18 August, 2014

#BookReview :: Kingdom Come by Aarti V. Raman

How do you kill a man with no Achilles heel? You cut off his foot ~ Tom Jones. 
Set against the serene beauty of Kashmir, Ladakh and Tibet, Kingdom Come is a gripping story of death and loss, vengeance and retribution, love and life. Krivi Iyer is an embittered former spy and bomb defusal expert with only one regret. That he couldn't catch The Woodpecker, a dangerous, mentally unstable bomber who ended his partner's family. He has a second chance to go after his arch enemy with the arrival of Ziya Maarten, the manager of 'Goonj Business Enterprises' in Srinagar, Kashmir, who is alleged to be The Woodpecker's sister. Except, Ziya is a beautiful distraction and not a terrorist's sister. When a tragedy in London tears Ziya's life apart, she can only rely on Krivi to give her the absolution and vengeance she needs to move on. Between training to be an anti-terrorist squad member and finding The Woodpecker, Ziya uncovers the secrets of Krivi's tormented past. But will two tortured souls find the courage to love?


I had the chance to attend the book launch of ‘Kingdom Come’ at Bangalore. The author is a vivacious young lady who is very bubbly and articulate. She and her guests did a reading from the book there and it was enough to catch my attention. I knew then that if she writes half as well as she speaks, I would enjoy the book.

Kingdom Come is a unique title that hardly gives away what the story is about. It tells us the story of Krivi Iyer and Ziya Maarten set in the backdrop of beautiful sceneries of Kashmir and Tibet. Krivi Iyer is a former spy and bomb defusal expert whose only regret in life is that he could not capture the mentally unstable Woodpecker, a master bomber. It was personal to him since the Woodpecker was responsible for the demise of his partner’s family. So when he receives intel that Ziya Maarten is Woodpecker’s sister and may know about his whereabouts, he goes all out to finish what the Woodpecker had started. Yet he was not prepared for Ziya. She is strong, kind and loving. When an incident tears apart Ziya’s life and threatens to bring down her world, Krivi can only lend his strength to protect the beautiful Ziya.

I am not a sexist, but I hardly ever had the reason to expect the kind of story that Aarti presents to us from a woman. Yes, the love and sensuality infused in the story is precious and the complexities of a relationship captured and expressed in a way only a woman can. However, talking about IEDs and bomb disposal squads with such familiarity is scarce from a woman. I would like to applaud the author for narrating it so convincingly. 

The characters in the story all have different shades to them and the author has developed them in a expert manner. I particularly enjoyed the chemistry between Krivi and Ziya and how Noor and Sam added something special to the story. Vivid descriptions and beautiful settings only compliment the story.

An interesting combination of thrills and romance makes it a good option for the book lovers of both the genres.




3 comments:

  1. I loved this book and felt it was a fresh attempt in this genre. I agree with you that the author did capture the character shades beautifully..Nice Review DDS :)

    Checkout my review here: http://njkinny.blogspot.in/2014/05/book-review-kingdom-come-by-aarti-v.html

    -Nikita @Njkinny's World of Books & Stuff

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    1. Nikita, in case I haven't said it already. Thanks ever so much and I am so glad you like KC! All over again :D

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  2. Oh my gods! So much love and support! Writer Gal can only be happy and hope that she can continue entertaining you with her next!

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