A THRILLING CORPORATE RIDE

Book Review: The Celeritas Files

Book: The Celeritas Files

Author: Ishan Majumdar

Mystery thrillers involving the corporate world pique the interest of many general readers, for they get a sneak peek into many hitherto unknown facets of big corporations and their obscure perplexities. With the setting being the Indian corporate sector, the author Ishan Majumdar comes with his book “The Celeritas Files”.

The storyline follows the travails of Shaina Desai, who finds herself in the middle of a sinister plot to steal her prized invention. The starting pages show the four colleagues working in Bliksem Technologies- Ravi, Nandini, Amaan and Shaina enjoying a Christmas party. Rajiv, the 5 years old son of Shaina is also accompanying them. But there, Ravi gets shot by a hooded man and Shaina’s son gets kidnapped. The readers then find that Shaina has developed a revolutionary technology under ‘Project Celeritas’ which can save her company from bankruptcy, but the kidnapper demands ‘Celeritas Files’ as ransom. Will Shaina be able to save Rajiv by exchanging ‘Celeritas Files’? Who is the mastermind behind this? The plot then goes on to answer these questions.

The front cover of the book is apt, with a picture of a man surrounded by corporate high rises. The blurb at the back cover is exactly how blurbs of mystery-thrillers should be written. It has only the needed details, and not much of the actual plot is revealed. A mention should also be made of the paper quality and print which is excellent.

Regarding the writing, the narrative is fast-paced; but even then there’s a long build-up in the plot that ups the suspense quotient with a brief conclusion that tells all. As for whodunit, the readers will be constantly deducing and guessing about the culprit by evaluating characters, which becomes all the more interesting with ample twists and turns in the plot, but the revelation in the end is not that surprising. The book also deepens the portrait of the corporate world for the general readers through its detailed descriptions of company valuation and acquisition, under the table dealings with government and institutions; and elucidating the impact of global politics and shift in market dynamics on big multinational corporations as well as domestic industries.

This is a book that shows the quintessence of the present day corporate India, with all its inherent business rivalries and office politics and should be read for a jaunt into the seemingly perfect corporate world. It is a welcome addition to the burgeoning canon of mystery-thrillers, albeit with elements of the dark games played under the veneer of professional ethics and numerous intricate details of the corporate nexus.