The Man Who Died Twice - Richard Osman (Book).

Book 49/52.

The Man Who Died Twice - Richard Osman

My Rating: 3/5 

I will say this was the lukewarm second book from the much-loved Thursday Murder Club series, which I totally loved for thrill, action and insanely loving characters. Now, the sequel, on the other hand, didn’t work the way the original worked in the first place. I believe that was because four unique characters are introduced amazingly in the first part. All four retired from different backgrounds, living together in a posh old-age home in a secluded village. One of them is a retired MI5/6 agent, another one was a union leader, one psychiatrist and the last but not the least (one of my favourite) retired nurse. They make an amazing Thursday Murder Club and help their cop friends Donna and Chris solve the murder mysteries. This time around, the murder is related to one of them (an ex-husband who died long back), who is killed again after stealing 20 million pounds worth of diamonds from a mafia member, hence the title. What started (was supposed to be a cat and mouse chase game) was a wild goose chase to first know if the ex-husband was actually dead or he was playing dead, and where are the diamonds gone? On top of that, one of the oldies gets beaten black and blue by a rogue kid trying to snatch his mobile phone, what he goes through after the accident and how he still helps from his hospital bed was a good story, but felt too long for my imagination and liking. Exciting was the way his friends tracked and punished the kid in question, but what I expected from this part was to show me some glimpses from their past, which it only does very partially and not to the full extent. And that is why it was an average time pass read, which I was able to finish in 4-5 working days, nothing exceptional, but not bad at all. 

Do let me know if you have read The Man Who Died Twice and loved it the way its prequel was admired, or if it didn’t work for you either. I will certainly look forward to its TV adaptation for a few of my favourite actors enacting these lovely characters on screen. 

 

Mrs Funnybones - Twinkle Khanna (Book).

Book 48/52.

Mrs Funnybones - Twinkle Khanna

My Rating: 1/5 

Why I picked up this one is because I had finished two of the fattest books for the year back to back (Dan Brown and Robert Galbraith’s latest), which added to some 1700+ pages. Hence needed a light-hearted feel-good book to break the suspense and thrill momentum and landed on this one in our library. On top of that, I was curious to read at least one from the celebrity writer to get the hang of her writing, and if she is any good. I know one gentleman who knows one gentleman who claimed that this was ghostwritten by him. Now, I am totally sure he was lying because if he had written this one, it would have been funny to say the least. It turns out to be random ramblings of a privileged Bollywood wife going on and on about her daily life, followed by some Googled anecdotes and tidbits we now read in reel world. It has a lot of Bollywood references, as they for sure won’t mind being part of a celebrity author’s published work in the name of fun. But it was not funny at all, let alone making me laugh, it didn’t even made me smile one bit on top of that she claims she had her own set of struggle in life, that was a little hard to digest coming from someone whose father was a superstar, so was/is her mother and husband happens to be one of the richest actors of his own era. I hated the potty references in the name of comedy, even when they were related to her toddler; too much of it was a big turn-off for me. Ironically, no mention of her Dad or Sister in the book, whereas she has taken solid digs at her other side of the family, of course, for fun (even that wasn’t funny) and loads of her superstar husband, almost in all the chapters (which was a respite). I can bet that Random House didn’t even proofread her work, let alone edit its mistakes or correct grammar. The only thing that made me actually laugh was the use of five “Blimeys” that she did in the first five chapters. 

I believe I should have stuck to my favourite PGW for fun; this wasn’t even worth the 50/- that I paid for my copy. Do let me know if you have read this one and liked it. I will stay away from her other works for now. 

 

The Hallmarked Man - Robert Galbraith (Book).

Book 47/52.

The Hallmarked Man - Robert Galbraith. 

My Rating: 3/5 

8th book from the Cormoran Strike series by J K Rowling under the pseudonym of Robert Galbraith, that I waited for with bated breath, not to read how Cormoran Strike and his partner Robin solve their next mystery, but to read what happens next in both their personal lives too. Got the book on the same day it was launched, and super thanks to Uncle Bezos for sending it within 24 hours my way. This is unfortunately the weakest book from the series and I guess the longest with almost 900 pages of mess that JKR has created, roped in so many characters and mysteries in one story that beyond 300-400 odd pages I totally lost the interest but somehow kept ploughing to know what happens to Strike and Robin personally as nothing better happens for the remaining 500 odd pages too. She tried her level best to keep it engaging by not only adding Free Masons theory in this one (to my total disinterest) but also MI5 and MI6, too, ruffling some feathers with Strike and his partner. But the only thing that worked in this one for me was like I said, what they do on personal front to make their own lives better, Strike going back to his sister and passed out uncle, Robin going back to her family, new boy friend and even looking for help when needed and as the reader in me kept on rooting for the same. Strike’s past is coming back to haunt him in such a way that there is no undoing it. His difference with his own father takes another turn in this one, to my pleasure though, for a change. Even with so much going on in the story with multiple murders, abductions, missing persons, a mutilated body found in a vault in such a way that hard to tell who it belongs to. Yet, somehow it all was so disconnected that it didn’t work for me at all.  On top of that, the agency is working multiple cases with fresh blood who have their own stories to tell. 

I am certainly going to wait for others to read and come back with their opinions to check if I am the only one for whom it didn't work, or if others feel the same. This is shocking that two books back-to-back from two of my favourite authors have not worked for me. First, it was Dan Brown’s The Secret of Secrets, which fell flat and now this one. I am must say The Hallmarked Man was a two star book for me for almost 99% of its length, what made me give it one more star in addition is something that I can’t disclose but if you have read the earlier books, you will get the hint (Wink Wink) and THAT was not only a big respite but will be a huge reason why I will wait another year for the next in the series to get a final closure. Do let me know if you have read this and liked it any better. My personal favourite from this series will be her last book, The Running Grave, so far her best work, and eagerly waiting for its TV adaptation. 

 

Too Good to Be True - Prajakta Koli (Book).

Book 46/52.

Too Good to Be True - Prajakta Koli

My Rating: 2/5 (Feeling generous).

When it comes to books, I am a very curious soul, hence at times I keep stealing books from my kids' collection to understand what they are reading these days. This book was unfortunately from that set when my dearest sister in law visited Pune last month for a vacation and had picked this one up from Indore airport. This is more like a teenage love story where nothing goes wrong, even written from a teenage perspective and for someone’s guilty pleasure where the protagonist falls head over heels in love with a guy who is fair, handsome, with dimpled cheeks, curly hairs, superb biceps and body of-course followed by being a CEO of his Dad’s public limited company, swanky penthouse in south Bombay, a Karan Johar styled mansion in Mussorie, a private jet and even a helicopter (reminds you of 50 Shades right?) and right when it sounds “To Good to Be True” there has to be something wrong with him for his family, blah blah blah… and the book gets over with a predictable ending which I was able to predict in first 25 pages but had to finish again to keep my record intact. Not blaming her for reading, and I am hoping she must have loved this book (cause she herself is in mid 20s). Being a debut book of an actor turned author, I didn’t have any expectations, but glad that I was able to breeze through it in no time. 

Do let me know if you have read this one and liked it. If you are looking for a teenage romance with a happy ending, this is your book with a slight twist. Otherwise, you can skip it. 

 

The Secret of Secrets - Dan Brown (Book).

Book 45/52.

The Secret of Secrets - Dan Brown. 

My Rating: 3/5. 

One of my all-time favourite authors, and as soon as his book was released, I was super keen to read it before I get distracted by others’ reviews and thoughts. I had pre-booked the same on Amazon, and it was delivered right the very next day to my utter surprise. Unfortunately, this will be the first from Dan that didn’t work for me as I expected to thrill, engage and shock me by the great revelation in the end as it happens in all his stories. I believe he overcooked it this time and took too much data from social media to make it more interesting, which, in my opinion, didn’t work in his favour (at least in my opinion). As usually it happens in all his stories, Robert Langdon travels to Prague to attend a seminar for his long time friend Katherine is supposed to address, where she reveals that she is about to release her book on Human Consciousness which takes the theory to next level (much to the shock and surprise of CIA), of course they try their level best to sabotage the publication of the book as they themselves are working on a similar theor of their own (or was it theirs?) in between comes a suspicious character Golem of Prague too to further engage the reader on a break-neck thrill and suspense. Now, the parties involved, if we are counting, are Robert Langdon with his friend Katherine, followed by US Embassy Head Heide, further followed by her security team of Marines, a team of CIA hoodlums working with or against them, further followed by the illegal test subjects who have to take their own revenge on the whole system. And in this hodgepodge of things, somewhere after the big reveal around half the way (total 650+ pages), I lost interest, yet finished it to keep my record intact. 

What doesn’t work especially in this book is the plethora of science and scientific terms that Katherine, Gessner (one who invites her to speak at the seminar) and Robert Langdon throw our way. As convincing as they may sound, they do get too confusing at times, and there is no end to his theories, so much so that he reminded me of Christopher Nolan, who shows no respite for his audience, much as we love his movies, but none of them is straightforward. On top of that, this book, I guess, is a few years late, as so many instances which were like I had already seen in so many Instagram reels in the last few years, they all make their way into the book to my shock and heartbreak. You’ve got to read the book if you are keen to know more about the same, but I must say that this might become his least-read book. On top of that, as his last too isn’t adapted yet into a movie or a TV series, this too will share the same fate as Tom Hanks is too old now to take the character forward and looking at the size and the stretch of the story, it won’t be easy to adapt it in the first place. In my opinion, if anyone can play Robert Langdon from the current Hollywood crop, it will be George Clooney, who coincidentally gets a mention in the book, too.  I still rated it a generous 3/5 for the intrigue, suspense and the lovely characters and the stories behind so many monuments that they come across during their chase or being chased. And the best part about this one, too, is that the story takes place in 24 hours. 

Do let me know if you have read this one or if you are planning to read it any time soon. I guess I will go back to the series sometime soon and start again with the first Robert Langdon book, as I enjoyed them all big time, but this one somehow didn’t work for me at all.