India’s best selling theological thriller
“… Dan Brown has an Indian challenger in Ashwin Sanghi”- The Week.
Read “The Rozabal Line” by Ashwin Sanghi. Finished reading it today, yes, finally! The first and foremost thing about this book is the abundance of interesting facts in it, which arouses interest, curiosity, compels to know more about it and to keep reading. More often than not, I found myself searching the net about all those facts that I read in the book, and it made my experience of reading the book a wholesome and satisfying one. Thanks to the author, for the 15 pages of well compiled ‘Notes, Acknowledgement and References’ at the end of the book. What impresses one the most is the extent of dedicated research done by the author. Though the book feels like a Dan Brown novel or a James Patterson novel at first, it succeeds in proving its originality in concept and content gradually. It feels great to hold a book (and read it too!) of such international standards with Indian roots.
The characters I enjoyed reading about were Father Vincent Sinclair, his aunt Martha, and their friend Terry Acton- their conversations were very interesting, and the past life regression and future projection episodes involving them were nail- biting. The Japanese assassin, Swakilki’s villainous methods and ordeals surprised suddenly and unexpectedly every time. Enjoyed reading about Kami- the Japanese gods and goddesses caught in the cycle of birth and death, and their presence in history; about the Buddhist monk’s search for the next Dalai lama- the reincarnation of the previous; about Bhrigu Samhita- one of the oldest documents in Hindu history, a database of over a half million horoscopes that predict future events accurately, originally compiled by (god) Brahma’s son, and it’s almost destruction by the Muslim invasion in Nalanda library; about the Goa Inquisition- the torture done on Hindus and Muslims for compelling them to convert to Christianity, for the propagation of Christianity- the violent birth of a religion; and about Jesus, the ritual Hieros Gamos (meaning death and resurrection),the entire Israeli episode.
Ashwin Sanghi’s debut work is really commendable; much greater than what is expected from a banker’s first attempt at writing. The first book by him that I read was “The Krishna Key”. And that single book had made me a devout fan. Now, “Chanakya’s Chant” waits to be read in my bookshelf.
The book cover is a beautiful blood red colored jacket with white embossed author’s name and golden embossed title, and an image of a cross lurking near the periphery. The eye catching embossment is present in his other books too. The cover itself gives a ‘thriller’ feel. Published by Westland ltd, it is priced at Rs. 250.
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The Rozabal Line
