Insomnia: Keep Your Eyes Open by Ravi Subramanian & Jigs Ashar (Book Review: 3*/5) !!!

 

22^nd Book of 2021

 

There are few authors for whom you are so crazy that you see them in dreams releasing their new novel. Ravi Subramanian is one such author for me. The thriller genre was introduced to me through his books only. I am very glad that his books had complex plots but easy writing which made it smooth for me to get into the world of thrillers. After writing many books on banking thrillers, he finally introduced a concept named “Shortz Thrills Uninterrupted” where he is writing short thriller stories with co-writers. Jigs Ashar is the first one to get associated with him. I am just done reading the 1^st book of this concept named “Insomnia: Keep your eyes open” which is published by Westland Publication in around 157 pages.

 

The writing style of this book is very easy and simple. If anyone of you who are looking out for an easy thriller to start your journey into this genre can blindly pick this book up. It is going to help you enjoy the same and get confidence of reading more of it. The book is divided into very short chapters of around 1 or 2 pages only. The book isn’t a usual thriller where the murder happens in the very first scene and then the investigation takes place throughout to find the culprit. Here, the police officers are introduced with a couple- Husband and Wife where husband is being troubled by his wife who keeps of attacking him violently due to her sleep-walking issues. Police starts going through the concern between the couple right from the beginning and then a tragic incident happens in front of one of the Investigating Police officers. This makes the thrilling aspect of the book alive once again.

 

The characters of the Police officers, Aditya and Meera are interesting. The chemistry between both the officers is delighting to read. I liked the parallel story running which mentions the developing relationship of both the officers. Rohit’s character has been given the most importance in this story. His reactions to his wife’s torture are nicely displayed throughout the story and his concern over his future yet his love for his wife is beautifully portrayed. It all looks relevant up to a point. I liked the way author has also assured that the locale and vibes of Mumbai is conveyed in whatever space he had in this short book.

 

The dialogues and conversations between both- Meera and Aditya are something to look forward to. They are intelligent as well as romantic at times. You can feel the vibes between them. The book starts with a bang when Meera enters the scene right in the initial scenes itself. The later entry of Aditya also does magic as he has been shown as a smart and eligible bachelor kind of a Police officer; and his character is still written as very soothing and calming. There is a suspense in the initial part of the book. You just end up thinking what will happen between the couple later on and what will Police do as they are in the picture right from the beginning. It is a light read which you can complete within 3-4 hours easily.

 

Now, talking about the drawbacks, the 1^st thing I would like to mention is the irrelevancy of the plot and unconvincing thrilling aspect in the climax. It is something that doesn’t sound acceptable at all nor does it make you jump off knowing what was happening in the back end. Somewhere in the middle of the book, you get vibes that something is wrong as everything can’t flow in the linear manner without interruptions for a long time in a thriller book. The characters are also quite under-developed because Tanvi is not given a single dialogue even when Police is in their house multiple times for investigation. How is it even possible in the real world that Police won’t interrogate with one of the prime suspects at all? Lastly, I must say that the book doesn’t have a very nice narration. It keeps on confusing you because the moment you get involved with any scene, it ends and the next one begins. I believe even if short, the story could have been managed a lot better.

 

Overall, I would strictly recommend it to the beginners. It doesn’t have the Ravi Subramanian vibes at all. Jigs Ashar’s efforts are appreciated as he is not very old in the genre still there is a spark of thriller in his writing, undoubtedly. I give this book an average - 3 stars out of 5.

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Thanks.

 

WRITING BUDDHA