Bahal, an investigative journalist from India, made headlines when he and his colleagues at Tehelka.com, an audacious Indian investigative news source, videotaped senior officials accepting bribes. To make the tapes, the reporters pretended to be rich businessmen. Bahal's first novel reads very much along these lines. His protagonist, MM, is a tough-as-nails ex-army officer turned investigative journalist with a penchant for risk, drugs and rough sex. Covering the army, MM learns that a small band of corrupt officers in Kashmir are engaged in smuggling drugs and weapons, and he soon becomes involved in an intricate web of guerrilla fighting, espionage, Russian mobsters and nuclear missiles. MM is a complex hero, a cynical and dissipated man who makes sentences such as "there's an art to drawing a gun" sound natural, but who is also principled. Some readers may grow weary of his relentless tough-guy posturing, but Bahal's use of the second person heightens suspense and adds psychological depth, and ample information about regional politics, warfare and journalism in India fills out the novel. The most serious problem is the awkward syntax, which considerably slows the pace ("You are in the mood for some luxury, and even though the hotel you have pitched camp in, bordering Dal Lake, isn't luxurious, it is better than the squatter mess settlements that the Western Command is most likely to put at your disposal"). Those who can get past the rough prose will find an offbeat, fun thriller.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
Minty Mehta writes about military affairs for an Indian newsmagazine, earning a seat in the trenches as Indian and Pakistani patrols shoot it out in Kashmir. Related with cool detachment in the second person, MM's tale grows more complicated with each blood-spattered page. Is he a corrupt hedonist, stealing and dealing drugs and weapons even as he double-crosses his buyers and suppliers? Is he a vengeance-seeking missile out to vaporize those who've done him wrong? Or is he really a cocky, canny spy? If so, whose side is he on? Exhilarating set pieces--MM shooting heroin during a paratrooper freefall exercise--leave little time to ponder his mysterious identity. The story careens from improbable heist to impossible escape, going for the adrenaline rush even when it should slow down and explain why the Indian and Pakistani forces hate each other so much. MM proves wearisome after extended exposure, and Aniruddha tips off the book's big surprise too early. Even so, there's a lot of fresh, crackling action here for thrill junkies. Frank Sennett
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
See all Editorial Reviews
