Read between June 23rd 2017 to June 26th,2017
Edition Details:
Format : Paperback
Page Count: 301
Publisher: Hachette
ISBN:9789351950929
First Sentence:
There were no stars in the sky.
Arjun Bhatia is one of the most powerful man in the country. He is power broker. If you want some big deal to do with the government than it has to go through him.
There is a saying that he’s supposed to believe in:
Be my friend and i will shake your hand. Be my enemy and i will twist it clean off.
And people who know him know that it’s not an exaggeration.
But this was not always the case. He had not been born powerful. He started from the lower rung of the ladder of power and rose to where he’s now. He has done unspeakable things to rise to the position in which he’s now. He has made some decisions that still haunt him. But he has never let it come in the way of his business.
But now his past is catching up against him. Some one has decided to fight against him. Who will win the battle? This is the story of Arjun Bhatia, one of the most powerful man in the country. The story of his start as a son of penniless refugee, to a gun smuggler and finally to a power broker. How will the story end, that’s for the readers to find out?
This is my second Arnab Ray book. The first one was The Mine , which was a horror novel, and i had liked it. Sultan of Delhi is a thriller which hooks you up from the start. You see Arjun Bhatia as a ruthless guy who has his set principles and who doesn’t compromises on that. And as the book progresses you are shown his past and his present and his rise. The title clearly suggest it’s Sultan of Delhi:Ascension and that’s what the story is Ascent of Arjun into the higher echelons of power.
The transformation of Arjun from a kindhearted young boy to what he becomes was interesting to read. People say life teaches you things and it’s true in Arjun’s case. He becomes more pragmatic and more goal-oriented and i think it’s because he had seen so much pain and failure. I was reading the book and couldn’t help wondering how he would have turned out if Arjun’s father had paid heed to Arjun’s mother’s advice. I think most probably like Arjun’s sons turn out to be in the future. The relationship between him and them was something that turned out how i thought it would be. That usually happens to children of parents who have worked too hard for their success. They tend to over protect their children not knowing that they are hampering their progress as a human and thus making them less than what they would like them to be.
I also liked the other characters in the book Bangali was an interesting character and would have loved to know his back story. How did an erudite guy like him turned to world of crime? Nayantara was something else. I don’t know i kept imagining Mahie gill as her and she was looking hot in that role. I have’t talked about the nemesis of Arjun much because he comes at the very end. It would be fun for reader to discover about him by his own.
The book is fast paced and once you start reading things start happening that would force you to keep reading it till the end. There is a dream sequence in the middle of book and it had very Stephen king quality to it. It was a delight to read.
One thing that i found little off putting was that it seems to end abruptly. There are many questions that are left unanswered. I hope there is another part called Descension that would come out in future. I would love to read it.
I wanted to say this about the covers of the book that i liked this second one far better than the cover which is used in paperback. This give pulpy charm to the book. I would love to buy an edition with this cover and if second book does come than i hope that they release an edition with this type of cover.
If you are into thrillers then you should definitely check this one out. You’d not be disappointed. I know i wasn’t.
Some quotes from the book:
Fools are the most dangerous people in the world. They get others killed.
There are two kinds of men in this world. Those who run scared every breathing second…They are scared of everything. Then there are those who know law is just a fairy tale to frighten little girls,written by crooked bastards and told by bastards even more crooked,and that everything, from the lead in the bullet to the stars on the uniform are for sale.
When you come to as many forks on the road as i have, the shadows of the paths not taken grow longer, and what you may not realise at your age is that shadows have weight, heavy enough to make you grow tired dragging them alone.
Without danger, Bangali, used to say, one becomes like a lion in the zoo– the anger is gone and so is the hunger as you sit on your haunches and children throw peanuts at you all day long, growling from time to time from force of habit
Fighting is always bad business.
If you have read this book, then do tell me how did you like it. If you haven’t then you can get the book from the following links:
Paperback
Kindle
