Checkmate by Hrishikesh Joshi

• Book: Checkmate 
• Author: Hrishikesh Joshi
• Publishing House: Leadstart
• Category: Fiction
• Rating: 4/5

Story-in-Short:

An upright judge is used as a pawn by the terrorists to hijack a plane.

The militants strike with vengeance to free their most dangerous fidayeen from the Indian prisons, as they hold a hundred passengers in the plane to ransom. Calling the shots for jihadis from Pakistan is once upon a time the right hand man of Osama Bin Laden and now the most dangerous terrorist in the world, Muhammad Zia ul Afridi. With the Prime Minister in a soup, there is only one man to stop the diabolical scheme of the dreaded jihadis—Vikram Roy, chief Secretary of RAW, a dashing young man of action. As the Prime Minister is about to surrender the prisoners, Vikram Roy discovers the most shocking truth about activities inside the RAW. The weary nation holds its breath as the fate of a hundred hostages and the prisoners hangs in a limbo. However, the events that are about to follow are so unforeseen that they shock everyone to the core.

In My View:

Weapons cannot define the struggle you fight, as that does take a violent turn in the due course of time. There are so many who have led popular struggles across the world without using weapons, arms and ammunition. However, at the same time, we do have those with wrong notions and delusions, who think weapons and threats are the only solution they have. But the sadly misinformed people are under the wrong interpretations which only have wrong consequences. 

Hrishikesh Joshi’s thriller based on terrorism brings a one such story, with a nasty master-plan of the vicious terrorists. 

The book starts with the story of Zia ul Afridi, the chief of Lashkar and the man Friday of the most-wanted terrorist Osama Bin Laden. After Laden’s death, Afridi plays an innate role in the organization. Now, the RAW officials in India learn about the brutal murder of their three spy agents in Pakistan and they anticipate something bigger to follow.

And much as they anticipate, a London-bound flight is hijacked by the terrorists, with the intention to free three fidayeens, captured and lodged into Indian prisons, by kidnapping the Chief Justice of Mumbai High Court, managing to snoop in weapons into the flight through him as VIP’s don’t have to undergo checking at the airport. 

Soon after, the terrorists establish contact with the RAW, the Prime Minister is briefed, along with the leader of the ruling party and other experts and the RAW begins its operation to counter the highjack and rescue the hostages safely. 

The book possesses an action packed and an extremely enthralling story, which revolves around India, Dubai and Karachi. 

Looking at the cover of the book, with a gun-borne terrorist and bloodstains, and reading the title, one can easily and swiftly make a guess that it is based on terrorism. The narration of the tale is extremely gripping. Nowhere does the story move away from the action, which is like the best part of the book, as it produces and prevails the curiosity and excitement among readers. The dialogues are powerful. There are many characters in the story, and there might be instances wherein one gets a bit confused. However, without characters, the story is simply unimaginable. 

Thrillers often have the sex factor in it. Checkmate has it too, but somewhere, it doesn’t really get along well with the story, though it might add to the interest of some readers. Another part which I felt was too hasty and abrupt was the conclusion, which I had expected would be as powerful as the story, only to be proved wrong. For me, it was like the story climbed higher and higher and then suddenly fell flat towards the ending. Well, on this part, I think the author should have worked harder.

But nevertheless, the book has a fabulous story to offer, which I am sure all the thriller-lovers are going to enjoy. The author has done a lot of research and hardwork and seems to be a big bollywood fan! Well, the book is seriously a good read and having said all of this, my recommendation for this book goes without saying. 

Considering everything, I am rating the book with 4/5. Congratulations to the author for this remarkably well-written book! I am surely looking forward to read more from him! 

NOTE: A review copy of the book was sent by the author. 

• You can purchase Checkmate online via: Infibeam, Crossword, Shimply.