3 out of 4 stars
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Border Post 99: No Man’s Land by Kedar Patankar is a thought-provoking laugh-inducing read that propels readers on an unforgettable reading adventure. Although the novel is a work of fiction, it touches on the all too real aspects of human conflict and human nature, and at certain times; the correlation between the two (human nature and conflict) becoming the central theme of the story.
The book begins by introducing us to Lieutenant Mangesh Sharma — an inexperienced officer, fresh out of the Indian Military Academy. He has been newly assigned to guard and look out for any threatening activity along the Indian border. Next, we are introduced to Captain Abid Khan who, unlike his counterpart, is highly experienced and comfortable in his territory. He too has been recently commissioned to protect and patrol the Pakistan border. With ongoing peace talks between the two countries, each side isn’t leaving anything to chance. When the two soldiers discover each other’s presence, they both feel unsettled; this leads to an interesting and captivating turn of events that endows this book with a thrilling page-turner quality.
At a little over one hundred pages (my copy), the novel made for a nice, fun, and easy read. I know ‘fun’ might sound strange, given the serious theme of conflict present in the book. But the interactions between the two soldiers were nothing short of comical. I found myself completely amused and laughing-out-loud at certain turn of events. That isn’t to say that there weren’t moments when I was seriously worried that things would take a turn for the worst; and times when I was touched by what had unfolded.
What I liked about the book was that the story was well-written and the events were well-described. I am impressed by the balance between the entertainment(humor) and enlightenment the book delivers, as I actually got to learn quite a bit about the relations between India and Pakistan, owing to the fact that the author incorporated some facts in his work of fiction. Additionally, I thought that the characters were believable, likable, and well-developed. The author is able to achieve this by making the readers ‘eavesdrop’ and ‘peek at’ the thoughts of the characters. He also relays the background information of the two characters in the narrative, which serves the purpose of a good backstory. Although the use of dialogue is minimal, it is effective and adds essence to the narrative when it is used. My only critique of the book is the ending; while I appreciated the conclusion, I was left questioning if I had actually finished reading the book. I wondered if there were any last pages missing from my copy. It appeared to have ended abruptly, and I felt like there was more that the author could have added to the ending.
Overall; the setting, characters, and plot, came together to tell an interesting story. The book seemed to be professionally edited as I did not spot any obvious errors. There was the use of a few curse words and the level of violence in the entire story was very low. I recommend this book to those who enjoy stories with elements of adventure, humor, and historical fiction. I, therefore, rate this book 3 out of 4 stars. I deducted one star, only because I felt the ending left more to be desired.
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Border Post 99
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