The Jeera Packer - A Political Thriller

Magnificent characterisation, unique plot and terrific dialogs... I never felt that I am reading authors debut work.

While reading 'The Jeera Packer' of Prashant Yadav, I got feeling of watching Anurag Kashyap's or Vishal Bharadhwaj's movie.

Book Blurb

I once changed the history of Uttar Pradesh state with a gun and a finger. One shot, one man. Right man, wrong man. But that was thirty years ago. I shot people through their heads then. I pack jeera in a basement now. This is me and here is my story.

He was the best sharpshooter in the state. A true bullet artist. But he gave it all up to lead a happy, normal, stable life... with his loving wife and dear son. And that proved to be his undoing.

Resonant and deeply affecting, The Jeera Packer is the gripping tale of a man who after three decades of playing the happy family man returns to his profession of old for one final work—to shoot the chief minister.Convinced that this is his raison d'etre, will he manage to pull off this one last act, as his concluding hat tip to the man he could have been? Will he be able to brush away the jeera dust and rediscover himself? Or has the middle-aged family man already throttled the sharpshooter in him?

Story starts with an ex-gangster, who was infamous sharpshooter of his time. He has left violence 27 years back and is living peaceful like with his wife and son. He is running a grocery store in Noida with help of his wife. He packs spices specially jeera in small packets everyday. But 27 years of peaceful life has not given him satisfaction. His old time friend Abdul has made him realised that to get satisfaction he has to work on his life's job. And he has self-assumed job of assassinate Chief Minister of UP.

Apart from the main protagonist's part, story has another parallel in CM's political life. Antagonist CM known as Dada (through out story) wants to become Prime Minister of India. He is sole decision maker of the strongest party in UP. His cunning leadership has made sure that no one took over him in last 3 decades. His ascend to PM and plan to replace his drug addict son to CM, has started creating opposition in his close group. Apart from Jeera-Packer there are many characters in story who want to kill Dada. As story ascends carpet revealed various aspects in different color.

Jeera-Packer's part of story was written in first person, while other person's part was written in second or third person. Thing that I like the most is sarcastic descriptions of various incidents and characters. From my point of view it is strictly for 16+ age group. Talking about ratings.

1. Cover - 4 / 5
2. Language - 4 / 5
3. Characters - 4.5 / 5
4. Concept - 4.5 / 5
5. Overall - 4.25 / 5

Book can be found at - Amazon & Flipkart

Review from other readers can be found at GoodReads

Meeting with Authors of The Unconquerable Heart

'The Unconquerable Heart' was a completely different book and uncommon in Indian literature. Author Duo Shiva Thejus & Sri Vishnu Tanay has created a story with five strong characters. We have reviewed and praised their efforts three months back on our blog post. Let's try to discuss various aspects of their book and how they made their journey through the book.

Can you tell us about your professional life apart from writing?

Shiva Thejus: I worked briefly for G.E, back in India after graduation. But it was a full time job. My bro, never worked for an employer. He’s been involved with our family business the whole time.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

Shiva Thejus: I always dreamt of being an actor and I always wanted to do niche roles. But I never approached any producers or directors for roles. Hailing from a business family, I wanted to make my own movies and started observing and dissecting more and more movies, both local and International and naturally, the writer in me took wings. ‘The Unconquerable Heart,’ was my first script and I wrote it almost twelve years ago in a span of a fortnight, but back then the script was titled, ‘Rise of the Legend,’ and it was completely different from what you see now, it was suited only for the local audience (read as Indian). Following that, I understood I could write, and wrote a couple of other scripts as well.
Sri Vishnu Tanay: I had a natural flair for English language as well as for my native tongue, Telugu, when I was in high school. In fact, languages were the only subjects I topped in high school, without much of an effort. I was often lauded by high school teachers for my rich and eloquent school essays and my natural instinct for detail. I participated in a couple of school debates and was often called to deliver speeches for the ‘National Independence and Republic’ days, from the school’s podium. I was a ‘Star’ back then in school and had quite a following. But, that was all to it. I never really tried to be a writer. After graduation, I got myself involved in family business and that was it. I had no intentions of becoming a writer. But, I kept up with my brother’s efforts and was naturally drawn to improving his stories. But, writing was never my full time profession and though, I’d refurbished the story of ‘The Unconquerable Heart,’ almost four years ago, It took me all the while till 2015 year end, to really sit down delicately and finish it in whole.

Are you a full-time or part-time writer and how does that affect your writing? Do you have a special time to write?

Shiva Thejus: Both of us are not full time writes as of now. I’m here in the U.S lobbying to portray ‘Munna Kaalika’s’ character, from our work, ‘The Unconquerable Heart.’ And, my bro who’s in India, is back to family business, at least, until I crack something here. He longs to be a Director someday.
Well, both of us don’t have any special allotted times to write. We both write on whim, whenever we please or whenever a new idea strikes us.

What have you written so far?

Shiva Thejus: A lot of scripts, spanning different genres. But, most of them are not ‘Final Draft’ ready. This is the only Novel, we’ve written so far. It’s our debut into the literary world. We’ve written scripts on Religion, Romance, Sci-fi, Societal issues, Fantasy, Comedy and even a raw ensemble on human sexual intricacies. 

How do you conceptualize a plot generally?

Sri Vishnu Tanay: It starts out as a general idea, then it progresses to an outline, then a plot sketch, then inner plots, then situations in inner plots, then a fixed ‘set path’ that blooms into a full blown screenplay.

Can you share with readers a little bit about your latest book?

Sri Vishnu Tanay: The Unconquerable Heart is a work of Fiction, where Five unassuming and prejudiced individuals battle out multiple obstacles, thrown against them by a malicious bigoted world, to present it with a collective Statement of Liberalism, shaming the very notion of bigotry.

Tell us more about your main character. What makes him or her unique?

Shiva Thejus: There is no single central main character in our story. There are five main central characters and each of them have their own stories. All of them are unique in their own ways and no character is lesser than the other.

Who is your favorite character in your book and why?

Shiva Thejus & Sri Vishnu Tanay: Apart from the main five characters, there is one character, which we personally love the most – The character of ‘The Big Sister’ – Durga Didi. Durga Didi is a ‘Eunuch elder’ who shelters ‘Kaalika Devi’ and helps to raise ‘Munna Kaalika.’ Single-handedly, she gathers the sympathy of the entire Hijra (Eunuch) clan for Munna’s cause and plays an instrumental role in shaping his outlook and his fighting techniques. She is a wall. Period. A wall so strong that thousands of prejudiced souls from the Sonagachi area (the biggest brothel area in all of Asia), vouch by her and live by her principles. Her character is enigmatic, and down to earth. She is an inspiration of our very own four elder mothers, who stood by our mother, their lil sister, throughout our financial problems. You will find the names of our elder mothers in the Dedication Page of our book.

Who is your least favorite character and why?

Shiva Thejus & Sri Vishnu Tanay: Tretan Bliecher – He is the villain of the story. He is a perfect embodiment of the evil that’s dormant in all of us. He is meticulous, calculative, cunning, narcissistic, egoistic, and is a megalomaniac. He is a Nazi-sympathizer and a sworn hater of the Jewish faith, a perfect misogynist and a racial supremacist, who still holds the black community in contempt. He would go to lengths to prove his superiority and see to it that his opponents are not just humbled, but trampled upon. He is ultra-rich and abuses God-given wealth to perfection. He has no remorse, no conscience, no regard for human feelings and is absolutely insensitive to human emotions. Every one of us has a streak of such negativity, only that it remains dormant until such time, when it’s stoked. People, in ‘POWER,’ (the term is explained in detail in our Authors’ section) who could remain passive without embroiling themselves in actions that could hurt others feelings, are a rarity nowadays and such humbleness requires a lot of self-control and restraint upon natural egos and inborn-inclinations. Tretan Blicher, may be our less favorite, but he is instrumental in bringing out the best in all of the five central characters - Testing their limits to prejudice and eventually making them preserve in their conviction to prove themselves to his devilish bigotry.

Why did you choose to write in your particular field or genre?

Shiva Thejus: This story had germinated in my mind just like that. Back then, I had no inclination to associating myself with any particular genres. My aim was to show the protagonist as a survivor of hardships and portray him as someone with extremely tough mettle. Indian movies are all about Hero worship and it naturally rubbed on me.
Sri Vishnu Tanay: I strongly felt that we could hit the Oscars with this story. But, it was unpolished gold. Being an avid follower of politics and contemporary world issues. I felt that each character could be shown, in such a way, to highlight the draconian ills the American society and the world as a whole still faced. Luckily, the story shaped up extremely well, bringing the plight of the prejudiced people – LGBT and racially abused classes to the forefront. The story also highlights other issues like Nazism and Misogyny as well. Though, it’s a gripping drama, it’s a very strong, message-oriented story.

What is the most important thing that people DON'T know about your subject/genre that they need to know?

Sri Vishnu Tanay: We treaded on a lot of societal issues like LGBT, Racism, Nazism, Misogyny and Bigotry in ‘The Unconquerable Heart.’ Lot of people don’t even know the actual meaning of these words, let alone sensibilities towards them. But, all of us do have a natural inclination towards those ills. On an everyday basis, people might unconsciously be involving themselves in one or the other above ills, without thinking of the opposite person’s sensibilities. Our work is a lot more than Fiction. It is message oriented, and it tries to sensitize people’s sensibilities towards the above issues, by bringing the plight of the socially abused classes, in a poignant manner, to the reader’s attention. 

What are some ways in which you promote your work?

Shiva Thejus: Right now, I’m touch basing actors and directors in Hollywood to re-create ‘The Unconquerable Heart’ on celluloid. It’s like, door to door canvassing as of now. However, promotion of the novel is being taken care by our publicist.

What was the hardest thing about writing your latest book?

Shiva Thejus & Sri Vishnu Tanay: It took us 12 long years, to ultimately get to this stage. Writing was a breeze, but the travel was tedious and cumbersome.

What did you enjoy most about writing this book?

Shiva Thejus & Sri Vishnu Tanay: The story is bound to make any intense reader to reflect upon oneself and give a good thought about the society around him/her. This is exactly what happened with us too. We are better persons now than we were before and are definitely more sensitive to other people’s thoughts and emotions. This is the best part of writing this work.

If your book was made into a movie, who would you cast?

Kaalika Devi – Christian Bale
Hazeem Okonjo – Jada Pinkett Smith
Sylvia Amdur – Natalia Portman
Ethan Chapman – Dwayne Johnson
Munna Kaalika – Shiva Thejus
Durga Didi – Chow Yun-fat
Tretan Bliecher – Keanu Reeves

What is your next project?

Shiva Thejus & Sri Vishnu Tanay: Our immediate target, is to get ‘The Unconquerable Heart’ made into a movie. We have something almost ready on ‘religion’ and it’s going to be satirical and thought provoking.

What advice would you give to aspiring authors?

Sri Vishnu Tanay: I would say, if you’re writing out of passion, then don’t expect money and If you’re writing to earn money and establish yourself as a professional writer, then I’d say, ‘Buddy! You’ve got a long road ahead. So, just keep your pockets a little filled. You might just need to burn some extra buck down the bumpy road! And, may God bless you with oodles of patience.’Siva Thejus : Comeon bro, don’t be so cynical. There are a lot of overnight successes. But, of course, we never know, whom choosy lady luck amours and smiles upon.

Links for readers 

• Website: www.authorshivish.com 
• Blog: https://authorshivish.wordpress.com 
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/theunconquerableheart 
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/shivathejus
• Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/shivathejus/ 
• Linkedin:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/shivathejus 
• Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15073567.Shivish 
• Amazon India Page: http://amzn.to/2jpRj1e
• Amazon Author Page: http://amzn.to/2iDNtoe 
• Promo:  

Open-Eyed Meditations - Book of the Year

A Stupendous piece of work. Bravo. 👌

Author Shubha Vilas has personally sent me copy of "Open-Eyed Meditations - Practical Wisdom for Everyday Life" in exchange of unbiased review. I had mixed feelings on receiving the book, because from my past experience I have observed that if I take self-help book, there are less than 50% chance that I would be able to finish a it. But first 3 chapters of this book made me love the book. And to my surprise I finished it in 3-4 sittings. 

Blurb of the book

Open-eyed Meditations is a beautiful compilation of thoughts wherein each meditation takes you on a journey to the past, bringing a secret herb to heal a problem of the present.
A true distillation of ancient wisdom tips for modern lives, this unique self-help book uses the wisdom of the Ramayana and the Mahabharata to solve your everyday problems.
Beyond the storyline, something deeper is waiting to be discovered from these ancient texts. This book is an attempt to uncover the hidden layer of wealth that is cleverly packaged within the commonly known storylines. 

Author has wonderfully divided thought provoking content into 64 small chapters, you can say 64 valuable diamonds. Every chapter starts with simplest but deep questions, those questions are followed by combinations of lines of explanations and example from the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. At the end of every chapter author has kept summary of the chapter, even summary contains examples used in chapter.

The amazing thing about the book is the way author has put forward his ideas. He has made sure to put a limit of 4-5 pages per chapters to keep reader interested. In each chapter author has put examples at regular interval, to keep tempo up all the time. I didn't find a low / boring phase in book, which is very common in self help book. You can easily find a wonderful line or quote in each page of this book.

We all knew stories of the Ramayana and the Mahabharata but author knows how to combine them with a value system and fed it to readers' thought process. One should read this book every year. And as author has correctly said in introduction one should chew each and every word of these book like cow to digest its content's depth.

Talking about ratings.

1. Cover - 4 / 5
2. Language - 4 / 5 (For any age group)
3. Concept - 5 / 5 
4. Content - 5 / 5 
5. Overall - 5 / 5

Book can be found at - Amazon & Flipkart

Review from other readers can be found at GoodReads 

Krushnavatar - કૃષ્ણાવતાર - Historical Fiction By Kanhaiyalal Munshi

We are presenting our first multi-lingual review.

Click Here to Check Review in English

Gujarati literature has seen very less number of author like Kanhaiyalal Munshi. Munshi was one of the most contemplative & thoughtful author of Gujarati literature. And in addition to that he was an active politician which made him combine his political philosophy with writing.

"Krushnavatar" was published in three volumes and each volumes has its own sub volumes totaling seven parts. Munshi has created story of Krishna which is considered as God in India. Krishna was very well known personality / character and it is very difficult to find a person who is not aware of his stories. His childhood was covered and presented to us in various detailed forms. His Geeta-Gyaan was also presented to us. But we are not much aware of his other audacious acts. The compilation of all these audacious acts is "Krushnavatar". 

Many people consider story about and around Krishna were age old and outdated. But Munshi has presented his work in a form of a novel (not as poems or philosophical work) which will force you to reconsider it as just mythological work. It will surly make to read all books in a go.

Unfortunately Munshi was not able to finish series of Krishna's life and we were left with seven sub volumes (7th as somewhat incomplete). That doesn't mean any part of book is less interesting. Munshi was able to write each volume such a way that reader can take any part individually and read it.

ગુજરાતીમાં Review જોવા અહીં ક્લિક કરો 

કનૈયાલાલ મુનશી જેવું ન કોઈ ગુજરાતી સાહિત્યમાં થયું છે, ના કોઈ થશે. ગુજરાતી સાહિત્યના એક અનન્ય ચિંતનશીલ અને વિચારશીલ લેખક એટલે મુનશી. મુનશી પાછા રાજકારણી પણ હતાં એટલે રાજકારણ સાથે લેખન એવું અલભ્ય સંયોજન.

"કૃષ્ણાવતાર" ત્રણ ભાગમાં પ્રકાશિત થયેલી મુનશીના મતે ભગવાન કહેવાતા એક દીર્ઘદ્રશ્ય માનવની વાત છે. કૃષ્ણની બાલલીલાઓને કોણે માણી નથી? ભારતમાં રહેતો એક પણ ભારતીય કૃષ્ણનાં મોહથી અંજાયા વિનાનો નથી, અને એ મોહ ધર્મથી બાંધાયેલો નથી. પણ આપણા કમનસીબે કૃષ્ણની બાળલીલા અને ગીતાજ્ઞાન સિવાયનાં કૃષ્ણનાં અન્ય પરાક્રમભર્યા સાહસોથી લોકો હજુ અજાણ છે. કૃષ્ણ ના આ સાહસોની  સવિસ્તાર  કથા એટલે કૃષ્ણાવતાર.

ઘણાં એવું વિચારે છે કૃષ્ણલીલા તો ચવાઈ ગયેલી, જોયેલી, જાણેલી, માણેલી કથા છે પણ કૃષ્ણજીવનનાં અમુક વણસ્પર્શ્યા પ્રસંગો ભાવોને એવાં સુંદર રીતે રજુ કરવામાં આવ્યા છે કે એક થ્રિલર નવલકથાને તમે બાજુએ ન મૂકી શકો અને એક બેઠકે વાંચવાનો પ્રયાસ કરો એવી જ આ કૃષ્ણાવતારની કથા છે.

આપણા કમનસીબે 'કૃષ્ણાવતાર' કૃષ્ણજીવનની સંપૂર્ણ કથા કનૈયાલાલ મુનશી પૂર્ણ ન કરી શક્યા અને એમનું  નિધન થયું છતાં પણ આ અધૂરી કથા એ પણ એમના ઉત્કૃષ્ટ સર્જનનું પ્રતીક છે.

Gujarati Edition can be found on Dhoomkharidi

• Volume - 1
• Volume - 2
• Volume - 3

English Edition can be found on Amazon

• The Magic Flute - Sub volume - 1
• The Wrath of an Empire - Sub volume - 2
• The Five Brothers - Sub volume - 3
• The Book of Bhima - Sub volume - 4
• The Book of Satyabhama - Sub volume - 5
• The Book of Vedvyaasa, The Master - Sub volume - 6
• The Book of Yudhisthira - Sub volume - 7

My Last Love Story by Falguni Kothari

"My last love story" by Falguni Kothari was giving me angry looks ever since it was placed at bottom of the book stack. My wife won it few months back but she was not able to read it due to some work. As per my this year resolution, I took the responsibility to review all unfinished review read that we won last year, no matter how good or bad a book will be. Fortunately book was above mediocre though it took too much time for me to finish.

Book bulb of the book

I, Simeen Desai, am tired of making lemonade with the lemons life has handed me. 
Love is meant to heal wounds. Love was meant to make my world sparkle and spin. Love has ripped my life apart and shattered my soul. 
I love my husband, and he loves me. But Nirvaan is dying. I love my husband. I want to make him happy. But he is asking for the impossible. 
I don’t want a baby. I don’t want to make nice with Zayaan. I don’t want another chance at another love story. 
Weepers, keep tissues handy.

In just few lines I can sum up story, Simeen was in emotional triangle between her husband Nirvaan and her first love Zayaan (who is still her and her husband best friend). Her husband was dying and he has prepared long list of wishlist before his death. Story was keep going between various phases of their life, majorly through their current time when Nirvaan is having cancer and Zayaan is living with Simeen and Nirvaan as per Nirvaan's wish.

Frankly speaking book is divided into two parts based on pace. The first part is Simeen's past which should be 50-70% of total story but it was contributing not more than 20% of the content. This part of story is very fast paced and interesting. Second part was during Nirvaan's ongoing cancer treatment which should be 40-60% of the story but content-wise it took 80% share. And I really have to give efforts to finish this really-really-slow pace part. Book is full of emotions through which a wife of cancer patient may go through, and I praise Falguni for her efforts. My mediocre rating may be because I am not the targeted audience.

Talking about ratings.

1. Cover - 2.5 / 5
2. Language - 3.5 / 5 (Found it only for adults at some places)
3. Story Line - 3.5 / 5 (Because of pace)
4. Characters - 3 / 5 (Awesome threesome confusion is the reason for the rating)
5. Concept - 3.5 / 5 
6. Overall - 3.5 / 5

Book can be found at - Amazon

Review from other readers can be found at GoodReads 

Meet Mystery Writer Vidya Anand - Author of When Shadows Turn Dark

Last year we had review a romance mystery 'When Shadows Turn Dark - Karma Follows Beyond Death' by Vidya Anand on our blog, today we got chance to talk to her about her book.

Can you brief our readers about your educational and professional background?

I did my schooling in Chennai and B Tech in Computer Science from Kerala University. I worked in an IT firm for about 8 years. I quit my full time IT job when I had my twins. 

Writer's job requires considerable amount of reading, so tell us how much you read? And do you have any favorite author?

Yes, I read a lot of Indian authored books. I have many favorite books and authors, Varsha Dixit, Ravi Subramanian and Ashwin Sanghi being few of them.

When did you start writing?

The break after being a complete workaholic for almost 8 years gave me the time to explore and implore my creative side. I started writing on forums as a pastime but soon, it grew into a passion.

When did you decide to become a writer?

The stories I wrote on the various forums were widely appreciated. My readers and close ones motivated me to publish my work. 

What are your ambitions for your writing career?

I guess my ambitions are similar to every amateur and passionate writer. To write interesting stories which would grip and entertain the reader till the last word. 

Is this your debut work?

My debut work was in the forum but as a complete published book, When Shadows Turn Dark is the first one. Before ‘When Shadows Turn Dark’ happened, I was also part of an anthology, ‘The Unbreakable You’ , the story being ‘Nothing Bigger than Life’ 

What genre are your books?

Though romance is my favorite genre, I like to experiment other genres such as thriller, mystery, fantasies and romantic comedies. Whatever be the genre, I love to give a happily-ever-after conclusion to every story.

So tell us about your book 'When Shadow Turns Dark".

The book is about the mystical world of rebirth and how one life might just not be enough to pay for our sins. It is a mystery thriller woven around the life of Anirudh. His past and present are tangled in an ambiguous manner and he cannot live in peace till he untangles and unravels the mysterious tie-up between the two. A stranger girl, Chitrangada and her painful shrieks haunt him as horrifying nightmares, rendering him sleepless for nights together. Trisha, as his friend, guide and sole warrior, fights for him till the end despite the hurdles coming her way. Trisha’s best friend, Sonia, is madly in love with Anirudh, leading to a strange triangle of love, friendship and deceit.
Miles away, in Edinburgh are Sanjana and Abhimanyu. Life is a smooth sail for them till by strange coincidences they are dragged into Anirudh’s story.
The incomplete story of the past finds closure, so does end Anirudh’s nightmares. He also gets his true love and soul mate when the story ends, or rather begins on a happy note.

Where do your ideas come from?

The plot of the stories usually come from my imagination but the character traits are mostly inspired from the people I interact with in real life or have known in the past.My curiosity about the world of dreams and what would happen if we ever start remembering what we saw in our dreams led me to write this book.

How much research did you do for this book?

I did read few articles and a book on reincarnation. 

What was the hardest thing about writing your latest book?

Finding time and keeping myself away from distractions are the biggest challenges. 

Can you provide us link of your book trailer?

What was the book release date?

March 2016

What are you working on at the minute?

A romantic story with a social message.

What are your thoughts on writing a book series?

If the ending of one book sets stage to a new story and grabs the interest of the readers, then why not?

What advice would you give to aspiring writers?

A lesson I learnt is that we should read more. Along with other books, we should read our own writing over and over again. Is there anything else you would like to add that I haven’t included?

Links for your book readers

• Facebook: Facebook Page - When Shadows Turn Dark
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/Devamrith
• Book on Amazon: http://amzn.to/2jubcUK
• Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29778882-when-shadows-turn-dark

The Magician's Workshop, Volume One

If you think thoroughly before creating a magical world, you will bring a good fantasy story to your reader. "The Magician's Workshop" by Christopher Hansen and J. R. Fehr is one such wonderful series. If marketed and promoted properly this can be a create a huge fan following. Book is yet to come in printed format, I got free copy in exchange of unbiased review. Though I have scheduled it to read after a 30-40 days according to pipeline, but I cannot resist it after reading first two chapters. 

Book blurb

Everyone in the islands of O’Ceea has a magical ability: whatever they imagine can be brought into existence. Whoever becomes a master over these powers is granted the title of magician and is given fame, power, riches, and glory. This volume of books follows the journey of a group of kids as they strive to rise to the top and become members of the Magician’s Workshop. 
Layauna desperately wants to create beautiful things with her magical powers, but all she can seem to do is make horrible, savage monsters. For years she has tried to hide her creations, but when her power is at last discovered by a great magician, she realizes that what she’s tried to hide might actually be of tremendous value.
Kai just wants to use his powers to have fun and play with his friends. Unfortunately, nearly everyone on his island sees him as a bad influence, so he’s forced to meet them in secret. When one of the creatures they create gets out of control and starts flinging fireballs at their town, Kai is tempted to believe that he is as nefarious as people say. However, his prospects change when two mysterious visitors arrive, praising his ability and making extraordinary promises about his future.
Follow the adventures of Kai, Layauna, and a boatload of other characters as they struggle to grow up well in this fantastical world.

O'Ceea is a magical lang where where people can project things as per their imagination. Though anyone can project things in O'Ceea, only those having permission from authority can project legally. Otherwise person will be punished. Anyone below 16 cannot project publicly until he gets recognition. As per law set in their world at age of 16, girls & boys will eligible for examination. The most important factor during this test is standing in front of a system/device/magician called as puller who will decide whether person has any of the 9 colors in him or he is a without color (people without color known as void). This ceremony is celebrated on grand level and called as color ceremony. Apart from puller test person can go through other test and earn chips which will be useful for professional guilds.

Now coming to main story. It is about five teenagers Layauna, Kai, Weston, Talia, Kalaya, Kaso from different region and clan who are on the verge of becoming adults as per O'Ceea's regulations. Each person has their own strength, weakness and pasts. In this volume they just gathered at Color ceremony. Things will be continued in next part.

Though I liked the book by reading first two chapters, it doesn't mean I got use to with unconventional words and plots. There are gaps that readers have to image or wait for next few chapters to get it cleared. I had that problem while reading, and there are some doubts that I hope will be cleared while reading next part.

What I like in book?

• Authors have thought about new currency, different way to show timings, new way of calling last names and many more things differently.
• Fast paced book, without unnecessary details.
• Plot was well planned.

What I thought could be improved?

• First and foremost, cover. It requires better cover page for fantasy book.
• Book has built wonderful tempo, but end was abrupt.
• I was expecting each characters know results of color ceremony and then in next volume they face other challenges.
• It would have been nice for readers if few clarification of O'ceea have given to readers before hand.

In and all, a wonderful read. Talking about ratings.

1. Cover - 2.5 / 5
2. Language - 4 / 5 (For book audience of kids, YA)
3. Story Line - 4 / 5 (No ups and downs, straight forward)
4. Characters - 4 / 5
5. Concept - 4.5 / 5 (Something new)
6. Overall - 4 / 5

Book can be found at - Amazon

Review from other readers can be found at GoodReads & Facebook

Meet Thriller Writer Heena Rathore - Author of Deceived

Another debut author with an amazing thriller is going to publish this February'17 is 'Deceived'. Heena Rathore Pardeshi the author of Deceived is a novelist, novel critic, as well as a book reviewer. She is also an ace social media strategist and an acclaimed YouTube Podcaster. An award-winning writer, she has won several NaNoWriMos and JuNoWriMos since 2014.

Heena also manages her own book club, RMFAO on Goodreads.com. A fan of crime-thrillers, apocalyptic fiction and slasher movies and series, she draws inspiration from the works of legendary writers such as Stephen King, Dean Koontz and Sidney Sheldon.

An introvert and free-thinker, Heena prefers neatness over chaos - in her fictional themes as well as in her real life. She has a special place for German Shephards and books in her heart.

Heena is twenty-five years old and lives in Pune, India with her beloved husband, Vishal – a successful entrepreneur, in a house full of books, music, and love. Heena passionately creates vivid fictional worlds; some to read and cherish, and some to live in.

Blurb of Deceived 

How well do you know your loved ones?A young girl struggling to cope with the murders of her mother and five-year-old brother.A journalist chasing the ghost of a potential serial killer.A thirteen-year-old girl who slaughtered her parents.And a revenge-driven psychopath who is about to destroy everyone’s life.After 9 years, a young writer is still coping with the brutal murders of her mother and five-year-old brother, as she moves into a house of horrors, unwittingly to start a new life with her lover. Will friends and family be able to redeem Ally out of the impending doom in time? Will her infallible love become the key to the destruction of her already fragile world? Will madness prevail over love; true love over revenge?Deceived is a gripping psychological thriller that mazes through the deepest, darkest emotions of human mind through the story of a vulnerable girl who treads in the mist of deception bred from a long unforgiven betrayal.

Lets try to know about Heena. Can you tell us about your academics?

I completed by schooling from CBSE board and then got admission in Electronics & Telecommunication Engineering in Pune University immediately after completing my 12th Standard. I dropped out of my Engineering College in the 4th Semester when I realized that Engineering was not for me.After that I pursued 3D Animation and Filmmaking course and then started freelance content writing before settling as a full-time novelist.

You are a book critic. Please tell us about your passion as reader.

Being a novel critic, book reviewer and an avid reader, I read a lot. Probably around 9-10 books a month (sometimes more, sometimes less.) Some of my favorite authors are Stephen King, Sidney Sheldon, Jeffrey Archer, Gillian Flynn, George R.R. Martin and Nicholas Sparks.

When did you start writing? When did you decide to become a writer? 

I started writing in early 2014. I started with my book blog, which eventually turned into more than just a hobby and I started reviewing books professionally. I wanted to be a writer all my life, but I decided to become one in late 2014 when I was on a year-long break for deciding the right career path for myself.

What are your ambitions for your writing career? 

I am normally a very ambitious person, but when it comes to writing, my only ambition is to be able to write all my life and establish myself as a noteworthy thriller writer in India.

Is this your debut work? 

Yes, this is my debut novel. But I have written hundreds of blog posts, guest posts and have been interviewed and featured a number of times.

What genre are your books?

Crime, Thriller and Suspense.

Can you describe your current book in few lines? What’s it about?

My debut novel, Deceived, is a psychological thriller written in multiple POVs along with a sprinkling of journal entries by the main antagonist who is a psychopath. The story follows two different timelines. In this book, I’ve tried to give a glimpse inside the mind of a psychopath as I really feel that it is the one element that a lot of thrillers are missing on.

Give us an insight into your main character(s)

Deceived is written in multiple POVs along with a sprinkling of journal entries of the antagonist. The main POV character is Allison Stone. She is a 24-year-old writer who is coping with the murders of her mother and 5-year old brother that happened 9 years ago. Because of her past has a very complex personality that is difficult to fully comprehend and it makes her an unpredictable character. 

Where do the your ideas come from?

Ideas come from a place that cannot be defined. The only thing I can say is that they just come and hit me at the oddest times.

How much research did you do for this book?

There was a fair bit of research involved and I spent a good part of 2 months researching about psychopaths and sociopaths, their behavior and motivations and their thinking process.

What was the hardest thing about writing your latest book?

The hardest thing about this book was writing the journal entries of the antagonist. He is a mentally disturbed person and, at times, it proved to be extremely overwhelming to enter into his mind frame and write the entries from his POV.

What are you working on at the minute?

I’m working on my second novel, Sinister Town. It is a crime thriller with elements of horror. It is based on the concept of ritual and cult killings.

What advice would you give to aspiring writers?

Write only if you have a story inside you. Write if you have a passion for sharing that story with the world and write only if you actually have the guts to sit down and write.A lot of people don’t realize it, but writing needs a certain level of self-discipline. And if you think writing can be done without any discipline, then you might be able to write for a while, but you’ll never be able to do it consistently for long.

Links for book readers 

• Website: https://heenarathorep.com
• Blog: https://heenarathorep.com/blog/ 
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/heenarathorep/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/rathoreheena 
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authorheenarathore/ 
• Lnkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heena-rathore-p-905b0142 
• Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15799129.Heena_Rathore_P_ 
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGJRUGymFvQJ3m6TdvCzOhw 

The THC - Under a Gibbous Moon by Manoj Jain

Another erotica of 2016, both from the same author. I reviewed 'The BNO - Sex, Life & Hookah' by Manoj Jain. Two months back and decided to avoid erotica. When I saw 'The THC - Under a Gibbous Moon' I thought book would be different than Manoj's debut work. But from my point of view THC is also an erotica. The reason I finished and gave 3-start is the Holistic Center and its description.

Blurb of the book

"Now look at the person in the mirror and tell her that you love her." Sanjaneka stared and stared, unable to utter the simple words aloud. Why is Sanjaneka unable to love herself? What past is she running away from? How does an Uber ride help Samar to save his marriage? Why does the dull moonlight of a gibbous moon trouble Varun so much? Three lives. One Utopian centre.The Total Holistic Centre (The THC) welcomes the broken and those looking for closure through its doors and works its magic to return them to the world fulfilled. This is the story of these three troubled souls who seek solace at the centre, indulge in its unusual treatment and find the cures to their ailments in surprising places.A book on loss, longing and changing circumstances, The THC dives into uncomfortable topics that are usually swept under the rug: fragile relationships, deteriorating marriages, addictions, impotence, and the delicate bond between fathers and sons. Welcome to the THC

Three complete stranger Sanjaneka, Samar and Varun who were in their late forties or early fifties met in Holistic Center. Apart from their physical problem they were in Center for psychological problems. Sanjaneka was scared of sex, while Samar had impotency (due to age); and Varun was depressed due to social rejection. Books covered good insights on how a holistic center should be. Center was able to help patients about their physical problems but psychological issues they have to work on it on their own with help. 
Each character had complex sexual relations reason behind their psychological disorder. These relations were covered through out story. While sharing or retelling or writing down those incidents gradually help them to break from their problems. An average read for adults. Talking about ratings:

1. Cover - 3.5 / 5 
2. Language - 3 / 5
3. Story Line - 3.5 / 5 
4. Characters - 2.5 / 5 
5. Overall - 3 / 5

Book can be found at - Amazon & Flipkart

Review from other readers can be found at GoodReads

I won a review copy from The Tales Pensieve as part of Reviewers Programme. Register on #TTP for lots of #book fun and activities.