Review of ‘Breach’ authored by Amrita Chowdhury.

‘Colare’ is supposed to be the new ‘wunderkid’ on the block. A drug that has gone through a long and stringent testing period, that is going to be used in the fight against late-stage metastic pancreatic cancer. With millions of dollars already invested in it and billions expected to be garnered from it once it hits the market; the scientists are absolutely horrified to discover anomalies in the data that is coming in from their ‘Research Centre’ in Mumbai.
Days away from filing for global patency it’s a desperate race against time to discover why this is happening?
 Is that drug not all what it was believed to be or is the data inconsistency being thrown up due to non- adherence to research protocol in their Mumbai facility? Has a virus been planted in their system to distort the data and if so who has done it and how do they find it? Is somebody trying to steal their research and piggy back on it? The probable causes are endless, the outcome just one that they can consider…they have to plug the ‘breach’.

Ms Chowdhury takes us through the shiny, antiseptic research centers’ in the USA and India; past the seedy underbelly of Mumbai’s slums and criminals. We catch a glimpse of middle class India and the choices that technology has given them. Above all it takes us into the world of computing and its threats that very few of us know much about.

Breach is an extremely well researched novel, be it about computer viruses or systems, drug related issues or even the patent filing system; Ms Chowdhury has delved deep and given us a comprehensive idea of what all it entails. After reading this book I was absolutely horrified at how easy it is for anyone to hack into my computer and get my personal details. It throws up an absolutely appalling picture of what modern day crime could result in. The plot was a believable one and I could envision something like this actually happening. There were these little nuggets of personal observation by the characters which I felt were so astute, be it Raghu thinking of how their ‘lives were leached of colour’ or Sandman pondering the harsh reality that people talked to him on the internet who would not have given him the time of the day if they had know whom he really was etc.

What I did struggle with in the book was the excessive technological jargon. There was a lot of in-depth exploration and explanation of software systems, viruses, clinical trials, patency laws etc but it was not couched in lay-man’s terms and even though I did appreciate all the research done for authenticity, I found myself skipping parts as trying to understand all that was taking away from the story. Secondly I found it had too many characters and little mini plots around these individuals. My personal liking is for stories in which I can recall the characters and don’t have to keep referring back to see whom is being written about and their context to the story. Then again, wouldn’t call this a drawback but just the way I like something.

Books for your 'Bucket List'.

Lists have become a part of our lives.

You have lists of who are the richest people in the world or then one for the happiest country in the world. Then again one for countries with the highest divorce rate and another for the lowest birth rate and so on and so forth. Something common; anything common ...whoo hoo..lets have a list.

I have to admit I am an absolute sucker for lists

So be it a list of the ten best detergents
List of 10 super foods etc....I faithfully click on all the links.

This list though is a must read. A bit heavy on all the 'Man Booker' winners but got some great books on it nevertheless.

Books for your 'Bucket List'.

Have fun!!

A princess can fall in love too. 'Hidden Passion' by Summerita Rhayne.

Hidden Passion 

by 

Summerita Rhayne 

The Blurb

Rukmani, the youngest of her family, has always had her way and she thinks she would too when the question of her marriage arises. But when she expresses her wishes, her world comes crumbling down because aristocratic affairs seem to matter more than her heart. Who can she run to but the strongest ruler of the region, Deveshwaraya?


Devesh finds himself torn between duty and desire. He is drawn to her yet being with her jeopardizes everything he has worked for. When even protecting her invites trouble, how can he let his heart become involved? 


When the walls of monarchical politics rise high between them, will her passion prevail?


Hidden Passion – the story of a princess daring to reach out for her heart’s desire

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Meet the Author

Summerita Rhayne writes sensual romance with emotional conflict. She took up writing when she was in her late thirties and hasn't looked back since. She first got published in 2013 and has won contests with Harlequin and Harper Collins India. Writing, she finds, is the only way to deal with the numerous story ideas bubbling in her brain which pop up more rapidly than her keyboard can do justice to. Especially when writing time is in short supply while juggling it with a job and the demands of a family. However, her pet belief is that a story and its characters have a life of their own and will find a way to make the writer pen them down. What else can one do when cerebrally confronted with the sizzling interaction of two Alpha characters?



She prefers to call her books sweet and sensual to denote the slowly deepening relationship between the characters.



She loves winding down with music, movies and social networking.

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Nirbhaya, you were a decent girl.

On International Woman's Day a documentary is to be aired about the people who were involved in the horrific Nirbhaya rape case in December 2012.

It makes me sick to even read what Mukesh Singh (one of the accused and his lawyers) have to say. Forget remorse, they actually seem to deem, that they did what was justified under the circumstances.

It is hard to believe that as fellow human beings they are so singularly lacking in any sort of guilt and sorrow that even after they left the poor girl tortured, broken and bleeding at the side of the road they have the gall to say this.........

“When being raped, she shouldn't fight back. She should just be silent and allow the rape. Then they'd have dropped her off after 'doing her', and only hit the boy,” Singh is quoted as saying.

He also says if the rapists are executed, life would be more dangerous for rape victims in the future.
“Now when they rape, they won't leave the girl like we did."
(Do they actually believe they deserve praise for what they did?)

Their lawyers are educated men, so it is even harder to stomach their views on the subject.

A decent girl won't roam at night.

Destiny drew them together. 'Saved in Sri Lanka' by Devika Fernando

Book Blitz 

Saved In Sri Lanka 

by 

Devika Fernando

Some People Are Destined To Meet 

Blurb 

Some people are destined to meet.



It sure feels that way when Sri Lankan tour guide Sepalika meets Daniel. The mysterious tourist from Ireland steals his way into her heart and makes her question everything her life is built upon. Instant attraction turns to love – but does he feel the same? And what about the secret she’s hiding from him?

Follow the two on their quest for a happy ending amid the beauty and wonders of the tropical island paradise of Sri Lanka.

Grab Your Copy

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About 

Devika Fernando

Almost as soon as Devika Fernando could write, she imagined stories and poems. After finishing her education in Germany and returning to her roots in Sri Lanka, she got a chance to turn her passion into her profession. Having lived in Germany and in Sri Lanka with her husband has made her experience the best (and the worst) of two totally different worlds – something that influences her writing. Her trademark are sweet, yet deeply emotional romance stories where the characters actually fall in love instead of merely falling in lust. She draws inspiration from everyone and everything in life. Besides being a romance novel author, she works as a self-employed German web content writer, as a translator, and as a faithful servant to all the cats, dogs, fish and birds in her home. What she loves most about being an author is the chance to create new worlds and send her protagonists on a journey full of ups and downs that will leave them changed. When she’s not writing, she’s reading or thinking about writing.

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Review of 'She Loves Me, He Loves Me Not', author Zeenat Mahal

She didn’t seem to mind looking at him. She didn’t even avoid looking at his face , or cringe in revulsion. If he didn’t know better, he could almost forget his own grotesque reality, the way she looked at him.

Zeenat. She Loves Me, He Loves Me Not (Kindle Locations 937-939). 

                   Life has not dealt Zoella an easy hand but she accepts what comes her way with a smile and tries to make the most of it. Fardeen on the other hand is the original golden boy, born with a silver spoon in his mouth. Rich, successful, more attractive than what is good for him he has the world at his feet. Zoella who is a good friend of his sister Swaba, has fairly grown up in their house and knows she is just one among his legion of admirers but Fardeen has eyes only for his fiancée Neha.

                  This bubble bursts when Fardeen meets with an accident and is badly disfigured. Shunned by his fiancée, a bitter Fardeen locks himself away from the world convinced he is good for no one and not ready to even try.  A series of events cause them to be married: a marriage Zoella knows is purely of convenience and one that Fardeen views with utter disdain. Is this how Zoella’s life is destined to play out , tied to an embittered , cruel man whose only aim in life seems to be to cause as much pain to everyone around him as he is going through himself?

                  Zeenat Mahal excels in her descriptions, be it kite flying on the roof tops of Lahore, or the hustle and bustle of a wedding house or other little vignettes through the story. She subtly emphasizes and brings out the nuances of social dynamics within a family and between couples. I absolutely loved the character of Fardeen. He was marred and broken and at the end so very real, that he fairly jumped off the pages at you. I did not find the same thing happening with Zoella. She seemed too much of a martyr and too one dimensional for me to really like or understand her.  This I found to be a weak point in the book from my perspective. This was saved by the ebb and flow of the dialogue between the two main characters which was funny, witty, poignant and romantic.

                   I would give it four stars as it’s got a good plot that picks you up and takes you with it keeping you interested throughout.

50 Shades to go...

                     One of the most awaited films in recent times has hit the screens and what a grand opening it has been. It is amazing what all they have riding on the coat tails of this movie. Lingerie, I understand but LEGO figures ????? Either 'super kinky' or 'super lost the message there'.

                     The curiousity it has generated is unbelievable; so like it or hate it the figures tell us it has people thronging to the theatres.

81 million and counting

I haven't seen the movie itself as yet but have read the book and besides the curiosity factor that it hit upon big time by bringing BS&M out of the shadows and legatimising it in its own way, it really had nothing at all going for it. Two days later I had zero recall of it beside the names of the main characters and the Red Room.

Personally I do not even put down the super success of the book singularly to the mainstream being intrigued about a previously taboo and shadowy subject . We have had other books on erotica which are much better written, like ones from Sylvia Day and Cherise Sinclair etc but none have come close to the hysteria that FSOG has whipped up.

I think it had an amazing advertising campaign that was aimed solely at women's sexuality. 'Mummy Porn'. It said it was okay for a woman to fantasize and read erotica. That was what it brought out of the closet.

Statistics support me, majority of the people watching the movie are women. Groups of female buddies are hitting the theatres together to sit back and feel naughty and daring. It is as much about Grey as it is about Anastasia and about taking a hereto 'taboo' subject and being able to talk about it and make jokes about. It is an urban, educated phenomenon; women in deeply unequal societies are hardly likely to find it interesting or intriguing. It is to put it simply... a chance for female bonding

So despite all the debate on the psychological impact on women, despite what men are saying about the movie ( most are not saying too much ), despite what abuse campaigners have to say and other groups protesting on grounds of gender and religion etc, despite it not being a well written book and by all accounts even a very good movie...FIFTY SHADES is a watershed that will define how we view and talk about erotica in the future. Men have always had their magazines to show each other and chuckle over. Women now have something too.

Twenty three years earlier Sharon Stone uncrossed her legs in 'Basic Instinct' to make the men jump; today Mr Grey has used cable ties and a crop to make the women think and talk about their 'inner goddess' and share a laugh or two. Go figure that out Mr Grey.