Title : The Princess in Black!
Author : Upendra Dharmadhikari and Changali Anand
History itself has beautiful and energetic stories in it’s store. What when history comes in to shake hands with today’s stories.”The Princess in Black: An unheard story of Mughals”,co-authored by Upendra Dharmadhikari ( a history lover) and Changali Anand ( a cinema lover), is a fiction book which uses history to make a story thrilling and adventurous.
As the back cover says: ‘ The Taj Mahal is going to be blown off and with it the visiting ex-President of USA. Or so has been impeccably planned by Major Salim Khan, an undercover ISI operative. The only clue that the intelligence agencies have is the enigmatic Object No. 27, a rare Mughal relic that they don’t have much information about. History Professor Narayan Shastri, along with the best men from Indian Intelligence, try to unlock the code. And then there is Saima, the mysterious beauty who found Object No 27 in the first place. She and Professor Shastri travel through the annals of a history rich with deceit – bloody battles of conquests; the satin veil of treachery; and even the elegant, imperious walls built of redsandstone and white marble – to know more ofthe impending attack and each other more deeply. Can they stop Major Khan from unleashing his act of terror on the marble monument of love? Precious hands of time are ticking away: Tick. Tick. Tick.’
A simple and revealing cover design welcomes reader at first.Title ofcourse is attentive and to some extent does favour with the story.Also,the subtitle hints the presence of history in the story.About the blurb of the book,well-knitted and inviting and very-well shows the glimpse of the story.
Very elegant ambience has been created from the very beginning of the story,and the aroma of suspense and mystery was in the air. In the beginning itself it generates the needed ambience.From there on it keeps on revealing different facets of the story juxtapoxing history and present episodes.Author Upendra’s love for history resulted in the form of this book and Changali’s love for movie helps to give it a proper texture.
Writing fashion is close to the classy one, which works very-well with the story. The blend of history and witty imaginations pull this book in the category of an interesting and thilling read. The way facets of the story reveals its colour hooks reader completely to it. Articulation of sentence has been done in such an efficient manner that it never hinders in the reading journey.
Interesting characters are a part of this story that helps to make it more charming and alluring. The nature of the characters has been portrayed in a beautiful fashion,I very-much like the way it has been done as it is done not by the mere words but by the actions and roles.
About the downfalls of the book,storyline is quite common and to some extent similar to other stories that are available in the market.Also,some events to some extent are predictable.
Combination of thrill, history,suspense and little bit sprinkled with love.Worth a read!
Rating : 4.5/5
Reviewer : Shweta Kesari
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