The Red Dot: A Short Story by Sharath Komarraju | Book Review

Do you love reading crime thrillers, police procedural and detective fictions? We do :). And, when it comes to short stories, we find it often worthy of going for. They are not only cheaper in terms of price but also require less time to read it. Often, when you are traveling, such shorts can prove to be a good travel companion cum refresher.

Writing a short thriller is not an easy job, though. It requires to be gripping from the very first page. And, in all the few pages it is spread over, the author should be able to infuse twists and turns which can keep you glued with the book. It is thus not less than a challenge to pen a thrilling short story which is worthy in terms of your time and money.

Sharath Komarraju is a good author. We got a chance to read many books by him. Here are quick links to the reviews for some of his books.

When we stumbled upon a book named The Red Dot: A Short Story by him, it was a book promotion was going on. And, as a result, we got the book for absolutely FREE!

Be it a small book or large, EBook or a printed one, the book cover plays a significant role in book reading and/or purchase decisions for sure. Of course, you cannot and should not judge a book merely by its cover, but still, an attractive book cover makes an impressive impact.

As you can see, the cover page of The Red Dot: A Short Story is simple and minimalistic. Anyway, the title “Red Dot” is tough to illustrate in a way to make it a gripping book cover. Because, if it is drawn in the book context, it may, possibly, lead to some spoiler(s)! And, for a mystery, a spoiler is the last thing the author wants to have, and that too on the cover page itself.

The cover page is simple and moderately good.

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

Book Plot:

The story revolves around two places in India, Amravati and Dharnikota. A wealthy man named Narsimhachari is killed in his own house. The primary (and only) suspect is a young fellow named Aryan. And the police officer Venkat Reddy is convinced that he is the killer. Actually, circumstances and evidence shout the same thing very loudly. So, he cannot have a different opinion.

He and Krishna Shastri were approached in the police station by Uma Soumya, the daughter of the diseased and claimed that Aryan is innocent! Actually, she is in love with Aryan and is to be married to him in the near future. It is her (blind!) faith in Aryan which makes her believe so.

Narsimhachari was killed when he and Aryan were the only persons in the room which was bolted from within and there is no alternative way to come in or get out of the room! In fact, upon hearing the cries for help when the door was smashed open and Madhavayya and Uma entered into the room to find Narsimhachari dead and Aryan holding the knife which killed Narsimhachari!

What you can conclude from the same if not – Aryan killed Narsimhachari? Why Uma then believed that Aryan is innocent? What is the truth?

Well, you need to read this short story to get the answers. Over the course, you meet with the characters like Krishna Shastri, Venkat Reddy, Uma Soumya, Aryan, Madhavayya, and others.

Views And Reviews:

The book is short and gripping. And, that is what you expect from any short book in crime, thriller, detective fiction or police procedural genre, right? This book passes with the full marks in that arena.

Reading the book will remind of Agatha Christie mysteries where a body is found in a room where there is only door to come in and go out and it was found bolted from within. The only difference here is the primary suspect whose conviction is beyond doubts. And, still, there is a “love” angle, which makes a lady believe that her lover and future husband couldn’t kill her father.

The author is good at describing scenes. You feel that you are witnessing the incidents happening in the book. In addition, he kept the characters quite real. For example, there is a scene where the two-wheeler of the police officer is found punctured and he along with Krishna Shastri took a bus ride, the realistic exploration of rural traveling in a bus and many more such incidents.

At the same time, the story of rags to riches, a conman and other stuff will remind you of filmy drama.

Keeping the balance in between these two poles apart stuff in a convincing manner and delivering a gripping short story is not an easy job. The author does it successfully.

The incidents within the closed room, and the way the duo, especially Krishna Shastri, works on the clue and explore unveil the mystery will remind you of Hindi TV Serial Byomkesh Bakshi.

Here is an interesting dialog from the book where the police officer tries to explain to the young girl that he cannot consider Aryan innocent, simply because she says that.

…
‘But we need to care about what the evidence says’, said Venkat Reddy. ‘We are not in love with him as you are’.

And the book has some witty oneliner and punches which you will enjoy reading.

‘Some bonds are broken for good, Venkat Reddy’

The author is good at writing interesting scenes and exploring emotions.

… And there are always serpents about with tongues dipped in honey.

The book has some really good lines where some words could have been chosen better. For example, the following sentence is fantastic but the use of the word “around” instead of “about” could result in a better one.

… He wrapped his garment tighter about him, and clutched the packet of documents to his bosom.

Telling more about the story and discussing more about its attributes will lead to spoilers which I consciously want to avoid as much as possible. But, by now you must have got the idea about the quality of writing.

I enjoyed reading this book and if you are a regular reader it will not take more than 30 minutes of your time.

Summary:

It is a gripping short EBook which remains true to its genre. Definitely worth going for. For me, it is the best value for money as I bought it for free during a book promotion.

At least 7.5 out of 10

Quick Purchase Links:

• Buy Book From Amazon India – Kindle EBook
• Buy Book From Amazon US – Kindle Ebook

Over To You:

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