Sniper’s Eye — Manik Dhar
Publisher: 4 Hour Press (Trade Imprint of India Research Press)
Pages:238
Price: Rs. 299 INR(Paperback), Rs. 49 INR(Kindle Edition)
ISBN: 978–8183861434
Buy here: https://amzn.to/2LXvuHx
I was out on a date. Everything was perfect… Till that shot… a high-calibre one, no apparent sound. And, the man in front of me fell. A rifle with a suppressor? A sniper in the middle of a Mumbai mall? As the body count mounted, I was soon sucked deeper into the chaos unleashed by that shot. To survive and save those whom I care about, I have to become the man I left behind. I have no choice but to tap into a bloody past that has put me on the terror kill list. I may also have no option but to join hands with the sniper terrorising Mumbai. The problem is that the man has sworn to kill me. In a world where the young and poor kill and die in conflicts started by the old and rich, I and my unlikely companion finally discover the thin line that separates a mere killer from a hero.
About the author
After finishing his schooling at Modern School, Barakhamba Road and his under-graduation at Hindu College, Delhi, Mainak Dhar graduated from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. He has spent two decades in the corporate sector — starting with Procter & Gamble in India. He spent eighteen years with P&G, fifteen of them outside India across the Asia Pacific region. In 2014, he moved back to India as the CEO of the India operations of a major consumer products multinational.
A self-described cubicle dweller by day and writer by night, Mainak is also the author of over a dozen books, some of which have been bestsellers in India and abroad. These books have been translated into Turkish, Vietnamese, Japanese, French, German and Portuguese. He lives in Mumbai with his wife, Puja, and their son, Aaditya. When not at work or with his family, he can usually be found working on, or thinking about his next book.
My take on this book
Aaditya Ghosh is out on a date with his colleague and girlfriend Zoya, when the person next to him is shot by a sharp shooter from the top of a shopping mall; Aaditya being an ex-army man, now leading a second secret life away from his past, couldn’t resist the urge to go nab the culprits. A single murder turns into mass murders with snipers targeting ex service men coupled with random thugs on prowl on the streets. Before he realizes, Aaditya gets pulled deep into this conspiracy. The rest of the story is about Aaditya getting the facts around this entire operation and the culprits, and in a real heroic way ending it all.
There is a back story of an army man, there is multi nation terrorism, drug scandals, corruption, conspiracy, snipers, all and more ingredients for a racy thriller. The protagonist’s character graph lives up to the story and narrative and the good vs bad argument on which side of the war one takes. The book is an easy read while being un-putdownable.
The story does get predictable at times with things going easy and in favor of the protagonist. Nonetheless the book entertains as long as it lasts. Pick this one for a thrilling story which vividly describes the action sequences and make the reader feel in the middle of it.
My rating
4/5.