Book Review: A Pound of Flesh by Mukul Deva

Finished "Pound of Flesh" by Mukul Deva (Westland Books). It's my first book by the author and my new experiment with the genre that's crime fiction.

Pamela Stewart, a young american lawyer vanishes from the airport without any trace, while her friends, Jasmine and Rekha, are frantically looking for her. Retired Inspector General of Police Ravinder Singh Gill knows that he has only hours to track down and recover the missing girl, Pamela, his daughter Jasmine’s college-mate and friend. As he digs deeper he realizes that Pamela is not the only girl who is missing.

The book is a chase against kidnapping, human trafficking and organ harvesting racket. This dark and dangerous world belongs to Harpal Singh and skillfully executed by SK who hates Ravinder for killing his father. The battle becomes intensely personal for SK aka The Hammer, when he realizes that Pamela is the friend of Ravinder’s daughter. Also, can Mandeep, a surgeon, Ravinder Gill's future son-in-law and Harpal's son, be involved in this murky web of crime?

The story line is strong (a little filmy). Mukul Deva is a well known experienced author so writing is obviously neat but it's not very tricky as I had expected for a crime fiction. From the very first chapter we know who is Pamela and who kidnapped her and why. The book is written in multiple Point of View, so it didn't create intrigue that was required for this genre. Also, I thought the pace was a little slow, however, it picks up as the story goes deeper, and the chase gets exciting and tense.

There are so many characters as a crime fiction demands perhaps. Characters are well defined. SK is one spontaneous character, moves of SHO Chetan creates intrigue. The anxiety of characters (For their different reasons) is expressed well.

There is a light touch of romance (Jasmine and Mandeep) and family drama too as sub-plots. As I said the pace is slow; seems like a long read as some unnecessary descriptions fill the pages which was not required for this genre.

Overall, for me, it was an average read. You may like it if you enjoy reading crime fiction.


I received this book from the publisher for an honest review.