Title: The Shadow Throne
Author: Aroon Raman
Publisher: Pan Macmillan India
Genre: Fiction
The Shadow Throne by Aroon Raman is a conventional thriller with unconventional characters and without any clichés. A murder at Qutub Minar leads to Hindu Kush, Afghanistan via connecting the four protagonists: Chandra - a journalist, Hassan - a cop, Meenakshi - a history professor and Pant – an intelligence operative. They have to juggle through ISI of Pakistan and RAW of India and win a race against time to stop a nuclear tragedy and also deal with a dreadful truth about one of them.
Unconvincingly, this is the debut novel of the author, in which he has succeeded to resolve the entwined web of Indian bureaucracy in a fast paced page-turner. Unlike other thrillers which just provide readers a roller-coaster ride to reveal the murderer, The Shadow Throne has a soul of a wounded patriotic and works on the reader’s emotions. The way the events unfurls, the reader is left not only with a riveting excitement but a thought provoking and brutal ‘shadow’ of reality, making this book a fresh perception.
That said, it is not a light read and one must be in his complete conscience to truly enjoy this intellectual read. Author must have done a great research work to provide such compelling narration, organized facts and plausible (punk intended for those who already read) characters. To be frank, this book has exceeded my expectations and set the bar higher for Indian writers. Without being a Spoiler, all I have to say is, ‘watch out for the climax’. Giving the current trend, I won’t be surprised if this book too gets a movie deal real soon, in fact, I hope it does; just as I hope to read the next book of the author real soon.
Rating: 4/5
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher for reviewing purpose. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
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