Tantra By Adi: A review

 

Name: Tantra

Author: Adi

Publisher: Apeejay Stya Publishing

ISBN 978-81-908636-2-9

Price: 195 INR

The summary on the back cover:

Anu is a leather wearing, no-nonsense professional guardian with a reputation for killing the most dangerous vampires in New York City. But when her enemies murder the one person she truly cared about, all she wants is vengeance. The only clue points to New Delhi, so Anu puts in for a job transfer.

In India, she finds more than she expected. For one thing, her fellow operatives have made a truce with the vampires. For another, it’s way too hot to wear leather.

At first, it seems Anu’s biggest challenge will be evading the nice boys her aunt wants her to marry. But when children start disappearing, she discovers forces older and darker than anything she’s faced before. All of Delhi is in danger, especially the sexy stranger who sets Anu’s pulse racing.

To prepare for the coming battle, Anu must overcome her personal demons and put aside years of training. This time, her most powerful weapon will come from her mind, not her weapons belt.

The title of the book is quite intriguing. Atleast to me.

I am a great fan of the Book Review program of Blogadda.com. When I saw 'Tantra' was up for review, I clicked eagerly, hoping I would get a copy. Sure enough, I got selected. 

When the book arrived, I quickly read the summary printed on the back cover. I was quite keen to read the story. I am guilty of having a preconcieved notion about vampire stories. Having devoured vampire stories such as Dracula by Bram Stoker or the Twilight series (I am a die-hard fan of the blood-sucking vampires) I was excited about the book. 
   
I normally read a book within a few hours. I have to complete it, it is a compulsion. But, for this book, I took some time to read it, savour it. Similar to a vampire sucking the life force out of a warm-blooded human being. Well, enough of blood and gore.

Now, the heroine, Anu Agarwal, well, when I saw the name, I recalled the Bollywood actress. Nevertheless, our heroine is not an actress, she is a no-nonense, vampire fighter, a guardian. She lands in Hamari Dilli from stylish New York. The way her reactions to the Indian weather are described are great. When Amit advises Anu to stop wearing leather and when she realizes that she really needs lighter clothes, I just could not stop laughing.

Since I live in hot Chennai, I was wondering what would have Anu done if the story was based here. 



The story moves a bit slowly dwelling in Anu's life, her dead boyfriend Brian, her aversion to the dekhan-dekhai rituals arranged by Anu's caring aunt. We also are told about Amit's future plans, his ideas of being the only guardian in Delhi. 

I got engrossed, I mean truly truly engrossed when Anu decides to take the bad man, Baba Senaka, heads on, and vehemently practises the Brahmastra. Well, for enthusiasts, if you Google for Brahmastra and other mantras mentioned in the book, you would not get much. 

I was kind of surprised with the attraction between the vampire Chandra and Anu. Thankfully, Adi didnt dabble too much. I would have been let down.

Adi has taken a much repeated story and given a lovely Indian twist. I feel Adi could have given some more meat to the last scenes where Anu, Amit, and Dr. Sharma fight the Baba and his followers.

I enjoyed reading the book. I rate it 3.5/5. :) :)

Looking forward to your next book, Adi.    

This review is a part of the biggest Blogger's Book Review Program for Indian Bloggers. Participate now to get free books! 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Defining LOVE for the Chennai audience :)

Love - An oft misquoted term, which simply means a plethora of misplaced hormones going into overdrive. A strong feeling of magnetism that tries to pull two confused beings into a bubble, which tricks them into a false sense of joy and serenity. Love, is a shortlived emotion. Let it rest! Love, that springs from the bottom of the heart when a week-old baby gurgles at you, has a longer life than the hormonal surge. I am not talking about honey-sweet emotions connected with mothers, siblings and flowers, puppies etc. I am not even talking about the babies sleeping on bathtowels, like those in a Anne Geddes card. I am talking about the bonding between two unsuspecting people, who are unable to behave rationally once they are "bitten" by the love bug. Why I chose to call it a bug, is that once you are bitten, you become devoid of rational thought and behaviour. You tend to forget things, as your hard disk is on an overdrive trying to store images of your beloved! If only you coul...
Read more

Nithya Suresh Kaun Hai?

Nithya Suresh Kaun Hai? Well, this would be the case a few hours ago. But now, 1 hour later, its a fact. A simple yeah, has completed my journey. Maybe I am crazy to say yes, without even thinking. But I had already decided to say yes even without meeting the guy. The Groom, to be exact. Suresh alias Subramanian, would have been my Prince Charming. A would be husband. But destiny had other plans in store. Suresh, withered away without even a trace. My beloved parents spurned him. He was shooed away, because, he turned out to be something else that he originally wasn't. His lies, had turned him into a non-performing asset. NPA. Suresh had to go. He had not completed the formalities. He had lied about his qualifications and job. He had to be stopped from starting the engagement formalities. A phone call took care of that. And an e-mail did the trick. I was relieved. Woudn't I?
Read more

Goonda-ism - Very common dis-ease

Have you ever seen a Goonda? Well, a goonda is a person, mind you it can be a woman too, who is just chickened out at the thought of showing people their weakness. A goonda shows of his (for the time being I will consider the male version) biceps power and tries to scare people into believing that he is the best. Well, most of the times he is wrong! He is just plain scared to face his inner demons and thus he tries to mask his inner demons by acting demonish on the outside. I have seen many goondas in my life. There are educated and uneducated goondas. There are goondas with a suave tongue and sleek cars, but nevertheless they are goondas. They can be bankers, engineers or even a rikshaw-wallah. But inside they have this devillish itch to show off their "goonda-ism" to the public and try to gain that extra edge that life has somehow snatched from them. One goonda lives in my apartment. He is a lawyer. I like him so much that I have been nurturing a wish of pushing a bucket fu...
Read more