THE CASE OF CHINESE MASTERMIND - BOOK REVIEW


THE CASE OF CHINESE MASTERMIND

Title : THE CASE OF CHINESE MASTERMIND
Language : English
Authors : Ketaki Karnik
Genre : Fiction
Publisher : Jaico Publishing House ( August 2014 )
Edition : 1st
ISBN-13 : 9788184954067
ISBN-10 : 8184954069
Binding : Paperpack
Price : Rs. 199 ( Buy from Flipkart.com @Rs.179/- ( 10% Off! )
Pages : 196

The Book Summary : The Case of the Chinese Mastermind is a spine-chilling thriller, authored by Ketaki Karnik. The Case of the Chinese Mastermind is a one-of-a-kind mystery novel set in an isolated farmhouse. When an annual boring family gathering in an isolated farmhouse turned out to be a great adventure of gathering of the world’s most devious. With uncle Ravi’s immensely valuable designs stolen and his company refusing to call in the police, it is upto 14-year old Kavya, Raima and Varun, aided by Anna (Kavya’s older cousin), to solve the mystery. Blood-thirsty alien monsters. Killer cars. Hounds of horror. Rogue spies. Menacing threats. Six deadly Chinese daggers, this book will be a riveting and enthralling read.. A gun between the eyes. And it only gets worse. Will the mystery busters succeed before the guests leave the farmhouse? But first, will they escape death that lurks around them? Stifle your fears and sharpen your intelligence as you hurtle into a treacherous whirlpool with the Crime Busters on their first adventure.

My Point of View ( P.O.V ) : Its been quite a while, since I last read a thriller that reminded me of all those books I used to devour during my teenage years - hardy boys, nancy drew, famous five etc! I must say its quite an interesting book, although, I was bit skeptic when I first received it. The cover of the book sure does catches the eye, but since the book is targeted at a certain age group, I wouldn't comment much on it; although, I feel, it could've been little different keeping in tandem with the story. The story introduces a whole lot of characters in the beginning itself; namely - two teenagers of 14 yrs, Kavya and Raima; Kavya's 24 yr old cousin Anna. They all go to Pinky Aunty's ( Raima's relative ) farmhouse, at a far-off location for their vacation; and there's Varun her teenaged son and Ravi Uncle, Pinky's husband, who is a scientist. More characters struts in ( Rhea, Dev, Anand, Rameswaran etc ) with their own shades of personatilies/motives, as the story progresses. The story however, does starts bit dull slow, but picks up gradually.

What they expected as perhaps a boring vacation, turns into an extra-ordinary adventure when Ravi uncle's very important research papers go missing ( designs of a new mobile phone application ). Why and how all these happen? Well, it all starts in the farmhouse, that is shrouded in bit of mystery ( rumoured to be haunted ) , add to some of the strange guests there esp a chinese couple, Mr and Mrs Hu, who behaves quite extra-ordinarily. Kavya in her wanna-be-detective enthusiasm, goes about trying to solve the mystery, joined by the others. And every chapter then takes the mystery forward with lots of twists and turns. A page turner, it is pacy enough to keep readers on the edges. There are lots of unusual and interesting elements thrown in as obstacles in solving the mystery - monsters, killer cars, spies, daggers, blackmail, maid in disguise and many more. Read the book to jump right into the mystery and experience the thrill for yourself. I'm sure you'll like it. I surely did and the book being small, finished it at one go!

THE CASE OF CHINESE MASTERMIND


Positives : Narrated in first person ( Kavya's perspective ), written in an easy and simple style contemporary language, targeted at Indian audience with Indian characters, the book is witty and enjoyable.
Negatives : There are certain lapses esp in the first part, that can be re-edited and made tighter, some unnecessary parts removed and loose ends fixed.
Who will enjoy this? - Everyone esp children and young adults.
Buy or Don’t Buy? – A Must Buy!

About the Author : Ketaki Karnik is an Indian author and management consultant. She completed her MBA from the University of Oxford, and has worked for several management consultancies and corporates. Besides writing, Ketaki loves the guitar, chocolates and anything sci-fi. www.crimebustersleague.com


Our Rating Scale is : 1 to 5 = ◕◕◕ - I liked it!



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