Book Title: Heartquake
Author:
Format/Language: Paperback/English
Publisher: Rupa Publications India (20 July 2019)
Seldom does it happen that in stereotypical plots, characters and locations, a fresh feeling brews and a sense of reading, watching or writing something new occurs? Heartquake by has it all.
Synopsis:
An IAS officer, who is transferred as a magistrate in the backyard of a corrupt and dangerous politician, discovers a heinous condition that might lead to a catastrophic outbreak.
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Book Blurb: Heartquake
Once upon a time, there was a city plagued by greed, corruption and mysterious deaths… A patriotic IAS officer, Vikram, decides to expose a corrupt and powerful minister, Rudra Pratap Rana (aka RPR), during the latter’s visit to the IAS training academy. The video of Vikram asking the minister some highly embarrassing questions in front of a packed auditorium goes viral.
Instead of having Vikram suspended from service, a vengeful RPR unleashes violence on the officer’s family, and to continue the torture, RPR gets Vikram posted as the sub-divisional magistrate in Laxmipur—the politician’s backyard. As soon as Vikram joins duty, RPR resumes his vengeance. However, a new drama unfolds when a large number of people start dying of heart attacks across Laxmipur.
As Vikram tries to unravel these mysterious deaths with the help of Veda, a cardiologist, and Raghu, a police officer, extreme panic grips the city, which soon leads to riots and pandemonium. Vikram is left with no other choice but to risk his life to get to the bottom of this mind-numbing situation. Join Vikram in this fast-paced thriller as he fights to save Laxmipur from HEARTQUAKE.
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Book Review: Heartquake
As mentioned before, stereotypical characters exist in this book called Heartquake. An incorrupt IAS officer, and equally corrupt politician, a doctor and a police inspector. The book starts off with an Exposé of a Politician at an IAS training academy. It leads to the IAS officer’s transfer to politician’s backyard territory where he can be killed, tortured or worse any time, anywhere without any backup.
But the protagonist, who is strong enough to walk into the antagonists’ territory with minimum to no fear, doesn’t fail to do his job. Not much later, through a spontaneous and random event, the protagonist discovers a new drama unfolding as many of the common folks are dying of heart attacks. It seems pretty normal at first but the increasing number of deaths brews an uncanny suspicion in ours (as readers) as well as the protagonists’ mind.
Here, in this book, the writer showcases his talent of playing by penning down the story on the paper creating perfect imagery in the mind of a reader. Gruesome enough to make us care but not heinous enough to creep us out and give us nightmares. The characters are shaped well and no character seemed irrelevant to the story. Good to see that there are writers who write to entertain or send a message.
One of the best things about this book is that it has the right amount of corruption. Enough to make us believe that the path to righteousness is difficult but not too much that it bores us.
Rating:
4 out of 5
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Until then, Happy reading!
