The Krishna Key - Book Review

 This is going to be my first official book- review. I received this book as a part of the initiative of  BlogAdda.com .

As I had to post the review within 7 days of receiving the book, I started reading it instantly. But soon, I realized that it is not of that kind of book which you can read casually while multitasking other chores. It needs your exclusive focus.

Snapshot:

Five thousand years ago, there came to earth a magical being called Krishna, who brought about innumerable miracles for the good of mankind. Humanity despaired of its fate if the Blue God were to die but was reassured that he would return in a fresh avatar when needed in the eventual Dark Age—the Kaliyug.

In modern times, a poor little rich boy grows up believing that he is that final avatar.

Only, he is a serial killer.

In this heart-stopping tale, the arrival of a murderer who executes his gruesome and brilliantly thought-out schemes in the name of God is the first clue to a sinister conspiracy to expose an ancient secret—Krishna’s priceless legacy to mankind.

Historian Ravi Mohan Saini must breathlessly dash from the submerged remains of Dwarka and the mysterious lingam of Somnath to the icy heights of Mount Kailash, in a quest to discover the cryptic location of Krishna’s most prized possession. From the sand-washed ruins of Kalibangan to a Vrindavan temple destroyed by Aurangzeb, Saini must also delve into antiquity to prevent a gross miscarriage of justice. Ashwin Sanghi brings you yet another exhaustively researched whopper of a plot, while providing an incredible alternative interpretation of the Vedic Age that will be relished by conspiracy buffs and thriller-addicts alike.

My Take:
A murder thriller with a serial killer out on a killing spree, the complex methodology used in each murder & remnants of evidence which he leaves behind are more than enough to keep you gripped till the end of the book. Dramatic twists and carefully carved characters keep the chemistry alive. The complexity of the characters add on to the spice of the plot.

Ashwin Sanghi completely captures the mind of his target audience with an exemplary style of narration in this book. Although narration of life instances of Krishna (the eighth avatar of Lord Vishnu – as per Hindu mythology) was there in the book to render relevance to the modern mystery thriller but somehow I read it as a parallel story-track. It almost gave me the feeling of reading two books simultaneously.

As a kid, Mahabharata & story of Krishna always interested me. This great Hindu mythology epic fascinated me so much that I had even borrowed from the local library and read it while I was in my twenties. Anyway, coming back to the book, its mythology portion made me nostalgic. The best part of this book is the smooth transition & connectivity between various diverse subject highlighted by the complicated tracks of that mystery killer’s mind. If we try to segregate the subjects covered in this book as per the literary notes, we can jot down so many different names like: Ancient history, Modern history, Chemistry, Astronomy, Geography, Sociology, Geology, Simple as well as Vedic Mathematics, Botany,….the list is long. Author has done a commendable research in all these subjects to pen down the smooth story-telling. The pace of the story loosens a bit in the midway but again braces up after few revelations of the mind behind the murders. The awesome blend of mythological tales traversing through ancient civilizations and moving onto various different time-period and correlating all of them scientifically makes this book stand out in crowd.

However, I personally felt the end was a dampener. The philosophical and bit abrupt end after a beautifully woven thriller packed in mythology was quite disappointing for me.

But still I would recommend this book. Even if we keep the fiction part aside it is a book which is meant to be experienced. Plethora of knowledge about our ancient times and its link to today’s world is the best feature of this book. Having read this book, I have already ordered my copy of 'Chanakya's Chant written by the same author to revisit the time-travel between mythology & present.

• Title – The Krishna Key
• Author – Ashwin Sanghi
• Publisher – Westland Ltd.
• Pages – 475
• ISBN – 978-93-81626-68-9
• Price – Rs 250
• My Rating - 3.75/5

This review is a part of the Book Reviews Program at BlogAdda.com. Participate now to get free books!