Edition Details:
Format: Paperback
Page Count: 264
Publisher: Srishti Publishers and Distributors
ISBN: 9789380349244
Price: 150 MRP
Purchase Date: 9th December,2015
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| Nothing Lasts Forever – Vish Dhamija |
First Sentence:
The phone rang for some time before it woke Serena.
Story
Serena was in Singapore when she got the news. There was a fire in her apartment and her husband had died in it.
Her world was shattered. Raaj and Serena were college sweethearts and they only had each other. It was hard for Serena to fathom as to how she would spend her life after the love of her life had been snatched from her life.
Michael D’Cunha the senior Inspector, who had come to investigate the fire wanted to leave no stones unturned. He wanted to see the case from every angle. He had a clean record, his promotion was due and he didn’t want his record to suffer. He had a hunch that there was more to this accident than what was looking.
Was Michael’s gut right about the case?
Was it really an accident or was there something fishy behind the incident?
And was Serena involved in all of this?
Major Characters:
Serena – A banker
Raaj Kumar – Serena’s Husband and a financial whiz
Kim – Serena’s friend who was also a model
Michael D’Cunha – Senior Inspector Delhi Police
Sonny – Raaj and Serena’s friend. He was a chef.
Adi – A man for whose product Serena was modelling
GK – Serena’s Manager
Stella – GK’s wife
Maria – GK’s secretary
Syed, Ravi, Adam,Elena,Tony- Team members of Serena’s team for her dubai project
Sheriff- A mysterious stranger that Serena met in a Dubai Bar
Paul – Serena’s colleague in London
Nikos – A greek guy to whom Paul introduced Serena
Mr Gill – A freedom fighter who was given the responsiblity to uncover the share counterfeiting racket
Kabir Singh – A delhi police officer under whom Michael was to work
Victoria – PR director of a company
Alfredo – a real estate agent
My take:
Nothing Lasts forever is Vish Dhamija’s first book that was published. I had read one of his book called Bhendi Bazaar and then had bought everything that was written by him. This one was also purchased in 2015. I just came around to reading it.
The novel’s title Nothing Lasts Forever and it’s subtitle No secret can stay buried had intrigued me when i had seen on the amazon’s site. And that’s why i purchased it. I enjoy reading mysteries and i thought i was going to enjoy this one. And i did enjoy it.
The book is not your run of the mill mystery story. It’s divided into four parts and the story takes place over the period of six years(from 1996 to 2001). This is very different from your normal mystery where to maintain pace the author tries to finish the story either in days or in weeks.
As i have already said the book is divided into four parts. The first part of the books is where the author builds up the story and it is also the part which feels a little weaker because of this. I was reading it and was sometimes wondering where it was going.
The accident has taken place and then things seem to move on normally. As a reader i was thinking that something would happen but it seemed nothing interesting was happening. But once you reach the end of first part, then every thing pays off.
It’s the last line of first part that hooks you up. You are given an information which would make you want to read the rest of the pages in one go. The story picks up speed. The story keeps jumping from flash backs to the present scenarios because of which the author has managed to keep tension on. You want to know what would happen next? How were the culprits able to fool the law? Would they succeed? How will the law catch up to them?
These were the questions that forced me to keep reading the story. As the story progresses more and more secrets are revealed. We come to know that no one is as they seem.
I enjoyed the book although i think it takes too much time to build up. The first part could have been cut a little bit short. There are too many details about banking industry which would have been left out. I didn’t have any problem with them but if they wouldn’t have been in the story then i don’t think the readers would have missed out much.
I liked the structure of the book. The way it keeps moving backwards and forwards it’s able to maintain the tension. We also come to know more about the main characters and we see why they turned out to be the way they were.
The criminals, the way they are depicted, although are ruthless in their greed but they were so in love with each other that sometimes you tend to feel for them. They were bad people but there are times when you feel like cutting them a slack because of their love.
I also liked Michael D’Cunha’s character. In the book he says that he had a record of closing every case within six months. I would like to read about one of his most complex cases which he solved that soon. It would be fun and fast paced read.
The rest of the characters were apt and fitted the story. The world of modelling is also shown through Kim and it felt too stereotypical. I have seen many crime stories where the modelling world is shown like that. Women trying to sleep with men to get what they wanted. May be it really is like that and women are willing to do what it takes. Who knows? I have also heard the stories but have no experience.
It’s an entertaining mystery although the final thing when revealed may feel a little bit filmy. I was expecting something better. But it does manages you to pull you in and forces you to keep on reading.
I enjoyed reading it.
Rating : 3.5/5
If you have read this book, then do tell me what did you think of it? If you haven’t read the book then you can get it from the following links:
I have read other works by the author. You can read my views by clicking on the link below:
© विकास नैनवाल ‘अंजान’
