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Blood Red Sari
ndia s first all-women action thriller series that all but replaces oestrogen with adrenalin.
Missing social activist Lalima has picked three women to carry out the task she was unable to finish Sheila, the owner of an all-women s gym in Kolkata; Nachiketa, an attorney in Delhi who is suing her in-laws for the violent abuse that left her wheelchair-bound for life; and Malayali private investigator Anita, whose own brothers are out to get her. Lalima s adversaries use influence and hired killers to track down all those who have been sent incriminating evidence against them, forcing Sheila, Nachiketa Anita to battle for survival even as they race against time to understand the import of the documents they have received.
Spanning the murky underbelly of the country s metropolises and the international human trafficking mafia, Blood Red Sari is a pulse-pounding action thriller with a feminist punch.
Missing social activist Lalima has picked three women to carry out the task she was unable to finish Sheila, the owner of an all-women s gym in Kolkata; Nachiketa, an attorney in Delhi who is suing her in-laws for the violent abuse that left her wheelchair-bound for life; and Malayali private investigator Anita, whose own brothers are out to get her. Lalima s adversaries use influence and hired killers to track down all those who have been sent incriminating evidence against them, forcing Sheila, Nachiketa Anita to battle for survival even as they race against time to understand the import of the documents they have received.
Spanning the murky underbelly of the country s metropolises and the international human trafficking mafia, Blood Red Sari is a pulse-pounding action thriller with a feminist punch.
Ashok Banker worked as a successful freelance journalist and columnist for several years, breaking front-page news for publications such as The Times of India, Mumbai, and cover stories for Outlook magazine, New Delhi.Banker is a contemporary Indian novelist often counted among the significant literary names in post-colonial Indian literature. His work is the focus of several academic studies for its cross-cultural themes and realistic portrayals of Indian urban issues. He was earlier also known as a reviewer and commentator on contemporary Indian literature, and as a candid essayist with a particular focus on media hypocrisy in India, and the western racial bias against South Asian writers. Banker has published in several genres, ranging from contemporary fiction about urban life in India to multi-volume mythological epics, as well as cross-genre works. Three of his early novels to be published were crime thrillers, claimed to be the first written by an Indian novelist in English. They gained him widespread attention. The stories of his "Devi" series are short works featuring avatars of the Hindu goddess Devi, and have appeared in various science fiction, fantasy, and horror magazines.
Three of his novels contain autobiographical elements and are closely related to one another. His first novel (though the fifth published) Vertigo is about a man struggling to make a successful career and home life in Bombay (the former name of Mumbai). Byculla Boy takes its name from the Byculla suburb of Bombay where he and his mother grew up. Beautiful Ugly and the complementary documentary of the same title are a tribute to his mother, portraying the tragic events of her life. He was a prolific literary critic and reviewer, known for his candour and bluntness in reviewing books by Indian authors. His views often veered from the outright derogatory to effusive praise.
He is one of few contemporary Indian authors writing in English to be included in prestigious anthologies such as The Vintage Book of Modern Indian Literature and The Picador Book of Modern Indian Literature
Three of his novels contain autobiographical elements and are closely related to one another. His first novel (though the fifth published) Vertigo is about a man struggling to make a successful career and home life in Bombay (the former name of Mumbai). Byculla Boy takes its name from the Byculla suburb of Bombay where he and his mother grew up. Beautiful Ugly and the complementary documentary of the same title are a tribute to his mother, portraying the tragic events of her life. He was a prolific literary critic and reviewer, known for his candour and bluntness in reviewing books by Indian authors. His views often veered from the outright derogatory to effusive praise.
He is one of few contemporary Indian authors writing in English to be included in prestigious anthologies such as The Vintage Book of Modern Indian Literature and The Picador Book of Modern Indian Literature
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Ashok Banker is known for writing epic mythology series whereas Blood Red Sari is the first of the action thriller series Kali Rising. So when I started reading it, I tried to do so with an open mind, free from any pre-conceived notion or perception which is a bit demanding when one is familiar with few of the writer's previous works.
The opening chapter is divided into three parts with each one introducing the main characters - Anita, a private detective from Thiruvananthapuram, Nachiketa, a lawyer from New Delhi, and Sheila, a gym instructor-cum-owner from Kolkata. This format continues throughout the book with three stories moving parallel with every succeeding chapter. All the three women receive an envelope each from a social activist Lalima and since then their lives turn upside down. The women, while recovering from their huge losses and battling for their survival, discover that the envelopes contain evidences against the international human trafficking mafia and the masterminds behind it can and will go to any length to destroy it. Killing and terrorising is but a part of this global criminal outfit with intentions now deeper than just human trafficking.
An absolute action-packed page turner complete with strong characters and a riveting plot that thrills and chills with a surprisingly abrupt ending which leaves the reader yearning for more. Only it is not the end, but the beginning of Kali Rising.
Read less
The opening chapter is divided into three parts with each one introducing the main characters - Anita, a private detective from Thiruvananthapuram, Nachiketa, a lawyer from New Delhi, and Sheila, a gym instructor-cum-owner from Kolkata. This format continues throughout the book with three stories moving parallel with every succeeding chapter. All the three women receive an envelope each from a social activist Lalima and since then their lives turn upside down. The women, while recovering from their huge losses and battling for their survival, discover that the envelopes contain evidences against the international human trafficking mafia and the masterminds behind it can and will go to any length to destroy it. Killing and terrorising is but a part of this global criminal outfit with intentions now deeper than just human trafficking.
An absolute action-packed page turner complete with strong characters and a riveting plot that thrills and chills with a surprisingly abrupt ending which leaves the reader yearning for more. Only it is not the end, but the beginning of Kali Rising.
Read less
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