Review: Boss Girl

Boss Girl by Emma Tallon
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I did not realize that this book is a part of a series with the characters of Freddie, Anna and Tanya. However, I found the book and the characters easy to latch unto. The book has the right ingredients for a thriller with the background of crime & the underworld - it is fast paced; has well developed characters and the suspense holds right till the end.

Freddie Tyler’s writ runs over large parts of central London. His girlfriend Anna runs a nightclub which is doing very well. Anna is passionate about her business which she runs with her close friend Tanya, and is also looking to expand. Tanya is a little worried when her boyfriend Tom also wants into the underworld, rather than sticking with a low paying job he holds. Tom is keen to work with Freddie though and makes great efforts to fit in.

Freddie sees the opportunity for a deal with the mafia to open casinos in London when he meets with Frank Gambino. Gambino however wants Anna’s club in order to help Freddie. All of a sudden Anna goes missing. Could Gambino have broken the rule of not touching the other’s families? Old enemies? Other gangs looking to expand and using Anna to get to Freddie?

The build-up of suspense is very good, and the character development through the story as well. I liked the writing – as it is very clean and focused.

Definitely recommended if you like crime & suspense novels.

My rating: 4.5 / 5.

My thanks to Bookouture and NetGalley for a free advanced readers copy for providing an honest review.


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Review: Braving the Wilderness: The Quest for True Belonging and the Courage to Stand Alone

Braving the Wilderness: The Quest for True Belonging and the Courage to Stand Alone by Brené Brown
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

While I have read blogs and passages of Brene Brown before, this is the first of her books that I have read. I did know what to expect as a result of my following her work so far, and this book lives up very well to the expectations I had.

A large part of self-help literature plays on fear – talking about the need for transforming ourselves with a great sense of urgency, else we are doomed to failure in a world which is changing at a rapid pace. Over the past few years, Mindfulness literature and practice taught me on how that approach makes learning and life so less joyful than it should be. Brene Brown outlines wisdom and approaches which will work very well, drawing on her experience and research. She outlines true belonging very unambiguously and how you can make it a part of your life.

The book starts with a moving account her difficulties in the early part of her life, and how inadequate she felt. It took many years and support from well meaning people who understood her to accept herself first, before offering herself to others. As she says “True belonging doesn't require us to change who we are. It requires us to be who we are."

This book also provides the best explanation for the divisions we see in society, exacerbated in social media platforms. People have ended up sorting themselves into like minded groups, each battling the other to prove themselves right. Media now provides a giant, self-reinforcing feedback loop with people using it to further cement their intransigence.

None of us need to fit in – and can all find our own way. Be it requires accepting ourselves and being brave in choosing our path.

It is not that you will agree with all she says, as she herself points out (for instance I disagree with her position on guns), but the book offers a great framework for an enriching connect and dialogue.

An excellent book I strongly recommend you read for its soul – is truthful and unpretentious. Many of the good Mindfulness books offer good supplementary reading material and practical techniques on similar lines.

My rating: 4.5 / 5.


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Review: Running in Circles: An international mystery with a heart-stopping twist

Running in Circles: An international mystery with a heart-stopping twist by Claire Gray
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The story for “Running in Circles” is set in an island in Thailand. Steve is the editor of a local paper and Lucy works for him. For both of them, their current jobs are a welcome respite from their past.

One day a bomb goes off causing many casualties, and panic, in what is a prime tourist location. Steve and Lucy feel duty bound to find out who did this. During a business meeting with a client, Shuttleworth, he hints at a few suspicions he has about the events to Lucy. Very soon, though, Shuttleworth goes missing and is later found dead. Is this a coincidence or are these events connected? The investigation soon turns dangerous for Steve & Lucy.

The overall story is interesting, as are the characters of Steve & Lucy, especially Lucy and her perseverance. Yet, the story lacks pace and while you feel at many places that it might just take off – it never does, and rather meanders along. The more serious study of both Steve & Lucy’s characters comes too late, the investigation is mostly random and there is lot of space devoted to “how” events happened and very little to “why” they did.

The story offered far more potential, than the book ultimately delivers….

I received a free ebook from NetGalley to provide an honest review.

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Review: Killer Moves

Killer Moves by Varsha Dixit
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Killer Moves is a mystery novel with some subtle & mild supernatural elements in the story. I found the story and build up to be pretty good, keeping the suspense well into the story.

Aisha Khatri is a person who has made many personal sacrifices in life to ensure that her niece Kiara has a good life. Kiara’s parents die tragically when she is still young. Kiara is an upcoming model, and has just taken up an assignment with the famous Kabir Rana. Kabir Rana has faced tragedy in the past which continues to haunt him. He finds himself drawn to Aisha, who is wary.

There is a serial killer on the loose, targeting women and killing them cruelly. The CBI gets involved in the cases, along with the Goa police, but it is not an easy chase.

The story shuffles between Mumbai, Goa and Sirsa. The story is very fast paced and engrossing. The writing could have used some more sophistication and nuance in the characterisation.

This is a book I recommend reading for its story and ability to keep you going till you finish it.


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Review: The Second Wife

The Second Wife by Sheryl Browne
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is the first book of Sheryl Browne that I have read, and find her writing to be very good. If you like suspense novels, this is a great book to read – it has an interesting story, is fast paced and keeps the suspense well into the story.

Rebecca and Nicole are good friends and constantly keep in touch. Nicole has been in an abusive first marriage, and is happy to find Richard who in contrast comes across as extremely caring and very much in love with her. While Richard is considerate with her at all times, her relation with her step daughter Olivia is strained.

Rebecca is shocked when she hears that Nicole has committed suicide. As she attends the funeral and meets with Richard, she hears that Nicole had slipped into a major depression. Nicole had been communicating with Rebecca over text and email, and while she clearly had been unhappy about many things, Rebecca cannot understand how she came to take her own life. Rebecca is keen to understand more of why Nicole got to this point, and over time develops a close relation with Richard. Richard is extremely sensitive and considerate, and both he and Olivia welcome Rebecca into their lives.

While I did have a faint inkling of some aspects of the plot, the suspense breaks at just about the right time in the later part of the book. The story is told in two timelines from the perspectives of the four principal characters – Rebecca, Nicole, Richard & Olivia. It shuffles between the past and present, progressing to convergence very well near the end. The story could have been crisper though, and the last sections could have been better.

I certainly recommended reading this book if you like suspense – a very well written story!

My rating: 4.25 / 5.

Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for providing a free ebook for an honest review.


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Review: H+ incorporated

H+ incorporated by Gary Dejean
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

H+ incorporated by Gary Dejean is a science fiction novel packed with action right from the start. The story is good and incorporates a number of technology advances quite naturally in the flow.

It is the year 2039, and the story is based in Manila. The city is now a technology hub which is now finding its feet after devastating floods. The principal characters are – Morgan (a scientist working at H+), Chloe (her daughter), Jake (a young boy who has had body part replacements after an accident), David Patel (Jake’s father) and Angelo (law enforcement).

Morgan faces an ethical dilemma on an invention at H+ incorporated which she believes is dangerous. After much soul searching, she decides to act, and unwittingly all the other principal characters including young Jake get drawn into the action. David is especially concerned about Jake who is just coming to terms with his new physical self and is yet to settle into school. However, the choices are difficult ones for all concerned.

While the story is good and also very fast paced, the tone of the narration is a bit dry and the characters needed more background & situations to develop on you.

If you like science fiction reads, I recommend this book for its story and pace.

I received a free ebook from the author for providing an honest review.

My rating: 3.75 / 5.


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Review: Catalyst: The ultimate strategies on how to win at work and in life

Catalyst: The ultimate strategies on how to win at work and in life by Chandramouli Venkatesan
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Catalyst starts with a very sound premise. Growth in the workplace needs a catalyst – the presence of skills is not enough. A set of attributes, behaviours and circumstances need to come together for success. I have read quite a few self-help books till date, and my expectations are high in terms of incremental knowledge gained from each book I read. While I found ‘Catalyst’ to be a book which is genuine, crisp with some good techniques one can apply at work, it did not add too much to me that I did not already know.

Mouli starts with his personal experiences and how the techniques he is advocating came about. He started by collating the material and running it past a limited set of people at his workplace, and later other organisations. He starts with how personal growth is critical and advocates applying the ‘TMTT’ framework (Target, Measure, Review, Reflection). He makes the important point on how one needs to maximise learning as part of the job. Time spent on the job does not equate to personal growth automatically. The second half of the book discusses how in many cases growth tapers off in the second half of the career and what one should do to reinvigorate it.

A lot of the advice in the book is sound. It is also direct and presented well. The definition Mouli uses for success is very limiting though and also old style. Each person needs to define success for oneself rather than adopt a boilerplate definition of it meaning climbing the organisation hierarchy. There is also very limited material on fostering creativity (which is very critical to achievement as well as satisfaction), ways to promote focus (such as with mindfulness), personality types and important of culture.

Consider reading it if you have not read too many self-help books. This book is not pretentious unlike many others, and the techniques are simple and practical.

My rating: 3.25 / 5.


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Review: Brief Answers to the Big Questions

Brief Answers to the Big Questions by Stephen Hawking
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is my first book of 2019. As a thought-provoking book from one of the leading thinkers till recent times, a good way to start the year. I have previously read his “A brief history of time” and “The grand design” both of which I liked for presenting serious science in a very readable form. This book released after Stephen Hawking’s death does not disappoint, and is a great compilation of the most important topics Hawking dealt with in his lifetime – and these topics are also those most of us are extremely curious about. There are a couple of good forewords from Eddie Redmayne who played him in the movie “The theory of everything” and scientist Kip Thorne, who writes of his inspiration from Stephen Hawking’s life on his work on gravitational waves. The afterword by his daughter Lucy is touching including mentioning the impact he had on people as could be seen by the large crowds which quietly lined the street on his passing.

The first topic in the is – “Is there a God?”. Hawking’s views on this are already public, and also included in the movie based on his life. The point he makes is that religion describes God as some kind of a superhuman whom we can discuss/debate with and be judged by (some traditions such as Advaita Vedanta do not do that though). He goes on to discuss how time itself started with the big bang and the universe, and well-defined laws of nature mean there is nothing for a God to do. You may agree, partly agree or disagree with his views, but he certainly offers a lot of food for thought. The next topic is on how it all started with the big bang. While all the answers are yet not there, Hawking is confident that physics will crack the puzzle of how the universe sprang from nothing. There is already a lot of progress made such as with M-theory.

The section on black holes is probably the most detailed and it is also a bit dense in parts. This is probably the area Stephen Hawking has contributed the most, and I suppose that explains the level of detail. The discussion is fascinating – do black holes retain context and information of what goes in? How do they come about, and how can study them?

In the discussions around climate change, and in fleeting references in other sections as well, Hawking stresses that we are being very irresponsible with respect to Planet Earth, and people in power had better pay attention to this. The other sections on space travel, AI make for interesting reading as well.

This book is certainly a tribute to Stephen Hawking’s curiosity, passion for science and intellectual genius. A great book to start the year – very intellectually stimulating.

My rating: 4.5 / 5.

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