Book picks similar to
The Bard of Blood by Bilal Siddiqi
fiction
thriller
crime
non-fiction
Eleventh Hour
S. Hussain Zaidi - 2018
It is nine years since the 26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai and the wounds have still not healed. Especially not for Superintendent of Police Vikrant Singh, who ends up landing a slap on the High Commissioner of Pakistan's face when he meets him at an event. Meanwhile, in Bhopal, five members of the Indian Mujahideen, arrested by Vikrant, break out of the Central Jail. Vikrant, suspended for the diplomatic disaster, is unofficially asked to assist the team tracking the escaped terrorists. In another part of the country, a retired tycoon, a heartbroken ex-soldier and a young woman dealing with demons of her own embark on a journey of self-discovery aboard a cruise liner from Mumbai to Lakshadweep. Fate, however, has other plans, and the cruise liner is hijacked. Racy and riveting, this is Hussain Zaidi at his best.
Operation Jinnah
Shiv Aroor - 2017
But this is no ordinary girl And her kidnapper is no ordinary man.In Delhi, Admiral Nirbhay Rana, India’s most strong-willed naval officer, watches as the consequences of a lethal operation from his past crash into the present, holding both his daughter and his country hostage. In New York, as the Indian prime minister plays a delicate game of politics with Pakistan’s prime minister and the US president, Admiral Rana must assemble the only team he trusts to get his daughter back – the very same group of commandos he had led into the heart of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir years ago. Will they make it back alive this time?
The Karachi Deception
Shatrujeet Nath - 2013
However, somehow, the Inter-Services Intelligence and Dilawar always seem to be one step ahead of them, foiling every plan they make. It doesn’t take long for Major Imtiaz to realize that something is amiss—the operation has been compromised. Will he be able to successfully complete his mission, or are he and his men, like Abhimanyu, entering a trap they cannot make their way out of? Set in the world of covert operations, where double-crossing and diabolical mind games are the norm, The Karachi Deception will keep you hooked till the very end.
Donovan's War
W.J. Lundy - 2017
one that could cost him the last of his humanity.Once a member of an elite underground unit, the only wars Thomas knows now are the ones that rage inside him. All he wants is to stay under the radar of existence, trying to forget the past and isolating himself from the present. But when extremists kidnap a group of women from a Christian church in Syria, the past and present collide, forcing Donovan to act. This time, the battle is personal. This time, evil has chosen the wrong victim, and Thomas Donovan will not stop until he has made those responsible pay.Facing insurmountable odds in hostile territories and always one step behind, will he be too late to save the life of the one he holds dear?Riveting unexpected twists, gritty realism, and first-hand adventure are inside this book. Get it now. -JL Bourne, author of Tomorrow War and Day by Day Armageddon
The Brahmin
Ravi Shankar Etteth - 2018
Men of peace are spreading the message of the Buddha even as monks are being tortured in the dungeons of Pataliputra. In Magadha, all talk is about the impending war against Kalinga. While King Ashoka plots the movements of his ships and cavalry, Queen Asandhimitra broods over the growing unrest in the kingdom. There is only one man they can both trust to take them through this period of uncertainty and looming danger: the enigmatically named Brahmin, skilful spymaster and custodian of Magadha’s best-kept secrets. Lush with historical detail and unforgettable characters, The Brahmin is an intricately plotted novel that seeks to recreate a near-mythical period in India’s past.
Pokhran - A Novel
Uday Singh - 2020
But what went unreported in the media was the nuclear fallout that had lasting impact on the inhabitants of Pokhran, especially Chaitanya.It quickly becomes clear that the conspiracy surrounding this radioactive fallout runs pretty deep in the establishment. Those who have had a hand in covering it up are willing to go to great lengths to ensure that the secrets stay buried.Chaitanya sets on a journey to expose the truth. With Zara by his side, he is sure to bring justice to his people. But when fate snatches Zara away from him, he is consumed by revenge. Undeterred by threats, he embarks on a mission that takes him from the deserts of Pokhran to those of Syria, and into the halls of MIT.A heady page turner, at its very core, Pokhran is an exceptional journey of revenge, courage, love and the unbeatable human spirit.
Bombay Fever
Sidin Vadukut - 2017
Never before has anyone seen anything like this. Three months later, all over Mumbai, men, women and children are ravaged by a disease that begins with initially mild symptoms—that swiftly progress until an ultimately gruesome death. Who will it hit next? And where did it come from? As the rogue microbe wreaks its bloody havoc—striking rich and poor, young and old—chaos ensues. Thousands try to flee the city, including the most powerful man in the country. Can this deadly plague be stopped? After all, all that stands between the city and apocalypse is a ragged team of doctors, civil servants, and scientists. But their intervention may be too little, too late. Suspenseful and gripping from the first page to the last, Bombay Fever is a meticulously researched novel—too plausible to ignore and too chilling to put down—from one of India’s most talented writers.
Mumbaistan
Piyush Jha - 2012
A prostitute, her lover and a policeman play for high stakes in BombDay. Injectionwala exposes chilling medical malpractices and a lovelorn vigilantes twisted game plan. In Coma Man, a man awakens from coma after twenty years, and sets out in search of his wife and himself. Gritty love stories, manipulative cops and hard-boiled slumlords form the backdrop of this unputdownable thriller. Its MUMBAISTAN all the way. Mumbai, a city of dreams for many. But for others, a nightmare. Behind the façade of lustre and glamour churns a seething underbelly of squalor, corruption and crime. Mumbaistan’s three explosive crime novellas unravel the subterranean secrets of maximum city—from the teeming maw of Dharavi and the wanton streets of Kamathipura to the swank high-rises of Bandra. A prostitute, her lover and a policeman play for high stakes in Bomb-Day. Injectionwala exposes chilling medical malpractices and a lovelorn vigilante’s twisted game plan. In Coma Man, a man awakens from coma after twenty years, and sets out in search of his wife— and himself. Macabre love stories, conniving cops and hard-boiled slumlords form the backdrop of a schizophrenic city that is brooding...dying. Welcome to Mumbaistan; a gritty, compelling take on the megalopolis that lives on the edge.
Patang
Bhaskar Chattopadhyay - 2016
But the rain can’t stop me. No one can…I’ll go out and play tonight. I will kill only four. No more, no less. Just four.' In the midst of one of the worst monsoons in Mumbai, a man is found brutally murdered, his body posed like a kite on the tallest cell tower in the city. As one corpse after another turns up in the unlikeliest of places, each gruesomely killed and carefully arranged in a grotesque manner, the Mumbai Police realize they have more on their hands than they can deal with. Enter Chandrakant Rathod, a maverick investigator the police turn to in times of need, who plays by his own rules and lives for the thrill of the chase. Pitting his sharp instincts against the machinations of the sadistic, ruthless killer, the detective succeeds in nabbing the psychopath and putting him behind bars. Then, three months later, the killings begin again. A deadly game is afoot – a game that will challenge Rathod to the utmost, for it is a game that he cannot hope to win...
India Unlimited - Stories from a Nation Caught Between Hype and Hope
Kulpreet Yadav - 2013
But how real is the Indian story on the ground? INDIA UNLIMITED is an attempt to lay bare the lives of people and their surroundings that define an ambivalent India trapped between hype and hope.Written over the last decade, these stories are set in villages, towns and metro cities of a country under overhaul. It's an attempt to depict pain, pleasures and prejudices of everyday Indians as they adjust to the change that fate has thrust upon them. Inspired by real life incidents this collection slides through various themes like appalling lives of street children, new perceptions about love and sex, urban disorder, influence of western values, depraved spiritual gurus etc.
Ghalib Danger
Neeraj Pandey - 2013
What seems like a good deed however has a cruel payback andin a single moment, Kamran loses everything dear to him. This is whenMirza, in gratitude, takes Kamran under his wing and the young man getsdrawn into the mafia boss’s dangerous world of cops and rival gangsters,eventually taking over from him.Kamran also inherits Mirza’s philosophy that all of life’s problems can besolved through Ghalib¹s poetry.Soon, the innocent taxi driver has cops, criminals and even cabinetministers at his beck and call.And he has a new name—Ghalib Danger.
By the Rivers of Babylon
Nelson DeMille - 1978
Covered by F-14 fighters, accompanied by security men, the planes carry warriors, pacifists, lovers, enemies, dignatories - and a bomb planted by a terrorist mastermind. Suddenly they're forced to crash-land at an ancient desert site. Here, with only a handful of weapons, the men and women of the peace mission must make a desperate stand against an army of crack Palestinian commandos - while the Israeli authorities desperately attempt a rescue bid. A story of compulsive excitement, rich in personal drama and political tension that must rank as one of the greatest of our times.
The Angola Deception
D.C. Alden - 2015
Delta Force, US Navy SEALs and the CIA’s Special Operations Group, all of them unaware of the conspiracy swirling around them and the politicians determined to see them fail.From the ice-capped mountains of Switzerland to the burning deserts of Iraq, from the grimy streets of south London to the teeming metropolis of Shanghai, the battle to seize ultimate control of the planet threatens every corner of the globe.The virus is out there. And humanity has never been closer to extermination.
The Treasure of Kafur
Aroon Raman - 2013
The Mughal Emperor Akbar is at the height of his power, seemingly invincible. But twenty years of war have earned him many enemies, and rebellion is brewing, led by Asaf Baig, the tyrannical ruler of Khandesh. Baig has stumbled upon the knowledge that the fabulous lost treasure of Malik Kafur, that will guarantee victory to Akbar’s enemies, is known to an old woman called Ambu.Baig Kidnaps Ambu to wrest the knowledge of the treasure from her; but her twenty-year-old grandson, Dattatreya, escapes and flees across Hindustan to enlist the help of the one person who has the most reason to stop Baig – the Mughal Emperor himself.Staying one step ahead of capture and death, Datta is swept up in a world of kings and warrior princesses, of uncommon friendships and an implacable evil; and a desperate race against time to save his grandmother – and the Empire.Aroon Raman, national bestselling author of The Shadow Throne now brings us a riveting saga of action and adventure set in Mughal India.
The Front Page Murders
Puja Changoiwala - 2016
Over 21 days five murder cases were discovered that led to the unravelling of a spine-chilling tale of cold-blooded crime. Half-naked bodies; missing suspects; a desperate manhunt; connections with the underworld, police and Bollywood; and a seductress who lured victims - all led to a man named Vijay Palande.Palande, who targeted dreamers, mainly Bollywood aspirants in Mumbai, had an uncomplicated modus operandi - he would befriend the target, gauge his wealth, murder him, hack his body into pieces, and abandon the remains in the Western Ghats. Equipped with the sophistication of Charles Sobhraj, the nonchalance of serial-killer Raman Raghav and the cruelty of Jack the Ripper, Palande had the country hooked.In The Front Page Murders, Puja Changoiwala, who covered the story as it came to light, recounts in gripping detail one of the most sensational cases in India’s recent history and the personalities involved in it. In doing so, she delves into the functioning of daily crime reporting and police investigations, providing startling insights into the worlds of journalism and crime