It’s a good sign that Indian authors are venturing into writing about some genre other than a love story which has been used so frequently that it’s obsolete now. But after reading “The Terrorist”, I have realized that we still have a long way to go before we can create a page turner thriller.
Plot – Suvir and Murad- both victims of circumstances, both numb with the pain of having lost their loved ones-choose to do things differently. While one becomes the most feared of all terrorists, the other joins the Special Forces. Their face-off is a fight to the death as is one is out to carry out a major terrorist operation in Delhi and the other has been specially called in foil the attack. When you are trained to endure the harshest of climates, the most hostile of situations, to survive where no ordinary man can- there’s little difference between you and the terrorist you are trying to kill. Except which side you are on.
Review – The novel starts off on a good note explaining the life of the protagonists. One is a soldier in an Indian army who has been summoned to explain his harsh actions while the other is an honest muslim boy who found himself on the wrong side of the law after a series of terrorist attacks. The reason being that he was a Muslim. The pair leads contrasting lives but fates decide to interfere and their destinies are intertwined.
Out of the two, I found Murad’s story much more interesting than Suvir’s. The detailing of the harsh times Murad had to face without committing any crime, were much more gripping. At one point you would actually begin to feel sorry for him. But the moment the Suvir life’s started, the book started a downward spiral. There were parts or scenes which shouldn’t have been there at all. Suvir’s background doesn’t count up for the kind of cold, calculating, emotionless man whom he had become. The relationship with his best friend and the reason for the fallout was pointless to say the least. And I never understand why every author in the world needs to fit in a love story somewhere even in a thriller. A love story just ruins tempo, the flow and in a lot of cases are not required.
As the book progressed, it became increasingly hard to read it. Parts that should have been explained were left hanging by a thread. For instance, I would have liked to know more about the character Ashwini. The conversations that were taken between Suvir and Murad seemed very flimsy which did not help it’s cause. The number of flaws flooded all the points where the book seemed to be going down the right path. Eliminate a few and I pretty sure that this would have been a good one. We at OP give it 1.5.
Gaurav Prasad is the modest one and as he said, “I will just keep this short and sweet.” Currently pursuing my computer science engineering he is for sure included in the list of millions who are fascinated by sports. Needless to say, being an Indian, he is a huge fan of cricket as cricket virtually flows through the veins of all Indians! Apart from this, he generally likes to spend his time reading novels ,watching movies, etc, activities of a normal college going guy. If there is something that he want to learn, it would have to be musical instrument he says.”I truly believe that music is a great option to take out your stress. 
