DNA - Dad's Not Adopted by Shikha Kaul (Book Review- 3.75*/5) !!!

“Delve into the timeless journey that promises to keep you hooked from the beginning to the end…without a blink!” – This is what Shikha Kaul’s 2nd book named “DNA- Dad’s Not Adopted” promises on its back cover to its readers. And I must say it surely keeps up the promise throughout the book and Shikha Kaul has definitely improved a lot since her first book-“Hidden Husband”. It seemed as if this book is written by some another author itself. Her writing style is simple and her narration isn’t quite troublesome even when she has attempted a thriller. Though I felt that the projection of few scenes could have been far better and exciting but she still manages to hold her reader’s attention with her words. 

The plot of the book is great and I have felt that the first-half does complete justice to it. Second-half just couldn’t match up with the power of first-half and therefore the book starts feeling little boring in the start of second half and until pre-climax. The characters in the story are beautifully developed and you can empathize and sympathize with each one of them whenever their dilemma and trauma is described. You will fall in love with Ghazal and her portrayal is described the best in the book. Few of Pranab’s segments are another great fillers. His conversation with Ghazal in the initial phase of their Thailand trip is one of the best parts. Their love story is a great stress-buster while reading this thriller and I have loved how authoress have inserted it in right proportion without diverting away from the main story anytime. Kudos!

I feel that the book needed a much better cover page to grab readers’ attention as it is not appealing and after reading the book, I am not even finding it much relevant. I am happy that authoress have not wasted pages in describing sex scenes which is a big issue with Indian authors. Talking about the climax, the reason behind the murder isn’t much convincing and it sounded like an end of a typical Bollywood movie. It was depressing as authoress didn’t make any mistake in 240 pages but in the end, she is not been able to make her reader feel enough astonished after the revelation of the truth. That’s the only reason this book wouldn’t be listed in Best Indian Thrillers but noticing the improvement in the authoress, I am sure her next book is not going to leave any stones unturned. I give this book a very good 3.75* out of 5 and it can surely be tried, especially for its first half which is mind-blowing and the sweet love story of Ghazal and Pranab. 

 Thanks.

 ABHILASH RUHELA - VEERU!!!