• Title – Tiger Mates : A Romantic Caper Novel 
• Author – Amrish Shah
• Publisher – Partridge India
• Genre – Romantic Thriller
• Pages – 319
• Price – INR 900
• ISBN – 978-1-4828-3662-2

Synopsis – Neil is an athletic, ambitious, forest smuggler with a tainted past indirectly finances the Militant operation of the Red Militants by trading in precious stones for them. However in actual, he is a police informer stealthily working his way into the secret of the gang operatives. Nestled in the forests of Chhattisgarh, the Red Gang is spearheaded by ex‐university professor turned into a wicked mastermind.

The Architect of Terror Debraj alongwith his psychotic chief Kedar is planning a series of strikes that would culminate with the assignation of the state chief minister who wants to sincerely reform the crime infested badlands. The motive for anti‐social destruction is to create panic and insecurity to drive away domestic & international NGO’S.

In contrast to that, Shyla Gomes determined‐dexterous demanding, an NGO envoy of Indian origin based in South Africa arrives in Chhattisgarh. She covertly ventures in the midst of anarchy to prepare a ground report that will facilitate the NGO to fund the rehabilitation program for the affected tribal community who are living in hell.

However the truth is that she has just discovered that she is the daughter of a rapist who happens to be the very designer of evil‐ Debraj. The cruel reason why her mother died with mental trauma after giving birth to her. And she is out for justice, for redemption, for annihilation of evil.

Likewise Neil is vying for an opportunity to seek revenge. His brother a young cop was brutally killed in a blast of terror perpetuated by the most dreaded duo‐ Debraj and Kedar.

Review – The book has an interesting cover perfectly in sync with the title and captures the essence of the plot in a way that’s best understood around the climax. I loved the title of the book that has captured the symbolic essence of forests of Chhattisgarh and the Tigers (both the animal and humans with traits of a Tiger) hunting for prey, vengeance and pleasure.

The book starts with the wild chase of a police informer by the militants. The demons come alive right from the start, blending well, the past of the characters with their behavior today. I liked the gentle injection of details while maintaining an element of suspense. The fast pace set right from the start goes on to impress as the characters in the book are introduced. The characters have been given enough room to grow with a few leaps in time but taking due care to tie up all loopholes before the story reaches its climax.

“Life is full of accidents and discoveries. Like stray asteroids, the situations crop up accidentally and then we make choices only to discover who we really are.”

I liked the swift shift in scenes of the book while maintaining the flow with a lucid narration and picturesque description. However, right from the start the abundant grammatical mistakes hamper the smooth flow of the book. The worst part is that these errors aren’t limited to a particular section of the book, but are most abundant in the start.

I found the loopholes in editing too stark to dissuade me to put down the book too often. This was a major reason why it took me over a month to read the book.

I’d like to congratulate the author in delivering a very intriguing read that has a myriad hues of drama, thrill, suspense, action, philosophy and romance in right proportions. The plot comes across as a perfect script for movie that can give goosebumps to the audience with its approach and confluence of terror with purpose in a number of ways.

“Never run behind life…never let life lag behind you…hold life in the grip of your palms and ride along with it like a butterfly.”

While the plot successfully kept me on my tenterhooks till the last, I must admit the climax came across as rather hasty. The desire to give every piece of the puzzle a perfect ending somehow stole the magnanimity with which the characters of Debraj and Ananad had been developed. I would have liked to see Debraj’s end and encounter with Shyla have a more elaborate description than the brief and pretty abrupt one the book offers. Accepting ‘gentic memory’ as the sole support to help Shyla recognize Debraj comes across as far-fetched in the climax.

While the book can benefit tremendously with thorough editing, the plot is on the lines of making a sure shot blockbuster. I’d recommend this book to everyone who loves reading thriller novels with a gentle dose of romance and heaps of insight into life, in a very subtle yet effective way.

About the Author – Amrish Shah is an Indian Author, Screenwriter, Filmmaker. He has been credited as a writer and creative producer for the International film on Mother Teresa. Amrish is the screenwriter for Don2.

Rating – 3.5/ 5