Don't be a bystander

Salim Must Die
Mukul Deva
Harper Collins
Rs 225, Pp x + 417

Rating (on 10):
Plot: 5
Idea: 6
Style: 5
USP: Updated on geopolitics. Placing India on the thriller map.

A military thriller from a an ex-army man. And a follow up to Lashkar, one of India's first Ludlumesque thrillers, which was written in response to the 2005 bombings in Delhi's Sarojini Nagar market.

Well, Salim Must Die takes the tale forward. Some of the character remain - Salim of course, besides Colonel Anbu and Iqbal, though in a peripheral role. This one far more ambitious, and the reach is global. Salim and his henchman Cheema have a lethal plan to exceed '9/11' and they plan to do so by using biological weapons on kaffirs - at ten leading destinations including Delhi.

The story takes a while to start, as nearly a third of the book is expanded on politically correct sounding bytes on how terror is a global phenomenon not limited to any religion, how terrorists have no religion, how people are divided into -"idiots, wimps, bystanders and terrorists" - figure out where you are , dear reader! Unfortunately, as the novel progresses, Muslim minorities across the world become the actualised breeding grounds for those who can carry out the deeds of terror. And they are drawn from the Uighur minority in China to Muslim immigrants in the US, Canada, UK, Jamaica, India, Denmark, Germany etc.

The build also takes time as it introduces characters on the Indian intelligence side - most of whom are caricatures and unremarkable despite attempts to add colour to their histories. Salim remains the pivotal figure in this cops and robbers tale.

Interestingly Bush comes out very badly. And Osama dies. It is instead the shadowy Salim who is wreaking havoc with the help of his henchman Cheema. With the help of a Chinese scientitst.

As a thriller, it works. Editing, plot could all be better. But as pioneering steps from the expanding Indian literary firmament, these are good steps. the publisher and the author need to be congratulated.