Vishvaas Ki Hatya by Surendra Mohan Pathak | Book Review

Surendra Mohan Pathak (सुरेंद्र मोहन पाठक – also written as – Surender Mohan Pathak) is a name in Hindi books arena which doesn’t need any formal introduction. He wrote more than 300 books and it is said that if you love reading Hindi thriller fiction, you must have read at least one book by this popular author. He is loved by readers and writers both. He inspired a generation of authors. Recently when we are connected with Dr. Ashutosh Jogia for his book “The Girl With Golden Thoughts” he reaffirmed the fact. He, in fact, mentioned it in the book also.

Let us discuss about a book named विश्वास की हत्या (Vishvaas Ki Hatya – Killing Of Vishvaas) by Mr. Pathak. The author has weaved a nice analogy in the book where “Vishvaas” also stands for “Trust” or “Faith”. And, the killing of Vishvaas is also elaborated as the killing of (breaching) Trust/Faith.

A book plays a very important role in making the first impression of the same. And, thus it is responsible for many purchase and/or read decisions.

As you can see the cover page of this reprint edition is moderately good. A group of people (illustration) on the cover page represents the prime characters of the book. A focused telescope of a gun represents a killing. The background colors are attractive. Rather than making it too fancy the designer tried to give it a balanced look. Overall, it will remind you of old book covers with modernity infused. For digital edition, the cover page is not balanced.

Book Plot:

Money is at the root of a majority of the crimes. Things are not different here.

Two friends, when running out of money decided to earn it via a short cut. What could have been a better option then try and looting a single or elderly person in the posh area? If the target is a lady, possibly the things could have been even easier, they thought.

And, there comes a plan.

During a dark night, at the time when no one is around, they scaled a building. As per their information, it was the best time to break the house by entering from the balcony. If everything goes according to their plain, they will grab a good amount of jewellery and fly from the place unscathed. Of course, they need to wait for a few days to encash it, and they will not get the market rate. But, who cares! Whatever comes for free, is a profit! And, they expect a huge sum of money here.

The main question here is: will things happen according to their plan?

Well, you need to read this story to know the answers.

The good thing about this crime thriller is, it doesn’t glorify crime. The prime characters do a crime (and of course, it cannot be justified in any way) due to their financial situation. And, it starts a chain reaction of unwanted events. The author reaffirms through this book that “crime never pays”. If you do something wrong, the consequences would be there.

I read the kindle edition of this book. The book is reprinted by Westland Books. It is actually a good thing that the books by popular authors from Hindi crime thriller genre (including those of Mr. Pathak) are being reprinted and even are available as Ebooks. I wish, more attention is paid towards proofreading and formatting. Here is example:

उस लाल रुमाल वाले का सूरज के पीछे लगा होना साबित करता था की वह जरूर दारा आदमी था …

It, however, doesn’t affect the reading experience for a regular reader.

The preface of the book talks about Mr. Pathak and his journey also. Those who read books by Mr. Pathak must have already been aware with many things associated with him. For those, who are reading Mr. Pathak for the first time (or may have read 4-5 books only), this segment is quite enriching. It talks about सत्तावन साल पुराना आदमी which was published in मनोहर कहानिया. Then it talks about पुराने गुनाह नए गुनहगार – नीलम जासूस… Well, I will let you read it in the book itself :).

Being Mr. Pathak’s book, “Vishvaas Ki Hatya”, definitely has a lot of stuff that we can talk about and share. I, however, need to restrict myself to not to reveal any spoilers.

Strong characters is one of the strengths of the book. In this book, you meet: मोहिनी, सूरज, दारा, दामोदर,जगदीप, डेज़ी, and others. Most of them look realistic. Some incidents explored in the book will remind you of old-time explored in some old movies.

Mr. Pathak is good at writing interesting lines. Here is an example form the book:

उसके साथियों को तब तक वहां पहुंच जाना चाहिए था लेकिन उनके न पहुंचा होने से उसे कोई शिकायत नहीं थी| इंतज़ार का रिश्ता वक्त की बर्बादी से होता था और वक्त की उन दिनों उसे कोई कमी नहीं थी|

They way, one of the prime characters in the book, driven by his greed tried something he should not and lost his job, is explored in the book quite nicely. Here is a line in the same regards which explores it in matter-of-factly manner, and yet, indirectly warns the reader(s) to not to do such mistakes. Passing messaging is one of the strong points of this book.

निहायत मामूली, व्यक्ति लालच में पढ़कर वह अपनी लगी लगाई नौकरी से हाथ धो बैठा था|

In the same regards, simple sentences are used to convey advices.

लेकिन खतरे का हल होता है सावधानी| सावधानी बरती जाए तो कैसे भी खतरे को टाला जा सकता है|

Here is one of the most interesting lines from the book which I liked.

हजार वॉट का बल्ब फ़ौरन फ्यूज़ हो गया, लेकिन ट्यूब लाइट की रौशनी सूरज के चेहरे पर फिर भी बाकी थी|

Most of the characters in the book feel at some point in time:

उसने अपने दोस्तों के विश्वाश की हत्या की थी|

The author is good at exploring scenes and convey emotions at the same time. Here are a couple of instances from the book:

अब जगदीप भयभीत नहीं था| रिवॉल्वर हाथ में आते ही जैसे उसमे नै शक्ति का संचार हो गया ता| उसने रिवॉल्वर कभी चलाई नहीं थी लेकिन इतना वह खूब जानत अतः की नाल का रुख दुश्मन की तरफ करके बस सिर्फ घोडा खींचना होता था, बही काम अपने आप ही हो जाता था|

जगदीप के हाथ में रिवॉल्वर देख कर उसका दिल उसके जूतों में उतरा जा रहा था|

The book has some philosophical lines too:

किसी ने ठीक ही कहा था की इन्सान की जात संकट की घडी में, दुश्वारी के आलम में ही सामने आति है|

Here is one more interesting analogy from the book:

रिश्वत ऐसी खूबसूरत खिड़की में से बहार झांक रही है की जी चाह रहा है कि …

Various scenes in the book are elaborated quite nicely. Be it hiding of a character in the roof of a home and police coming combing for him there, or a character killing a good when trying to save his girl-friend from being raped, and caught by the police,… they are thrilling and emotional at the same time.

We’ve bought it during a promotional offer and thus it proves to be a value for money for us. I recommend you to watch out for an offer while looking for it.

The book has all the “masala” you would like to explore for entertainment purposes. Of course, the incidents are set up in old time, but you will not mind it, as it doesn’t affect the reading experience. If you are a lover of Mr. Pathak’s books, you will enjoy reading it.

Around 7 out of 10.

Quick Purchase Links:

• Buy Book From Amazon India – Paperback Edition
• Buy Book From Amazon India – Digital Edition
• Buy Book From Amazon US – Paperback Edition
• Buy Book From Amazon US – Digital Edition

Over To You:

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