Killing Aashish Karve: Salil Desai ( AN inspector Saralkar Mystery)

Name of Novel: Killing Ashish Karve

Name of Author: Salil Desai ( AN inspector Saralkar Mystery)

Name of Publisher: FingerPrint ( An imprint of Prkash Book Depot)

Total Number of Pages : 260

MRP: 199/-

ISBN Number: 978-81-7234-531-0

" Ramakant Karve patted his grandson's shoulder and stroked his cheek gently. He had lost his own father when he had been almost as old as this child, and a feeling of overwhelming grief overcame him. He didn't remember feeling or understanding anything at that age. The sense of loss had come a year or two later, and had only grown with every passing year, right into his twenties - some thing he had never been able to share with anybody. But it had impacted his psyche deeply." ... Page 61

Killing Ashish Karve is a murder mystery written by Salil Desai. It is an Inspector Saralkar mystery. The first edition was published as The Body in the Back Seat by Gyaana Books in 2011. This edition is published by Fingerprint. Salil Desai is a pune base author. He is also linked to film industry as a film maker. His other books are Three and half murder, Sane Psychopath etc. 

Story Idea: K.A.K. is a cop story where Inspector Saralkar is entangled in a tricky murder mystery. This story starts from the misadventure of a car thief, Javed, who tries to steal a car. When he found that along with car, he has collected a dead body also, he abandons the car and flee away. Car remains stated their for a couple of days. People of that area complained about this car. Traffic police toes this car to police station where after some time this unclaimed dead body is discovered. It is the body of Ashish Karve. " If this is a joke, you have had it," Tapkir swore, and proceeded to look through the glass. Ashish Karve certainly didn't present a pretty sight after nearly three days at the bottom of the back seat.".... page no.21  

After getting a unclaimed body, Inspector Saralkar starts investigations. At first look, this case looks like a case of suicide attempt. Later on Inspector motkar starts investigation. During his investigation, he put lots of questions to the family members and colleagues of Ashish Karve. After the discovery of dead body of Ashish Karve, Inspector Saralkar narrows down his investigation on his business partner, wife and his brother. But his investigations do not get any conclusive results. During his investigation another murder occurs. Beautiful lady who is coworker of Ashish Karve found murdered in her apartment. The point of suspension also points to the the father of Ashish Karve who is an ex-army man. In the end, Saralkar solve the murder mystery amicably by observing a minute point when a local thief Javed get arrested.

My point of view: In my point of you, writer Salil Desai has produced sleek, interesting and beautifully written story. The characterization of Ashish Barve, Jaydeep karve, his business Associates, wife of Ashish karve is beautifully done. Even the son of Ashish Karve get his due space in this story in the middle story seems to be a bit slow where inspector motka does some question answers aur interviewed two different candidates but it is a demand of story if a storyteller necklace this point then there will be no clarity in further incidents of narration as a reader I enjoyed this book ok and it can be collected because in my point of view it is more than one time read you can revisit this book after sometime sofa my detailed point of you you can visit my YouTube channel book hub which is is connected to my block and a link is given below

Book Hubb: You Tube Channel

 

Rajender Singh Bedi: kokhjali (कोखजली)

राजेंद्र सिंह बेदी जी का जन्म 1 सितंबर 1915 को लाहौर में हुआ था। उनकी मातृभाषा पंजाबी लेकिन उनका संपूर्ण साहित्य उर्दू में था। वे अपने समय के उर्दू साहित्य में वे एक बडे़ प्रगतिशील कथाकार के रूप में उभर कर सामने आए। जीवन के प्रारंभिक दौर में वो डाक विभाग और डाक तार विभाग में क्लर्क के रूप में रहे और फिर 1958 में ऑल इंडिया रेडियो, जम्मू के डायरेक्टर बने। इसके बाद उन्होंने स्वतंत्र लेखन को पूर्णतया अपने जीवन में उतार लिया। 1955 में उन्होंने गरम कोट नामक एक कला फिल्म का निर्माण किया, जिस में मुख्य भूमिका विश्व प्रसिद्ध अभिनेता श्री बलराज साहनी और निरूपा राय ने निभाई थी। 1962 में उनके एक महत्वपूर्ण उपन्यास का प्रकाशन हुआ, जिसका नाम था एक चादर मैली सी। उन्हें इसी उपन्यास के लिए 1965 में साहित्य अकादमी पुरस्कार भी मिला था। सन 1984 में उनका निधन हो गया। उनकी मुख्य रचनाओं में 1962 में प्रकाशित एक चादर मैली सी, दाना हो आम 1938 में प्रकाशित हुई, ग्रहण 1941, अपना दुख मुझे दे दो 1965, हमारे हाथ कलम हुए 1974, बेजान चीजें 1943 एक नाटक संग्रह खेल 1981 में प्रकाशित हुआ। उर्दू में राजेंद्र सिंह बेदी जी का नाम अत्यंत सम्मान और आदर के साथ लिया जाता है। उनके साहित्य की जमीन बहुत गहरी है और उस पर फसल बहुत शानदार । उनकी कहानियों में जो सच्चाई हमें मिलती हैं, वह जिंदगी को मात्र जी लेने से नहीं बल्कि जिंदगी को तलाशने से संभव हो पाती है। राजेंद्र सिंह बेदी जी की कहानियां किसी बने बनाए सांचे में ढली हुई नहीं है ना ही उनके अंदर कोई बुद्धिजीवी किशन का पूर्वाग्रह है उनकी कहानियां जिंदगी के अलग अलग से गुजरती हुई जिंदगी की बेशुमार नगीने इकट्ठे करती हुई चलती हैं और एक सजीव दुनिया हमारे आंखों के सामने रूबरू करवा देती हैं । ऐसे ही एक कहानी का नाम है कोखजली जो एक मां की ममता और उसकी पराकाष्ठा के बारे में बताती है। यदि आप इस कहानी को सुनना चाहते हैं तो नीचे दिए गए लिंक पर जाएं और इस कहानी का आनंद उठाएं।

Book hubb : Rajender Singh Bedi

The New Girl : Daniel Silva : Book Review

Name of Novel: The New Girl 
Name of Writer: Daniel Silva
Publisher : Harpercollins Publishers
Price of Book : 399/- MRP
Number of Pages: 478
ISBN: 978-0-00-833639-4
Year of Publishing:2019
Amazon Link :The New Girl By Daniel Silva

 'A world-class practitioner of spy fiction.' ( Washington Post)

Daniel Silva

Daniel Silva is one of the best selling authors and number one New York Times best selling author who first marked his impression in 1997 with his novel The Unlikely Spy. From 2001, he started a new series with his novel The Kill Artist. This series is Gabriel Allon Series . The New Girl is the 19th novel of this series and the latest of the series. This novel is sub-divided into five parts-- Abduction, Abdication, Absolution, Assassination and Vengeance.

                                  What's done cannot be undone.---- Macbeth

Abduction......The New Girl is the latest offering of Daniel Silva which involves Gabriel Allon, who is an artistic curator and chief of Israeli investigating agency. The novel start with the introduction of  a mysterious girl twelve year old girl Jihan Tantawi in International School of Geneva. His father is Adnan Tantawi is mysterious billionaire who supposed to own half of the Cairo. But despite all of concealment and secrecy this girl Jihan got kidnapped. This event lead to a multinational saga of deceit and conflict between different international investigating agency. In this part, three main protagonists are introduced. Sarah Bancroft and Gabriel Allon are main characters and a mystery unfolds as Girl who is kidnaped is Reema who is Daughter of none other than KBM i.e. Crowned Prince of Saudi Arab Khalid bin Mohammed bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. After that Daniel Silva weaves a plot which have various angles of Middle East politics, Brexit and assassination of a International Correspondent Omar Nawwaf. After meeting KBM where Sarah plays an important role to arrange a meeting, Gabriel entangles himself into a multinational and multi layered plot.

Abdication....... is the part two. Here the plot of novel thickens and pick up its race. As the heading of the part indicates that what is going to happen in the life of crowned prince Khalid bin Mohammed. His detractors plan was beyond the imagination of Gabriel but KBM pays a price of his policies and end of this section is quiet sensational and unpredictable.

Absolution ...... is third part where story takes a new leap after abdication which involves intelligence agencies of Britain, France, Russia and Gabriel Allon of Israel. This is intricately woven segment which have moves and countermoves of hawks of their field. This chapter introduces Hanifa Khoury, wife of slained reporter Ommar, Rebecca Bettencourt and a lot of others.. here a plan is laid and that is assassination. 

Assassination ..... is fourth segment which I can say is highly engrossing for readers at least true for me. A mission which is plotted to checkmate Gabriel Allon but he is a master of his own field . Here, I prefer not to elaborate this segment further.

Vengeance ..... is the final part of novel where Gabriel Allon is in full command of events which ultimately expose the men behind the whole mission. Here the title new girl is justified but it is not for Reema, the daughter of KBM.

First of all, I must confess that The New Girl is first novel of Daniel Silva which I Happened to read and it is latest of Gabriel Allon series. Why I am saying this ? Because it was difficult for a new reader to get hooked to story as some characters like Sarah, Mikhail, Rousseau etc are in continuity. So, it took some time get engaged in this story but if you stick to go through the first part then events get you involved and you do not feel an outsider. As Daniel Silva is a international best seller but story build up seems to un event full after the kidnap of Reema. About more than hundred pages are used just to describe the movement of its characters from one place to another place where it is very difficult to stay focussed by reader.

My View:

 In my view, Daniel Silva has delivered a complete package which may be lethargic in beginning but  in the end you feel satisfied and do not regret of this book. If you are ardent fan of him, then definitely you may enjoy more as you stay with plot.


The New Girl is complete in its term but Daniel Silva has left the ending somewhat open. As he has announced his new novel "The Order" which is going to be released in mid of July.

My Rating: ★★★★/★★★★★

The New Girl

Strip Jack: Ian Rankin: Book Review

Name of the Novel: Strip Jack

Name of Author: Ian Rankin

Publisher: Orion Books Ltd.

Published in : 1992

Pages: 290

ISBN: 0-75287-723-2

Amazon link : Strip Jack by Ian Rankin

Ian Rankin

"But no, it was worse than that. Much worse. It was an ordinary bed room, albeit with red lightbulbs in its several lamps.  And in an ordinary bed lay an ordinary enough looking woman, her elbow pressed into the pillow, head resting at an angle on her clenched fist.  And on that bed, dressed and staring at the floor, sat someone Rebus recognized; the Member of Parliament for north and south Esk" ……  (Page 7)

STORY: -

Strip jack is an intense novel written by Ian Rankin. It is fourth novel in the John Rebus series. Like previous plots, this story is also set up in Edinburgh.

Story starts with a raid on a brothel where a local Member of Parliament, Gregor Jack, caught or found in the premises of brothel.  When much-loved politician Gregor Jack is discovered in a midnight raid on a discreet brothel, a surprising number of journalists are on hand--a situation that endangers Jack's political future.  

Rebus has a sympathetic view towards Jack. In his view, he was victim of a conspiracy which is designed to strip him naked in the society without any power and image. In the mean time, a dead body of a woman found in the river and a suspect, William Glass, under police suspicion and Rebus under pressure from his superiors to accept a homeless derelict as the killer of a woman found in the river. There are too many unanswered questions for Rebus. Like B why was he at that particular brothel at that particular time? And why was the press on the scene practically at the same time as the police? Rebus is an experienced cop who knows the  ways of the politicians and the criminals. For him, there are too many questions and too few answers.

Ian Rankin's Strip Jack

Jack ‘s personal life with his wife Elizabeth is in sticky situation after his brothel episode. Rebus wants to meet her to know about her reactions and mental state but she is found dead.  Her body is soon pulled from a nearby river, a fatality resembling the recent murder of another, unidentified woman. A drunk who brags of the first killing gives a false address and vanishes north of the city. From here, a saga of investigations unravels where many sub plots are intricately woven with main plot. Rebus comes to know about ‘The Pack’ which is group of young friends of Jack and Elizabeth. Each character is now settled in the society in different manners, be it a movie star, transporter or a mental patient. Meanwhile Rebus, trying to trace a cache of valuable stolen books, finds himself talking again to the late Elizabeth's coterie of party friends.

Rankin has been able to create a realistic world in which his weary protagonist operates. He tackles his cases while involved in the intricacies of the day-to-day life: pints, coffee and hangovers, stumbling romance with patience (his girlfriend), wet weather, damp clothes, arrogant superiors and indifferent subordinates. “After all of his stubbornness and failure of judgments, Rebus closes in on the satisfying solution. Then, the idea of a quick bath appealed. He looked into the kitchen first, and saw that Mrs. Wilkie was busy at the stove, humming to herself. So he headed for the bathroom. There was no lock on the door. Or rather, there was a lock, but half of it was hanging loose” … (page 123)

MY VIEW: -

Since it is my first meeting with John Rebus, my views may contrasting to the others.  Beginning of the story is very interesting.  The first meeting between MP Jack and Rebus was able to generate interest for the future. But after that when rebus investigate about the stolen books or antique books, story become somewhat slow. The story doesn't begin with the murder and it happens in due course of the plot and till then, you only had Rebus wandering, casually talking to the MP who caught, was investigating in a case regarding stolen books and all these also gave time for the author to bring out the character of Patience Aitken.

 The plot was amazing in the begining, moving across several places in Scotland, several characters with different occupation, different background and personality but somehow all of them were connected to the case in some way or the other but at the same time I felt that the number of characters were too many which made the reader hard to hold grip on the events and may  lose track of it. It had nearly everything in it, an enthusiastic, slave-driving police detective with dull superiors and a troubled relationship, a politician in trouble with his associates trying their best to protect him and of course, a very good mystery supported with interesting investigations carried out by the police. But in the end, as a reader I am surprised of the outcome of the result. I can confess that after reading Daniel Silva’s international political and spy drama, Rebus adventures are far more rooted to ground and realistic. 

If you are interested in realistic portrayals and pinch of suspense, than you can read the John Rebus adventures created by Ian Rankin.

My Rating : ★★★/★★★★★ (3/5)   

Back Cover Strip Jack

Ian Rankin : Fictional World of John Rebus

 Ian Rankin : Fictional World of John Rebus

Ian Rankin

Ian James Rankin is famous Scottish crime writer, who is born on 28 April, 1960. He is best known for his famous character, Inspector John Rebus. The story and plot of John Rebus novels are set up in Edinburgh, Scotland. He studied literature and graduated from university of Edinburgh. He spent some years in London and France during his establishing careers as novelist.

As happens to most of the novelists, his ambition was to establish himself as mainstream writer, not to be a crime writer. He consider his first novels like Knots and crosses and Hide and Seek as main stream books. His later novels, in which Inspector John Rebus is central character, are major contributions to Scottish Crime Fiction. Later on his novels were adapted as TV series in which actor John Hannah and Ken Stott played as Rebus.

John Hannah as John Rebus

Ken Stott as John Rebus

In Rebus novels, Ian Rankin plot involves murders, un-natural deaths and mysterious disappearances where Rebus takes the centre stage investigations. In his novels, Edinburgh is present as a character along with stark realities of corruption, poverty and organized crime.

Apart from crime, Ian Rankin provides struggle of Rebus with internal politics of police department, his tendency to bend the rules and ignorance of his superior. His personal and emotional life is also intricately woven which runs parallel to his crime investigations. In his life, apart from his daughter, Samantha Rebus, five women are involved, i.e., , Rhona ( his separated-wife), Patience Aitkin (ex girlfriend), Gill Templer (his boss), Jean Burchill ( lady friend and friend of Gill Templer) and Deborah Quant (pathologist).

    Novels of Ian Rankin:

1. Knots and Crosses (1987)
2. Hide and Seek (1991)
3. Tooth and Nail (1992)
4. Strip Jack (1992)
5. The Black Book (1993)
6. Mortal Causes (1994)
7. Let it Bleed (1996)
8. Black and BlueBlack and Blue (1997)
9. The Hanging Garden (1998)
10. Dead Souls (1999)
11. Set in the Darkness (2000)
12. The Falls (2001)
13. The Ressurrection Man (2002)
14. The Blood Hunt (2002)
15. A Question of Blood (2003)
16. The Bagger's Banquet (2003)
17. Flesh Market Close (2004)
18. The Flood (2005)
19. The Naming of Dead (2006)
20. Exit Music (2007)
21. Doors Open (2009)
22. A Good Hanging (2010)
23. The Complaints (2010)
24. The Watchman (2010)
25. Standing in Another Man's Grave (2012)
26. The Impossible Dead (2012)
27. Saints of Shadow Bible (2013)
28. The Beat Goes On -Short Stories (2014)
29. Even Dogs in the Wild (2015)
30. Rather Be the Devil (2016)
31. In a House of Lies (2018)
32. A song for the Dark Times (2020)
33. West wind: The Classic lost Thriller

                 Collections of Ian Rankin:-

• Rebus - Early years ( Knots and Crosses, Hide and Seek, Tooth and Nail) (1990)
• Rebus - The St. Leonards' Years (Strip Jack, The Black Book, Mortal Causes) (2001)
• Rebus - Lost Years (Let it Bleed, Black and Blue, The Hanging Garden) (1998)
• Rebus - Capital Crimes (Dead Souls, Set in Darkness, The Falls) (2004)
• Rebus - Three Great Novels (Resurrection Men, A Question of Blood, Flesh market Close) (2008)
• The Complete Short Stories (A Good Hanging and Other Stories, Beggars Banquet, Atonement) (2005)

Ian Rankin