Mainak DharCritiques

‘I would be lying if I said I was not afraid of death. However, being afraid does not make you a coward, it only makes you human. Stopping yourself from doing the right thing because you are afraid is what makes you a coward.'

Mainak Dhar's book - In enemies hands : A novella, is a short and beautiful story set in the state of Kashmir between an army officer and an estranged girl who gets caught in a crossfire. As the story unravels, we get to learn the magic of what happens when a certain person touches another one's soul and brings about a revolutionary change in the way they live their life, in the way they see the world around them. I am a fan of happy endings, so the ending was a cherry on top for me. The writing was good and easy to read too.

Book Title: In Enemy Hands: A Novella
Author: Mainik Dhar
Format: Kindle

Book Title:
The title of the book ' In Enemy Hands ' is interesting and different.

Book Cover:
The cover image of the book is an abstract sketch of a fully armed soldier.

Plot:
It is the story of a soldier who is in war with terrorists at the Kashmir Valley.He happens to meet a young woman with whom he shares a nice bond within the few hours of their encounter

What I like:
1. The sensitive part of a hard hearted soldier is explained in a very hearty manner
2. The beautiful valleys of Kashmir are illustrated very scenically
3. The duty mindedness and respect towards one's job is explained nicely
4. A short and effective read

What I didn't like:
There is nothing to be disliked.

Characters:
With just two characters the author has excelled in minimal story telling

Narration:
A nice and simple narration is found in the story

Language & Grammar:
Simple and clear language is used in the story.

My Final Verdict:
A beautifully written story

Book Title: 3/5
Book Cover: 3/5
Plot: 3/5
Characters: 3/5
Narration: 3/5
Language & Grammar: 3/5
Final Rating: 3/5

Book Title: Brand New Start: Fast-Start Your Career with the Power of Personal Branding
Author: Mainak Dhar
Format: Kindle

My Thoughts:
The words brand is never only confined to a product or a service but also a personality. We often hear this word augmented to an individual's name. When someone does something very striking and spectacular, making the individual unique the word 'brand' comes into the picture.

In this connection, author Mainak Dhar whose fiction books I am familiar with has brought out this book which talks about the importance of ' personal branding' to cope with this competitive and digital world.

What to expect from the book?
Publicity and marketing is the most important aspect of any product or service to attract and gather a customer base. This process is universal for any profession and every talent. For example, if a writer capable of creating wonderful stories doesn't take steps to tell the world about their work, no one will know. For this, just marketing and publicity in a conventional manner is not sufficient. There is a pressure and compulsion to follow the trend and then decide how to market and publicise, similarly, for every other profession and service. To do this, the individual must be aware of how to push himselfherself into the competition. This process will be easier once a ' brand' is created. Therefore, in this book, the author has given practical experiences and realistic situations to inculcate ' personal branding.'

Who can read?
This book is for everyone who wants to impact their lives and stand ahead in the competition. The word personal branding is equivalent to self-awareness and self-potential. This book is for students, youngsters, people looking for inspiration in profession and business and so. The language and the grammar used is simple and engaging.

How good is the author's writing style?
Author Mainak has poured in all his career and experience with honesty in this book. The ADDA model he described in the book is quite amazing and effective. With many takeaways, the author has given his readers a good book to enhance e their personalities.

Final Verdict
A good starter book that emphasizes on personal branding and its importance.

Rating:
4/5

Book Title: Sniper's Eye
Author: Mainak Dhar
Format: Paperback

Book Title:
The title of the book, ' Sniper's Eye ' directly hints the reader that it's an action thriller story.

Book Cover:
The cover image of the book is the close-up of the rifle eye to target the victim.

Plot:
The story starts with the male protagonist, Aaditya Ghosh, working in an MNC going on a date with his lady love, Zoya who is also his colleague. They both visit a mall and the date turns out to be an unpleasant one because a man in the mall gets killed and thus the incident creates confusion and chaos around. Aaditya follows the shooter to catch him and ends up killing a terrorist. He is later arrested by the local police and during the interrogation phase, a senior police official apologizes and releases Aaditya for the arrest as the charges are proven wrong.

After the incident, he becomes a superhero in the public and his and in parallel his name is on the top list of victims by the terrorist gang who wanted to disturb the lives in the city. He conceals his past with Zoya and dreams about a good life with her. After this incident and on some mysterious grounds, Aaditya is named as children killer and the media also propagates the same. Aaditya gets completely cornered in the political and terrorist drama. How does he come out of it is what the story is about.

What I like:
1. The plot of the book
2. Interesting and gripping narration in the first person
3. Many subplots that made the book a page turner

What I didn't like:
The main mystery got revealed after the story reached more than half, and thus the next chapters looked dragging that looked distracted from the story as there was nothing else to reveal.

Characters:
The protagonist, antagonist and the supporting characters are plotted extremely well each of the characters supports the other as the story progresses.

Narration:
An interesting narration is found.

Language & Grammar:
No complex words or vocabulary is found making the read a simple one.

My Final Verdict:
A good action thriller but less impactful.

Book Title: 3/5
Book Cover: 3/5
Plot: 3/5
Characters: 3/5
Narration: 3/5
Language & Grammar: 3/5

Final Rating: 3/5

I enjoyed the idea of the zombies in this book, an interesting take on the story. Had a hard time following a lot of it because I just don't know the military terms.

This story of a can-happen-anytime war between India and Pakistan is a good, fast-paced read which I would rate as a 3.5 starrer. The author seems to have researched well enough to make the war terminology sound authentic. The negatives about this novel are some unrealistic sequences, a predictable romance and, most irritatingly, a shoddy editing that has let slip a lot of grammatical errors through.

End of the world complot meets vampire zombies. Felt very forced in places, and not a good read overall.

Another master piece from Mainak Dhar. This book is about a terrorist attack started by killing a retired anti terrorist army official by a sniper. Wherein comes the hero like a Bollywood movie being a para commander in army and living a normal life Aditya ghosh. The sniper kills the army officer in front of him and he kills one terrorist. This killing opens the Pandora box of past for Aditya. The story revolves around finding the sniper and the person handling the sniper. Overall this book is very good Goodread...

03:02 is a must read book which will make you read till the end making you think what's next. This is my second book of this author after Alice in deadland. Would say that author is really a very great artist of thinking such fictional stories making it real. Coming to the book this book is about Aditya who gets a promotion of becoming CEO of a company which remains his dreams till the end due to the blackout a day before he takes the post at the so mention time mentioned as the title of the book. Hereafter how the world of Aditya changes who becomes a hard-core insurgent or a militia man from a four walled engaged in meetings CEO. How Aaditya becomes a leader to whom all look out for his guidance and advice. Going through this book author has created a Syria war in our Mumbai streets from Powai to the airport. Looked the concept used which makes the author unique in style of writing. Overall it's a very very good Goodread .. 😊

This is the first book that i read about the zombies. The way author has described the situations and characters are amazingly superb. As we have a rabbit and a big hat person in alice in wonderland, same way in here there are two zombies known as biters. But the character of the big hat person is less in this book as compared to the actual fairy tale book. Author has gone through lot of thinking on how the place should look if its attacked by the zombies in actual life. Whenever heard of zombies its like we have to kill them or we will become like them. But in this book the author has shown zombies in new way where in the zombies are also the hero. While reading this book it make us think how will the humans fight with the zombies in the first part and in the second part how to fight against the central committee. Overall its a GOODREAD...

This book is about 5 people Mayukh a son of a government official who losses his family in the tyrrant zombies, a seal soldier David, Hina a history teacher, swati and abhi sister and brother duo. This new type of terror attack off making people alive after they are dead making them zombies make these 5 people come together as it's the survival of the fittest situation. Abhi the small kid being bit by the zombies does not make him turn into zombies. This makes the zombies target abhi for their survival. The zombies in this book are not only alive from dead but also they are learning new things every night. They can talk, they can use their mind which is a new concept in this book. Author has brilliantly designed the story and he has a strong hold of the story till the end. It makes the reader to not stop. The concept of this story is unique like his other book 3:02. It's about the adventure this 5 make to reach a airforce base in ladhak.I would suggest all readers to read this book. Overall i would say it's a very good Goodread..

I tried to read this but had to stop. It's terrible.

Zombiestan is a different take on the whole zombie genre, in this book the plague begins not from some mysterious virus or otherworldly undescribed circumstance but rather an attempt by the Taliban in Afghanistan to create a biological terror weapon. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) for them this attempt is interrupted by an attack by the US military that kills all those involved in the strategy meeting about such where the weapons were on site being delivered. Unfortunately for everyone else, the weapon is released by a missile attack by the US military and subsequently contracted by the Taliban who go in to collect their leaders remains.

As with most virus based novels the infection quickly spreads around the world thanks to a delayed onset and air travel. The primary focus of the story is a small group in India who are attempting to reach a safe haven.

It wasn't too bad a story, there were a couple of editing errors and I found it a little bizarre that the author called the ammunition magazine in a rifle a 'magazine' but the ammunition magazine in a handgun a 'clip'... both are magazines.

Regardless, it was quite an entertaining romp through the streets and mountains of India with several curious interactions with other survivors making for an interesting reading experience.½

The story is about a girl, Alice, who was born after The Rising (when the undead took over the world). When Alice follows a "Biter" wearing rabbit ears, down a hole she finds herself in a violent world, run by flesh-eaters. A world where "Biters" think and act in a manner familiar to those still human. There she finds The Queen, a woman who communicates and, for lack of a better word, rules over the Biters. The Queen tells her a story that's considered prophesy and that Alice is a sort of savior. There's a huge conspiracy and this girl is the one to uncover it all- saving both humans and biters alike!

Now, I love YA, but I have to tell you, when the fate of the world falls upon the shoulders of a fifteen year old, I find issues. But I've gone off on such tangents before, so I'll not repeat myself. I can say that outside of said issue, I enjoyed this series, but grew frustrated. It carried a herky-jerky feel from time to time, like the repetitiveness of Alice's thoughts. She was constantly going over the same things- other characters too. It's like the author needed to excessively remind us what was going on. Or the story would speed to the point I was just told things instead of explained. The details disappeared and something would just happen- you know how that is. It just threw me off and I was left a tad confused.

There was also an unreal amount of grammatical errors. So much that I almost quit the books. Errors like these are hard to overlook, and can deter a reader from returning to the author. And the errors were in both the ebook and physical book...

*For the full review: Visit www.areneehunt.com

It has a uniquely interesting story line. I am usually a slow ready, but managed to get through this fairly quickly. It kept my interest and is a promising start to the series, but the author used the same words and phrases over and over. I found myself thinking that I was re-reading sentences. Overall, I enjoyed it and plan to continue the series.

Review was originally posted on Goodreads.

I had a hard time getting through the beginning of the book... possibly because of the silliness of it all. I eventually decided to at least finish it and it wasn't bad. Sure there were quite a few things that left me wondering where her never ending supply of ammo comes from?

I'm stuck between it was okay and I actually sorta enjoyed some of it.

This review is from: From Darkness Comes: The Horror Box Set (8 Book Collection) (Kindle Edition)
I purchased this because I noticed a book from Deidre Gould was included and I love her book After The Cure. For the price...WOW...8 man-eating books....you can't go wrong. Not only was Ms. Gould contribution wonderful...I love ALL of the books in this collection. It is a nice variety. It is a great way to the feel for several authors at an unbelievable price. I say BUY IT. You will not be unhappy if you love horror and Zombies.

Well, there are two days of my life I'll never get back. Not the worst book in the world, but poorly executed. The plus is that it was kind a new take on zombies, the minus - everything else. The author tries to get geo-political with the Chinese.

I wouldn't bother reading this one.

I think I was expecting more because of the hype, but the read over all was fun.

I'm actually glad it was not a parody of AinW and more of something feasible if the Rising or AS we're to happen thusly. Coming away sympathetic to zombies is quite a feat. And I liked the whole conspiracy aspect. Though not fully original, vilifying who the author did was fresh for me.

I would give this 3.5 stars if I had a choice. I'm not completely sold on the world build yet but I was not disappointed. Endearing characters abound and the backdrop of the Western part of Asia really made the settings new and different. It's always interesting reading something set in place you are not familiar with.

I will read the next for sure. Don't think my rating of anything lower than a four or five means its a bad book. More like a seven out of ten :) This is the author's first an I know from the thoughts and reviews from everyone who shares my love for zombies it only gets better.

Faults were some scattered and not quite believable survival skills happening in the middle of the book. That and it floundered for to long of stretch and I found myself having to force my way through a few of the rough patches. It picked up again and got back on a solid writing ground, otherwise I would have been rating it a solid four. The writing was almost a heavy starch but not heavy enough to keep the wrinkle out, (if that make sense lol)

Honestly I cannot wait to dig Into book two.

Good zombies. Bad zombies. Zombies that understand, follow orders, some live underground and others (made-made hybrids)on army bases...both hordes are ruled by "Queens". The Chinese are attempting to take over the world peacefully, promising safety from the zombies and food to those who join their ranks. Once signed up, these people are enslaved and forced to work unreasonable hours in the fields to grow and harvest crops that are sent to feed the Chinese population. Alice and her group of zombies team up with former special forces soldiers and other surviving humans in a fight to push out the Chinese in parts of India. Then upon successfully gaining their freedom, the humans and zombies begin living side by side in in one of the larger cities. The soldiers and Alice provide security for the city and its occupants; skirmishes continue with outsiders and Chinese soldiers who continue to conquer this group. Hell, I even became fond of certain zombies and felt a loss when they are killed for good.

It doesn't take long before the citizens become complacent during this "peacetime"; they soon elect a governing body and vote to exile Queen Alice and her zombies from the city. The new Prime Minister, a former politician before the apocalypse, accepts the Chinese proposal on behalf of his constituents - buying in to their guise of protection and food. Little do these people know that the Chinese had put a plan in motion months earlier and everything was now proceeding according to plan. Alice begins to uncover evidence that exposes this devious plan. The populace will soon be enslaved unless Alice and her zombie horde can return and convince them not to give in. The Chinese are moments away from a peaceful takeover. Will Alice and her followers arrive in time? Will there be another war?

The third book of the trilogy helps to fill in many of the blanks remaining from the first two books - many of the characters are fleshed out here - providing "AH HA" moments for readers having read the first two installments. Still, I would caution readers to not read that last installment until finishing the first two...more fun that way!

As I mentioned in my review of the first book, Alice in Deadland, the author should have taken time to get his work edited prior to publication as many typos, missing or misused words are used. I am disappointed to see these errors continue in the authors succeeding works...ratings could have been much higher.

Nevertheless, I enjoyed the story and recommend it to those of you who enjoy a different kind of zombie story, filled with twists and turns.

John Podlaski, author
Cherries - A Vietnam War Novel

I'm not into horror in general or zombies in particular, but the idea of Taliban zombies just sounded too intriguing to pass up. I'm glad I took a chance on this one. The characters are realistic (and, unlike most horror stereotypes, actually SMART). The action is non-stop, and the fight scenes are clearly written and exciting. I liked it being set in India instead of yet another American suburb. I liked that the American soldier is portrayed as heroic; that growing up and taking responsibility is is a major theme; that the male lead does not immediately "hook up" with the female. And yes, I did like the innovative origin of the zombies that made them extra scary. I expected more humor, but this is essentially a straightforward horror story, done with little irony and a lot of heart. The one character I didn't much care for is the child. He was not written consistently, to the point where I was completely confused about his age (he needs a diaper but speaks in complete sentences, obsesses over a toy car yet is entirely cool and collected when the plot requires it). Some people might have a problem with the ending, but I thought it was perfect (then again, I am not generally a horror fan, so take it for what it's worth). The editing could have been better, but did not take away from the enjoyment. Recommended to lovers of zombie genre, military thrillers and coming-of-age stories. The author may actually consider marketing it as YA (13 ) since it is actually very clean and not as "gross" as one might assume from the zombie premise.

Don't believe the hype! Or the 4- and 5-star ratings. Alice in Deadland was a huge disappointment. Normally I don't rate books I stop reading, but I felt compelled to in this case because I was so totally duped by the book's back cover blurb and hundreds of glowing reviews on Goodreads and Amazon. (I didn't compare usernames to see if they were the same reviewers on both sites.)

Anywho, I won't waste any more of my time by writing an in-depth critique. My advice to anyone thinking of reading Alice in Deadland is first read the 1- and 2-star reviews. Those reviewers accurately cover the novel's problems.

No character development and a weak plot were the main reasons I couldn't finish. The secondary reason was the writing itself. There's no excuse, even if English is the writer's second language. And I'm struck, once again, by a self-published "author" who seems oblivious to the importance of a good editor.

Man, this bummed me out. The blurb sounded interesting and fun. Too bad the idea surpassed the writer's storytelling abilities. *big ass sigh*

For those interested, my status updates while reading to page 75 are below. There are a few quotes from the book that may help explain why I quit and why I would not recommend this to anyone. (Matter of fact, I'm going to speak to the librarian when I return the book.)

09/07/2012 page 34: I guess I thought because it was at the library it had at least been read by one of the librarians. Smelt, spelt and learnt used (pet peeve). Repeated use of "fairy tale" in first 10 pages. ALL talk, no show. Repeated use of the same phrases and "descriptions" within a page or two of each other. I'm already asking how this received so many 5-star ratings and sold 50,000 copies on Amazon.

09/07/2012 page 37: "Alice looked to her left and saw something was which no less than a miracle- her backpack, which Bunny Ears must have dropped there in the chaos." That's exactly how it's written on page 37. I'd hope the character development would start by now. But it's still Dhar telling me, not Alice showing me.

Note: Anything typed inside quotation marks is word for word, dash for dash, from the book.

09/07/2012 page 60: "Alice's hair was cropped short (so that nobody could grab it in a close fight, as her instructors had said),..." Uh, but didn't Bunny Ears grab Alice by the hair during their first fight? "Alice looked up to see Bunny Ears looming over her...Alice cringed as he grabbed her hair, but instead of attacking her, he seemed to be examining it, turning it around in his fingers (p. 14)." Yet, I pushed forward.

09/07/2012 page 75: I made it to chapter six, but I'd rather clean my cats' litter boxes than keep reading. Why?

"'Alice, tomorrow some folks from Zeus will be here to take you.'

Alice sat up in a panic...Her father saw her expression and sat down next to her.

'No, no. You don't need to worry- I would never let them take you...(p.64)'

'Sweetheart, they're here to get you. They promised us that you'd be back by evening...(p.65)'"

Zombiestan is a bildungsroman that takes place in the zombiefied country of India in a post-911 world. Mayukh was a seventeen-year old gamer without much responsibility and few concerns when, far away in Afghanistan, bio-hazmat materials that were being delivered to the Taliban were ignited by drone-delivered bombs. The chemical reaction created an infectious compound that found its first victims and carriers with the Taliban members who followed up at the site to see if there was anything to recover. Moving on from the site, these would-be terrorists ended up spreading the contagion as they boarded planes. The rate of the infection spread exponentially and manifested itself in necrotizing humans, rendering them virtually invincible and, transmitting Taliban sympathies into the memories of the newly dead. As the contagion swept into India and black-turbaned Taliban zombies posed an increasing threat to societal structures and personal safety, Mayukh was goaded into action. In a trek towards safety, Mayukh gets a hyper-accelerated lesson in growing up.

Mayukh is not alone as he makes his journey: There is a U.S. Navy SEAL, an older woman with a dual identity as a professor and a romance novelist, a teen-aged girl and, the girl's little brother who may hold the secret to an antidote. All the characters in Zombiestan have an arc of development as each rises to the occasion of the crises they find themselves in. While the temptation always lurks to take the easy way out, this cast of characters, individually and together, clings to their inner sense of what is right. One of the great things about Zombiestan is that, unlike may zombie-apocalyptic novels, this one keeps hope alive in the story: There are survivors; There are people who help; There is the idea of a future. The story faces forward even while conditions worsen.

Zombiestan is a fun novel, full of action and a unique take on zombies. The writing is a bit rough, with a number of repetitive descriptions and cliches; but the plot never stalls and scenes are strongly depicted. Mainuk Dhar may have taken the concept of zombies a bit far afield in depicting them with rapidly evolving sentience, organizational and strategic skills and an ability to learn and adapt; on the other hand, Dhar's terrorist zombies make an obvious political statement if you want to go there.

John Lee, the British-American narrator who won an Audie for his reading of White Tiger (by Aravind Adiga), brings his Indian accent back for Zombiestan. John Lee has a highly enunciated style of delivery and brings well-delineated characters into play. His Americans pretty much all sound like cowboys; but since the Americans in Zombiestan are all U.S. military personnel, it works :-)

Redacted from the original blog review at dog eared copy, Zombiestan; 05/29/2012

Pretty decent follow-up to Alice in Deadland . The former residents of the Deadland have formed a community (Wonderland) and humans and Biters are building a fragile peace. Of course, the Red Guards are not so quick to forget the ragtag bunch that bloodied their noses. Alice must hold together this coalition in the face of new enemies, both internal and external, while at the same time receiving help from unexpected quarters.

Hey what's this?! Is this really a work by an Indian author? Then why is he not writing contemporary fiction or more cliched historical fiction like most of the Indian authors? Hell, why is he not writing fantasy which is a kind of rage nowadays here?

I still can't believe that this is an author of Indian origin who actually ventures in the post-apocalyptic fiction sub-genre. To be more precise, Zombie Fiction! (sub-sub-genre?). Wow! I am impressed, sir! Three stars in advance for making this happen in the first place. Additional stars when and after I read this (I am definitely going to as soon as possible).