BANGALORE: An edge-of-the-seat thriller, The Steradian Trail Book #0 of The Infinity Cycle by M N Krish is an unusual and gripping novel set in the world of technology, mythology and high stakes crime. This explosive, Robin Cook-style novel has also woven into the plot the extraordinary contribution of Srinivasan Ramanujan, the Indian mathematical genius and ingeniously brought his mathematical solutions to life.
A sudden discovery of a long-lost solution by Ramanujan to one of the seven Millennium Prize Problems laid down by the Clay Mathematics Institute creates high tension. This new finding will give the possessor of this knowledge immense wealth, but will also put his life in danger, because there are those who will even be willing to kill for it. This interesting mathematical puzzle forms the crux of the story and as two professors and a student go on the trail of the mastermind behind a spate of murders, there is danger at every turn.
The Steradian Trail opens with the murder of Jeffrey, Joshua’s ex-student and that sets a series of events spiralling into motion. These events lead Joshua, Lakshman and Professor Lakshman's brilliant protégé, Divya through a confusing yet enthralling maze of secrets and revelations.
-When Joshua Ezekiel, a MIT professor of computer science, comes to India for an academic visit, little does he know that this particular trip is going to be memorable in more ways than one. Professor Lakshman, his long time friend and batchmate, is compelled to take on more than what he thought he was responsible for, when he is reinstated as Head of the Department of Computer Science of a prestigious technological institute in Chennai. With the help of Divya, who makes a surprising breakthrough, the two of them help Joshua to unravel the mystery. Meanwhile, Divya has a tough time with problems of her own as she has to convince her mother that she needs to concentrate on her work instead of learning how to cook, or string together prayer notes.
The action progresses through ancient temples and arcane rituals, in a race against time to understand the trail of secrets left behind by a dead man whose actions might have an effect more profound than imaginable.
One can finish this book in one sitting as it is extremely fast paced and well written. The author has brilliantly interwoven varied subjects into the plot combining mathematics with religion, finance with science and technology with such ease that at no point does it feel out of context. Every character is well etched out and in its perfect place in the book, whether it is the researcher Divya, or the taxi drivers Durai and Nallathambi, or the Tamil teacher Rang Bhashyam. They all form part of the story's fabric with their unique personalities. Laced with humour and satire, this is a well-researched and original thriller set in Chennai and other places in Tamil Nadu as well as the US.
An ex IITian himself, M N Krish has demonstrated how one can combine science with religion and ancient and modern ideas to write a mystery thriller that will keep readers guessing till the last page.