The case of the Chinese Mastermind is welcome for unlike the hackneyed murder mysteries, it is about cracking a theft, that too of designs of a new mobile phone application.
Two
fourteen years old girls Kavya and Raima along with Kavya's 24 years
old cousin Anna go to Pinky aunty's place which is a remotely
located farm house. Pinky is Raima's aunt. Varun is of the same age
as of Kavya and Raima. He is Pinky's son. Pinky is also hosting
alumni of Oxford society. So we have a bunch of characters - a human
rights lawyer, a scientist, an old Chinese education secretary and
his wife, a young successful entrepreneur, a Tamilian couple and a
professor. Plus there is an English speaking woman camouflaging as a
maid servant and two rich lads driving Lamborghini – a sports car.
The
book is written in first person, from Kavya's perspective. It
attempts to be a young adult fiction. Unfortunately the same works
against it. So the leg-pulling, cracking of jokes, references to
classmates and teachers, even in serious situations hinder the flow
of the story. It prevents the novel from becoming a racy thriller.
Moreover even the character sketches of all those guests who have
assembled do not come well. The name Chinese Mastermind and the
dagger at the end of the every chapter are totally misleading. They
could have been used better in the story except for passing
references. The cover of the book is glossy and attractive. But it
appears more to be a cover of a comics book. A more apt cover was
required for a book like this. The first half is a punishment to
read for the endless insipid descriptions and the burden of fitting
into the tag of young adult fiction. The story picks up in the second
half and gives satisfaction of reading a mystery novel to some
extent. The lose end of Mr and Mrs Rameshwaran is not tied at the
end.
Still
I welcome the book for in India very few books are written with a
specific object of catering to this segment of readers.
No comments:
Post a Comment