Author:Leena Nandan
Publisher:Wisdom Tree/Chlorophyll
Pages:200+
Price:295 INR
Source:Review Copy (Publisher) via alop
Genre:Crime Fiction
Year:2014
IAS officer-turned-author Leena Nandan's Ten Days is a (wannabe) crime thriller which narrates the strange incidents happening in the life of it's protagonist,Tina-a young,beautiful executive working in a call centre(24*365).Set in the innovative backdrop a BPO,this desi thriller tries to expose the 'grey' side of the 'new-age' professionals!
Tina is a bright call centre executive who is assisting Inspector Vikram in a cyber fraud case which had happened in their office not so long ago.Thanks to her smart,uber cool attitude and occassionally blunt demenaour,she has made enough of admirers and enemies in her workplace itself.Certain unpleasant incidents happen in her office(rape of a female colleague,arrest and suicide of a young executive and the death of the much senior scientist,Dr Maken) and pretty soon she finds herself stalked by a mysterious intruder.Parallely,Inspector Vikram gets to know that his ex(Leila,the daughter of Dr Maken) is also in danger.Though the death of her father(Dr Maken) seems to be attributed more to a natural cause,he realises that there is more to it than what is apparently visible.
Coming to the good things about the book-Well,'Ten Days' has got a rather fresh theme.The English is pretty simple and conversational and for those of you who are looking for a book which won't weigh you down with it's literary pretensions ,this one might be the ideal choice.The investigation part(even with it's ample share of loop holes) is quite decently written and the suspense is well maintained till the end of the book.The final revelation(though not out of the world or anything) is also quite unexpected.The Cover design is also pretty well done and suits the overall mood of the work.
Bottomline-On the whole,'Ten Days' is an okay read.With a rather innovative premise and an interesting theme,it had the potential to be a real page turner.Sad that it's not,in the present form.I'm giving it a 2.5 out of 5.
-nikhimenon