The 4th Traitor: A Unit 22 Thriller By Mainak Dhar | Book Review

We are fortunate to have a hobby of reading. Since, we started sharing our personal and unbiased views and reviews for the books (and other stuff) we got a chance to read, the joy got multifold.
During this journey we found many talented authors, popular and yet to be.
Regardless of their popularity status, some of them have delivered some fantastic works, which we enjoyed reading.
Mainak Dhar is one such author.

We got a chance to read many books penned by him.

• Sniper’s Eye | Book Review
• Sniper’s Debt| Book Review
• Sniper’s Quest by Mainak Dhar | Book Review
• In Enemy Hands
• Alice in Deadland – Trilogy : Book 1

We also had an interaction with him in the form of an author interview.

• An Interview With Mainak Dhar

Currently we are reading his latest thriller series – Unit 22 Thrillers.

We’ve already shared our views and reviews for the following installments from the same:

• The 1st Assassin: A Unit 22 Thriller By Mainak Dhar | Book Review
• The 2nd Fugitive: A Unit 22 Thriller By Mainak Dhar
• The 3rd Survivor: A Unit 22 Thriller By Mainak Dhar

Today we are going to talk about the fourth book in the series – The 4^th Traitor.

Book Cover:

We believe that “one shouldn’t judge a book by its cover”.

At the same time we also acknowledge the importance of a well-designed cover page and its influence on a remarkable number of purchase and/or read decisions.

The logic is pretty simple. We are attracted towards a beauty, by nature.

So, an attractive cover page can successfully grab our attention towards the book by ignoring other books (with lesser attractive covers).

Of course, the story and how it is written are the most important aspects of the book. But, they would be known only when you pick it or somebody recommend it to you.

As you can see, cover page of The 4^th Traitor is really attractive.

Designed with right color combination this book shown an illustration of a running man on the path of cottages at the seashore. If you watch travelogues, you will clearly connect it with the similar setup at Maldives. And, this place plays quite an important role in the story.

The letters 4^th shown from the sniper’s scope adds to the impact of the cover page.

Storyline:

Aditya Sen is now getting over his Cathisophobia (really!), and work on the desk from his not so fancy office in the basement of a government building in New Delhi with his team of buddies.

He is called in by his superior and inform that he has to visit a friendly country.

Actually, he has to officially go there and take part in some joint army training stuff. The “friendly country”‘s government has a really small armed forces and they are not really war trained. The joint training sessions are planned to seek two advantages. Get trained from battle-experienced Indian Soldiers, and, show some power to nuisance creating elements in the light of upcoming regime deciding situations.

Over the course of the story, you will meet with Aditya Sen, Malini, Srini Iyer, Ashok Attri, Eli Shani, Shwetabh, Salil Murthy, Ankit Sharma, Major Naseer Ahmed, Lieutenant Jameel, Swati Kant, Major General Fatimah Shareef, Bilal Shameem, Hina, Aryaman, and others.

Views And Reviews:

For thrillers like this, the story must have been gripping and layered. In face, the layers should be managed like that of an onion. And, they have to be unmasked one after the other at regular interval, to keep the book gripping. The author has done it quite authentically.

Many authors paint the characters in book, while or black. That has its own effect, of course. But, when you paint them with the shades of grey, they look more real and relatable. Mainak Dhar, now a master-storyteller, knows this fact and plays accordingly.

The protagonist has his strengths and vulnerabilities both. And, so does the other characters.

Often, such book focus more on the thrills, chases, actions and suspense. In this book, we find the right does of emotions, also.
I like the way the character of Aditya’s Mother is developed and presented throughout the series. Here are some lines from the book, showing the bond between mother-son duo.

…teaching me to treasure what I had and build for the future, instead of just fretting about what I had lost.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
That was Ma. She knew me better than anyone else in the world and knew what I did better than anyone else. She …
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
With Ma, there were no filters, no need for me to pretend to be anything or anyone other than what and who I really was.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
No matter where I had to go on my missions, no matter how tough those were, no matter how terrified I felt at times out there, and no matter how uncertain things looked when the bullets were flying, this was the one place I always felt safe; always felt I could be myself; always felt loved.

It is obvious to expect some technical terms used by the investigation agencies.

IMINT in our lingo meant Imagery Intelligence. In simple terms, a drone, a recon plane, or a satellite had taken images of some people who seemed to be up to no good.
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HUMINT in our lingo meant human intelligence,…

With the advancement of technologies, on one hand the things get easier for the operatives, on the other, they are introduced with the new challenges. The following lines gives contemporariness to the book.

The biggest danger to covert ops in today’s world is not a spy satellite or enemy spies, but a kid with a smartphone.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
In today’s world whoever gets their version of the truth out first and on Twitter is believed.”
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
My favorite TV anchor, often ridiculed for how loud he was, but whose heart I thought was firmly in the right place,
“The nation wants to know to what extent the …

I think, you must have guessed right the “source of inspiration” for the last quote :).

Here are some interesting lines about combat techniques.

It was a good plan, but as someone once said, no plan survives first contact with the enemy.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
Before engaging an enemy, it is always a good idea to take stock of where you stand versus them.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
Unfortunately, the real world doesn’t always mirror what you see in the movies. Especially when it comes to combat.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
That’s what often happens in combat. The young, the eager, and the stupidly brave go down first.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
Confidence was good in any soldier, but overconfidence was not. Overconfidence is what usually gets you killed.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
Patience. Something I always had in short supply as a young man, and perhaps the most important thing I learned in my time in the army.

Having the international canvas, the book refers to various secret agencies around the world.

Shayetet 13 was a secretive special forces unit of the Israeli Defence Forces,
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
“I just spoke with the NSA and he said that the government is okay with a weapons malfunction that resulted in an accidental firing of a Hellfire missile from a Reaper over international waters.”

The real warriors never underestimate their enemies. And, they do appreciate the opponents’ strength, technique and velour.

Whoever had made that move was a bloody genius, and I mentally kicked myself for focusing only on the ramp and ignoring the walkway behind us. Yes,

It is seldom you find such interesting lines for “heroes” in espionage thrillers. This book has its share of the same. Eg:

The real heroes are often the most ordinary of men, who decide to stand up to be counted.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
“Being a hero has nothing to do with how many people you’ve killed. Every time you kill someone, you lose a little bit of yourself.

And, here is a pro-tip that I am sure, you will like to remember.

Here’s a pro tip. If you want to guess who the resident spy is at a Consulate or Embassy, start by looking at the guys who are supposedly there to promote cultural exchange or share agricultural best practices.

The protagonist is quite confident about his luck and fate :).

I should have known my holiday wouldn’t last that long.

And, he modestly shows-off his knowledge through our favorite lines like:

See, even simple soldiers like me know a bit or two about fancy things like geopolitics.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
See, even a simple soldier like me knows a thing or two about misdirection.
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See, even an ordinary grunt like me knows a thing or two about chemistry.

We find similar lines in the other books of the series as well.

Here is, how we get information about various characters of Unit-22.

Kishore, Pratap, and Bahadur were the sword arm of our team,
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“Shwetabh, we’re not like regular army units. I’m the boss, but you’re the expert at what you do. You tell me what will help you get the job done, and I’ll support you. There’s no textbook to follow and no superiors to get alignment from.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
“Sen, you still are ever the charmer. I reckon you’ve just pissed her off.”
“Enemies who are pissed off often make mistakes.”
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
“Shwetabh, do your magic. Remember, a sniper is not a weapon, it’s a person.”
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“How badly are you hurt?” Kishore gritted his teeth. “Boss, my ego is hurt more than my foot.

Kishore had indeed done this many times, in exercises, and in actual combat, but even the best of us occasionally fell prey to bad timing or just plain bad luck.

Only making the protagonist stronger and other characters mere sidekicks makes the story unbalanced and often doesn’t go well with seasoned readers. As you can see above, the author has given all the characters their own strengths. The characters can evaluate the situations quite well and even know how to represent their point of view in different geopolitical scenarios. Eg:

“That’s what the Chinese don’t get. They think in terms of material gains, objectives, and progress. They totally underestimate the role family and relationships play- that’s what our people in India and the Maldives have much more in common.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
“Sir, they wouldn’t have to come all the way in a tanker. They could deploy Zodiacs from pretty far out and eat up the distance.

Like many other Indian authors, Mainak also uses the words like “anyways” in this book. Based on its popularity, I think they should be part of the dictionary now!

I have tried to keep the discussion spoiler-free, but, I am sure that you must have got a fair idea about the literary qualities of the book through the quotes referred so far.

Summary:

If you like to read espionage thrillers, you will love reading this book.

ThinkerViews Rating:

Around 8 stars out of 10.

Quick Purchase Links:

• Buy - The 4th Traitor by Mainak Dhar - Kindle EBook - Amazon IN
• Buy - The 4th Traitor by Mainak Dhar - Kindle EBook - Amazon US

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