Faceless: The Mystery of the Carved Arrow by Ashwin Karthik

I am a big fan of the thriller based on ancient cultures, be it Dan Brown, be it Ashwin Sanghi, or Christopher Doyal. I have read many books in this genre from debut authors as well. That was the read I have "Faceless: The Mystery of the Carved Arrow by Ashwin Karthik"

The story starts just like any of the books in this genre, the murder of a scientist by a mysterious method. This time instead of a researcher we have an inspector chasing the murderer. The protagonist of our story is inspector Abinay Chaturvedi and his subordinate Lance. Abinay was already facing challenging times with this murder case when he came to know about another murder in similar situations. But the second murder brought some actionable clues. He also got help from a lady working on the theory of "unknown nine cult of Ashoka times". Read the book to know more.

My observations

1) Book pace is super duper fast. A line skip may change plot settings for you.

2) When I say fast plot, I mean it. At places, it was difficult to see when the situation shifted our conversation changed.

3) for many such fast paces is a good option, but there should be some space to breathe as well.

4) I found the historical angle shallower than expected. You will not find anything new which is not there in the first 3 pages of Google search of these topics. In my opinion, a little bit of research would have given a boost.

Otherwise a short and quick read. Enjoyable for one-day trips.

I will give 3.5 out of 5 to this book.

Book links - Amazon & Goodreads