The Hunt For Kohinoor - By Manreet Sodhi Someshwar: A Review


The Hunt for Kohinoor is a thriller. The deadline is 96 hours. The protagonist has to find an elusive set of documents nicknamed, the Kohinoor. The AfPak terrain, one of the most trickiest and dangerous holds the secret to averting a national disaster.  

 Mehrunisa Khosa, Mehr, is called to Srinagar by the RAW head Jag Mishra to find the Kohinoor: a set of documents that can change the way India and Pakistan view the Kashmir issue. Jag Mishra dangles a carrot; Mehr can be reunited with her long lost father Harry, if she finds the Kohinoor. 

 Harry, a legendary spy, nicknamed the Snow Leopard, is injured and is recuperating. Harry's latest assignment, to ensure the peace talk between the Indian and Pakistani premiers goes smoothly, is disrupted by a suicide bomber. The Pakistani General is killed, Harry and the Pakistani aide Aziz Mirza are injured. After the attack, Aziz goes underground and Harry ends in a hospital. The Kohinoor has to be found and the peace talk resumed. One good thing about this incident. Harry recovers from the amnesia where he forgot his married life and his family. When Harry wakes up, he recalls the existence of his daughter.  


There are other contenders for the Kohinoor:
  • Babur Khan: Alias Bob, alias Faqr. A Pakistani American soldier who 'returns' to the Islamic fold after a brief interaction with a madrassa teacher.   
  • General McCormick: An American agent who has his agenda to disrupt the peace talks between India and Pakistan. 
  • RAW: Jag Mishra of the RAW needs to find the Kohinoor to ensure the documents do not get into wrong hands (meaning Babur Khan).
Mehr is sent to Lahore with SSP Raghav, who is a new recruit in RAW and has trained in Israel. Mehr has a set agenda, she has to use her deduction skills to figure out where Aziz Mirza would have hidden the Kohinoor. As a starting point, Mehr meets Begum Mirza, a past lover of Harry and gets some information. Babur Khan is close on the heels of Mehr and Raghav and he sends a suicide bomber to disrupt the meeting.

Mehr and Raghav have very little time to unearth the Kohinoor and decode the secret. They rush through very difficult terrain, on rickety jeeps, through foot on snow clad slippery mountains, braving the sub zero temperatures and jihadis. 


Getting their hands on the Kohinoor is not the end of Mehr and Raghav's adventure set in Pakistan, POK, and Taliban-land. Enter R.P.Singh, on a mission to save his lady love from the jihadis and the  most brutal of them all, Babur Khan. 

 Raghav, Singh, and Mehr are on a mission to save a national terror strike. 

 My views on the book: 

 I took a lot of time to complete the book. Not typical of me. Actually, I wanted to do complete justice to the efforts taken by the author, Manreet. I understood and laud the research that she has done to cull information on the terrain, the ways of the Taliban, the jihadi training centres, and about the AfPak region. Very impressed with the attention to detail. 

 Keeping the storyline taut and not leaving out crucial information is something that Manreet has achieved fabulously. While reading the book, I also went back to do research about the terror attacks, the jihadis, and the Taliban. 

The Hunt for Kohinoor is not inspired by any Foreign thriller, least of all Dan Brown as somebody had commented on a public forum. 

 It is a fresh take on the very real threats India has to face each day. Manreet has very honestly put together a story about a spy and his daughter. The editing is tight and leaves you with a good after-feel.   

 I give this book 4.5/5.

 I would definitely recommend it to all Indians who swear by foreign authors being able to capture the audience's imagination better and so on.    

 About Manreet Sodhi Someshwar: 



Manreet is an Indian author and is primarily known for her novels: The Long Walk Home and The Taj Conspiracy. Manreet is an alumnus of Indian Institute of Management Calcutta. 

Read more about the author here:

1. Isahitya
2. The Hindu: Shades of Grey
3. Author's website 

 Watch All the Videos of The Hunt For Kohinoor here including the character introductions http://bit.ly/THFKPlaylist 

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