#CogentBooks – The Sialkot Saga by Ashwin Sanghi

The Sialkot Saga, by Ashwin Sanghi is a thriller based on lives of two characters called Arvind & Arbaaz. Arvind comes from a Marwari business family, and Arbaaz is someone who starts off as a goon; and the character evolves with every 100 pages in the book.

Arvind and Arbaaz begin as strangers, leading their lives in a mutually exclusive manner. The two characters are as different as chalk and cheese, but Ashwin manages to weave an intrinsic plot which culminates to Arvind and Arbaaz becoming each others arch nemesis.

The plot of the book on face value might seem like a mix of three books by Jeffrey Archer. In a way, The Sialkot Saga is a mix of Kane and Abel, Not a Penny More; Not a Penny Less and The Fourth Estate by Archer. But, it’s the hypnotic style of Sanghi’s narration that makes this book; and all of the past books written by him, an absolute delight to read.

#CogentBooks – Beauty is a Wound by Eka Kurniawan

As a reader, every once in a while, you come across a title and/ or an author that you haven’t ever heard of. That’s common. What makes this discovery even more fascinating is the fact that the book is rather popular and has been praised by some of the best celebrities and respected book lists in the world. This is exactly how I learned about Beauty is a Wound by Eka Kurniawan.

Even if you’re the most ferocious reader, I can assure you; even you can’t guess what will happen in the next page of this book. It’s a sheer journey of 470 pages full of plot twists and surprises.

On the face of it, Beauty is a Wound is a story of an half Dutch half Indonesian prostitute named Dewi Ayu; who hails from the town of Halimunda, but it’s a cobweb of a story; to say the least.

#CogentBooks – The Bestseller She Wrote by Ravi Subramanian

In the times where being an “Indian Author” is more of a risk than an advantage, very few authors have made their mark and found the right balance between writing really good content, creating a niche for themselves and not getting carried away with the new found success.

Ravi Subramnaian is one such author. One thing that I really like about Ravi’s work is his writing style. There’s always a certain pace to his story. Where some authors prefer to invest in chapters to consolidate the characters, the subplots, the twists; Ravi is unapologetically and unabashedly on target. His past books  namely If God Was a Banker, I Bought the Monk’s Ferrari, Devil in Pinstripes, The Incredible Banker, The Bankster, Bankerupt and God is a Gamer still command a strong and a loyal reader base. Some other names that need a mention in this category are Devdutt Patnaik, Ashwin Sanghi, Amish and Anand Neelakantan, among others.