27 September 2019

Intriguing Read - Heartquake

An IAS officer, a cardiologist and a police officer...corrupt politicians and a medical epidemic to boot. Sounds like right out of a Rohit Shetty movie doesn't it?
Heartquake is the new baby from the pen of author K.Vijaykarthikeyan after Once Upon An IAS Exam.

Story Summary: IAS Officer Vikram Kumar, or VK is an honest IAS officer, who seeks to expose the corrupt politician RPR, i.e, Rudra Pratap Rana. In a typical movie style twist, officer Kumar is transferred to Laxmipur as sub divisional magistrate, right in Rana's backyard.

Vikram Kumar commences his duty and RPR commences his vengeance. However life has other plans for Vikram, as a sudden epidemic grips the town. What initially seems like normal heart attack cases suddenly escalates into a series of mysterious deaths.
How Vikram with the help of cardiologist and a police officer and by risking his life, seeks to find a solution to this mystery forms the premise of the rest of the book.

The Indian diaspora, especially the movie buffs, are no strangers to a plot like this. Where the protagonist walks into the enemy territory with his head held high and looking to right the wrongs.

Doctor turned career bureaucrat himself, Dr. K. VijayKarthikeyan uses writing as a way to express himself. In his words, writing for him is way to vent and rejuvenate himself.
He also says that what he sees around him inspires him to write. "We are the world we choose to create".

When it comes to crime thrillers, it is important to create a strong imagery in the reader's mind and leave the rest to the reader's imagination. The author chooses a compact set of characters and I found all of them mostly relevant to the plot. Description of some scenes were a tad violent in parts, but not to the extent of leaving me disturbed.

What I especially like is that the author, just like in his previous book, Once Upon an IAS Exam, keeps the characters relatable. It is nice to see desi authors come into their own, especially as there is enough happening around us everyday to make for books on almost every field of life. Will definitely look forward to Vijayakarthikeyan next book.

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