Title: Deadly Shadows

Author: Rajinder Prabhakar

Publisher: Bloomsbury India

Release Date: 6 January 2020

Genre: Spy thriller

My Rating: 3/5

ONLY ONE MAN STANDS BETWEEN INDIA AND ITS ANNIHILATION.

When a series of deadly attacks carried out by a mysterious weapon strike remote parts of India, it takes the country to the edge of panic and chaos. To make matters worse, the government and its intelligence agencies fear that these attacks are building to something truly catastrophic – a final strike that would bring India to its knees and spell the end of its sovereignty.

As the clock runs down, Adit Ohri, an elite operative of the 53 SAG, a strike force buried deep inside the nation’s military infrastructure, is assigned to chase down a lead from his past and find those behind the attacks. But even as the needle of suspicion points towards India’s traditional enemies, the mission leads Adit on a trail of smoke screens and deceit, until he finds the final shocking truth.

I like books inspired by real events and the first thing that sparked my interest was that Deadly Shadows was one such book. The plot was quite gripping with the mysterious death of a group of people, the assasination of politicians and a deadly weapon that threatens the security of our nation. Adit Ohri, an operative of the 53 SAG (Special Action Group) was assigned to find out the fugitives behind both the heinous crime.

I liked the author’s writing style and all the information about NSG, Special Action Group (SAG), how it works and all. The covert operation to find Iqbal Hanif completely kept me hooked and stuck to the pages. It was vividly described and well-executed. The author maintained the suspense element evenly throughout the book. I could not guess who was behind those deadly attacks and the question of ‘why did he do that’ did not let me put down the book.

One thing I don’t like was the undue praise over the character Romesh Desai who played the role of an Indian Prime Minister in this book. In fact, it didn’t bring any admiration over the character if that’s what intended. It has only deflected me from the ongoing discussion. Other than that, this is a good read. If you like spy thrillers, you will like this book too.

*A special thanks to the publisher for the review copy. All opinions are my own.*