Baramulla Bomber
~Clark Prasad
A good thriller novel by an Indian author is hard to come by and Baramulla Bomber is one of the few. The first instalment of the Svastik trilogy is about a weapon developed with the help of Vedic and Biblical knowledge, secret societies that manipulate events in the world, international relations, the Kashmir issue and cricket. The book starts with J R Oppenheimer, the father of the atomic bomb, observing the first atomic bomb explosion – Trinity – in 1945 and remembering the lines from Bhagvat Gita: “Now I have become death, the destroyer of the world”. The book has mixed some real people with fictional ones. Oppenheimer becomes mentor to a fictional Dr Nassir (a Nobel laureate) who researches, with help of Vedas, about the nature of sound and how it can be used as a weapon.
The story moves to the present –2011. China is setting up bases around Indian border signalling an imminent war, there is a possibility of a military coup in China and Pakistan, there are intelligence inputs about ‘Project Babylon’ and somehow Mansur Haider from Baramulla becomes centre of international attention.
Meanwhile, in Shaksgam Valley, a team of mountaineers goes missing, followed by rumours about weapons being tested and UFO sightings. Baramulla Bomber has all the elements of a Hollywood movie and perhaps, there will be one someday.
The book is racy, well-researched and well-written. It is partly based on facts and actual scientific experiments as has been specified at the end of the book. The mix of facts and fiction makes it a thrilling read. The chapters are named like ‘The year “it” began’, ‘1947 to 1965’, ‘129 days to Event’ and ‘Cable: US Embassy Islamabad to CIA Langley’, impressing the vastness of the story which is spread over different countries and time periods. Then there are CIA, RAW, ISI and other secret agencies, carrying out covert operations, which provide gripping action sequences to the plot.
There are maps, illustrations and graphics to go with the story. The illustrations (like the Star of David) need some improvement as they become obscure in black-and-white print. All in all, a great book and I would love to read the next two books of the series.
SPOILER ALERT
On the downside, while there are numerous mentions of the sound of universe, ‘AUM’, powering the weapon, Prasad has not explained how exactly the word is used in the weapon. It talks about frequencies, but not about the specific word.
Disclaimer:
This was part of a book review programme of The Readers Cosmos Reading Club
~Clark Prasad
A good thriller novel by an Indian author is hard to come by and Baramulla Bomber is one of the few. The first instalment of the Svastik trilogy is about a weapon developed with the help of Vedic and Biblical knowledge, secret societies that manipulate events in the world, international relations, the Kashmir issue and cricket. The book starts with J R Oppenheimer, the father of the atomic bomb, observing the first atomic bomb explosion – Trinity – in 1945 and remembering the lines from Bhagvat Gita: “Now I have become death, the destroyer of the world”. The book has mixed some real people with fictional ones. Oppenheimer becomes mentor to a fictional Dr Nassir (a Nobel laureate) who researches, with help of Vedas, about the nature of sound and how it can be used as a weapon.
The story moves to the present –2011. China is setting up bases around Indian border signalling an imminent war, there is a possibility of a military coup in China and Pakistan, there are intelligence inputs about ‘Project Babylon’ and somehow Mansur Haider from Baramulla becomes centre of international attention. Meanwhile, in Shaksgam Valley, a team of mountaineers goes missing, followed by rumours about weapons being tested and UFO sightings. Baramulla Bomber has all the elements of a Hollywood movie and perhaps, there will be one someday.
The book is racy, well-researched and well-written. It is partly based on facts and actual scientific experiments as has been specified at the end of the book. The mix of facts and fiction makes it a thrilling read. The chapters are named like ‘The year “it” began’, ‘1947 to 1965’, ‘129 days to Event’ and ‘Cable: US Embassy Islamabad to CIA Langley’, impressing the vastness of the story which is spread over different countries and time periods. Then there are CIA, RAW, ISI and other secret agencies, carrying out covert operations, which provide gripping action sequences to the plot.
There are maps, illustrations and graphics to go with the story. The illustrations (like the Star of David) need some improvement as they become obscure in black-and-white print. All in all, a great book and I would love to read the next two books of the series.
SPOILER ALERT
On the downside, while there are numerous mentions of the sound of universe, ‘AUM’, powering the weapon, Prasad has not explained how exactly the word is used in the weapon. It talks about frequencies, but not about the specific word.
Disclaimer:
This was part of a book review programme of The Readers Cosmos Reading Club
