A RIVETING CRIME THRILLER FORAYING INTO MULTITUDINOUS THEMES

Book Review: "Faith and the Beloved" by Kochery C Shibu

Many thriller books follow the trope in which parallel plots proceed in the novel’s narrative, and this definitely ups the thrill quotient of the book by a notch. The author Shibu C Kochery has come out with one such book “Faith and the Beloved”, in which parallel plots individually proceed and then coalesce to further the novel’s gripping narrative.

Like the author’s debut novel “Men and Dreams in the Dhauladhar”, which was very much steeped in the Indian milieu, this novel also follows familiar tropes, though being a crime thriller, it delves into many other additional themes. The themes of love, lust, betrayal, intrigue and revenge are incorporated in the storyline.

The book follows Naithy Cherozil, a successful business woman from Mumbai, who has married Tony D’Souza after the death of her spouse. Tony, however, is connected to a terror outfit. Naithy’s daughter, Alice Cherozil kills her step-father and runs away, and has to outwit the underworld to save her life. In a parallel plot, the brother of Prem Rollands is killed by the police under mysterious circumstances, and Prem must avenge those who have plotted to kill his brother. As the lives of Prem and Alice cross each other, they must retain their faith and protect their beloved ones, even at the cost of their own lives. There is also a web of secrets surrounding two precious diamonds.

Two parallel plots are going on in the story, and they converge later on in the narrative. The thriller definitely becomes more convoluted as the story progresses, but for those expecting a taut thriller; the narrative has many loose ends. The denouement, however, definitely packs a punch. The character development is good, and their well-crafted back stories make them more readable, with readers more interested in knowing about what would happen to the characters later on in the story. However, though these back stories and sub-plots are necessary and make the readers root more for the characters, sometimes more than necessary information is imparted in these sub-plots, which may confuse the readers. Technical jargon and facts are also included in the narrative, and some readers would have difficulty navigating the narrative due to this.

The chapters in the novel are named after the characters, and each chapter showcases the narrative from the perspective of the characters. The book definitely needs deft editing, particularly related to the sentence structures. However, despite of these editing glitches, the plot of this thriller is intriguing and amusing.

This riveting crime thriller is an entertaining read, and should be picked up by those interested in the mystery thriller genre.