The other day I was reading an interview of the author Ashwin Sanghi. His passion and sincerity shone through the chat and that in essence can be said about his writing too. The constant comparison to Dan Brown must be amusing to him and not entirely unjustified as he explores the exciting mix of historical,religious,theological and mythological issues.The Krishna Key his latest release is a thrilling read till the very end and promises a delightful as well as suprising turn of events. The book a heady cocktail of interesting and original story-line and an imaginative and thought provoking plot manages to keep us riveted. The narrative is slick and fast paced and what captures your attention is the effortless blending of mythology and fantasty along with a scientific explanation.
The story begins begins with a renowned linguist and symbolist Dr.Anil Varshney murdered in a brutal manner. The killing is carried by a religious psychopath who believes himself to be the 10th incarnation of Vishnu -Kalki Avtar. The killer also snatches an ancient seal from the murder scene which is one of the 4 seals that is believed to unlock the secret behind the Krishna Key. When there is a murder, there is a suspect and this is where we have the protagonist Ravi Mohan Saini. Saini, a historian races against time not only to vindicate himself but also find out the answers to the mystery behind the Krishna Key. Thus begins his arduous trail and the various challenges thrown before him are efficiently faced with logical reasoning and knowledgeable correlation of facts.
One can never ignore the uncanny similarities with the Da Vinci Code - the setting behind the murder with religious overtones,the framing of the protagonist, escaping the clutches of law along with a female accomplice have an eerie similarity with Dan Brown's writing, however it should in no way rob the credit from the author's originality. The book is a treat to the mind and soul and is a heart felt account of looking at the ancient with a fresh perspective. It forces us to think and possibly accept that our civilization may have been very advanced in the past and the current progress can improve many a leaps and bounds by learning from the past.
The book throws some interesting theories like how the lost city of Atlantis is indeed Dwarka or that the war of Mahabharata used Nuclear Weapons. Besides, the Big Bang Theory gets a spiritual twist too.
The central character of the book, Lord Krishna around whom the plot is woven adopts the role of story teller from the past. So every chapter begins with a crisp rendering of his lifetime in small nuggets from birth till he breathes his last. The book has 108 (of course !) chapters and breezes through 464 pages. What I absolutely loved about the book was the diagrams that give a lucid understanding of the narrative.
Ashwin Sanghi is a businessman who claims to be a reluctant writer. This is his 3rd book, the first two being The Rozabal Line and the Chankya Chant. He has done an amazing job with the book and I am looking forward to reading his other 2 books.
The book is not without flaws. The proof reading of the book has not been spot on. For instance the name of the characters has been mixed up in more than one instance (ex: page 301), and there is also a spelling mistake (Page 95). Besides there were a few half-baked explanations and the end was not totally spectacular compared to the meteoric rise of the adrenalin throughout the book. However, it stimulates and incites us to connect with our spiritual and philosophical self rather than looking at the materialistic end of things.
The author has made the genre of historical thrillers a mighty force to reckon with.
Despite the end being a little spirit-buster, the book is a high flying octane thriller.
The author connects with the reader through a lucid narrative and exhibits a nice command of the language.The passion behind the work is palpable and the characters are well etched and gives a multi dimensional touch. The ginormous amount of information Vis-a-vis the Vedic ages and the Mahabharata is something I will treasure for a long time to come.
Author : Ashwin Sanghi
ISBN : 978-93-81626-68-9
Price : INR 250/-
Publisher : Westland
Category : Thriller
Recommendation : Thumbs Up !
This review is part of the Book Review Program of the blogadda . Participate for free books.
The story begins begins with a renowned linguist and symbolist Dr.Anil Varshney murdered in a brutal manner. The killing is carried by a religious psychopath who believes himself to be the 10th incarnation of Vishnu -Kalki Avtar. The killer also snatches an ancient seal from the murder scene which is one of the 4 seals that is believed to unlock the secret behind the Krishna Key. When there is a murder, there is a suspect and this is where we have the protagonist Ravi Mohan Saini. Saini, a historian races against time not only to vindicate himself but also find out the answers to the mystery behind the Krishna Key. Thus begins his arduous trail and the various challenges thrown before him are efficiently faced with logical reasoning and knowledgeable correlation of facts.
One can never ignore the uncanny similarities with the Da Vinci Code - the setting behind the murder with religious overtones,the framing of the protagonist, escaping the clutches of law along with a female accomplice have an eerie similarity with Dan Brown's writing, however it should in no way rob the credit from the author's originality. The book is a treat to the mind and soul and is a heart felt account of looking at the ancient with a fresh perspective. It forces us to think and possibly accept that our civilization may have been very advanced in the past and the current progress can improve many a leaps and bounds by learning from the past.
The book throws some interesting theories like how the lost city of Atlantis is indeed Dwarka or that the war of Mahabharata used Nuclear Weapons. Besides, the Big Bang Theory gets a spiritual twist too.
The internet is full of how Taj Mahal was infact a Shiva temple, and this story delves in to it further and manages to keep us sufficiently enthralled.
In-fact the 464 pages is dotted with such provoking ideas and is a treasure house of exciting tidbits. The story does an informative travel around Rajasthan (Kalibangan/Jaipur), Gujarat (Somnath/Dwarka) and UP (Agra/Vrindavan) . The author has done extensive research and due credit is given to the source of the information.So what is The Krishna Key ? - Grab the book and get lost in the enchanted world of history and fiction ! The central character of the book, Lord Krishna around whom the plot is woven adopts the role of story teller from the past. So every chapter begins with a crisp rendering of his lifetime in small nuggets from birth till he breathes his last. The book has 108 (of course !) chapters and breezes through 464 pages. What I absolutely loved about the book was the diagrams that give a lucid understanding of the narrative.
Ashwin Sanghi is a businessman who claims to be a reluctant writer. This is his 3rd book, the first two being The Rozabal Line and the Chankya Chant. He has done an amazing job with the book and I am looking forward to reading his other 2 books.
The book is not without flaws. The proof reading of the book has not been spot on. For instance the name of the characters has been mixed up in more than one instance (ex: page 301), and there is also a spelling mistake (Page 95). Besides there were a few half-baked explanations and the end was not totally spectacular compared to the meteoric rise of the adrenalin throughout the book. However, it stimulates and incites us to connect with our spiritual and philosophical self rather than looking at the materialistic end of things.
Final Word :-
The author has made the genre of historical thrillers a mighty force to reckon with.
Despite the end being a little spirit-buster, the book is a high flying octane thriller.
The author connects with the reader through a lucid narrative and exhibits a nice command of the language.The passion behind the work is palpable and the characters are well etched and gives a multi dimensional touch. The ginormous amount of information Vis-a-vis the Vedic ages and the Mahabharata is something I will treasure for a long time to come.
Author : Ashwin Sanghi
ISBN : 978-93-81626-68-9
Price : INR 250/-
Publisher : Westland
Category : Thriller
Recommendation : Thumbs Up !
Have a look at the exciting online trailer of the book
This review is part of the Book Review Program of the blogadda . Participate for free books.
Ashwin Sanghi has overdone it this time. I read Chanakya Chant, liked the concept and got this book. But boy was I disappointed! Its a vain attempt to write an Indian Da Vinci code.The book can be summarized in one line. Every thing in the world is related to every other thing ( as per his convenience of course) and they all have their roots in India.
ReplyDeleteCharacters lines are flawed. Everybody goes the roundabout way perform simple tasks, thereby ending up only complicating the story. It seemed like twists had to be force fed to make it a "thrilling novel.