Book picks similar to
Birds of Prey by Archana Sarat


fever-reads
first-reads
indian-lit
thrilling

Kaalkoot: The Lost Himalayan Secret


S. Venkatesh - 2018
    His only hope is a mysterious young man, who goes into hiding hours before Manohar is shot dead in cold blood. June 2018 A forgotten legend from the upper reaches of the Himalayas is rearing its ominous head. The world will be brought to its knees. KaalKoot will strike again. Only three people have a clue about the horrors that are about the unfold. The only hope for survival lies buried deep in the remotest corner of Himalayas. But a terrible fate awaits those who seek it. Is it already too late Is KaalKoot – the primordial plague – unstoppable?

A Day in the Life


Anjum Hasan - 2018
    Fourteen well-crafted stories give us a sense of the daily life of a wide cast of characters. Hasan's protagonists are, as always, inward-looking, and whimsical and vulnerable outliers. Where is their place in the new order, where have they come from and where are they going?Quietly devastating, subtly subversive and wonderfully wry, Hasan is a home-grown talent whose stories are increasingly the good address for authentic Indian fiction.

Concrete Pearl


Vincent Zandri - 2011
    She's also had to rebuild her family business from the bottom up thanks to bad luck and bad fines. So it's easy to see why OSHA, breathing down her neck on her latest job at Albany's PS 20, has the contractor on edge. She's used to putting out fires, but this is about to be a full-on explosion--three hundred students at risk for exposure to deadly asbestos--and the asbestos removal contractor, Jimmy Farrell, is nowhere to be found. The clues--Jimmy's cleared-out office, his impounded car, his "gone fishing" story to his wife--point to something more troubling, possibly foul play. Armed with a framing hammer in lieu of a gun, Spike must sleuth her way through a world of deception, greed, and murder if she's going to nail a killer.

The Panipuri Crimes


S.B. Akshobhya - 2021
    His plan is to put the humble cane-panipuri vendor, found in every other street in a metropolitan city, on a digital platform.As they gear up to launch an app to sell panipuri, the cloud of risk looms large. All five entrepreneurs who earlier ventured into the business had died in road accidents. But all that is overlooked and forgotten in the excitement of the team reaching the verge of a VC funding.Is the death of all five entrepreneurs a coincidence? Can Sagar and his team overcome the odds? Why are the ordinary vendors dying one after another like a pack of cards?The Panipuri Crimes is a thrilling story weaving together the world of entrepreneurship and struggle, love and other demons, and the murky world of crime.

Mama's Madness


Billy Ray Chitwood - 2018
    Some of the details in this fictional penning are true. Some of the details are exaggerated and are simply the work of the author's imagination. What is clearly evidenced in this novel is the coldness of a mother's heart and the madness of her cruelty. The mind cannot comprehend lives the children depicted here were forced to endure: from black punishment closets of hell, kitchen tables used for crudely performed operations, to a high sierra execution by fire. The terror is real. The pain is vicariously felt. Unbelievable? Yes, it is unbelievable that such depravity, such MAMA'S MADNESS exists in our world. Accept the embellishments with the truth.Let this novel be a 'silent siren' to be ever alert in your environment - children and adults alike!

Love in the time of Affluenza


Shunali Khullar Shroff - 2019
    The story explores the lives of three women as understood from the eyes of its protagonist Natasha, a happily married mother of three. She begins to ask some difficult questions about her own life after she stumbles upon her closest friend Trisha's affair.'Finally an immensely enjoyable story about Mumbai's rich that, like all good stories, rings so true, with its adorable and suspiciously familiar characters.' - Manu Joseph

The Lost Andersons Collection


Melody Anne - 2015
    In this new series, you will meet Richard Storm and his five children, and the circumstances that ripped him away from his brothers, Joseph and George Anderson. See how they finally meet. The bonds of an Anderson bloodline are too strong to keep their family apart forever. Get all books in The Lost Andersons Series for one low price. Included in the collection is a preview of the upcoming book Priceless Treasure! Unexpected Treasure (Book One): Richard Storm is saddened that his children are throwing away their lives, and offers them an ultimatum. They have two years to take a failing business and make it a success or they lose their trust funds, and are on their own. His stubborn children think he’s gone insane, but they don’t know the powerful secret that can knock them to their knees and tear their family apart. Will they come together as they should, or will self-centeredness consume their hearts, ripping their family apart forever? Crew Storm opens an exclusive resort in the Catalina Islands off the coast of California, and pride swells within him as he accomplishes the impossible. Everything is going on track until a blond steps into his life and begs him to teach her how to be the perfect seductress after she researches his technique of charming and luring women to his bedroom. Haley Sutherland is done with her fears, done being a wallflower and done being invisible. She comes up with a brilliant idea to find the perfect person to teach her how to seduce the man she truly wants. Though, the person she’s chosen to be her teacher is Crew Storm, soon she finds she’s forgetting her first love’s name. Hidden Treasure (Book Two): The second book in the Lost Anderson series is here, and it comes to you with a kicking and screaming heiress. Brielle Storm inherits a dilapidated ranch in the wilds of Montana and she isn’t happy about her situation in the least. She may be moving to her new home, and she may be planning on doing whatever it takes to make her billionaire father happy, but she certainly won’t be doing it with a smile on her face. No. Brielle plans on coming to Montana, hiring some ranch hand to do all the work, and then getting out of there before the first winter snow has a chance to hit. Montana isn’t a state that offers predictable weather and Brielle is going to find out that the land isn’t the only thing she has to fear. When her hotter than any city boy ever dreams of being, cowboy neighbor shows up on her doorstep, Brielle decides that maybe Montana isn’t so bad after-all. That is until he laughs openly at her city girl ways. Then, she has something to prove… Holiday Treasure (Book Three): Mega wealthy Tanner Storm has it all – great looks, wealth, and nothing holding him down. Then, his father decides to play games with him and his siblings, handing him an apartment complex in downtown Seattle that Tanner wants nothing to do with. When the conditions of his father’s terms ensure that he do something with this building or lose his inheritance, he at first thinks, so what. But, then it becomes a challenge that he has to accept, because he’s never before backed down. He decides to tear down the building and start fresh with something far more appealing that will add to his already fat wallet. The only problem is that the residents don’t want to leave, and under the contract with his father, he can’t force them out. When he ends up before Judge Kragle from all the complaints made against him, the judge decides the best punishment for him will be two weeks of living in the very apartment complex he despises and two weeks of community service, playing Santa Claus at the mall.

Provoked


Kiranjit Ahluwalia - 2007
    The next 10 years were to be a nightmare, on a daily basis of physical, mental and sexual abuse. This book is her story, and how a group of women got together to petition against the sentence, and ultimately succeeded in helping her.

The Illuminated


Anindita Ghose - 2021
    After the sudden death of her celebrated husband, Shashi is alarmed to realize that overnight, she has lost her life’s moorings. Meanwhile, their fiercely independent daughter Tara, a Sanskrit scholar, has been drawn into a passionate involvement with an older man, which threatens to consume her in ways she did not imagine possible.Amidst a rising tide of religious fundamentalism in India that is determined to put women in their place, Shashi and Tara attempt to look at themselves, and at each other, in a new light. But is it possible to emerge from an eclipse unscathed?An astonishing feat of the imagination, The Illuminated is as sophisticated in the quality of its prose as it is provocative in its thematic focus on questions of identity. A remarkable novel of ideas, it marks the arrival of a tremendous new literary talent.

The Secret Diary of Kasturba


Neelima Dalmia Adhar - 2016
    But for Kastur, the child bride who married the boy next door, Mohandas was a sexually-driven, self-righteous, and overbearing husband.Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was sworn to poverty, celibacy and the cause for India’s freedom; Kastur spent sixty-two years of her life, juggling the roles of a devoted wife, a satyagrahi and sacrificing mother, who was eclipsed because of a man who almost became God for India’s multitude. Gandhi was an intolerant father to Harilal, his wayward son, driven to debauchery; Kasturba paid the price for her son’s unending misery.Kastur is long dead, but she lives on in the pages of her diary…. Renowned author Neelima Dalmia Adhar lays it bare to tell the world what it meant to be Kasturba Gandhi, wife of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi –- in a gripping tale of unconditional love, passion, sex, ecstasy and the ultimate liberation that every woman seeks.

The Competent Authority


Shovon Chowdhury - 2013
    The Chinese have nuked large parts of the country; Bombay has been obliterated; Delhi is in the throes of rigorous reconstruction; Bengal has seceded and is now a protectorate of China; the Maoists have taken over much of what remains. The southern states are a distant and tranquil place that nobody has visited in years.The most powerful person in the country is a deranged bureaucrat called the Competent Authority, who has used his official position as the head of the Bureau of Reconstruction, to subvert all forces of governmental authority. Cloaked in anonymity, his identity known only to his terrified minions, the CA rules the remnants of India with an iron fist.Although, in theory, the government and the armed forces still exist, the Prime Minister, who looks very familiar, and the General, who commands the Army, are mere puppets in the hands of the Competent Authority. All they can do is watch in horror as he tries to put in motion a fiendish plan to annihilate everyone in the country, for reasons that are completely logical.The only person who can stop him is Pintoo, a mutant twelve year old from Shanti Nagar, where all the poor people live. Determined to thwart the CAs plan and save the country from disaster, Pintoo employs three reluctant henchmen to help him: Pande, a corrupt and vicious policeman, Chatterjee, a pessimistic but determined CBI officer and Ali, the last surviving member of Al Qaeda. And then there's also the matter of the hand that has a mind of its own.

Dead Souls MC Series: Books 1-5


Savannah Rylan - 2019
     Knox Prison is no joke. The food sucks, My roommate snores, And the only thing I have to look forward to is Monroe. My lawyer can look at my briefs anytime. She’s smart, beautiful, and the only way I’m getting out of this hellhole. I didn’t kill Blaze, but when you’re a Dead Soul MC member, no one cares about the truth. And maybe that’s for the best, Because no one can know about Canyon. Monroe is not just getting me out of jail, She’s also getting into my heart. Grave These lawyers can go screw themselves. If they think I’m going to let Everly go into witness protection, they've got another thing coming. They’re right that she is in danger, But I can keep her safe. So she will move in with me. At first, it seems simple, But as the lies unravel, I realize that Everly might be the only good thing in all of this. She’s pure, innocent and everything I’m not. But for her, I would change. Be the man she needs me to be. Forever. Brewer I thought kids were annoying. But after I meet, Ana, the MILF next doors daughter, I change my mind. She has the same sense of humor that I do. She’s a cool person, just on a smaller scale. And hanging out with her means more time with her mom. Makenna is easy on the eyes, But would be better on my bike. Getting close to me is a risk. But I would lay down my life for them. Take a bullet. Girls like battle scars, right? Rock She lied to me. The minute I see Gavin for the first time, I know he is mine. Piper told him his daddy was in jail. I should be angry with her. But with that stethoscope draped around her neck, I know she’s not as bad as I want her to be. She was just trying to protect him. From my life, my club, and the bastards that are trying to kill us. She has every reason to be worried, But no one will touch my son. Or my girl. She may have left before, But this time, I know she’ll stay. Because we both want the same thing. A family. Diesel No one tells me what to do. Except for maybe Dean, The President of the Black Hornets. I need their help in order to defeat the Black Saddles once and for all. But I know that their help is going to come at a cost. I don’t expect the price to be a pretty little thing, named Brynn. His daughter. That I thought was dead. Being in one MC is bad enough. But being a son in law to another MC’s president is going to be hell on earth. That is if she will agree to it. And so far, I can’t even get her to be in the same room with me. She’s feisty, and her good looks are no secret. I love a confident woman, But this one might be too hot to handle. I’m fire and she’s gasoline. Let’s light this sh*t up.

Chanakya's Chant


Ashwin Sanghi - 2010
    A hunted, haunted Brahmin youth vows revenge for the gruesome murder of his beloved father. Cold, calculating, cruel and armed with a complete absence of accepted morals, he becomes the most powerful political strategist in Bharat and succeeds in uniting a ragged country against the invasion of the army of that demigod, Alexander the Great. Pitting the weak edges of both forces against each other, he pulls off a wicked and astonishing victory and succeeds in installing Chandragupta on the throne of the mighty Mauryan empire.History knows him as the brilliant strategist Chanakya. Satisfied—and a little bored—by his success as a kingmaker, through the simple summoning of his gifted mind, he recedes into the shadows to write his Arthashastra, the ‘science of wealth’. But history, which exults in repeating itself, revives Chanakya two and a half millennia later, in the avatar of Gangasagar Mishra, a Brahmin teacher in smalltown India who becomes puppeteer to a host of ambitious individuals—including a certain slumchild who grows up into a beautiful and powerful woman.Modern India happens to be just as riven as ancient Bharat by class hatred, corruption and divisive politics and this landscape is Gangasagar’s feasting ground. Can this wily pandit—who preys on greed, venality and sexual deviance—bring about another miracle of a united India? Will Chanakya’s chant work again? Ashwin Sanghi, the bestselling author of The Rozabal Line, brings you yet another historical spinechiller.

How I Braved Anu Aunty & Co-Founded A Million Dollar Company


Varun Agarwal - 2012
    Varun whiles away his time, hopping from pub to pub, spending time with friends and keeping a track of his love interest on Facebook.These traits worry his mother to the bone, compelling her to put the very meddlesome Anu Aunty on the job, to help get her son moving in the right direction in life. Anu Aunty does a rather good job of this, much to Varun's dismay. He then does all that he can to get her off his track, while pursuing his dreams to become an entrepreneur.How I Braved Anu Aunty and Co-Founded A Million Dollar Company is the author’s debut novel and is on its fourth reprint already. Having sold twenty thousand copies in only a month, the book has become a bestseller by national standards. It has also occupied a firm foothold on the bestseller charts for eighty days at a stretch. The author attained initial popularity with his Facebook blog posts, a few of which were sent to his publishers. The book was conceived once they demanded a full manuscript.

The Guide


R.K. Narayan - 1958
    Mistaken for a holy man, he plays the part and succeeds so well that God himself intervenes to put Raju's newfound sanctity to the test. Narayan's most celebrated novel, The Guide won him the National Prize of the Indian Literary Academy, his country's highest literary honor.