the book. A one time interesting read for sure!

 This review is a part of the Book Reviews Program at BlogAdda.com. Participate now to get free books!

6 comments:

  1. Hmmm... interesting. Maybe a little more about the setting, the writing style would be helpful.

    ReplyDelete
  2. @Nirvana: Thanks so much. I love the constructive comment from you. Next time I will try and write about the writing style.
    Yes I should have mentioned the setting. I had it in my mind but skipped it while writing.
    Thanks again.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous11:00 AM

    Hi just wanted to say that I like your article very much. Please keep up the good posts Thanks a ton! and Have a good day

    ReplyDelete
  4. I had met the author in January at a function.. he's a really nice man.. learned fellow.. not like our young 'IIT/IIM wanna write a book on campus life' kind of people..

    ReplyDelete
  5. @Roshan R Lol! I know what you mean... He has a better writing style than most.

    ReplyDelete
  6. The review seemed pretty interesting... Maybe I would pick this one up sometime... Great way of reviewing, by the way...

    ReplyDelete

Key down what you feel , good or bad :) I love reading it