Kaalkoot
IF you are fan of Dan Brown or Jeffrey Archer, you will surely like this one too. A thriller with an ample amount of mythology thrown in, Kaalkoot (by S Venkatesh, Tree Shade Books) is one racy read with lots of twists and turns. Debutant author Venkatesh weaves a thrilling adventure that is unputdownable.
As per Hindu mythology, Kaalkoot is the name of the poison found from the sea when devas and asuras churned it to obtain amrit. In the story, it is a weapon that has the potential to wipe out the entire human race. The story begins in 1944 with freedom fighter Manohar Rai, holed up in a Himalayan hideout, being shot dead mercilessly by Britishers. It then jumps to 2018 Mumbai wherein foreigner Steve Watson has arrived after ‘wasting’ four months looking for clues based on a riddle that Professor Bani Bhattacharya had given him. Prof Bhattacharya sent Steve looking for clues as he knows that a forgotten legend from the upper reaches of the Himalayas is rearing its ominous head again. And if that happens, the world will be brought to its knees.
The only hope for survival, prativish (antidote to kaalkoot) lies buried deep in the remotest corner of Himalayas. But a terrible fate awaits those who seek it.
Prof Bhattacharya is supposed to get hold of the antidote before Kaalkoot wrecks havoc and kills all. But then he meets with an ‘accident’ and is hospitalised, and the job falls on Sameer’s (a young man out looking for his missing girlfriend Ananya) shoulders. Is he able to get hold of the antidote? Can he find his girlfriend? Does Prof Bhattacharya survive his assassins? Well, you will have to pick up the book to get answers to all these questions, but one thing that I can assure you is the book won’t dissappoint you, at all.
The author has done a good job of writing a fiction that caters to multiple genres - there is mystery, crime, thrill, mythology, love and even nationalism in ample amounts. The characters are well-etched and language simple and lucid.
