Book Review: The Rustle Of Silence by Lalitha Venkatraman

14/04/201718/05/2017Reviews By ContributorsLeave a Comment

Author: Lalitha Venkatraman
Release Date: 10th September 2016
Genre: Romantic Thriller
Edition: E-book
Pages: 131
Publisher: –

Rating: ★

Blurb:

Christopher is a handsome and brilliant businessman. His business empire had sprawled across several countries and he could have any woman he wants. His is a loving and caring nature and people adore him for his sterling qualities. For the outside world, Christopher has it all, did he really?
Preeti is an intelligent, savvy professional who has spent her life consumed with work. She lived the life of a Saint, happy to bask in the glory of her parents’ love.
Pulled together by peculiar circumstances, Christopher and Preeti quickly tear down each other’s barriers, bonding over a deep passion for their loving families as they explore the vibrant cities and rich, exotic culture of India. They grew quite close.
Preeti makes a startling discovery in Christopher’s house and to a certain extent, about the man himself. Suspicions run wild. Inexplicably, Preeti becomes the centre of accusations herself when a mysterious man with a traumatic past questions whether her love is truly for Christopher or his incredible wealth. Will Preeti be able to prove her good intentions, or will she have to make the ultimate sacrifice for the man she loves?
And then there is a jungle and people say that it is cursed. The forest is alive and breathing; from time to time, one could hear a huge rumbling noise from within. The trees shed millions of leaves. The hills move a few miles from their places. The river water rises to form solid arches. The forest dazzles the surroundings with its own magical light show. People are terrified of the living, breathing woodland and keep their distance from it.
De Silva lives all alone in the cursed jungle and he rushes to meet total strangers, Christopher and Preeti in the middle of the night…

Review

I tried really hard to not give up on this book and have faith that it will get better as the story progressed, but it just wasn’t for me.

The plot wasn’t entirely original and my main problem with the book was the writing and narration. The narration lacked cohesion with weird time jumps and the pacing was erratic. The book also had too many metaphoric descriptions for mundane aspects and didn’t spend enough time explaining the actual plot.

There was a subplot plot with references to slightly supernatural elements. But it was never properly explained or explored and it just existed to tie up loose ends of the main story. The characters and dialogues were unrealistic and flat.

The book had a decent build up, but around 40% I started to lose interest and ended up skimming over the rest of it. The ending was rushed and predictable with too much exposition crammed into the last few pages.

I feel that strong editing and a better plot structure would have helped this book, but right now, it just didn’t work for me.

Goodreads and Amazon

Book Review: Myxocene by Troy Ernest Hill

16/08/201619/08/2016Reviews By ContributorsLeave a Comment

Author: Troy Ernest Hill
Release Date: November 1, 2015
Series: –
Genre: Medical Thriller | Psychological Thriller
Edition: E-book (mobi)
Pages: 272
Publisher: Createspace

Rating: ★★★★

Blurb:

When single mother and freelance science writer Sarah Bennett interviews Dr. Ronald Keating on the Chernobyl disaster for its 30th anniversary, she unwittingly gets entangled in the retired pharmaceutical researcher’s strange plot to combat global warming with an experimental medication. In a wry voice both funny and provocative, she grapples with Keating’s true motivations as well as profound questions about the value of an individual human life versus a society of billions in a climate-changing world.

Review

Plot:

I must admit, this book definitely surprised me. What started off as a medical thriller slowly became a neurological thriller surrounding a rather controversial topic, which makes this book a great choice to have intense discussions over.

At the center of this story is a freelance writer and a single mother, surrounded by a near-autistic daughter and a fanatic Christian mother. This itself sets the dysfunctional tone of the story. The conversations between Sarah, our main character, and the other minor characters, especially Keating and her ex-boyfriend Ted were by far the most interesting and thought provoking.

On the whole, I enjoyed the plot as well as the pacing. The subtlety of the suspense was especially enjoyable and I was definitely eager to know it ends.

Characters:

The characterizations were diverse with each character being a metaphor for acertain political or social ideology. However, I was unable to feel a real connection with anyone but I suppose that was more due to the slightly surreal nature of the book.

Writing:

The author was consistent with the first person narrative and the subtle change in Sarah’s thoughts as she became more rational and detached from sentiments made it even more intriguing.

Beginning:

The beginning was slightly slow and it takes a while to really get into the groove of the book.

Ending:

The ending felt a little rushed and it seemed that the author tried to cram a lot of things within the final few chapters. However, the concluding conversation between Sarah and Keating was where the essence of the entire story was.

Cover Art:

I love the simplicity and minimalism of the cover art and it definitely has a deeper meaning once you have read the book.

You can also read this review at Goodreads and Amazon.

This book has been reviewed by Mythili Hariharan.

Book Review: The Nth Day by Jonathan Huls

26/03/201626/03/2016Reviews By Contributors4 Comments

Author: Jonathan Huls
Release Date: November 11, 2015
Series: –
Genre: Fantasy
Edition: E-Book (mobi)
Pages: 330
Publisher: Duvinchi Media Group
Source: Author
Buy it here: Amazon

Rating: ★ – DNF

Blurb:

Justin is an immaculately conceived deity who roams the earth wreaking havoc as an adolescent. As his supernatural powers become catastrophic for the whole world, Cassie and Theodore must learn how to cope with the changes he has inflicted. Living as a vagrant on the streets, attempting to avoid the problems that come with millions of dollars sitting in his bank account, Theodore is suddenly thrust into a new-world leadership role, even after botching his own life early on. Abused by her drug addict mother then tossed from one foster home to the next, Cassie has been able to survive in a world that gobbles up little girls with a side of ranch dressing – but barely, and only after being miraculously revived after dying the first time.

Review

The synopsis of the book sets up an intriguing premise: a child, who may or may not be God but does have supernatural abilities, is born which causes certain events to be set into motion. Despite the seemingly original idea of this book, I had a very difficult time reading it and gave up halfway through it.

The main problem was the language. It was too crass and crude for my taste. I normally have a good stomach for violence and gore but the kind of language used in this book made it an unpleasant read for me. The throwaway violence felt unnecessary and the descriptions of sex were cringeworthy.

Another aspect that bothered me was the scene where a little girl is almost raped by her foster father. I can understand if it adds more depth to her character further in the story. But I still don’t want to read a little girl being raped in sadistic detail.

The timeline was confusing since the age of the characters was never explicitly mentioned. But from what I understood, Cassie should be nearly as old as Justin or maybe slightly older. Which was odd considering the sort of perception and thoughts she had.

The writing felt a little flat and some of the sentences were poorly structured. At times, the paragraphs were too long, sometimes as long as two pages. There were a few grammatical errors, and some of the phrases and metaphors made no sense.

If you don’t mind gore, violence, and can overlook the language, you can definitely give this book a shot. It’s simply not my cup of tea.