Lady, You’re not a man!

- by Apurva Purohit

The CEO of Radio City 91.1 FM, with her wit, style, anecdotes has written her side of the story of coroporate dynamics, issues women face at work and home and what could be done to adapt to the  expectations - be it at home or at work - and it made a fabulous read. What I particularly enjoyed is the way I could connect to most of the incidents in the book and while my reactions wouldn’t have been the same, majority of women do make those choices and majority of the men I do meet have the same mindset. It is frustrating to work as hard as your male counterpart, only to be always seen as a second fiddle that has to be carried on, but never have a driver seat. Come promotions or hikes, there is always that risk of not getting your share - because you are female!

Some of the points she made in the book do ring a resounding bell. I particularly agree to the point that we do not need reservations to be promoted, to get a place at the table, to voice our opinion. We may not have a loud voice, but we do have a sound logic and we don’t need reservations to carve a place for ourselves in the corporate world, provided the judges do perceive us to be co-workers and not just females. However, in this time of fighting for equality, despite having commanding women in leadership roles, it still is a sad reality that our work ethic or competency are not the only factors that decide whether we get that role or no. And hence, sometimes, that reservation does make sense, despite the feminist in me biting her tongue in mute anger at this statement.

Other point that hit the nail is the pregnancy phase of a women’s life. Men, have some physical limitations - lets face it, men are incapable of having a child. It is the women who need to bear that burden. And during that phase, it is difficult to put career in the forefront - men have the luxury of pursuing their goals, careers - but women don’t. And it is not just the pregnancy phase, but beyond that - as, again, lets face it - Indian men are brought up with the mentality of being breadwinners of the family and hence, taking care of a person and house is incomprehensible to them. Women, on the other hand, are ‘allowed’ to pursue their hobby of a career, as long as the home life is undisturbed. SO, she is perpetually in the state of having to make choice of family, husband, child - (I think woman becomes a mom than a wife when she is married!!) - donning multiple hats that constantly stress her out and despite all that, she still manages to stay sane! And because of this lack of support - from family do we see a lot of women throw away all the hard work they have put in, from late nights cramming for exams to developing a work ethic that allowed her to carve a name for herself as dependable only to quit after getting married or carrying a child.

Few more - about people assuming that you are a home maker and during a party, the inevitable draw towards the couch to discuss latest cooking fag or shopping spree while men sit at a bar(figuratively), discussing latest business news, PM actions, probably career options, building networks and the hushing of conversation as though you are incapable of  participating in the conversation - God, I hate this particular one...

And Apurva Purohit, shares some of these stories that she witnessed and throws in her words of wisdom with an experienced hand. Her suggestions and the wit with which she handled some of the situations that she faced and the facade she has to put to deal with them, made a fabulous read.

I urge fellow career aspirists to give it a go, both men and women - there certainly are some eye openers for men and pointers for women.

Happy Reading!

Friction

- By Sandra Brown

Crawford Hunt is a Texas Ranger, who is recovering from his grief over losing his wife in a car accident. In the aftermath of loss, he takes up drinking, loses perspective of life, relinquishes custody of his daughter to his in-laws. But, one day, he wakes up determined to take control of his life and to get his daughter back. But his in-laws, particularly Joe Gilroy, his father-in-law, is fighting tooth and nail against him, for giving up custody of his granddaughter. His fate resides in the hands of Judge Holly Spencer, who though can sense the obvious love between Crawford and his daughter, is still wary of his past. During his custody hearing, a masked gunman walks in shooting randomly and kills the bailiff. Crawford, as was his natural instinct, protects the judge from a bullet and kicks the gunman on the knee. In the scramble that follows, the gunman escapes the courtroom, with a pursuing Crawford Hunt. The gunman, seemingly escapes to the roof and Crawford Hunt, tries to convince him to put his weapon down, which he does not listen to. The gunman shoots and misses the officer following Crawford hunt and is taken down by a SWAT team sniper. With his thoughtless act of running behind an armed gunman, without back up, seems to have put a black mark on his custody hearing and the odds of him getting his daughter back dwindle down.

Holly Spencer is an ambitious judge, temporarily presiding bench and is currently campaigning for judgeship. Post shooting incident, recovering from the jitters of shock and disbelief and confronting her fears in her own home, she is visited by Crawford, who questions her about the shooter and probes about his case. In the emotional outburst that follows, Holly is left sobbing and is comforted by Crawford, which eventually leads to a romantic interlude that leaves both of them in a compromising state. When the police investigation leads to the fact that the gunman shooting in the courtroom and the gunman shot by the SWAT team are different and that the shooter is still at large, there are bigger things at stake than just their feelings for each other.

The story that follows is a thrilling page turner of suspense, hot headedness mixed with jealousy and a bit of pettiness. The bits and pieces of the past thrown for each character, gives a bit of depth to each character. The story progresses at a break neck pace. Though the perpetrator shows his hand early, it’s the reason behind the shooting that keeps the novel moving forward. Thrown in between are few scenes between Crawford Hunt and his daughter Georgia, which were sweet and realistic, keeping an undercurrent of emotion running throughout the novel.

What I did not like in the novel are the romantic interludes between Crawford hunt and Holly, though they were well written, just did not seem to bind the story well enough. If I have to be picky, Joe Gilroy’s emotional anger and his actions to win the custody hearing were petty and irritating. The police offer leading the investigation of the shooter needed a regular boot up his ass, but then, that did not happen quite regularly enough. And my biggest disappointment was that the ending was a bit too far-fetched and certainly not to my liking.

However, despite the ending, the book is still worth a read for all suspense lovers. There is thrill, there is mystery and there are characters that steal your heart. So, give it a go!!

Happy Reading Fella readers!!

Runner (Sam Dryden #1)

- By Patrick Lee

When I started this novel, it was already a bit late in the night. And let me tell you at the beginning, don't you dare open this novel, just before you go to bed; for, in case you think you could cozily drift to sleep after turning few pages, you are sadly mistaken. You will just toss and turn around on the bed until you give up and open the darn book again and rush through to the ending. It's that kind of a book. And if you are like me, you will enjoy every bit of it, despite what it costs the next day! An adrenaline pumping, blood gushing, absolute whopper of a thriller. Patrick Lee with his first Sam Dryden novel sets a pace that ticks like a timer on a bomb and rushes the readers through its pages for the ending.

Sam Dryden is an ex-Secret Service agent, who is living a quiet life in El Sedero, a small Southern Californian coastal town. While taking a nighttime run on the boardwalk, he runs into a young girl who is running away from heavily armed men intend on killing her. This Runner seems to know nothing about herself save her name, Rachel, and remembers nothing more than the past two months she was held captive, from which she is trying to escape and urges him to help her. Eventually, they escape from the immediate vicinity, only to realize that they were running from far more powerful force who seems to be just a step behind them in their plan to find a safe place. While trying to find an escape, he tries to get more information from the girl and realizes she could read his thoughts. Upon questioning, she tells him she had no idea how she could do it and that there seems to be more to her story, since someone is hell bent on killing her and she has no idea why! And the story kicks up a notch, with Dryden and Rachel trying to figure out a way to thwart their enemies, yet uncover who Rachel really was. Will the truth set her free? Why is she being hunted? Why can she read minds? In search for finding answers, she puts herself and Sam in crossfire. Will they escape unscathed? Every page turned is a preview of the next, with impending doom just hovering around the corner, like a tornado that is gathering around, ready to dance its way to destruction in the blink of an eye.

Sam Dryden is an instant super hero, yet only a human, with a strong sense of right and wrong and a good dose of empathy. Rachel is a mystery to begin with and is uncovered layer by layer, garnering sympathy along the way. Gaul, the main antagonist in the novel is smart, calculative and every bit a match to Sam Dryden's determination to keep Rachel alive. Patrick Lee does a fantastic job to keep the readers on the edge of their seats.

In this age of technology and biometrics, there hardly is a sphere that seems unimaginative to us humans. Every new invention gets us that bit close to those science-fiction realities of either finding ourselves in Zombie land or being overtaken by machines or creating a new race altogether. Yet, we cannot live without these inventions, if only to test the boundaries of science that seem to stretch only as far as our imagination could go. Ah, the possibilities!!Or the repercussions!

I urge all the fellow thrill seekers to pick it up and enjoy the roller coaster. It's one hell of a ride!

Happy Reading Fella Readers!!

Pines Trilogy

- By Blake Crouch

Wayward Pines is a tiny town with population of four hundred and sixty one. People are friendly and they live in Victorian style houses surrounded by picket fences and have barbeques on a nice Summer evening, with crickets chirping in the woods nearby. They live in the moment and smile and laugh and engage in social rituals. In short, they live in paradise on earth, where their kids go to school which does not give them any homework! Anyone who visits the town is persuaded to stay there by the sheer beauty it offers.

Ethan Burke is a Secret Service agent who travels to Wayward Pines, Idaho, in search for missing agents, along with another Secret Service Agent Stallings. In a freak accident, he finds himself on the side of a river, without a wallet or phone or badge or gun, severely battered with no memory of where he was and what happened. He begins walking along the town roads, with severe headache and tries to remember anything about the roads or the houses he seem to find himself amongst. Finding the locals, he starts asking them questions and their answers were not very forthcoming. However, his loss of memory is short lived and upon receiving a treatment at the local hospital, he seems to remember where he was and what he had to do. However, the Sherriff in town was not very supportive, nor were the locals. He seems to think that there is something wrong with the town, because all his attempts at finding the answers seems to be thwarted, either by recurring headaches or the Sherriff or the locals.

He meets a bartender girl, Beverly, who seems to be the only one willing to provide him answers. But in an intended display of mob mentality, Beverly is torn apart by the locals and Ethan is left alone to find answers he came looking for and trying to find an escape route from this town, which seemingly looks like an impossible task, because the exit roads seem to loop back into the town. And when he finds the other missing agent, Kate, who seems to not only be happily settled in the town, but looks much more aged that he remembers her to be, he thinks he may be losing his mind. Warned by her to just adapt and not try to escape, because they are watching and listening, with sensor activated cameras in trees, street lamps and houses, he realizes that he cannot live in this jail, however beautiful it looks from the outset. So, he sets off into the woods, only to find the town  boundary surrounded by an electrical fence which looks like it could fry anything that approaches it, with a warning about danger beyond the fence. However, he is determined to leave the town and he keeps walking further into the woods and finds himself climbing an impossible mountain in the hope of escaping the town. During his climb, he encounters an almost human looking monster called an abby, that is bent on killing him. In the struggle ensued, he kills it and escapes into a cave that he crawls into, only to find himself back in the hospital.  David Pilcher, the psychiatrist tries to calm him down, when Ethan refuses to stay another minute in the town without understanding what is going on. That is when he is told the truth that they are the only living human kind on the planet and that the year is three thousand and the remaining human species is extinct and the earth is taken over by abbies. He is taken to the town fence and is shown the borders.

The eccentric David Pilcher is the one who orchestrated this entire charade of civilization to keep a semblance of peace in the last humane society. When Ethan questions as to why he could not just tell the people the truth, he explains that having told the people the truth, people refused to believe it and killed themselves and hence he had no choice but to enforce rules and consequences for breaking the rules. And he urges Ethan to take the role of Sherriff and handle the peace keeping in the town. Thus, Ethan finds himself now holding the secret about human kind and playing the charade along with everyone. However, as with every well set society, there are rule breakers and when its discovered that few people in the town have found ways of communicating without being discovered, he is asked to investigate. And his investigation leads him to a place in forest, where a group of people have let go of the charade and are breaking all the rules and talking about their past lives and sharing their emotions. Ethan empathizes with the group, but being the Sherriff and for the greater good, he could not disclose what is going on. Having found himself in a situation where he needs to maintain the charade, yet his core values push him to explain the truth to his fellow companions, he is forced to walk on the fence line of right and wrong. The rest of the series focuses on how Ethan burke embraces the truth about human extinction and how me makes his choices at every turn for the greater good.

Wayward Pines, by Blake Crouch is a no non-sense, fast paced thriller that is guaranteed to scintillate all your adrenaline senses. It tells a fascinating science fiction tale that engages the reader and talks about the people who live in a seemingly beautiful paradise with enforced rules. It is a page turner and a definite read for all mystery/science fiction lovers.

Happy Reading fella readers!!

Kane and Abel

- by Jeffrey Archer

This is the story of two protagonists - William Kane and Abel Rosnovski, told from their birth to their grave. Each was born continents apart to very different fortunes on the same day. They had little in common, except the zeal to succeed in life.

Abel Rosnovski's mother died giving birth to him in a forest. A small boy who was hunting mistook the cries of labor to be that of an animal in pain and went to investigate. Finding the little boy with the umbilical cord still attached, he takes his hunting knife and severes the cord and takes the little boy to his mother, who already had eight mouths to feed with little means to do so. She christened him Wladek and took care of him, along with her other children. He is different than all his siblings of his adopted family and was always keen on learning and studying, thus finding himself in a Baron's castle as a competition to his only child, Leon, and getting private education. When a war broke out and the castle was taken over, Baron and all alive in his castle were taken prisoners of war. Thus, in a short span of time, Wladek, who was carefree in a castle found himself in a dungeon, with no hope but death to set him free. Eventually, he was taken to a Russian prisoner camp from which he escapes and travels to America, with nothing but a silver arm band, given to him by the Baron on his dying bed. Thus the small boy from Poland reaches America with hopes of succeeding in life.

William Kane was born in a banker's family. His father, Richard Kane was a millionaire and the chairman of Kane and Cabot bank and he was destined to be his prodigy from the moment he was born. During Richard's travel in Titanic, William loses his father when he was barely seven and he vows to be everything his father was when he grew up and so he does. Eventually, by the time he reaches Harvard, he has built himself a reputation of being a shrewd investor and makes himself a small fortune by investing in stocks before he even had his first pay check. He harbors an ambition to be the chairman of the Lester bank, the then largest bank, owned by his best friend's father, Charles Lester.

Abel on the other hand has a harder life than William, working his way through the ranks as a waiter and learning English during night, while working in the morning. Being a waiter to the corner table, allowed him to be privy to some interesting conversations which allowed him to invest intelligently in stocks. Eventually, fortune favors him in the form of David Leroy, who insists that Abel become the manager of his Richmond group of hotels. And thus Abel gets his first big chance. One tragic day, David Leroy unable to find a backer who can pull his hotels out of trouble and failing to secure any financial backing after approaching Kane and Cabot bank, commits suicide, leaving Abel the owner of the Richmond group of hotels and in charge of a sinking ship.

Abel, despite his valiant attempts could not find any backers and thus, he meets William Kane who was already working in Kane and Cabot, appealing his bank to reconsider backing him up, showing his proposal as to how he intends to bring the Richmond hotels out of trouble, if he could get a chance. William does try to persuade his bank to back Abel without much success and hence had to issue a notice of thirty days to find a backer or close the hotels. Abel, after his meeting with William, pledges that he will destroy William Kane, as he believes that Kane did not give him or David Leroy a chance and hence resulted in Leroy committing suicide.

And thus begins the tale of Kane and Abel, two different protagonists, one a born millionaire and other a penniless Polish immigrant and how fate brings them together and how they progress from two strangers to arch rivals and eventually to their destruction.

Jeffrey Archer does a phenomenal job in weaving a web of intricate emotions in the back drop of banking and investments, with two very likable protagonists, who in their own justified way, were bent on facing each other off. Spanning three generations of Kane and Abel, this story unfolds at breath taking space, through the times of war and depression, through Hitler regime and America's rise, yet never having a dull moment. As a reader, I could hardly favor one protagonist over the other. The ending was beautiful and poignant and so befitting these characters of Kane and Abel, that it did have my heart weeping for them.

I loved the book, for its story and its portrayal of biblical Cain and Abel. It is a brilliant novel and a must read for all those who enjoy a good story.

Happy reading, fellow readers!!

Harry Potter

- By J.K.Rowling

When I was introduced to Harry Potter series, I was twenty three. I have never heard of the name Harry Potter before that. And being an avid reader, I tell you, most of my friends were surprised that I have not read Harry Potter by then. So, I took their word and read a couple of chapters of Harry Potter and Philosopher's stone in Crossword and was hooked. I picked the entire series that day and completed the series in three days and nights. I tell you, I could not believe that I lived in a non-Harry Potter world until then. And since then, I have read Harry Potter enough number of times that it should be recorded as a crime, honestly! But when it is Harry Potter, written as J.K.Rowling has done, it is a crime to NOT have read it, oh, at least a million times!! So, now you know, I am crazy about this series.

J.K.Rowling created a magical world that can be enjoyed by kids and adults alike. She created adventures that are thrilling and characters that are easy to connect with. As thoroughly enjoyable as the stories are, the relationships and the values portrayed throughout the stories, kept me hooked to them. These books have made such phenomenal character study for me.

Harry Potter, for his experiences, should have been bitter with life, should have wanted to throw tantrums and scream at the unfairness of it all. Yet, he manages to be a grounded person with amazing strength of character and phenomenal amount of grit that should raise goosebumps for anyone. Parallel to him, his nemesis, Voldemort, with similar background grows to be cunning, solitary, dark, friendless wizard hell bent on destroying the world. Harry finds himself with friends who are loyal, courageous and generous, while Voldemort is surrounded by people who are afraid of him, whom he mistreats as servants rather than confidantes.

The books all lead to the grand showdown between Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort. Voldemort is a supremely powerful wizard, who crossed the realms of dark magic and considers himself unbeatable. Harry Potter is still studying in the school of witchcraft and wizardry. He is a novice in magic. The fight between these two should have been completely one-sided, yet Harry's ability to still love despite everything life has shown him, gives him the one strength that Voldemort did not have. His determination to stand up for the greater good despite all the odds, his perseverance when the ride gets bumpy, his trust in his friends and his kindness to all magical creatures alike make him a cut above Voldemort. And hence, the showdown was a phenomenal ride for me.

Aside from such thrilling tale of two wizards, these stories also teach a lot of values:
- life can be difficult, but with loyal friends, it could turn out to be a fascinating adventure
- that sometimes, evil may have the upper hand, but in the end, good will always triumph
- that no matter how small you are and how naive you are, persistence and hard work will pay dividends in the end
- that no amount of love is enough and to keep loving despite all odds is a tribute one can give to one's life

Every time, I am compelled to read the series as a whole. I could never stop myself with just reading a single book of the series and every time I choke up by the ending. I am overwhelmed with the emotions that gush up by the time I am done with the series. Every time, they rage wildly inside me from the beginning, turning into a mini tornado as the series progresses. Love, hate, anger, despair, surprise, heart break, joy and triumph - all ride in one huge rainbow until the very end and burst out like sparkles at the very end.

There are a lot of characters in the novels and most of them are quite dear to me. Hermione Granger, the little miss-know-it-all and Ronald Weasley - with his surprising courage and loyalty, Harry's two best friends through his adventures, who stand with him until the very end, form an integral part of this series. The relation between these three is fabulously portrayed and is quite entertaining to the readers. Weasley twins are hilarious pranksters who liven up the sometimes dull moment. Albus Dumbledore is another favorite character of mine, who is a genius with prodigal skill and the master behind the triumph of good in the end. Dobby, the house elf! Ah, I was in tears when he died. Severus Snape - I share a love hate relationship with this character, but to borrow Harry's words- he is one of the bravest character of the series. Sirius Black -this is one character I absolutely want a bit more of!! It just wasn't enough. Harry should by all means have had more time with him. But that is just a testimony to J.K.Rowling's penmanship in creating characters that are so enjoyable and loving.

I urge everyone to read the phenomenon called Harry Potter and enjoy the ride into the realms of magic. It is beautiful and brilliant.

Sculptress

- By Minette Walters

I have to say, I have mixed feelings about this novel... while I thoroughly enjoyed the novel, it still left me slightly disappointed.

Rosalind Leigh is an author drowning in her own misery when her agent issues an ultimatum to find a story, like yesterday. Further to that, she is asked to write the story on Olive Martin, a convicted murderer.

Olive Martin is not easy to like. She is a heavy set woman, with fondness to eating and a temper like wild fire when riled. She lives in an unhappy house, with her mother, sister and homosexual father. On her birthday, having been disappointed with her family not throwing a party for her, she gets into an awful row with her mother and sister and finally hacks them with an axe and rearranges the pieces. Then suddenly, she finds a bout of compassion for her father and she does not want him to see the monstrosity that she committed and so, she confesses her crime to the cops. Her lawyers could do little to help her find a lenient verdict and she is sentenced to twenty five years of prison life.

In prison, she is called sculptress for the wax figurines she carves each day. During the arrest or the trail, nobody bothers to ask her as to why she committed the crime. Until now, when Rosalind visits her in prison, to find her side of the story. While Olive looks grotesque, she manages to make an impression on Rosalind which is quite contradictory to that of a psychopath capable of hacking people. And Rosalind wonders, if Olive Martin did commit the murders for which she was convicted. In her research to understanding more about Olive, Rosalind identifies a series of inconsistencies that makes her believe that Olive did not commit those murders. But, Olive insists that she did. Why?

The novel progresses with Rosalind's research, unraveling Olive's life in bits and pieces, each new piece adding more to the puzzle. Olive and Amber, her sister, have been inseparable growing up. So why did Olive kill her? No one seems to remember Olive exhibiting any wild or irrational behavior, yet she committed gruesome murders. Why? The cop who arrested her, found her talks to be non-threatening and yet, the violence found at the murder scene speaks loudly that he needs to be wary of her. And when Rosalind visits Olive in prison, she seems to be touched by her compassion for her misery. How can a person capable of compassion commit such heinous crimes?

As we reach ending, I personally felt that the novel went a bit flat. The pieces of the puzzle fall together to complete the picture, yet something is quite left unsaid. While I enjoyed the writing and the ease of story telling, I am dissatisfied with it, like just eating a spoon of ice-cream while the bowl of it is left untouched! Definitely savory, but not fulfilling.

Having said that, just for the thrill of reading a mystery, I would recommend this book.