Book Review: Tantra by Adi

Name: TANTRA

Author: ADI

PRICE: 195/-

Paperback, 344 pages

Excerpt:

Anu is a leather wearing, no-nonsense professional guardian with a reputation for killing the most dangerous vampires in New York City. But when her enemies murder the one person she truly cared about, all she wants is vengeance. The only clue points to New Delhi, so Anu puts in for a job transfer.
In India, she finds more than she expected. For one thing, her fellow operatives have made a truce with the vampires. For another, it’s way too hot to wear leather.
At first, it seems Anu’s biggest challenge will be evading the nice boys her aunt wants her to marry. But when children start disappearing, she discovers forces older and darker than anything she’s faced before. All of Delhi is in danger, especially the sexy stranger who sets Anu’s pulse racing.
To prepare for the coming battle, Anu must overcome her personal demons and put aside years of training. This time, her most powerful weapon will come from her mind, not her weapons belt.

Review:

Well, Vampires have always been the mystery box for me. There is something attractive about vampires that draws me to them. Tantra, in my opinion is quite a fascinating story de-tangling the webs of relations between vampires, humans, satvik forces, tantric forces, spirituality and what more…….. A web, yes, its a web! For once, I am glad an Indian writer provided a strong headed female lead protagonist. The story too unfolds well and keeps you hooked till the end.

The portrayal of Delhi and its people is great too. You can actually visualize so many of the scenes.

Few things that kind of disappointed me were -

1. The American English – I have never known a Delhite speaking that way!

2. However strong headed Anu, the lead protagonist in the story is shown, somewhere she gets weak in her knees having a dude around. I find that not so convincing, specially when the real motive of her flying down to the capital city was to look for Brian’s murderer, who she was so close to….

3. The End – yes it left me really disappointed. I can understand the writer wants to give way for the sequel, but like this? With nothing answered? I don’t quite like it… Frankly it felt that the last few pages of the book were torn…

What happened to Chandra? What about Brian’s killer? Why suddenly Anu wants to learn Tantra? What happened to Amit & Karim?……..and so on………..

And, for now, I am eagerly waiting for the sequel to have my questions answered.

I wish the next one concludes a bit better.

Rating: 3/5

This review is a part of the biggest Book Reviews Program. for Indian Bloggers. Participate now to get free books!

Book Review – F?@K KNOWS by Shailendra Singh

F?@K KNOWS

Author: Shailendra Singh

ISBN: 9788129123886

Binding: Paperback

Publisher: Rupa

Number of Pages: 234

Genre: Non-Fiction / Self- help

Language: English

Price: Rs. 195 (I received my copy from www.blogadda.com)

About the Author

Shailendra Singh has B.T.D.T.—Been there. Done that. Some know him as a ‘sports marketing guru’, some as an ‘advertising whizz’ or ‘Bollywood producer’, and many acknowledge him as a shrewd ‘dealmaker’. He’s conceptualized the most famous and long-lasting campaigns for India’s biggest brands, managed and helped adjust the jockstraps of India’s most respected cricketers, and launched the careers and egos of the country’s biggest celebrities. He’s opened a direct line of communication with India’s youth by creating massive music festivals, is emerging as Asia’s largest music promoter, and has produced over sixty Bollywood movies. He has worked on awareness campaigns for HIV/AIDS, cancer and piracy. He enjoys short trots on the beach, any sport that uses a ball, and sugar. This is his first, and hopefully not last, attempt at writing a book.

About the Book

What do you want from life? Are you on the right track? Are you truly happy? If your answer to these questions is ‘F?@k knows!’, then this book is for you. Find the answers to life’s most important questions with the help of uber-successful entrepreneur, Shailendra Singh, co-founder of Percept and inceptor of Sunburn. Told with sparkling, flavourful and in-your-face humour, this book will advise you on how to:

*Find yourself (Because you’re probably lost. Admit it.)

*Follow your heart (Because if you don’t then you’ll die unhappy, you stupid f?@ker.)

*Achieve your goals (You know you want to.)

*Live life like you give a f?@k (Because…why not?)

Candid and thoughtful, F?@k Knows will show you how to really live life on your own terms, to do what you want to do and not what you have to do just because your father said so!

Interesting Facts :

A book for young India, in witty and in-your-face prose, that tells you how to get it together and be happy.

The book offers unique and simple ways to achieve your goals: making F?@k It lists, practising Chi F?@k Po, among others.

Shailendra Singh, a highly successful entrepreneur, details his life mantra and discusses topics as diverse as the real function of the gut, the joys of cheesecake/real love, why we should use word f?@k more often, etc.

F?@k Knows imparts important life lessons in a clever and highly readable manner.

This book is one of Rupa’s non-fiction super-leads and will be backed by a tremendous marketing campaign in print, outdoor, and online, which will drive sales.

The true usage of the pharse is to claim that you simply ‘do not know’. However, the phrase is often interpreted as F?@K Knows, which may cause offence to the listener. This misinterpretation is often replied using ‘Cunt Face’ which is regarded as appropriate answer.

‘What time is Adam supposed be here?’

‘F?@K Knows.’

‘Only asking… Cunt Face.’

My Review

Well, I am not too much into the gyan type books, but when I saw this one up for grabs at BlogAdda it somehow caught my attention. It took me a while to be able to run through the complete book owing to my vacations, but I am glad I did!

This is definitely not another gyan book as I call it. It deals with the different aspects of your life, your various issues and situations in a very next-door attitude. The particular F?@K Knows attitude is what it speaks of boldly.

The author has dealt with the life situations in a witty manner… trying to cut jokes on the regular life issues… making it a bit easier to relate.

In one line – THE BOOK IS DRIVING !!!!

Rating : 3/5

This review is a part of the biggest Book Reviews Program. for Indian Bloggers. Participate now to get free books!

Coming up next…

Book Review for F?@K Knows !
Right after I get back from my vacation…
So, STAY TUNED !!!

Posted from WordPress for Windows Phone

I am moving… !

Well, I feel sorry to have been MIA on this space lately.

So with the onset of the new year, I decided to move on, partially.

While all the technical stuff and the book reviews will still keep going on on this blog, there’s gonna be a new space, just for me!

So dear readers, you can catch me at http://alittledoseofme.wordpress.com/ as well now on.

And once more, this time for sure, ekdum pakke se, I WILL BE REGULAR !!!

Happy New Year folks !

Book Review: ‘The Bankster’ by Ravi Subramanian

Book: The Bankster

Author: Ravi Subramanian

Number of pages: 358

Price: Rs. 250

First, I want to thank BlogAdda and Ravi Subramanian for giving me this opportunity to review and more importantly read, The Bankster.

To say that I was delighted to receive a signed copy would be an understatement.

‘The Bankster’, in one word is “ADDICTIVE”!!

I read a Financial Thriller for the first time, and believe me, I am now so excited to read Ravi’s other books of the same genre.

The bank in picture is the familiar Greater Boston Global Bank (GB2).The key role player is Karan Panjabi, the banker turned financial journalist.  The plot begins in the African country of Angola and with Joseph Bragnanza, a CIA covert agent involved in blood diamonds and arms dealing. From there it switches to a small town in Kerala, Devikullam and a 75-year-old man fighting the government in Gandhian way for clarity in the nuclear program being commissioned in his area and then we have our GB2 where the banking rigour, manipulations and power struggle brings out the various shades of the bankers. The storyline wades us  alternatively through the three dots spanning continents, various characters and finally how all the streams converges into a murkier plot that also sniffs out three banker’s life during the course.

What could be the connecting point of an international CIA agent and events happening in Kerala and the tragic deaths of Greater Boston Global bank employees? There is a global conspiracy to undermine the nation’s growth and how does it get muddier in cognisance with certain bankers? How the financial crime gets unravelled and does it shake the foundation of the multinational bank? It’s for you to read and trust me the book keeps you hooked to the last word.

The Bankster is a must read for anyone who loves thrill, adventure and lots of twists & turns.

Rating: 4.5/5

To know more about the author, head to:

Website: http://www.ravisubramanian.in/index.asp

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Authorravisubramanian

Twitter: https://twitter.com/SubramanianRavi

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

 

Love in Crazy Times ~ by KV Gautam

Love in Crazy Times: KV Gautam

First – Gautam, I am sorry for being so late with this review.

Second – Well Done for a good first attempt

Title :  Love in Crazy Times

Author : K V Gautam

Publisher : Diamond Books

ISBN : 978-93-5083-094-9

Number of Pages : 158

Price [INR] : 100

Genre: Fiction

About the Author: KV Gautam is a filmmaker, novelist, entrepreneur and cartoonist based in New Delhi. He is author of the best-selling novel Love in Crazy Times.  He is a film director of the upcoming Hindi comedy film Hum Honge Kaamyaab. Read more about him at http://www.kvgautam.in/

Synopsis : Love in Crazy Times is a tale of search for love and freedom, braving heart breaks, evil bosses and family pressure.

Amit is a daring middle class guy who chases both love and dream of starting his own business. He is faced with the hypocritical Indian society and the corrupt business class on his path. His victory is not easy and comes after a long trail of personal and professional setbacks.

Review: Love in Crazy Times is a story of Amit and his friends, narrated by Amit. The story is quite fast paced and gives a flavor of humour, emotions, romance, drama and learning.

The characters are well portrayed and described. At times, you’d find yourself relating someone you know with them.

A major part of the book talks about Amit’s quest for a girlfriend. While he falls in love many times, none of his ‘girlfriends’ reciprocate his feelings which gave him constant heart-breaks is believable. The story gives insights about today’s youth, their beliefs, attitude, struggles and dreams.

The story and narration in general are nice and quite well done considering its Gautam’s first work.

I have complaints only with the editing. The grammatical mistakes along the pages make you lose interest. Gautam, I think you should check it in your next releases.

In general, it’s a light read and if you can ignore the editing errors, it is fun

Book Review : The Krishna Key by Ashwin Sanghi

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Title : The Krishna Key
Author : Ashwin Sanghi
Publisher : Westland
Cost : 250/-

So here’s another masterpiece by Ashwin Sanghi.

He is by far, one of my favorite India authors these days.

Ashwin’s Chanakya’ Chants was a bestseller and I had loved it thoroughly ! So ever since, I had been eagerly waiting for his next venture. I was delighted the moment I received the book from Blogadda.

The Krishna Key, once again is based upon Ashwin’s favourite genre – HISTORY ! Whoever ever thought history and mythology was boring, must start reading Ashwin’s books, I recommend.

This one is a well researched book for sure. The author beautifully amalgamates the times of Mahabharata to the present day. The characters are well thought of and nicely presented.

The story which is accompanied by details and images straight from history is interesting. (Maybe I find it interesting since I have loved history all my life).

Sanghi explores the myth of Kalki – the final avatar of Krishna (also known as Vishnu in Indian mythology) – through an intriguing tale of a murder and a series of events that travel back and forth in time from Vrindavan and Mathura to a classroom in St. Stephen’s College in Delhi, across lifetimes.

Forty-five-year old professor Ravi Mohan Saini, who teaches the history of mythology at St. Stephen’s College, has an important role to play as the events unfold. In Sanghi’s gripping tale, Kalki is a serial killer who embarks on his bloody journey with the murder of Anil Varshney, a young symbolist in Rajasthan. Varshney is Saini’s oldest friend. The rest is mystery! No spoilers ahead Must read for yourself.

…And did I tell you, I loved the cover It is such a curious piece of art.

The Krishna Key may sound similar to the Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown at several instants. But this one is different.

It should be on your reading list for the season

Although, I must say that Chanakya’s Chants was a much better one.

Anyways, kudos Mr. Sanghi for all the research that you put in your work.

My Rating – 3.5*/5

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