The Zoya Factor by Anuja Chauhan

Zoya Solanki, an advertising executive, handling a soft drink campaign turns up at Indian Cricket team's breakfast just before a crucial match. Team wins the match against significant odds and thus starts Zoya's innings as Lady Luck for the team.

Zoya has the dubious distinction of being born at the exact minute the Indian Team won the world cup in the 80s. Once this bit of news gets out, the cricket crazy nation goes on a Zoya frenzy. From being idolized to being stalked, baited and eventually hated, Zoya's unexciting life becomes a roller coaster ride through the power corridors of the game that is looked upon as a religion in the Asian subcontinent. As if her life wasn't messed up enough, Zoya too is falling for the Captain of the team, Nikhil Khoda, who has made it abundantly clear that he doesn't like this Zoya Factor nonsense one bit. Will someone please give this girl a breather?

As far as romances go, this one has all the right elements. Predictable but fun.

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Terminal Freeze by Lincoln Child

Jeremy Logan, the self professed enigmologist, the researcher of the occult, comes across some recently declassified documents in the government archives. His interest is piqued by the odd sounding, brief report of a scientific project gone horribly wrong at an Alaskan military base which also happened to host a scientific research team at the time. He is so interested in the event that he lands up at the base.

Situated in the Federal Wildlife Zone in the Artic region, close to the last Native settlement, a scientific team has unearthed something truly fascinating. It is a discovery that could bring laurels or lead them to their doom. Jury is still out on that one when a high profile documentary production team lands in all its glory to unveil this discovery to the world outside . But as they say ' Best laid plans’. Things start to go horribly wrong and how.

As far as thrillers go, I wouldn't call this book great. Definitely has its shiny moments and a bloody messy (in a literal sense) climax but falls pale when compared to Deep Storm. The middle reads like a movie script. Not your usual fare but imagine something created by Micheal Bay (for the mindless destruction) or Guillermo Del Toro (for the grotesque imagery). Definitely not a pretty picture, that's for sure.

Lincoln Child's Deep Storm was a wonderful discovery I made while I was out looking for something entirely different. So my expectations with Terminal Freeze were supremely high. I'll still give this series a chance and try another book in the series before I decide if I have had enough. 

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The Blindman's Garden by Nadeem Aslam

I have been told that Nadeem Aslam is a magician with a pen for a wand. After reading this book I can vouch for the said statement. 

With a prose that is simple yet lyrical, he weaves a story of Joe and Mikal, brothers not by birth, lost in the jungle of terrorism. Set in Pakistan and Afghanistan, we are taken through a world filled with deception, violence and hatred. When Joe and Mikal leave for Afghanistan with the intention of tending to the sick, little do they realize that it is not easy to escape the clutches of the violence. 

The birds trapped in the contraptions in Rohan’s (Joe’s father) garden are merely symbolic of the present situation of the subjects in these nations. The story that begins with the entry of Joe and Mikal in to Afghanistan and subsequently into the heart of the terror central. We also witness the lives of those they leave behind. A family that suffers in their absence and yearns for their return. A nearly blind father whose memories of his dead wife are cruel reminders of his religious beliefs and her secular convictions. It gives way to pages of internal debate on religion and fundamentalism. Also portrayed with great sensitivity is the woman who is central to both Joe and Mikal’s life and much stronger than we initially consider her to be. The book is cruel and violent in its description but so is the world. I don't think there is any way to sugar coat and make the experiences nicer for the convenience of the readers. It is what it is.

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