16. Play Dirty by Sandra Brown

It's a story about an American football player, Griff Burkett, who is at the top of his game but gets involved in gambling, gathers up such huge debts that his only option to work them off is to get into a match fixing deal with some bookies.

But he gets caught red handed and is sent to prison for serving a sentence.

He thinks his problem should end there but well, it doesn't. Even after he is released he is stalked by someone who is very keen on putting him behind bars for an unsolved murder. He gets involved in a secret affair with a very rich businessman's wife and gets trapped in a huge web of betrayal.

The story continues with how he redeems himself of all the accusations and if at all he lives to see another day.

The way Sandra Brown has written the novel is very unique. The mysteries are hidden beneath one another. And these layers start opening up only at the very end.

I didn't find the book to be a "thriller" as its categorized to be, I think it should come under the category of "Late Bloomers". Up until midway I did not even know what was happening.

So, if you find yourself yawning up until half way through the book, I guess its a pretty normal reaction.

15. Evil Under the Sun by Agatha Christie

Was getting bored of reading long and intense novels for some time now. So, chose this quick read by Agatha Christie.

I don't think much of a review is needed here. Anyone who is familiar with her work especially the Hercule Poirot series can guess pretty much what it's about.

A seaside resort, with many guests having a good time and in the middle of a day a murder happens. Hercule Poirot along with the local police try to find the murderer who is definitely one among the guests at the resort.

What makes her novels so interesting is that she lays down the clues as and when the police find them. So, it keeps us guessing and glued to the book.

14. Lottery by Patricia Wood

Very reminiscent of the movie Forrest Gump.

To be stupid one must have an IQ of 75 or less but Perry L. Crandall has an IQ of 76 and this winner of Orange Prize for fiction book is all about him and how he survives in this ever greedy world.

Perry's world revolves around his grandmother. Before she passes away she teaches Perry all the essential things in life, how to be organized, how to play lottery and especially whom to trust and who not to.

But as luck has it he suddenly wins a million dollars in lottery and that's when the story picks up the pace. All his relatives swoop in on him and try to get his winnings.

Does Perry give in to the nagging of his cousins or his few trusted friends come to his rescue ? That forms the rest of the book.

Its an immensely light and a delightful read. Enjoyed every page of it. I am rating this one 7.5 out of 10 .

11, 12 & 13. Seven Ancient Wonders, The Six Sacred Stones and The Five Greatest Warriors by Matthew Reilly

These 3 books are in a series, so I am writing this blog as one.

The author has tried his hand to bring out a trilogy hoping to recreate the magic of Lord of The Rings(He says so himself in an interview). Well, it doesn't come anywhere close to the legendary take of LOTR by Tolkien but it it is surprisingly very captivating with lots of action packed scenes.

It is also a perfect script for an Indiana Jones movie as the story delves into ancient myths and lores, finding hidden treasures hidden by the ancient civilization (the humankind that existed before ours) and contains some pretty bad and ruthless villains.

The main theme of the book is to save the world from the eventual destruction (apocalypse) much like the movie 2012 and Knowing. But here the reason given for the Apocalypse is that at a particular date and time an equal and opposite energy to that of Sun will cross our Solar System and thus destroy everything.

The Ancient Civilization is supposed to have built a machine which when reconstructed would eventually negate this opposite force and thus save our whole solar system. This is what the team of 7-8 people lead by the hero Jack West Jr. set out to do. They start by trying to find the seven ancient wonders of the world in the first book and in the next 2 books they try finding six pillars which are essential to reconstructing this machine that is to save the world.

I know, reading these couple of line would sound very very absurd, even I thought so at first. But the way in which the author (Matthew Reilly) has written the whole thing is fantastic, to say the least.

The book takes you through many interesting and weird locations. The Great Pyramid of Giza, Stonehenge, Easter Island of Chile, Hanging gardens of Babylon, Cape of Good Hope, A Tribe from the Congo Republic in Africa. Well, its nothing short of a roller coaster journey.

In between you find many traces of the Dan Brown’s book Da Vinci Code. Again here, the author himself admits that this book is his favourite. The Author also compares many of the Egyptian Mythologies to Christianity. One particular thing that really caught me was that the Egyptian Sun God is referred to as Amun-Ra. The Amun here can also be pronounced as Amen (as every Christian prayer ends).

All in all, if you like Ancient Myths and legends, Action thrillers, Indiana Jones movies this would be a good recommendation.

I would rate this entire series as 8 out of 10.

9 &10. Stone Cold and Divine Justice by David Baldacci

I have read almost 3 books in a quick succession. The reason simply being I have not been practising Darts for some time now and so have loads of time.
I lost in the semi finals of Ladies Gold cup last Friday, and was so disappointed in myself that I packed up my darts. I managed to beat my biggest competitor in the quarter finals (the same person I lost to in the finals of British Masters playoffs) and because of that I kinda relaxed a little bit. Well, it proved to be a costly mistake.
I better start practising again though, as I have a match day after tomorrow and don't wanna mess that one up too.

Alright, getting back to the books.

These books are in the Camel Club Series.
1. Camel Club
2. Collectors
3. Stone Cold
4. Divine Justice

I had already read the first two in the series last year. Both the books were so good that it made me want to read the rest in the series too.
As usual, a Baldacci thriller with lots of nail baiting sequences and action packed, just the way I like it.
Nothing memorable to say about the books though. Good time pass, that's all.

8. Cocktail Time by P.G. Wodehouse

A classic Wodehouse, with loads of characters, a perfect setting in a countryside and an all confusing scenario.
The Earl of Ickenham is the one who never turns away from someone else's problems and that too when the problem involves his Godson's wedding, he does his best to solve it. And then enters, his old friend who is acting as a butler because he is in love with his master's sister, Phoebe. And Phoebe's son who is blackmailing his own Uncle with a letter.
Confused, well then now enters an American Con Artist and his wife, who also get wind of the blackmailing and try their hands at getting hold of that letter. What do you think will happen ?

Wodehouse is always a classic, and this one is a perfect read on a sunny afternoon, sitting outdoors. Which I couldn't do because I haven't seen the sun for quite some time now. Reading his books always transports me to the old countryside England that has always drawn me towards this country.
The words and the language which he uses makes me love England even more. Now, if only I could find someone who still talks like that.

7. 2 States by Chetan Bhagat

2 states by Chetan Bhagat is a story about an Indian couple who are in love and wants to get married. The book's back cover summarizes the whole plot.
Around the world : Boy loves girl, girl loves boy and they get married.
in India there are a few more steps: Boy loves girl, girl loves boy, boy's parents have to love girl, girl's parents have to love boy, boy's parents and girl's parents should love each other.
That's the plot in a nutshell. About how Punjabi boy and a Tamilian girl fall in love with each other and how they convince their parents for their marriage.
There were many sarcasms involving Tamilian Brahmins and their way of life, and being one did find it little bid bad, but the author actually compromised for it by making equal fun of Punjabis and managed to wade through that thin line. Though the story and the outcome is very much predictable, the author's way of handling it is very interesting and funny.
At the end, it felt like I had just watched a light hearted comedy movie.

I would rate it 7/10 .