Sudhi Kannan: An Elephantic Adventure

From the book blurb

Sudhi is a ten year old notorious kid.

Kannan is a cool dad.

Boss is a mind bending terrorist.

School is hectic. Work is crazy. So Sudhi and Kannan decide to bunk a day off from their routine lives. The trip is to the Elephanta Island located a few kilometers away from the coast of Mumbai. There is a surprise waiting for them in the form of three novice terrorists. As you read this, they are heading towards the island to capture it. It seems possible, since Boss knows a trick or two with hypnosis.

Beware; the Coast Guard will be undercover. Hypnotized soldiers will take over the island. Bullets will rip through the night sky and a ten year old boy is about to change the course of every fool proof plan.

This adventure is going to be a blast. You are invited.

Author

Krishna Raj H.K. wants to know more about writing. True, he has done his schooling from The Indian School-Bahrain. He has completed graduation from S.I.E.S-Navi Mumbai and holds a P.G. Diploma from I.I.P.M-Mumbai.

A few years down the line, he begins to feel that there are uncharted territories when it comes to communication and word play ... or is it just Pink Floyd?

Characters

Sudhi is ten years old studying in fifth standard. He is naughty and smart. He hates girls in general and Pooja in particular. He is creative and sees a best friend in Shijon.

Kannan is Sudhi’s father. He is a single parent who does his best to bring up Sudhi. He sees himself in Sudhi and is proud about his son. He is a cool dad; a friendly one.

Shijon is funny and a real-best-friend. He goes out of his ways to protect his friend, Sudhi and has a huge crush on Andrea, their classmate.

Pooja is like pretty and like any other ten years old, hates Sudhi. She fights with Sudhi relentlessly and tries to put him in some trouble or the other.

Boss is menacing with the power to hypnotise others. His assistants are Stephen and Velutty.

Then there is Megha, Boraji, Roopa and so many-many others!

What I think

To begin with the cover-page is really good. It summarizes the premise and acts as a perfect stage-setter. It is vibrant and I bet that it has the capability to attract kid/young readers. The book is crisp and to the point. It has the ability to attract readers to it.

The narrative style is different. It is almost like a movie screenplay. It even has an Intermission! It is penned scene by scene and you can almost see that – Scene 1:Cut:Scene 2:Cut and so on.

I liked the twist in tale towards the end; as in those scenes that narrate the intent behind Boss’s actions. It awed me and made me wonder if that is really possible.

I really enjoyed the scenes involving Shijon in school and the fights between Sudhi and Pooja. The latter reminded me of my dear friend during school days; we used to fight like hell! And our parents equally fed up with us! I am sorry that I am writing my personal memories here. The point I am trying to drive is that this book has this ability to turn it nostalgic!

I appreciate the author for venturing into a different genre - A book that can be enjoyed by children and adults equally. Like a full-family entertainer movie, this is a full-family entertainment book; one of its kind!

But...

It is too lengthy. The story seems to drag forever though it is about 300 pages only!

I wish that better editing was done.

Should you read it?

It’s a book that can entertain anyone from someone who is 10 to 70. It will entertain you; if you could bear with the length!

Try it!

Rating

2.5/5

Thank you

The book was received as part of Reviewers Programme on The Tales Pensieve.

PS: Dear author, can we expect a sequel? Think about it!