Lashkar

Book Review: Lashkar by Mukul Deva ... A Great Book!

Lashkar is a good book in the thriller genre. I am especially impressed by this book since I have been in search of a thriller novel by an Indian writer for a long time. For some reason, international publishers only publish books by Indian writers which have a mythic/spiritual/people/diversity theme. There are so many terribly boring books like "Mistress of Spices", "Interpreter of Maladies" or "Inheritance of Loss" that are supposed to be paragons of Indian writing in English. Dont get me wrong here ... I am not debating the literary value of these books... I am saying their ability to keep the reader glued to her book on a long flight is questionable.  But "Laskhar" is a very good example of Indian writing in the thriller genre. 

A couple of earlier Indian writers in the thriller genre that I have read such as "Night of the Krait" have characters that speak English like they are reciting from a text book and the author's desperation to write like Frederick Forsyth is a put off. But Laskhar is well written. It is a fictional account of India's response to the Delhi bomb blasts. It includes the assassination of Dawood Ibrahim and other terrorists by an Indian commando force that crosses over into Pakistan and executes the attacks. It is fast paced, interesting and shows India as a strong country that responds to attacks with force and self confidence. A little more detailing would have made it more interesting but the author says he desisted from detailing to avoid people using it as a bomb making manual. 

Looking forward to more from Mukul Deva!