Review #714: I Am Thunder by Muhammad Khan

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


“These terrorists are the antithesis of Islam. They’re not Muslim. Violence has no place in religion, and the terrorists are responsible for their own crimes, not the religion and not us.”

----Samira Ahmed

Muhammad Khan, a British author, has penned a very intriguing debut YA novel called, I Am Thunder that revolves around a teenage Muslim girl living with her parents in Britain where everyday she wakes up to find a new challenge or bully to overcome with, but her life drastically changes when her family moves to different part of the city and she is admitted to a posh school, and there she meets a charming Muslim boy. Little did she knew that behind that charming smile, a sinister motive is awaiting for her and that would not only ruin her life but would ruin the lives of millions of souls, if not taken care of.

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Review #703: Keepers of the Kalachakra by Ashwin Sanghi

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


“Science is not only compatible with spirituality; it is a profound source of spirituality.”

----Carl Sagan

Ashwin Sanghi, the country's bestselling mythological author, has penned a compelling part sci-fi and part mythological thriller called, Keepers of the Kalachakra that revolves around the murder mystery of the world's prominent leaders under strange circumstances while an Indian scientist along side with his colleague is trying to figure out the real purpose behind his research at his new employer's lab, located somewhere deep within the forests.

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Review #645: Red Maize by Danesh Rana

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


“Terrorism has nothing to do with religion, Islam or otherwise. Terrorism is born of fundamentalism not of religion.”

----Abhijit Naskar

Danesh Rana, an Indian Police Service officer of Jammu and Kashmir cadre, has penned a vividly compelling tale about Jammu and not Kashmir, the metaphor of this heavenly paradise and its ever growing militants, which we rarely hear of from the hills of Jammu, in his debut book called, Red Maize. This book narrates the tale of three Muslim brothers and their headstrong and brave mother set across the idyllic mountainous landscape of Jammu, where the middle brother joins his hands with the militants to free his land from the Indian Armed Forces, caught between the crossfires of the jihads and the Indian Armed Forces are the innocent people of the land.

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Review #634: Bite of the Black Dogs by Sanjay Bahadur

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


“Patriotism is supporting your country all the time and your government when it deserves it.”

----Mark Twain

Sanjay Bahadur, an India author, pens a terrific, nail biting and gripping real-life special operations of Indian Special Forces book based on a true story, and it is called, Bite of the Black Dogs that is set across the idyllic yet challenging landscape of Kashmir, India, where an Indian special force group is assigned to eradicate and extract the terrorists and the alleged killers of Kashmiri Pandits (Hindus settled in Kashmir) belonging from the infamous militant group of Hizbul Mujahideen ("Party of Muslim Holy Warriors") who are funded and supported by various countries and various states of India. This real life account of the militants as well as the special task force men, who would do anything for their countrymen.

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Review #559: The Waiting Room by Leah Kaminsky

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


“We think there are limits to the dimensions of fear. Until we encounter the unknown. Then we can all feel boundless amounts of terror.”

----Peter Høeg

Leah Kaminsky, an award winning Australian author, has penned a terrific and extremely soul touching story in her debut book, The Waiting Room that revolves around a Jewish woman who is also a doctor living with her husband and son in Israel whose ordeal through out a single day after the warning about a possible bomb threat is strikingly captured by the author, as the woman whose deceased mother's ghost keeps haunting her about the days that she underwent during the Holocaust, and as her mother's voice runs through her head, her fear grips her completely, making her question her life in such an unsafe place.

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Review #483: Jihadi Jane by Tabish Khair

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



"Terrorism has no nationality or religion."

----Vladimir Putin

Tabish Khair, an India author, pens an extraordinary and brutally honest story about terrorism and Islam religion in his new book, Jihadi Jane that unfolds the story of a British Muslim woman who follows her best friend to the unknown and terrorism-gripped lands in Syria as this friend wants to get married to a jihadi man, in order to honor herself in the name of her religion and her holy god, Allah.

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Review #458: Tears of Jhelum by Anita Krishan

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


“Onnai je kore ar onnai je sohe, tobo ghrina jeno tare trino somo dohe."

Translated version: "Those who commit injustice and those who forbear it, Let them blaze like hay in the fire of your indignation."

----Rabindranath Tagore

Anita Krishan, an Indian author, has penned a gripping yet emotional bookTears of Jhelum that narrates the story of a Kashmiri man who tries to protect his family as well as himself while turning a blind eye to the crime happening around him, but when his act of turning a blind eye comes haunting to him, he realizes that he has committed a grave mistake in order to save himself from the inevitable death.

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