First Rodeo: (Scorpion Ops series). By Neelabh Pratap Singh | Book Review

We’ve often mentioned that “we love reading thrillers“.

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When the elements of suspense and mysteries are added to the same, it (the thriller) taunts “little grey cells” and make them work. And, that exercise makes them stronger!

In recent past, when exploring this arena, the name of author Neelabh Pratap Singh started catching our attention, frequently.

Frankly speaking, we’ve no idea about him or his quality of writing at that point.

So, we’ve decided to read one of his books, to know about it, firsthand.

And, we found his book “First Rodeo: (Scorpion Ops series)” tagged as “A Rapid Fire Read” available at an attractive price (Kindle EBook). How can we let this opportunity slip?

From Team ThinkerViews, I got a chance to read it and here are my unbiased and uninfluenced views and reviews for the same.

Book Cover:

Being a gateway to the virtual world within, the cover page is responsible for making the first impression of the book.

And thus, it plays a very vital role in a remarkable number of “book read and/or purchase decisions” for sure.

So, despite believing in the phrase “A book should not be judged by its cover”, we cannot ignore its (cover page’s) influence.

As you can see, the cover page of this book is moderately attractive. We see the female protagonist walking in a snowy terrain, surrounded by the trees, like a lone wolf. It establishes her persona quite well. And, at the same time, the surroundings conveys the area of action convincingly.

Without showing a thrilling chase or combat scenes, the designer has conveyed the theme of the book quite well.

Book Plot:

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

Rehana Rasool, a young and enthusiastic girl from the state of Jammu and Kashmir was looking at various Shikaras floating on the surface of the Dal lake. She was deep buried into thoughts about her homeland. While it is obvious to fall in the love of the motherland, the ethereal beauty of the state, known as the heaven on the Earth, added extra charm to the same.

Born into a patriot family, she has tremendous love of India that is Bharat. Her father (Parvez Rasool) has served in a local school as a teacher(he was headmaster) and her brother (Aurangzeb Rasool) was a rifleman in the Indian Army.

The situation is changed in the state since the abrogation of Article 370 which was actually holding up the progress of the people of the state as individuals and as a society too. She is seeing the changes in the environment, economy, harmony amongst the people and their breathing into the free air.

She has just completed a rigorous training that para-commandoes of Indian special forces undergo. It is one of the “toughest in the world” training that makes not only the body but also the mind of the candidate ready to face almost any challenge.

She got a call from Jas Kaur and went to meet her.

Jas is her immediate boss and has recruited her for this training. As Rehana’s father also had worked with Jas and held special regard for Jas, it is obvious for Rehana to have the same respect for her.

Jas referred a recent most incident, where one of the prominent figures of the state has been kidnapped. And, appointed Rehana to investigate the matter to find out “how” and “why” of this incident. And, of course, any possible future problems the security agencies/armed forces/government is to be presented with.

So, was it an official appointment for Rehana? On which designation and what capacity?
Well, the patriots don’t think much about official rank and pay-scale, the most important thing for them is the motherland.

She accepts the mission and even decides to call off relationship with her boyfriend since childhood, so she can remain focused on the work and justify the demanding schedules of the work.

Such solders make the nation safe and secure so the citizen live a comfortable and progressive life and the nation prosper.

By the way, what was the reason behind the kidnapping and who are the culprits?

Well, you need to read the book to get your answers :). In your journey you will meet with Rehana Rasool, Jaspreet “Jas” Kaur, Parvez Rasool, Sayeeda Firdous, Sikandar Bhat, Tariq Wani (driver),Fatima Wani, Afzal Wani, Afreena Begum, Mohammad Wasim, Abid Aziz, and others.

Views And Reviews:

It is a fast paced thriller which takes you through a roller-coaster ride.

The book starts nicely by introducing you the protagonist and a beautiful scene of Kashmir.

Rehana Rasool, a native of Srinagar, the picturesque summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, had always felt a sense of unease when it came to riding the ornately decorated, gondola- style shikaras.

What I like the most in the book is the strong characters. And, it is not about the protagonist only. Even the antagonist(s) and his man-friday are elaborated quite nicely. Same I can say about the character of Jas and Pravez. What you will like the most is the character of Rehana’s brother. He was martyred a while ago but his presence is felt in the book through climax.

Also, the fake feminists should read such books to know what “gender equality” means. Being part of the sports team when girls were not allowed to move out freely and wearing hijab was also a kind of compulsion; Rehana’s all team-mates were boys! Her father has never discriminated between his son and daughter and supported them in the capacity he can.

Rehana is not only physically strong, but her emotional maturity, intelligence and patriotism makes her even stronger. She has the ability to develop her plan and course of action based on various general notions about people’s expected behaviour in various situations.

She knew this tactic all too well. How men often used their physicality to assert superiority over women, a primal instinct ingrained in their psyche.

Of course, she is no superhuman and has her own vulnerabilities. That makes her character real and believable. And, we can say the same for most of the other characters in the book.

The author casually mentions her persona as:

She had always been a reserved individual, preferring to remain silent unless it was absolutely necessary.

The author brings in a lesser-known side of the mindset the citizens of Jammu/Kashmir have developed based on the political regime and social environment thee. They consider “Indians” outsider. And, even refers you are from “India” in a way that means “you are a foreigner”.

Thank God, he didn’t say I’ve come from India. Often, she’d found the locals of Kashmir addressing the tourists from other states of India as Indians and themselves as Kashmiris, as though Kashmir was an entity separate from India.

The author also talks about Article 370 and its adverse effects. Now, with the abrogation of the same, a large number of people know a lot about it, but its a set of worth-reading blocks in the book.

The book has several chases and you will enjoy reading them. The chases have chilly snowy dark nights, fast moving SUV, bullet (or Royal Enfield), protagonist chasing on horse, high-accuracy weapons, and more… Here is one simple line from one such incident:

Rehana pressed the brake lever gently in front of the hotel which Jas had booked for her. The tyres of her Royal Enfield barely managed to find purchase on the slippery snow- covered road.

The fight scenes are equally interesting:

Setting her jaw in a determined clench, she expertly interceded the impending attack by grasping Wasim’s boot with unwavering precision. Wasim was standing on single foot now. Rehana twisted his foot, throwing him off balance.

or

Rehana raised her Uzi and squeezed the trigger, her bullets flying towards her enemies with deadly precision.

The book has some fantastic one-liners also. For example:

Despite being a natural human response, fear can be debilitating.

The SUV’s massive 2000 kilos frame smashed on the unsuspecting trunk.

The author mentions some technical terms like HUMINT (Human Intelligence) used by forces and intelligence officials. When talking about combat techniques, he also mentions “parkour technique” and other stuff. These elements adds to the authenticity touch of the book.

The book has some proofreading errors and places where you think the things could have been written better. For example:

Kashmir had been an independent state once for a short duration and Pakistan and unleashed unimaginable terror on the state.

Also, one of the prominent character – Sayeeda – is referred to as – Sayeed – at one place.

Sixty- two- year- old Sayeed Firdous was a well-respected political leader of Kashmir, a member of parliament for over two decades and the chief ministerial candidate for next state elections.

“Sayeeda Firdous is kidnapped?”

These are small things and may not catch a regular reader’s attention. But, taking care of the same will make the book better read for sure.

I must say that the suspense (that reveals mid-way) twist is interesting.

There are more incidents and segments I want to talk about, but to avoid spoilers I am stopping here. The above mentioned quotes must have given you a fair idea about the quality of writing.

Summary:

Overall, a complete masala entertainer with strong characters and interesting storyline that revolves around recent happenings. I liked reading it.

ThinkerViews Rating:

Around 7.5 stars out of 10.

Quick Purchase Links:

• Buy - First Rodeo: (Scorpion Ops series) by Neelabh Pratap Singh - Kindle EBook - Amazon IN
• Buy - First Rodeo: (Scorpion Ops series) by Neelabh Pratap Singh - Kindle EBook - Amazon US

Over To You:

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