Just like vagaries of life, Covid pandemic and its havoc-causing lockdown is becoming a part of life yet uncertain in its devilish essence. Stay safe! Stay locked up! No one likes to be caged! People are getting bored at home, staring the same four walls all the time, getting indulged in all possible curricular activities and yet for some it sounds less than life. However, for hardcore crime thriller readers, this is the best time to finish off their pending TBR and time to explore new books and authors. I overcame this lockdown by getting into crime thrillers or murder mysteries, be it Prime, Netflix or novels. So, in this article I am going to talk about some crime thriller books that made my lockdown time less hard. Here go the list:
Silent Fires by Poojitha G Prasad:
A profound and deep-rooted novel in the crime genre! Other than story and climaxes, it was Poojitha’s charming narration that kept me hooked for many nights. Initially, the novel is slow burn, but, later on, I cannot find any reason to keep it away. The story is about Shravya Chandra. She goes missing. Being a wife of a film star, there is pressure on the cop Ashish – a way too strict man. However, on the other side is Manav, his brother. They both are into the case but from different ends. The way they reach up to the culprits is a new experience altogether. An amazing novel for discerning crime thriller readers! I loved it to the core.
Silence of New Market by Debo:
This novel is a part of liberation trilogy. This one is the first in the series. More than a story, it was focused on various characters of the story. It highlights what makes their mettle and what causes their ruin. The novel is an exquisite reading experience, credit given to its backdrop of 1970s of West Bengal, a lot of political turmoil, Naxalite angle, and border crossing, and drug mafias. Much of the story takes place at a place called New Market. It is the greed and aspirations of the human that are associated with this place. Vikram, the lead cop, investigates the murder of some vile people, and there is a deadly killer on the loose. He is hard to get recognized and drug mafia angle involvement makes it blurry. I will say that the story was not straight but other things were quite charming in the book.
Shalom Namaste by Nurani S Ravi:
A novella based on fugitives of India like Mehul, Nirav, Dawood and a few more. Indian NSA and CIS with PMO take out the list of people who has blackened the face of the country and fled to other countries. They are involved into many things and the government wants them back. They choose the list of 5. Operation starts with Mossad. A cool and light read… it sheds light on the current government’s plight of handling with fugitives. Though fiction, yet inspired by true events. A good book with political thriller angle.
Raptor Rising by Anjali Joshi:
Raptor Rising by Anjali Joshi is a riveting crime thriller novel with dark shades of psychological shades. The story is about a serial killer who kills famous personalities, records it, and uploads on the dark web. The novel first sees the murder of a lecherous film star and then a cricketer is killed and then one guy from the police department.
As the investigation team of the cop Vikram tightens the vigils, it comes out that the serial killer could be an alpha lady. After the arrival of Vikram as a cop, the novel becomes tightly packed and there goes a lot of hide and seek game. Misinterpretation of the clues, getting wrong things in hand to random DNA samples, the story finally zeroes on two lead characters Vikram and Nicole. They are similar. More than investigation, the tale becomes of ego clashes and superiority and blood lust. In fact, the author is right in saying that the duel begins.
Ten X Murders for the Mind by Amitav Ganguly:
Ten X Murders for the Mind by Amitav Ganguly is a collection of 10 lengthy stories about murders and crimes which are solved by the inspector Samsher Brahma. It is a wonderful yet deeply layered book on murder mysteries. The author has carefully placed the stories, with uniqueness and freshness not overlapping. It is one book that is totally based on logic and evidences over any random guesswork or euphoria of the detective.
The stories sound engaging and surreal. One must read them in leisure or with their own pace to thoroughly enjoy the collection. Murders took place for all possible reasons that we see in movies, however, the most twisted stories are related to revenge, not greed. The author has maintained a fixed kind of pattern for storytelling. He used sweeps and back stories very rarely. The stories chug ahead with amazing twists and turns, keeping the predictability at bay.
Arihant by Shubhan Balvally:
It is a great science fiction with a lot of drama and emotions. The novel features the story of one Indian scientist Professor Ramanna. He is considered the father of modern computer science, his first invention shot him into fame and got him a lot of money. His next invention, he assures, that can change the position of India with improved military efficiency. But fate has something else stored for him. The villain Madan Kalra and his a few henchmen chase him to death. What happens to his invention? Did he destroy it lest it could come into the wrong hands? The story is very fast and it becomes evident when one figure begins hunting villains just for revenge? Who is that? If you read the book, you will find it yourself. Short and crisp and light to read, this is a good book under the modern science fiction. I enjoyed it. Good narration and writing.
ibooksta 