Paperback: 384 pages
Publisher: Westland Limited; 1st Edition edition (24 August 2012)
Language: English
Here is the copy paste of Book Description and About Author
Book Description
A cardboard box is found on a shelf of a London library. When the mystified librarian opens it, she screams before she falls unconscious to the floor. Within the labyrinthine recesses of the Vatican, a beautiful assassin swears she will eliminate all who do not believe in her twisted credo. An elite army of thirteen calling itself the Lashkare Talatashar has scattered around the globe. The fate of its members curiously resembles that of Christ and his Apostles. Their agenda is Armageddon. A Hindu astrologer spots a conjunction of the stars and nods to himself in grim realization of the end of the world. In Tibet, a group of Buddhist monks’ searches for a reincarnation, much in the way their ancestors searched Judea for the Son of God. In strife torn Kashmir, a tomb called Rozabal holds the key to a riddle that arises in Jerusalem and gets answered at Vaishno Devi. In The Rozabal Line, a thriller swirling between continents and centuries, Ashwin Sanghi traces a pattern that curls backward to the violent birth of religion itself.
About the Author
Ashwin Sanghi entrepreneur by day, novelist by night has all the usual qualifications of an Indian businessman. Schooling at the Cathedral and John Connon School, a B.A. (Economics) from St. Xavier’s College and an M.B.A. (Finance) from the Yale School of Management. Ashwin is a director of the M.K. Sanghi Group of Companies, which has business interests in real estate development, automobiles, manufacturing and engineering. Besides being a businessman, Ashwin manages a parallel career as writer of fiction. Ashwin’s first novel, The Rozabal Line was originally self-published in 2007 under his anagram-pseudonym Shawn Haigins. The book was subsequently published by Westland in 2008 and 2010 in India under his own name and went on to become a national bestseller. Chanakya’s Chant is his second novel in the historical fiction genre. The book has remained on AC Nielsen’s India Bookscan Top-10 for all of 2011. It won the 2010 Crossword-Vodafone Popular Choice Award in September 2011. UTV has purchased the movie rights to the book and a film based upon the story is expected soon. Dr. Shashi Tharoor released the novel in Mumbai calling it an enthralling, delightfully interesting and gripping read with historical research that is impressive. The Hindustan Times has called it a cracker of a page-turner. Ashwin is also working towards a Ph.D. in Creative Writing from Bangor University in Wales. Ashwin lives in Mumbai with his wife, Anushika and his eight-year old son, Raghuvir.
Why did I choose to read it?
I had heard the rumor (if we can say it a rumor) that Jesus had lived in Kashmir, and this story revolves around the topic. I chose it to go deeper in the rumor of Jesus spending time in Kashmir.
My Verdict
First of all I am no expert to tell you the review. It is just what I feel while reading it. It is my personal opinion; someone else’s opinion may differ.
What I liked
The Rozabal Line has a wonderful thriller start and is gripping from the page one. You may like the way the scenes start and end.
I find Ashwin Sanghi’s writing style phenomenal. It is flawless, smooth and pleasing to senses. The story seems promising.
Scenes are written wonderfully. The author should be praised for the uses of words.
It is visible in the book that the author had done the extensive research. It is clearly visible when you read the novel that Ashwin is quite erudite. The merging of fact and fiction amazes the reader.
What I didn’t like that much
In the beginning the scenes start in mysterious way but later it somehow irritates the reader because now the reader wants to connect more deeply to the story and to the characters but the way story goes it seems to be distant observation. The reader keeps desiring to go in the characters’ mind but the author perhaps had something else in his own mind. So the reader feels less attached to characters and so it appears that the reader doesn’t care if anything happens to any character.
There are too many characters and the reader is confused all the time whether he should remember this character or that character and when in the end answers of some story questions are revealed the reader couldn’t recall which character the author is talking about.
Because the author couldn’t connect us to the characters deeply, it does not have much impact on us. There seems no emotional turmoil, bonding.
The “regression” confuses the reader; who was who and when? I don’t know if it is because I am weak in history. If it is so then you must have enormous knowledge of mythological history of the world, yes, the world.
Conclusion
You may give it a try if you like mythological thrillers, fiction weaved with facts, and books with extensive research. However, I want to advise you not to expect too much for emotion effect.
Ashwin did mind-numbing research for THE ROZABAL LINE and this is quite a big reason to give it a try.
Doctor. Author. Reader.
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