I just finished reading (yes, I actually read the entire book) Ashwin Sanghi's 'Krishna's key'. I honestly had high hopes from this guy after reading his earlier outing 'Chanakya's Chant'. But this one left me feel crestfallen, cheated, aghast. Such a blatant counterfeit of Dan Brown's 'Angels and Demons', 'Da Vinci's Code' and 'The Lost Symbol', all put together, but not even half as exciting and intelligent. Why the author of his stature will put his reputation at stake!
The story starts with plot directly mooched from 'Angels and Demons', four murders strung together by a mythological symbol's trail. A character very similar to 'assassin', carries out the executions under the impression that he is the saviour chosen to eliminate evil, brandishing the dead bodies with obscure symbols (rings any bell!). then the writer jumps to Da Vinci Code, making the guileless hero the prime suspect. He goes overboard with the heavy doses of Indian mythology, brewing conspiracy theories out of every page of Indian history, pre-vedic, post vedic, ancient, medieval, et al . The story runs helter skelter through various places of mythological relavance with out anything consequential materializing out of it. Then comes 'The Lost Symbol', story ending with the philosophical interpretation of the Symbol, without giving any concrete explanation as to why the symbol was invented in the first place! Even the assassin, Taarak Vakil, the character very central to the plot, is rendered a mere puppet and met with an abrupt end before the climax itself...insane!
If the author tries here to force upon the evidence that Krishna did exist and Mahabharata did happen, he could have gone about writing a non-fictional book with all the documents and research he boasts of in the end. The confused plot, out-of-place surprises, and sudden inexplicable turn in characters make the very effort look worthless!
If you really are myhtological thriller addict, skip the book and go grab you copy of Dan Brown's novel and read it over again. It is one hundred times better and what more to say...original than Krishna's Key.
P.S. Mr. Sanghi, I want my money back!
Thanks for the heads up!!
ReplyDelete:)
DeleteOops ... this was one novel I was looking forward to reading :-(
ReplyDeleteSeriously not worth..
DeleteI haven't read it yet.. but have read all Dan Brown stuff... looks like its not worth it..
ReplyDeleteLooks like you love reading.
I invite you to my blog for a book event and win a book. :)
Sure, I will, dear!
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