Title: Kingdom Come
Author: Aarti V Raman
Publisher: Harlequin
ISBN: 978-93-5106-397-1
Number of Pages: 311
Price [INR]: 299
Genre: Fiction
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?
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.
Kingdom Come is more of a romantic thriller. Against the backdrop of bombs blasts and bomb disposal, kidnapping, terrorists is a passionate love story of Krivi and Ziya. Krivi’s past haunts and distresses him. To make peace with his past, he has a mission to complete and Ziya could lead him to his enemy who is the insane Woodpecker. Ziya is unaware of the existence of the Woodpecker and has no clue of Krivi’s past. In the course of time, she falls in love with him. As Krivi lets his past dominate his life, will love enter his life? Will love ever come their way? You need to read Kingdom Come to know all that and much more.
I liked the immaculate research the author has done for the military operations. This made the story-line very realistic and made it all the more credible. The plot of the story is a novel one and the characterization is good. Loved Noor’s character, I wish there was more of her in the story. The pace of the story is good and keeps you engaged. The climax takes you by surprise and is executed well.
Coming to the big dampener! No marks for guessing. It is the editing! The book is poorly edited and lacks proof-reading. Sentences like, “What’s your gut tell you?” or “Now let me the hell go.” take you away from the intense scene that is about to unfold and make you cringe. I wish authors and publishers are vigilant about the quality of their work.
In a nutshell, Kingdom Come is an admirable debut, although there is a room for improvement.
Rating : [usr 3 text=”false” size=20]
14 Responses
I like romantic thrillers and am sure will like this book too but for the editing. I agree with you about proofreading and tight editing in books otherwise the readers lose interest. Will read it just for the interesting story and plot, your review helped make up my mind. Thanks Shilpa.
Agree. Wish the proofreading and editing was good. Otherwise this is an interesting story with a novel plot!
Wow! I was right with you on the story line. But, you are right, Shilpa, editing and proofreading are very important to the flow and the readers’ enjoyment of a book. The examples you gave don’t bother me too much, because the way I speak is quite different from the way I write. (For one thing, there is no hillbilly accent in my writing! *lol*) I appreciate you and all I have learned from you about Indian literature.
I know what you mean, LuAnn. For me, when I read a sentence with incorrect grammar or sentence structuring, my focus shifts from the story to the grammar then. And that truly hampers the reading pleasure!
LOL @ For one thing, there is no hillbilly accent in my writing! 😀 The feeling is mutual, LuAnn! Have been learning about so many new authors from you too 🙂
I had almost decided to get the book and then I read about the bad editing 🙁 In 2 minds now 😐
Go for it! It is an engaging story!
Hey, I had read this some time back and quite liked it.
That’s awesome, Tina! Glad you enjoyed reading it 🙂
Plot sounds interesting, though I clinched at the two lines you shared. This surge in new writers and publishers is good but won’t last if it is so poorly edited, don’t you think so?
Agree. The number of poorly edited books is so high that now-a-days, when I come across a nicely edited book, I do a happy dance! 🙄
I think these days the publishers are in too much of a hurry to release books and forget that editing is important…So much hard work by the author is ruined sometimes because of that…But still it looks like a good read
I wonder why the author does not read his/her book before it goes for final print?! 😐
An interesting plot and for some reason it reminds me of Ek Tha Tiger although there is very little resemblance to the plot.
Bad editing puts me off and I usually end up leaving the book unfinished. 🙁
Thanks for the heads up on this one.
Is it? I have not seen this movie 😀
Yes, a book with poor editing can be pretty painful!