Somanth Batabyal,a young author ( his snap is on the penultimate page ) has authored a racy tale in the novel "The Price You Pay ".The book's cover design shows a night scene with police sirens & a police officer in the shadows stands out.The publisher is Harper Collins .The paper quality is good & printing is very neat.The price is Rs.350 & the novel is of 285 pages.
This is the story of Abhishek Dutta who joins a newspaper,the Express.His stories make heads turn & how ! Is he really good or is lady luck smiling on him ? There is Amir ,his boss who is a very respected name in press circles.Uday Kumar is DCP,Delhi who is from the state cadres & resents cops from the Central Cadres.Uday & Amir are very close.There is Mayank Sharma , a young officer in the police department who reports to Uday Kumar & yet he feels that his boss is not right, many a times.
Delhi is the backdrop of this novel.The crime & politics of Delhi make for this thriller.Press & police are feeding off each other.Press is eager for stories & the police act as if they cannot part with information.Sometimes,it is the police who plant stories which leads to hilarious results.
The daily grind at the press office & the attitudes of the police are captured in the pages of the novel.One feels that one must join the press or the police as they both are full of action....always on the move.There is never a dull moment.Of course ,there are risks and yet one feels the adrenalin rush as we follow the story.
There is a dreaded kidnapper Babloo Shankar & his girlfriend.That he has arrived in India is a rumour or is it true ? Abhishek is unsure & yet he knows, this will make front news.
Abhishek joins television & is soon disillusioned.How does he make up for it ? Will he shine like when he was in the press ? Is Samir Saxena able to pacify Abhishek to continue his tint with television ?
Is Babloo Shankar in India ? If so ,what is on his mind ? Why is the police not doing anything to arrest Babloo Shankar if he is in India ?
The protagonist Abhishek Dutta is vulnerable like all of us & still takes risks .So the reader is with Abhishek & we want him to be the winner.Does Abhishek win though he is a commoner & without a godfather ? What happens to Babloo ? Does Abhishek return to the Press or continues with the television industry with its obsession with TRPs & little else ?
There is some underlying humour in the story like crores of rupees packed in a cheap suitcase which just confirms that Indians only can resort to such ideas...the bag may give away anytime ! Why waste money on a suitcase ...so what if crores are put in it ? The author's statements spoken through his characters makes one think though they may be politically incorrect.The corruption at the Commonwealth games finds mention in the novel .So also terrorism ,shootouts,shooters,corruption for visas,driving licenses & the like.A novel rooted in present day Bharat. Especailly Delhi,the rajdhani of India.
The saga makes it clear that the press & the television are addicted with stories which get maximum readership & viewings.So they will go to any extent to achieve that.Though sometimes,they are forced to stop or retreat for obvious reasons.
I would recommend this book to all who want to read a good thriller.I was egged on by the writing to read more & more pages of the book.An engrossing read....quite real.
This blog post is for IndiBlogger book reviews.
This is the story of Abhishek Dutta who joins a newspaper,the Express.His stories make heads turn & how ! Is he really good or is lady luck smiling on him ? There is Amir ,his boss who is a very respected name in press circles.Uday Kumar is DCP,Delhi who is from the state cadres & resents cops from the Central Cadres.Uday & Amir are very close.There is Mayank Sharma , a young officer in the police department who reports to Uday Kumar & yet he feels that his boss is not right, many a times.
Delhi is the backdrop of this novel.The crime & politics of Delhi make for this thriller.Press & police are feeding off each other.Press is eager for stories & the police act as if they cannot part with information.Sometimes,it is the police who plant stories which leads to hilarious results.
The daily grind at the press office & the attitudes of the police are captured in the pages of the novel.One feels that one must join the press or the police as they both are full of action....always on the move.There is never a dull moment.Of course ,there are risks and yet one feels the adrenalin rush as we follow the story.
There is a dreaded kidnapper Babloo Shankar & his girlfriend.That he has arrived in India is a rumour or is it true ? Abhishek is unsure & yet he knows, this will make front news.
Abhishek joins television & is soon disillusioned.How does he make up for it ? Will he shine like when he was in the press ? Is Samir Saxena able to pacify Abhishek to continue his tint with television ?
Is Babloo Shankar in India ? If so ,what is on his mind ? Why is the police not doing anything to arrest Babloo Shankar if he is in India ?
The protagonist Abhishek Dutta is vulnerable like all of us & still takes risks .So the reader is with Abhishek & we want him to be the winner.Does Abhishek win though he is a commoner & without a godfather ? What happens to Babloo ? Does Abhishek return to the Press or continues with the television industry with its obsession with TRPs & little else ?
There is some underlying humour in the story like crores of rupees packed in a cheap suitcase which just confirms that Indians only can resort to such ideas...the bag may give away anytime ! Why waste money on a suitcase ...so what if crores are put in it ? The author's statements spoken through his characters makes one think though they may be politically incorrect.The corruption at the Commonwealth games finds mention in the novel .So also terrorism ,shootouts,shooters,corruption for visas,driving licenses & the like.A novel rooted in present day Bharat. Especailly Delhi,the rajdhani of India.
The saga makes it clear that the press & the television are addicted with stories which get maximum readership & viewings.So they will go to any extent to achieve that.Though sometimes,they are forced to stop or retreat for obvious reasons.
I would recommend this book to all who want to read a good thriller.I was egged on by the writing to read more & more pages of the book.An engrossing read....quite real.
This blog post is for IndiBlogger book reviews.
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