Review: Think of a Number

Think of a Number by John Verdon
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Fabulous thriller. This is one author to watch out for. This was his debut novel and it was engrossing right till the end. The title was intriguing and I was expecting a roller coaster of a book. i was not disappointed.

The story is about a retired cop Dave Gurney who is contacted by one of his classmates about letters / poems received from a stranger. Next thing you know, the friend drops dead and Dave is dragged into the murder investigation. More bodies fall and Dave is involved in a chase to hunt down the serial killer.

There are two main characters, Dave and Madeleine, his second wife. Dave's character is that of a troubled, guilt-ridden, workaholic cop who can't entirely get over the break-up of his first marriage and death of his first son. Madeleine's character is not fully developed, although interestingly, she helps solve the crime in a major way.

The book is fast paced and keeps one on tenter-hooks throughout although the setting feels gloomy in places.

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Review: Different Seasons

Different Seasons by Stephen King
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book contains four short stories (well not exactly short). I loved three out of four stories which prompted me to give 3.5 stars.

Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption - This is one of my favourite movies and I loved the plot, although I found the movie far more engrossing. The character Red is actually an Irish guy and I wonder what made Frank Darabont choose Morgan Freeman, an African American. I cannot picture Red as an Irish however much I try to. Morgan Freeman has done a commendable performance in the movie. To make it short, I give the book 5/5.

The Apt Pupil - This was a study of human behaviour in adverse circumstances and describes how a when a perfectly normal person can turn into a raging psychopath. I rate the story 5/5.

The Body - I really could make neither head nor tail of this story and had to really skip the entire tale halfway through. I rate it 1/5.

The Breathing Method - This is a macabre and horrific story and the shortest one in the book. The ending is extremely revolting and equally spooky.

All in all, a fabulous book if you discount the third novella.


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Review: Mother Teresa The Untold Story

Mother Teresa The Untold Story by Aroup Chatterjee
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Like all people, I was also also enamoured by the persona of Mother Teresa when I was growing up. Her congregation Missionaries of Charity was always in the limelight when some dignitary, head of state or a celebrity visited Calcutta to meet her. I was elated when she was ordained a saint by the Vatican in 2015. After she died, her Missionaries of Charity was somewhat out of the "limelight". This book is an outright critical piece of her haloed persona and the way Calcutta was portrayed as a city teeming with beggars and diseased people. Like the author has mentioned, it aggravated the negative image of Calcutta as portrayed in the book and the film "City of Joy" and for a long time I too was influenced by the book and viewed Calcutta as a place where poverty thrived.

The protagonist in the book is the city of Kolkata (erstwhile Calcutta) and the antagonist is Mother Teresa. The author has taken pains to shatter every myth surrounding Mother and her Missionaries of Charity who are viewed as doing good deeds around the world. MT is portrayed as a self-centred individual and vociferous activist of anti-abortion practices, pushing her agenda of promoting religious conversion and anti-abortion around the world.

At one point, MT bashing becomes the whole narrative in the book and it gets too tedious to continue reading. However, with all the feel-good persona of MT ingrained in us, the book presents a counterpoint argument against the same.

With all this bashing, it cannot be denied that she has done things which a commoner would not dare do. The book has a strong anti-Catholic narrative and is a scathing attack on MT.

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Review: Fall of Giants

Fall of Giants by Ken Follett
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Simply stupendous and engaging ! This is a sweeping historical saga from 1911 to 1924 covering principally, the World War I. The myriad characters mingled with the historical events was so interesting that it keeps you hooked. The best part I enjoyed were the opposing views and reasons of both the Germans and the Allies for the occurrence of World War I. The author gives a dual perspective with awesome finesse.

Will take some time off from the Peshkovs, von Ulrichs and Fitzherberts. Whew !!

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Review: The Unending Game: A Former R&AW Chief’s Insights into Espionage

The Unending Game: A Former R&AW Chief’s Insights into Espionage by Vikram Sood
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a very good book on espionage, more like a research paper or thesis. The author is a former intelligence chief of RAW and exploits his vast experience on the technicalities of the espionage profession.

The book gives us an insight into the CIA and the KGB too. However, if you are looking at how the RAW functions, you will be disappointed. The author has not revealed anything about the RAW or its secrets.Being an ex-intelligence chief, you expect some kind of revelations on the workings of the agency. But, I suppose it would not be prudent for the author unlike other professions. Detailed facts on terrorist events in India like 26/11 and USA like 9/11 find its way into the book but all are documented facts and can be found easily in the public domain. There are some interesting anecdotes sprinkled all over. For example, a frightening titbit was about a cabinet minister in Indira Gandhi government offered to sell secrets to KGB and the same minister later became the prime minister of India ! Or how about the fact that USA was in possession of evidence from a terrorist that there would be terrorist attack on a huge scale as early as 1998 but chose to ignore this resulting in a catastrophe of gigantic proportions !

Recommended for people with an interest in espionage or politics. There were places where the writing became a drag but one can ignore it.

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Review: Dead Lawyers Tell No Tales

Dead Lawyers Tell No Tales by Randy Singer
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is a legal thriller which was just about ok. Being a sucker for legal thrillers, I came across the author whose book I have never read before. Since I have not read any of his other books, I cannot compare it with other authors like John Grisham and Victor Methos.

The plot is about a quarterback player Landon Reed, who is released from prison after serving a sentence for shaving points in a football game. Now I am not sure what that means but it sounds bad, as he had to go to prison. He comes out a reformed man and passes the bar exam to become a lawyer, aptly aided by another veteran lawyer, Harry Mcnaughten who employs him. He is now involved in a lawsuit where Elias King, another trial lawyer is charged with insider trading and murder charges. His wife gets involved with a shady ex-CIA operative Sean Phoenix (not an extramarital affair) professionally. Bodies start falling, the plot gets murkier and it is our protagonist who needs to win the case to save Elias King. The football narrative gets boring since I am not familiar with the game. But overall a good fast paced thriller which readers can enjoy.

Would I read another Randy Singer ? Probably yes, but not immediately. Given a choice I would still pick up a Methos.

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Review: The Dhandho Investor: The Low-Risk Value Method to High Returns

The Dhandho Investor: The Low-Risk Value Method to High Returns by Mohnish Pabrai
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is a good book on investing fundas in the equity markets from a very well known name in the American capital markets. I had first come across the author's name when he became famous in 2007 for buying dinner with Warren Buffett along with his partner at Buffett's annual charity auction. Enamoured more about this event than by the author, I had written an amateur piece on value investing on my blog (my link text). So when I came across this book written by Mohnish Pabrai, I just couldn't resist myself.

The author is a self-confessed fan of Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger and needless to say there are few innovative original ideas in the book. But the whole idea of value investing was propounded by Benjamin Graham in his book "The Intelligent Investor" which is considered to be the bible of every value investor and popularised by Buffett. The author has lifted examples, quotes and anecdotes from Buffett's life. In fact, his fund Pabrai Funds itself is structured similar to Berkshire Hathaway, as revealed by him.

Coming to the core of the book, this is totally based on American capital markets. The analogy of the Patel community given by the author is interesting but for an Indian it is not at all new. The title contains the word "Dhandho". Any Indian reader would more or less expect some advice in the context of Indian stock markets (ok, so this is about value investing...still !) but there is no reference at all to any other emerging market except the US of A. Also almost a whole chapter is dedicated to financial websites for the American investor which can be useful titbit for investment tips. I wish the author had done some more research in the context of Indian capital markets. It is a tad disappointing when the reference point are the Patels.

Readers are expected to have a basic knowledge of equity markets and financial jargons like present value of future cash flows, intrinsic value, earnings per share etc. Then it becomes enjoyable, especially for the American reader.

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