Atharva: A Digital Crime Thriller By Amit Dubey And Prof. Triveni Singh | Book Review

We are living in a really interesting time. Almost everything we need (in terms of material aspects) is available at our fingertips. We are living in the world where a majority of stuffs we need is available online.

Definitely, it gives us immense level of ease in our lives and makes our lives more productive.

As with everything, the material stuff or technology is just a tool. It can be used for good or bad. While it can give us the comfort of heaven, it can make our lives hell too.

Since the time of COVID-19 pandemic, we had seen a significant rise in cyber frauds. These days, we see cases of “digital arrest” almost daily in newspapers. So, it won’t be wrong to say that the criminals are also using the technology at their max.

The dystopian world we had seen in the movies like – Terminator – has started showing their presence.

To add to that, the rise of AI and ease of accessing the same made the things more challenging for us.

We like it or not, we cannot ignore the influence of these stuff in our lives.

As we love reading thrillers, we were curious to find some good books where cyber crimes are involved. In the same regards we came to know about Atharva: A Digital Crime Thriller penned by Cyber Security Expert Amit Dubey and IPS professor Triveni Singh. And, we found the book worth talking about.

Book Cover:

Being a gateway to the fictional world explored within, the cover page is responsible for making the first impression of the book. And, we humans, by nature, are attracted towards beauty. So, no doubt, an interesting cover page can attract towards a book.

As you can see, the cover page of this book is moderately good.

While not very eye-catcher, the cover design by Neha Singh tries to include almost all possible elements on the cover. Even, the bitcoins (the crypto-currency, which is used as an investment from the fraudulently earned money by the cyber-criminals), the lock on the laptop – representing the “digital arrest”, the blue background with white elements showing the deep and vast cyberworld, are all thoughtful elements you see on the cover page. The fading image of a lady walking upstairs – is the only element where you think, a better alternative could have been a better idea.

An “honest to the story” cover page.

Storyline:

Let us take a bird’s eye view of the book plot.

Doing a job is sometimes a choice and sometimes even a need. Especially, for people who belong to the middle class.

Smita works in one such firm. She tries hard, but in the hustle of the life, she often get a few minutes late in the office. There is no question about her dedication and sincerity though. Her boss tried to exploit her by threatening her to get fired from the job. She doesn’t surrender to her boss, though.

She got a message from an unknown fellow claiming to be her friend showing concern about her well-being. During the conversation, Smita found that the “friend” knows everything about her. Including the stuff happened inside the boss’ cabin! The person referred to himself as – Atharva. He offered her a solution to her problem.

And, the solution is implemented.

Smita’s boss is met with his death.

He was not able to fire Smita from her job and can make no obscene demands to her, now!

Atharva contacted Smita again informing her that her boss was killed as she wished for! And, now it is Smita’s turn to repay by elminating one such anti-social character!

There happens a series of incidents including a trail of murder.

Eventually, Amit, the cyber security expert gets involved in the case.

Will, he be able to uncover the identity of Atharva (and his team)! Will Amit and his family’s lives are also got in danger?

Well, you need to read this nice thriller to get your answers. And, over the course of the story, you will meet with Smita Sharma, Atharva, Sumit, Shreya Verma, Rajat Awasthi, Dilip Singh ( Additional SP, UP Police), Kumud, Dilip, Ms Anamika Sinha, George Abraham, Anshu Bharadwaj, Inspector Iqbal Ahmed, Mrs. Shelly Abraham, and others.

Views and Reviews:

Atharva: A Digital Crime Thriller remains true to its title and it is a fantastic read.

If you know a bit about Amit Dubey, the author, his cyber security awareness show Hidden Files, started around in the pandemic times on RedFMM, is renewed for four seasons, is a proof of its popularity.

His co-author, IPS Triveni Singh, has done a remarkable study in the field of cyber security and is knowns as professor Triveni Singh; is a proof of his expertise.

So, when both of them are teamed up together, the real cases where either of them is involved in the investigation are expected to be a part of this book. And, they are!

Yes, if you have listened to all 4 seaons of Hidden Files, you will find many parts of the story quite familiar! It is an added bonus for such readers. And, if you haven’t listened to that show yet, don’t worry, it won’t affect your reading experience at all.

Actually, the way the author merges the real world and fictional world by weaviing the situations, cases, characters, people, is the USP of this book.

The story is narrated in an interesting way, again reminding you of “Hidden Files” podcast.

It is tough to show the real characters, their strengths and weaknesses, expertise and vulnerabilities when you merge them with the fictional stuff. The author did it flawlessly.

The way the cyber security expert Amit is caught in a tricky situation with his own phone hacked, shows a real life scenario, where everyone, including the expert is prone to get hacked.

Such stuff makes the characters real and humane, not weak. And, a reader will connect with them quite easily.
Of course, the book has some jargons and technical terms, but the author preferred simple day-to-day language to narrate this fiction. For example, see how simply he introduces and character, her social and financial status and her aspirations all tother in a simple line like:

Smita Sharma is a 21 year old independent girl who moved from Kanpur, a small town in India to Delhi, the capital city, in search of “success”.

The more know, you realize, how less you know! – Really true!

Actually, when an expert concludes something, he/she always keep an open end, to leave the room for more exploration. In this book, when an IIT professor talks about the weapon of the future (which already exists?!), he put it like:

I could share some events of attacks but not sure if these all were done through EM Weapons, …

In this book, some philosophical stuff is embedded like:

‘ I would love to change the world, but they won’t give me the source code.’ “Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one” ,
– – – – – – – – – –
“We fall in love, not when we find the perfect person, but when we learn to see an imperfect person perfectly”, Sumit replied, kissing her hands.
– – – – – – – – – –
“There is some part of me everywhere; I am there in you too.” Atharva Atharva wrote firmly.
– – – – – – – – – –
“Suppose I have a bad soul, can anybody kill my soul?” I asked. “First of all, you don’t “have” a soul, you ARE a soul you “have” a body.”

The also elaborates humane psyche and how it is used by intelligent people to control others.

“See, all such leaders in the world use their power of influence; either through their speeches, their behavior or their spiritual knowledge but they cannot influence all, they are able to influence only one group of people. There is always another group of people, those that are against them or not at all influenced by them.”

The book has some interesting lines that remain with you, even after you complete reading the book. Eg:

REALITY IS MERELY AN ILLUSION
– – – – – – – – – –
Fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself.

The sarcasm, the chutter-putter between a couple and other such stuff also found their places in the book. Eg:

Dilip looked at me with amusement, “You didn’t even look at those photos and gave your opinion.” “When Kumud asks for your opinion, she is not really looking for your opinion, she just wants you to endorse her opinion.” I replied sagely.
– – – – – – – – – –
Behind every nagging woman there is a man not doing what he is supposed to.
– – – – – – – – – –
“All I can say is if you can’t get Aparna’s Rs 45000 back, your knowledge is of no use.” Kumud declared clearly. You might be busy in saving the world but your wife makes sure that it should not go to your head. Today my entire credibility was on test and it would crumble to dust if I was unable to salvage Aparna’s Rs. 45,000

So, as you can see, this book has almost all the “masala” that makes it interesting. And, the author includes some interesting words like “RECONNAISSANCE” making it rich in literary aspects.

The book could haved been better proof-read. Here are some examples where you see proofreading errors.

possessionof
– – – – – – – – – –
stolencar’s location
“No, sir, there was noone honking”,
– – – – – – – – – –
“What happened is everything ok?” Dilip was surprised.
– – – – – – – – – –
I along with a woman inspector in civil clothingarrived at Mrs. Shelly Abraham’s house at 10 AM.

If such stuff could have been taken care of, the book could have been even better.

On a side note, the book ends with something interesting, leaving the scope for one or more sequels 🙂

Summary:

Overall, a nicely written Sci-Fi Thriller where you will find the right mixture of reality and fiction. You should read such books even to get aware about cyber-secutiry. A recommened read.

ThinkerViews Rating:

Around 8 stars out of 10.

Quick Purchase Links:

• Buy - Atharva: A Digital Crime Thriller by Amit Dubey, Prof Triveni Singh IPS - Kindle EBook - Amazon IN
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