R.I.P

by Mukul Deva

R.I.P. The Resurgent Indian Patriots. Self- appointed guardians of a nation seething with anger at the endless scams and scandals rocking its very foundation. Vigilantes who vow to stop corrupt politicians and colluding civil servants. Even if it means killing them.

Colonel Krishna Athawale and his team of Special Forces officers rally to protect the country from the enemy within. They call themselves the K-Team. And no one is safe from their deadly intent.

Hellbent on stopping them is Raghav Bhagat, rogue para commando, gun for hire and Krishnas bete noir.

Caught in the crossfire is Vinod Bedi, Special Director CBI. Reena Bhagat, a glamorous news anchor, embittered by her husbands betrayal. And two young boys, Sachin and Azaan, torn apart by the loss of a parent.

It doesnt get bigger.

Genres: Fiction

286 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

Major Mukul Deva (Retd.) (born 29 January) is an Indian polymath. He is a motivational keynote speaker, executive coach, business mentor and bestselling author based in Singapore. He writes spy-military thrillers on terrorism, action, crime, and business and self-help books.

An alumnus of La Martiniere College, Lucknow, the National Defence Academy, Khadakvasla and the Indian Military Academy, Dehradoon, Mukul, an ex-Indian Army officer, is the founder-director of a professional security company, MSD Security Pvt Ltd, India, and a learning & organisational development company, Influence Solutions Pte Ltd, Singapore.

Reviews

[Ankita · Rating 4 out of 5]

See other reviews @ Booklok Coffee

Book cover is dominated by the shades of fire, anger, blood and a soldier silhouette gazing the bright golden sun peeking out of the dark clouds. This explosive cover got everything that will boil your blood and The detailing with the syringe and the bullet is commendable. "Mukul Deva" written in RED is textured giving the illusion of blood smear. It's the brief of the story, very appropriate and I loved it.
The book was born out of extreme sense of anger and shame. Anger at the appalling, naked greed so shamelessly displayed by the Indian political class. And shame that they happen to be fellow-Indians.-- Author's Note

Well R.I.P stands for The Resurgent Indian Patriots but is also an innuendo to Rest in peace (My perception). I usually start the story without reading the Disclaimer/author's note and read it after am done with the story, It's more fun that way so would suggest to do that specially with this one. (ALERT) Or you'll miss loads of laughs. The concept of the story is wicked. Although it is a complete work of fiction but the connection between fiction and reality is astonishing, down right blunt and Hilarious in many ways. This heart pumping thriller is first and foremost about the administration of the long-overdue justice, Right!!

Mukul Deva does a nice job of capturing the setting and providing an authentic feel and voice to his characters.

R.I.P is a group of ex-commandos, hardcore patriots having the same believes and motive of freeing India from the greedy clutches of the Corrupt Leaders who are draining Indian trasure to fill their own pockets. These RIP guardians goes by the name K-team (K being the initial of every member) Retired major Kevin David, Kashif, Kamlesh, Karan and Kulwant, If you look closely you'll find that the team members are from every caste which is a nice touch from Author boosting the UNITY of RELIGION in such a bold and blatant mission.

"The safety, honour and welfare of your country comes first, always and every time...
The safety, honour and welfare of the men you command comes next, Always and every time."

The leader of the K-team is Colonel Krishna Athawale, a daredevil ex-paratrooper, strong built, honest, widower and a victim of fate. He hopes to see a day when all Indians will have a roof on their head, proper meal to fill their bellies and the right to live with dignity and security. And to achieve that he has taken a huge risk.

"In the space of a heartbeat, the man within died and the warrior came alive"

The fortifying distress and zeal to protect India from the enemy within made the K-team choose the route of assassinating the corrupt politicians and bureaucrats, And they do that in open, After giving fair warning. And things got more interesting as one of the dishonest rough ex-para commando Raghav Bhagat joined the blood-shedding party for the opposite team. One of the fair special director of CBI is caught in this deadly web trying to find the start and the end.

The K-team actions and the mentioned Hazaria's hunger-strike in the book gives the feel of Revolutionist and the Gandhians movement during freedom struggle.

In addition to the whole action pack, A sweet romance is also kindling between a widower and a divorcee with an obvious love triangle. I liked how Author has put up a point of giving freedom to his characters to move on with their lives and choose their happiness and life partner no matter the age, and it's beautiful how the kids are coping up despite of pain of losing a parent.

I had couple of issues while approaching the climax, Krishna remained unaware about his tail, very poor quality for someone who is leading such a risky mission and on the scene of crossfireing by the end how is it possible that all three major forgot about... (I am not saying anything). It would have been better if Author have approached it differently then I would have given a 'Starbucks Coffee cup' :( .

It's fast-paced and a true page-turner lucid writing, there's a gravity and social conscience that pervades the story and adds a weight to the narrative. There is depth here, more than I expected. I really liked that writing style wasn't too fancy, sometimes in order to choose fancy words authors tends to break the flow of reading and mess up the story theme.


This one engaged me in a sense that no matter how hard I try to keep it all serious while reading, I was helpless but to exclaim "OH Bring it on baby!" "BOOM"... "Yeah, That's the way".

All in all a well-written, emotionally-charged thriller certainly delivered the right message to the patriots, politicians and citizens of this nation =D. Overall, a satisfying read that held my attention throughout.

[Sparsh · Rating 2 out of 5]

"Kuch bhi" is the word.

[Vikas Singh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Originally reviewed at --> http://vps3361.blogspot.in/2013/02/bo...


Background:

This novel is my first read among any of Mukul Deva's so many acclaimed ones out in the market. And now I know for sure why he is sometimes referred to as India's first military action thriller storyteller. As the back cover of the novel proclaims --

R.I.P. The Resurgent Indian Patriots. Self appointed guardians of a nation seething with anger at the endless scams and scandals rocking its very foundation. Vigilantes who vow to stop corrupt politicians and colluding civil servants. Even if it means killing them.


Characters:

The lead characters, i.e., Col. Krishna Athawale, Captain Raghav Bhagat, and Reena Bhagat are truly the essence of storytelling here.

Rest of the characters of the K-team, as they are called (since the names of all the vigilante's of RIP group start with K) and CBI director Vinod Bedi, fit in perfectly with every scene progressing forward but have been given very less face value except maybe for Karan.

Not all characters are well-established but such ain't missed as the story has its own pace to follow.


Story:

In author's own words: "Colonel Krishna Athawale and his team of Special Forces officers rally to protect the country from the enemy within. They call themselves the K-Team. And no one is safe from their deadly intent. Hellbent on stopping them is Raghav Bhagat, rogue para commando, gun for hire and Krishna’s bête noir. Caught in the crossfire is Vinod Bedi, Special Director CBI. Reena Bhagat, a glamorous news anchor, embittered by her husband’s betrayal. And two young boys, Sachin and Azaan, torn apart by the loss of a parent. It doesn’t get bigger."

This pretext is sufficient enough to guess the theme of this novel. Colonel Krishna is the head of K-team. An early-retired Special Forces officer, he takes on himself to remove the corruption out of political and judiciary class thro' his special means (of taking them out of the equation of life), after the deaths of his wife and his brother-n-law owing to corruption issues remarkably prevalent in Indian political class. Captain Raghav Bhagat, a corrupt and rogue paratrooper, is handed over the responsibility outside system to capture and kill the assassins, the RIP. That said, it's like the right guys are going for right thing but by not-so-right means, and the wrong guy is wrongly given the duty to rightly pursue the right guys. Whole lot of interesting characterization from the start, isn't it!

RIP as it is, Resurgent Indian Patriots, acts as a vigilante group to give a hard lesson to the corrupt in power in order to bring a stop their nefarious scams and make them resign and bring all black money back to India. This all at a time when non-violent anti-corruption protests are being observed on a large scale under the leadership of a Gandhian, Hazarika.

The story starts directly with the action of killing vital aides of a few most corrupt politicians and bureaucrats. And the thrill starts when RIP sends out killing threats for its next set of victims (amusingly, they aren't victims at all :P). The planning and precision of taking out the next three targets in 3 days and their chase by Capt. Bhagat hired by corrupt home minister constitutes the most part of the first half of the novel. The second half picks up pace when the govt. still doesn't take any action against the scam-guilty and RIP plan to kill the most important target which will cause tremor in the heart of the nation, and CBI director Vinod Bedi (clueless most of the times about RIP) finally getting some clues in to who is behind it all.

Amidst all this, the human interest (in author's words only, when I met him at a recent Bangalore bookclub meet) is taken care of by the isosceles love triangle between the two lead males and Reena, ex-wife of Capt. Bhagat. The blossoming relationship between Krishna and Reena is quite romantically captured as well as the doubts in their minds about their future together speak out very well.

What happens at the end? Who wins and how? Does RIP get successful in making their intent visible to the political high command? To find out all these interesting twists, pick & start reading RIP asap.


Likes:

The measured writing Deva has provided just to make the storytelling quite believable and authentic too

Fast paced full-Indian military action adventure

The chase and hunt game between K-team, ex-Capt. Bhagat, and CBI is the actual page-turner

No unnecessary raunchiness put up in the story


Expectations/Dislikes:

Writing, I should say, is quite amusing and so many real life people and actual scams have been taken fictitiously used throughout the book, that at first it is hilarious but after sometime, it starts feeling like an overuse of it.

And that the whole setting has been fictitiously taken from the recently real life scenario in India sends a wave of lack of a bit of originality in the minds of readers.

Plus, it seems that the novel is written as a ready-made Bollywood story, just waiting to be launched as a movie, which should not be the case with a novel (as I think).


Well, nevertheless, the novel is author's treat to us, and I, as a matter of fact, really liked it.


Overall, 3.75 out of 5 stars

[Athul · Rating 1 out of 5]

The following is the overview of the book which prompted me to read this book.
“R.I.P. The Resurgent Indian Patriots. Self appointed guardians of a nation seething with anger at the endless scams and scandals rocking its very foundation. Vigilantes who vow to stop corrupt politicians and colluding civil servants. Even if it means killing them. Colonel Krishna Athawale and his team of Special Forces officers rally to protect the country from the enemy within. They call themselves the K-Team. And no one is safe from their deadly intent. Hellbent on stopping them is Raghav Bhagat, rogue para commando, gun for hire and Krishna's béte noir. Caught in the crossfire is Vinod Bedi, Special Director CBI. Reena Bhagat, a glamorous news anchor, embittered by her husband's betrayal. And two young boys, Sachin and Azaan, torn apart by the loss of a parent. It doesn't get bigger.”

Sounds like a promise plot promise doesn’t it? Sounds like the story is something which will rise above the breaking headlines sort of overview doesn’t it?
Unfortunately it doesn’t.

Politicians, voluntarily retired army officers, CBI officers all seem to favor ‘arsehole’ NOT ‘asshole’ as their favored choice of expletive. The book opens with brief acknowledgement and an author’s note. The latter sermonizes and indicates the germination of the idea behind the story. I blame my modest id’s inflated sense of good taste in movies and books to have wanted to move from the black screen to the story. But…
I am more than well aware of the effort which goes behind writing a novel. Not a novella, not a novelette. But a novel. It is hard work. And I would have marveled the book and probably cherished it. IF… If it had been the debut novel. I would have ignored the shoddy editing in places, I would have ignored the manifesto, propaganda styled, pro – Anna Hazare, anti – ruling party voice of the author and concentrated at the “story”. But apparently, the author has 5 best sellers against his name. The book doesn’t delve into the “story” till about 120 odd pages (the book is 286 pages long). In movie terms, this book for me is like… Take somebody who is completely unaware of Ram Gopal Verma’s body of work, and the first movie he/she is made to watch from the director’s movies is ‘Ram Gopal Verma ki Aag’. ‘RIP’ is my ‘Ram Gopal Verma Ki Aag.’
The following is my assumption, based on my limited understanding of the author’s style of writing on the sample size of 1, (this book). I can see why the author’s previous works have been best sellers. And I can firmly say that this one will too be described as a best seller, if it already isn’t. The proclamation has got nothing to do with the morbidly grotesque PR job which the cover boasts of, like a poorly spelled tattoo in Sanskrit. The language is simple, the characters are one dimensional, the clichés and stereotypes are plenty on offer, the cussing is limited and unimaginative. The plot promises ‘A Wednesday’ and one can optimistically view the story as being just that. The problem I had with the book is that the execution was more Rohit Shetty’s ‘Golmaal’ series. And we all know why the latter’s movies are considered blockbusters. They appeal to the lowest common denominator. The LCDs I refer to here are people who like to write ‘reading’ under the heading of hobbies in their resume.
I am still of the firm belief that there are very few Indian authors who can write good thrillers set in India with Indian characters. This book made me sorely miss Juggi Bhasin and his stellar writing. If you are looking for a good thriller, then give RIP a miss like you would ignore playing in the sewers during the monsoons and grab a copy of Juggi Bhasin’s ‘The Terrorist’ .

[Manoj Sharma · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good time pass.. not a great thriller but still it keeps tightened to the book till you finish it... possibly he @mukuldeva could have used some other politicians rather using the real one with name change...

[Rishi Prakash · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author is a product of the National Defence Academy, Pune, and the Indian Military Academy, Dehra Dun. He was commissioned in the Sikh Light Infantry of the Indian Army in 1981 where he served as an officer until 1996 till he retired as a Major. The book clearly reflects his deep understanding on the subject which obviously comes from his rich background.

He knows how to keep the readers glued. The book is a page turner. The action is literally throughout the book.I won't go in the details of the book except the title! RIP here means Resurgent Indian Patriots. A team of 6 special forces ex-officers who come together to teach a lesson to the corrupt politicians.

The book definitely gives you a feel that a movie is in the making!

[Sandeep Sharma · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a kind of book that grabs your attention, every time you try to put it down. This book is like an action movie with all the flavors of good and powerful writing. It takes time to pitch up with the pace that the author is having for his write up but once you are in the arena, you'll never lose the control and will not put the book back till you get to the climax.
The only drawback was the introduction of so many characters within first few pages of the story otherwise, the book is a complete action thriller.

[A. · Rating 4 out of 5]

RIP by Mukul Deva is an interesting suspense thriller with faint hints of romance and relationships. Though the names of many characters do sound familiar, one can't help but think if only this would be true.

RIP gives an insight of how decisions made by corrupt politicians effect not only lives of the common man but also to those who are ready to lay down their lives for sake of their motherland and how it affects them to the core.

RIP is definitely a must read if you love to read some fast-paced suspense thriller based on army and politics

[Vinay Leo · Rating 4 out of 5]

WOW. Talk about a book that leaves you breathless. The action spreads throughout the book and the language is such that you can see it happen before your eyes. I'd give it a 4.5 for sure. Stunning. First time I am reading Mukul Deva's work, and I'm hunting for his other books now. Brilliant.

From my blog: http://wp.me/p2J8yh-24Y

[Jiten Upadhyay (Team ThinkerViews) · Rating 4 out of 5]

[You can find detailed review at: http://thinkerviews.com/books/english... ]

The Plot:
A retired para-commando and his team come to the conclusion that the political system in India needs a serious cleanup. It doesn’t matter which party comes to the power, the wrongdoings with the public and the motherland are not stopped. It is the country and countrymen who suffer at the end. Corruption is so deep-rooted into the system that it exists in almost all the segments.

The story moves ahead on the them of nationalism and patriotic feelings.

Colonel Krishna and his K-Team think that this is the best time to strike. As the public is awakening and fed up with the system, once people will see some serious actions they will come ahead with new clean and patriot leaders, who actually want to serve the country.

He runs a clean up drive and to perform it, it is necessary for corrupt prominent people from various areas of the society needs to go, how otherwise, there can be the place for new clean fellows?

And the opponents, are not just remain silent and ready to be hunted, of course. They will launch their counter attack and try to uncover the real identities of the people who are running this drive, to hunt them instead of being hunted.

Who will succeed and how? Well, you need to read the book to uncover it :) .

Views and Reviews:
Overall, the story is good and it goes with the feelings of most of the common citizens, and that’s why a large number of readers will like it for sure. In that terms, you can compare the book with a complete masala entertainer movie with the flavor of patriotism. Mukul Deva himself has served in Indian Armed Forces for around 15 years, and he possesses authority in various stuff.

The book falls into the thriller category and despite being a crime thriller, just considering it a crime thriller is an injustice to the book. It is a combination of detective fiction, spy thriller and almost all the ingredients of a typical masala film. You can see it as a complete package for thriller lovers.

There is some adultery associated with a character in the book, so be warned for that.

Mukul Deva is a good author, he pens some of the lines in the book which will remain with you even after you complete reading it. Eg:

Stressed men were dangerous men.
—- —- —- —- —- —- —-
No matter how good, no warrior lasts forever. And death needed only just that one tiny window of opportunity.


The conclusion could have been more specific, but the author has left many things half-said. Should we expect a second book in the series to know more?

And yes, you can draw parallels to some of the living/dead people along with the characters explored in the book and you will enjoy it for sure.

[Pranav · Rating 1 out of 5]

I regret the hours I spent reading this piece of shit.

The writing itself is not bad, maybe a bit tryhard at places, but the plot is absolutely terrible.

Ignoring the barely veiled political propaganda the novel shoves at you, the story is still very unoriginal and stale.

The author fails to write characters of any depth, with most of the vigilante crew present purely for religious diversity.

The story feels like it was written to be a cheap Bollywood thriller, with all the characters unbelievably connected to each other, and everything wrapping up in a happy ending.

There is no tension whatsoever in this so called thriller, despite the author's laughable attempts at inducing it.

Overall, read RIP only if you're the mood for a masturbatory wish fulfilling fantasy about ending corruption, with black and white caricatures to target your rage at.

[Addy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The central theme/idea is pretty good, something which is easily relatable. However, there are too many coincidences used a bit too conveniently for the plot to be taken seriously. This would work well as a masala Bollywood flick bit certainly won't be too memorable for readers who want to know each and every detail about the plot unraveling. I mean it's not child's play for Ex Special Forces Indian Army officers to get hold of weapons at will and go about assassinating VIPs with considerable security cover. As I said, two words describe this book- coincidence & convenience. Can be a good time pass read though .
3/5

[Abhik Bhattacharya · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one started with a bang but ultimately turned out to be a predictable much before the last leg. This book anyway maintained the pace but could have been better had there been little bit of twists. characters are too much linear which makes the book at times boring. This is a good one to read but nothing extra ordinary. Killing methods are really good and the turmoil the defense personnel feel often. Little bit of multi layering could make the justice to it. Political nexus with all aspects of society could have been well exploited.

[Jaideep Khanduja · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book Review: RIP by Mukul Deva: An Exhilarating And Engrossing Thriller

http://pebbleinthestillwaters.blogspo...

Book Review: RIP by Mukul Deva: An Exhilarating And Engrossing Thriller

The tag line of website of Mukul Deva says - If you can imagine it - you can achieve it. RIP by Mukul Deva was released in December 2012. Before writing about this engrossing thriller , it is quite important to know about this super hit author - Mukul Deva, who besides being expert in this trait, is also well known as a Mentor, Coach, Speaker, Entrepreneur, and a great human being. Almost all leading newspapers and publishing house admire his work published so far. Business World says - The God of all things... it's tough describing Mukul Deva. The Statesman - Deva has a Nostradamus touch. And that is in fact true as he has a tremendous power of foreseeing the things happening in future. In his books Lashkar (Persian word - meaning military camp or army) published in the year 2008 and Salim Must Die published in 2009, Mukul Deva projected a global terrorist resembling Osama and and about U.S. troops locating him in a village in Pakistan.

Indian Express narrates Mukul Deva as a man with a license to thrill and the first Indian writer expert in writing military thrillers. The same has been written about him in The Hindu. The Business Standard designates him as a literary storm trooper. Well with 5 super hit books in 5 consecutive years - demands more to say about Mukul Deva.

R.I.P. is a story about patriotism. It talks about selfishness versus selfless goals. It talks about Corruption at a large scale and up to the highest level in India. It talks about the doers who dare to die while fighting against corruption rather than accepting it and keep cribbing about it or becoming a prey of political mafia. It talks about almost real situation in India where people elect there leaders for the growth of country and the moment they get elected, their personal growth becomes prime for them and that too at any cost and by getting down to any level. RIP indicates that the biggest crime is to dodge the people who elect a leader and bring him to power. There is only one punishment for corrupt politicians who mold country and administrative powers just for their personal, selfish motives; and that is nothing less than DEATH.

R.I.P. stands for The Resurgent Indian Patriots. Some people can still stand tall against all the odds in life and have guts to fight against corruption. They attain the power to fight against all kind of wrong powers and ultimately reach to their goals without thinking twice about their own life. Out of such people there is a group of few Indian Army personnel who left the job and started fighting against termite that is eating the nation, called corruption. This group is called K-Team led by Colonel Krishna Athawale, and comprises of brave-hearts like Karan, Sanjive, Kulwant and few more. All have the same mission of getting this country Corruption Free.

Just reverse of Colonel Krishna Athawale is Raghav Bhagat who is as corrupt as the leaders of this country though he is also from army. Home Minister hires Raghav Bhagat to kill K-Team so as to survive and save his corrupt face. Raghav's ex-wife Reena is as strong a character as Colonel Athawale and she divorced Raghav when she found him enjoying with another lady in a compromising position, after she cut short her trip and reached home unalarmingly. Reena is a news anchor with NDTV living with her son Azaan.


Col Athawale lost his wife during a fight against terrorists who were trying to hijack a plane in which she was an air hostess. During this combat Col's wife dies and that becomes a reason for him to leave army. Colonel Athawale lives with his son Sachin and both miss the most precious person in their life who left them all of a sudden. Sachin and Azaan are in the same school and class and that becomes a common link between Col. and Reena who finally marry.

There is CBI special Director Vinod Bedi who is tired of serving corrupt ministers but is helpless having no other choice. Story is highly engrossing keeping you asking all the time right since you start first page - what next?.

The Prime Minister is just a toy in the hands of Ruling Party's President. Her son is being expected to be the next Prime Minister of the country. Colonel and team tried to warn corrupt ministry by killing three influential political figures who were sunk in corruption till neck. But Home Minister refuses to pay any heed to the demand of K-Team of resignation of all corrupt ministers, bringing back all black money for the welfare of country.

A long wild goose chase keeps happening among Trio teams of Vinod Bedi, Raghav Bhagat and Colonel Athawale. Three more killings of high level officials and ministers, by K-Team, as a stern indication to corrupt government makes no serious impact except that price money for Bhagat is doubled by Home Minister on killing K-Team and increasing task force of CBI special Director for chasing and finding K-Team. But nothing helps against the selfless motive of K-Team and finally government gets defeated. Cells in Tihar Jail become short when it starts filling corrupt ministers and there is no space left for normal criminals.

Overall R.I.P. by Mukul Deva is an intensely woven engrossing thriller.

[Aravind · Rating 3 out of 5]

The plot of RIP was topical of the times when it was written. But the execution is not up to the standard set by Mukul Deva himself, with his Lashkar series. The characters are one-dimensional and the narrative is monotonous. Though the action sequences are nicely developed, the story drags in the middle portion due to the romantic angle.
RIP is an okay read, written in simple language, that will not satisfy readers who expect a bit of complexity and substance from their thrillers.

[Sreevidya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although the author says characters are fictious, all the politicians mentioned were so close to the real ones..
Interesting read. We need such R I P in real world too..

[Mrityunjay Gupta · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fast-paced gripping storyline which gives a rather extremely controversial approach for achieving a society devoid of corruption ridden "influential people". However, unnecessary detailing could be avoided until and unless it has a role in building up the entire plot. Overall a commendable effort by an Indian author.

[Sundarraj Kaushik · Rating 4 out of 5]

How one wishes what is described in the book becomes too. The theme is about a bunch of ex-commandos from the Indian army taking on the corrupt politicians and bringing about a much needed change in the political atmosphere of India.

It is easy to pooh pooh many of the incidents described in the book as being impossible and too coincidental, but one needs to give it to the author. One can feel the angst and the frustration in the author. Many Indians should be able to to relate to this feeling and would be hoping something like that happens so that we become a better country.

The rating 4 is for the wish.

A decent read in any case.

[Subramanyam K.V. · Rating 4 out of 5]

When Anna Hazare first picked up the cudgels and tried to put the government in dock over corruption and Janlokpal we were all there with him, weren’t we ? Most of us, the young men and women of this country are seen seething in anger when scam after scam is exposed and the governance goes into a tail spin. Yet, not much happens, and we see the governments come up with some tactics or the other and we see the agitations lose steam. We lose the focus as something comes up in the middle and we also have our own work and life demands.

While most of us let this anger fizzle out, some people take it to the next level. Mukul Deva, an army man who has served the the nation for 15 years took a different route to keep fight against the corruption alive. “RIP” his latest work, is a result of his anger, anguish and frustration at the falling standards of governance and the rampant corruption plaguing the soul of the nation.

“RIP” in this book is the not the “Rest in Peace” RIP we know, it stands for “Resurgent Indian Patriots”. The name 6 ex-army officers who rededicate themselves to the service of the nation give to themselves. This group pledges to weed out the corrupt and create a chill in the spines of the ruling elite of the country.

Krishna, Kevin,Kashif,Karan,Kamlesh and Kulwant, or the K-Team as they are fondly called manage to hit the headlines with their initial successes. Will the K-Team achieve the target they put for themselves, will they make the political class bend and more importantly will they prove to be a match for the wily Home Minister Karunakaran and his tricks? Can CBI and its duty loving director Vinod Bedi reach and save their masters in time ? You ought to read the book to the get the answers.

Coming to the style of the book, it is an easy read one might finish it in 3-4 hours of at a stretch reading. The author has taken enough care to ensure that the interest of the reader is sustained and the suspense maintained. The conversational style of writing and use of day to day English are the icing on the cake.

In the author’s note Mukul Deva says “This book was out of extreme sense of anger and shame. Anger at the appalling, naked greed so shamelessly displayed by the Indian political class. And shame that they happen to be fellow Indians” . After reading the book, I felt how true. For, as it comes with most of the works of fiction, this book too has a disclaimer which says that all the characters in the book are fictional and any resemblance with the real life characters is purely a coincidence. However, I doubt this for the scams mentioned and the names and the situations almost give away the identity of the people the author is referring to. It indeed seemed like a bold attempt to me.

Coming to the stuff I thought could have been improved in the book, the k-team sometimes seemed like silver screen hero’s. How can someone pull off breathtaking feats and still come out unscathed. The other bigger complaint is regarding the fate of some of the characters in the book , can you accept violence and killing of the politicians of India as a solution to the problems of India? The very thought of killing them and creating a political vacuum seemed dangerous to me.What if some innocent public are also killed in the process? We have been the land that loved debate and fair treatment of everyone aren’t we ? But then, I am again divided in opinion , for I want India to change but I abhor violence. If change can happen in the country without things that were mentioned in RIP I would be the happiest.

Do read it, I am sure you would like the 2-3 hours you spend on it.

I definitely thank blogadda for introducing me to this book.

[Deepak · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just finished reading a fast paced thriller by Mukul Deva titled ‘RIP – Resurgent Indian Patriots’. Had never read any of Mukul Deva’s earlier books, and he has written eleven so far, and this is the ninth. Thanks to Blogadda, I got this book to be reviewed, and had a great time reading it.
Mukul Deva has an army background. His profile on his site states ‘Completing his education from La Martiniere College, Lucknow, the National Defence Academy, Pune, and the Indian Military Academy, Dehra Dun, Mukul was commissioned in the SIKH LIGHT INFANTRY of the Indian Army in 1981.
An eventful Army tenure, which included a decade of operational service in India and overseas, ended in an equally remarkable transition when Mukul turned his attention to the corporate battlefield.
The result was MSD SECURITY PVT LTD which, in the ensuing decade, grew into a dynamic, professionally managed company.
Another twist in the tale followed when Mukul turned to his first love - writing. The result was a series of books spanning genres as multi-faceted as his personality.’
I mention this because his writing has that crispness of the the military induced discipline. And he does seem uncomfortable writing about romantic relationships. Actually it would have been much better if he had not devoted as many pages as he has to the romantic interludes in his book. It takes away some of the hard hitting moments.



The book is very contemporary and talks about the present state our country is in. There are also references to present political leaders though slantingly as also the movement led by Anna Hazare. This is what forms the core of the book wherein a group formed by ex paratroopers take on the mantle of saviours and decide to wipe out the corrupt leaders. It makes for very interesting reading and rarely do you feel you are reading fiction. It feels like reading a current news magazine! One also hopes all that one reading is true!
There are times while reading I felt as if I was watching a commercial Hindi movie. This is possibly due to his Indian roots, though he has been touted as India’s answer to Ludlum. The pace slackens when he indulges in sentimental family scenes. It is a 286 pages book filled with plenty of thrills and does not let you keep it down.
This excerpt will give you an idea of how exciting the book can be ‘Unwittingly he checked his watch. Twenty past midnight. It was almost as though his watch was on speed. Wasn’t that always the case when on a mission?
Within the next twenty-three hours and forty minutes one of his targets would be dead. Possibly less. The RIP message had said within twenty-four hours… hadn’t it?
Raghav re-opened the mail and read the RIP threat again.
RIP! Nice name. Raghav’s lips twisted into a bemused smile. Very appropriate… considering they were trying to make a lot of people rest in peace. The ones whom they’d killed at least. The ones still alive, but in their gun sights, were certainly not getting any peace. He was unable to stop the laugh. Whoever had thought it up, definitely had a sense of humour. Wacky? So army! Yeah, the acronym was very army… like the damn code words and nicknames they used to select. Unwittingly memory swept him back… back to the day he’d joined his unit.’

A definitely must read!

[Pallavi Kamat · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mukul Deva’s latest thriller comes at a time when the nation is up against the series of scams which have rocked us and the youth is disillusioned with the unabated corruption in almost all spheres of life.

Though the book is a work of fiction and the author has categorically mentioned that all references in the book have been fictitiously used, one can easily relate to a number of characters and/or events which the book takes us through.

The self-appointed guardians (who are all ex-para commandos), who form the protagonists, call themselves the K-Team, primarily because all their names start with K. So, we have Colonel Krishna Athawale, Major Karan Singh, Major Kevin David, Major Kashif Nadeem, Major Kamlesh Saikia and Major Kulwant Singh Bajwa who have taken upon themselves the responsibility of cleansing the system. Their modus operandi is to target and kill some of the corrupt ministers, judges, arms dealers, etc. They hope this will wake up the Government into taking some immediate and strong action benefiting the country as a result.

However, there are two sets of teams trying to stop the K-Team from achieving its mission. One is the official team led by Vinod Bedi, Special Director CBI and Nandakumar his deputy while the other is the unofficial team led by Raghav Bhagat, rogue para commando, who has been hired by the Home Minister to take down the K-Team. Needless to say, the Home Minister is equally involved and wanting to protect himself as much as the others.

Involved in this crossfire are some civilians such as Athawale’s young son Sachin (his wife Pooja has died under unforeseen circumstances) and Reena Bhagat (Raghav’s estranged wife) and their son Azaan.

The book details the killing of each of the targets in precise fashion and one can almost visualize the events as they unfold. Not wanting to reveal too much and spoil the surprise, the book covers events such as the IC-814 hijacking, the Bofors and 2G scams and the shoot-out of a lady in a bar. The characters mentioned in the book also appear quite familiar to the political scenario today including Madam, who runs the nation, and her son, who is being groomed to take over; ministers involved in land grab scams and arms dealers wanting to make a quick buck at the cost of the nation’s security.

The book has a Rang De Basanti like feel to it where, citizens frustrated with the malaise in the system, feel quite helpless and adopt unethical means to cleanse it.

The entire act from targeting a person to tracking his every move to actually standing in front of him and killing him without even his bodyguards getting to know anything is very well-written. The relationship scenes between Athawale and Reena, Athawale and his son, Athawale and other members of the K-Team and Athawale and his sister are also well drawn out.

My only point of irritation was the usage of profane language. Other than giving the book a bit of a casual approach, it also came across as being written only for the sake of it being there and not really forming a part of the story.

This review first appeared on my blog www.pallosworld.blogspot.com

[Swarnali Das · Rating 3 out of 5]

Starting with the cover, the book has a very interesting and apt cover with a soldier carrying a gun , a syringe at the top and a bullet replacing the "I" in R.I.P. The significance of all three can be understood as the reader finishes the very first chapter.

The main plot concerns a group of six ex-army men who call themselves the K- Team pledge to avenge the wrong that the corrupt politicians have been doing to the nation and its people since its very independence. Why are they called the K-Team? Simply because all these six men have their names starting with a K - Krishna Athawale, Kevin David, Kulwant Singh Bajwa, Karan Singh, Kashif Nadeem and Kamlesh Saikia. Corruption, nepotism, favoritism and the "rape" of the nation that has been happening for over 60 years have reached the ebb as these R.I.P- Resurgent Indian Patriots decide that it is high time somebody made an effort at changing the prevailing conditions A very utopic idea if you ask me but the book does manage to provide the readers with a momentary wish fulfillment at a time when the real scenario of the nation is exactly the same as depicted in the book. What I found very surprising is how the book managed not to create any political ruckus despite the fact that the author uses names and characters directly from contemporary politics. Characters like Hazarika, Sheila Kaul and her son Ranvijay, D.M. Karunakaran and Lalit Yadav are completely based on current social-political leaders like Anna Hazare, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, Karunanidhi and Lalu Prasad Yadav respectively. Incidents like the hijacking of the Indian Airlines flight IC 814 (which actually took place in Decemeber 1999) and the Ajmal Kasab case (from the 26/11 terrorist attack) are entirely taken from history (the author however, takes the literary freedom to change the time frames of the two incidents) .

The book is a complete page turner as the very first chapter has three quick immaculately planned murders taking place one after another, taking the reader into its grip for the rest of the 298 pages. The language used in the book is extremely simple with very few ornate words used. I loved the description that the author uses at certain points to describe the particular type of weapon and chemical used for the operation. The effects of the succinylcholine, the C-18 hand grenade and its functions are explained briefly to help the reader understand the mechanism and yet not losing track of the main plot by excessive detailing. The occasional flashes from the past are nicely blended into the stories which help in understanding the characters better. Apart from the occasional repetitive phrases and a few grammatical and typographical errors, the book is a pleasant and quick read.

The book does extremely well for a military thriller ( a genre completely new to me) and I'm planning to read the other books he has written. Grab a copy or borrow it from a friend, if you love thrillers and action, this book won't disappoint you.

[Amit Gupta · Rating 3 out of 5]

R.I.P. The Resurgent Indian Patriots. Self appointed guardians of a nation seething with anger at the endless scams and scandals rocking its very foundation. Vigilantes who vow to stop corrupt politicians and colluding civil servants. Even if it means killing them. Colonel Krishna Athawale and his team of Special Forces officers rally to protect the country from the enemy within. They call themselves the K-Team. Team is a self appointed guardian of nation and is fed up of current political structure, corruption and scenario of the country. They want Jan Lokpal bill to be passed and a lot of other demands which they keep in front of GOI and want them act on them immediately. And no one is safe from their deadly intent which is illustrated by three murders committed in three days with prior hints given about the targets.

Hellbent on stopping the K-team is Raghav Bhagat, rogue para commando, gun for hire and Krishna’s bête noir. Caught in the crossfire is Vinod Bedi, Special Director CBI. Reena Bhagat, a glamorous news anchor, embittered by her husband’s betrayal. And two young boys, Sachin and Azaan, torn apart by the loss of a parent. Playing across various plot lines and back stories, the narrative unfolds briskly and gives you various high points which stays with you.

The reason for the whole insurgency is something with which we can all relate to - corruption portrayed by the wily politicians and the influence of such douche bags on the Indian society and economy. The author cleverly mixes the fact and the fiction with almost all the characters pulled out directly from the Indian army and political milieu with names changed, of course. You are always second guessing who is who in the middle of some strong ideas and action against the wrong doers.

The personal turmoil the people involved in defense might face has been portrayed very delicately. The acute qualities they develop, the amazing sensory abilities they possess is just aptly described. The angst of losing a beloved, the anxiety of a bad relationship, the joy of finding new love, the blind trust shared between the team, the connection between true friends, the stress even kids go through is all excellently rendered by the author.

But the narrative slows down when the writer concentrates too much on brewing romance between the two lead protagonists which takes away from the fast pace of the thriller. There is also a lack of closure on lot of the characters in the climax and epilogue seems poorly etched out with specific details about the K-Team deliberately edited out in the hope of a sequel to the book.

So, that's 3.5/5 for Mukul Deva's 'R.I.P'. Barring a few sentimental detours, it is a hard hitting thriller which is fast paced and keep you turning pages as you go along. It is a crime thriller with comes with a solid ideology with it. Worth your time and money!

[Maliny Mohan · Rating 3 out of 5]

For the complete review visit my blog http://www.malinymohan.com/2013/01/ri...

MY TAKE:

A ) The Cover : It shouldn’t come as a surprise that a book coming with a promise of extreme action would be adorned by a cover rather combustible itself in its appearance . So is this one . The amalgamation of the picture and the highly vibrant colours sure convey the nature of whats in store . The blurb , as I mentioned in my opening sentence is peppered with elements of suspense further perching the hopes of the readers on a higher rung .

B ) The Content : The story races through from one incident to another never letting the reader mull over details on the way , for such is the clarity of the events . With his ability to sculpture the accounts ,delving into the subtleties in its the right amount , the author succededs in guiding the readers through a perfectly etched out course packed with action . I managed to devour the book in one sitting for the fact that I thoroughly enjoyed reading it .Ask me if I would compare it to the books of Robert Ludlum as I noticed a few reviews pointing that out , the answer would be negative . Ludlum books are thick on language, never an easy read and for that matter a class apart . By stating that ,i dont aim to belittle the quality of this book for I feel this one has done a commendable job in satisfying the reader in me ,with its concentration more on the seamless aspect of story telling . The writing is lucid and the editing needs special mention , as it stood out , as I sailed past page after page welcoming the events knit together so flawlessly . Absolutely nil typos or grammer mistakes to irk you .

Though the author clearly stresses in his foreword note that the characters are fictional , noticing uncanny similarities to many personalities reigning the present India coudnt be ignored . However , that mode of story telling failed to entice me in any possible way , for a fiction when starting to state the obvious turns less intriguing . A couple of movies have been created based on similar contexts , but then I guess proving his resentment towards the corrupted officials was the prime motive of the author , rather than deliberately spewing a tale skewed with fictious aspects alone .

For having bared the grueling intensity of the filth the country is sinking in , the author deserves to be lauded . Yet , a mind boggling question dangles in the air as to whether its morally acceptable for the citizens to contort the law even though its for a good motive . Even when the situation remains debatable , the book did succeed to emphasise on a need for a change – maybe a revolution to seize back the long lost glory of our country .

[Deepak Nare · Rating 3 out of 5]

RIP by Mukul Deva is not as strange a novel as the name suggests. Involving all the clichés one would expect in a crime thriller, it is still a gripping novel which binds the reader since the first page.
The story deals with a team of 6 personnel called as K-team (named after their common initial) aka Resurgent Indian Patriots (RIP) and its fight against corruption. Beginning with political murders till shifting the distorted view of good and evil, the novel marks a satisfying and intriguing read. Most of the incidents mentioned in the book feel inspired by real-life scams, similarly many characters portrayed can be easily connected to real people. The best part of the book is the stories of the 6 members of the K-team; their emotions, failures and repletion makes this book a keeper.
Unmasking the real terrorism inside India and dropping the curtain from the common man’s (or say reader’s) eyes, author has done an appalling job. In a nutshell, and I hope I am not giving away any spoiler, this book reminds me of the movie ‘A Wednesday’; which by the way was an awesome movie. But, yes there is always one, even while targeting political corruption, you can feel the writer’s point of view, his opinion and political preferences, which I believe was the worst part of the book. As a great writer once said, a good story starts in the writer’s head and ends in reader’s. I found there was not enough space left for my thoughts to bloom as I was bombarded by K-Team’s virtues of righteousness. In my opinion, the only just way to enjoy this novel would be to forget that it has anything to do with current political scenarios and enjoy the deaths (pun intended).
Also, I am not blaming the author but my overactive imagination which did somehow managed to reveal the twists a couple of pages before and thus ruining my fun of a surprising page-turner. Even with good story and spotless writing (excluding the expletives), RIP misses the breakthrough a reader’s heart aches for.
I never read any work of the author before and even though this book did not blow away my mind, I am looking forward to read his other books. Because an author who can merge real life incidents in a fiction, like Vikas Swarup, and still gives out a paced thriller with a fragrance of Robert Ludlum, is definitely someone to lookout for. Read More..

[Vishal Kale · Rating 5 out of 5]

RIP stands for Resurgent Indian Patriots - a bunch of retired Army Officers with distinguished service records, led by Colonel Krishna Athawle. This force sets out to rid the country of its biggest scourge: its politicians. This they aim to do by the simple expedient of fear: they threaten to kill one per day - and announce in advance who they target will be.

Characterisation - functional, in that it is minimal but sufficient for the story and the plot. This is actually good, as it keeps the pace going. The writing style is nice and clean, with only a few expletives. The style is effective, and individual - it has a different mark of its own is the way I shall put it. The pace is relentless, and the book is a veritable page-turner.

It is a highly disturbing read, and is chillingly real. You can almost identify (what almost? 95% of the cases you infer pretty accurately the real life equals) who is who in the book. The narrative is chillingly real; the politics put forward brutal and blunt, and is based and built upon a memory that is still fresh in the people's mind: the continuing disillusionment with the political class of India and the civil disobedience movements that are striking every so often.

Killing people - ok, criminals - wantonly cannot be justice. Killing innocents in the process cannot be justice. 2 wrongs do not make a right. Holding a nation to ransom cannot be justice, Expecting sudden catacysmic events to bring in positive change cannot be justice. And, most critically, doing all of the above and basing it on characters who can easily be misconstrued - or identified - with real life characters is decidedly not right.

The sheer quality of the writing, its power, and the plot is precisely what makes the book so diabolical: it feels chillingly real. This can happen is a thought that occurs - so powerful is the content. This is further buttressed by the characters having eerie and uncanny commonalities with real life characters. The net result is a blurring of the fictional element with reality, leading you to lose your perspective. You find yourselves empathizing with the anti-heroes, and wanting them to succeed in their wholly evil and amoral venture. You are torn in 2: Half of you - perhaps a little less, perhaps a little more - appreciates the book. The rest of you loathes it for its plot, its story and its setting. You cannot make up your mind...

[Ritvik · Rating 4 out of 5]

The cover of the book is appealing and is sure to catch your attention at a book store among others. It is very thoughtful and apt to the story. The red and the orange tint, depicting the rage and anger, a soldier with a gun, leading it's country to a new horizon in the background.
The book is a page turner in it's true sense. You are so engrossed in the book, that you don't even pay attention to the page number, till you realize the book has come to it's end. Whether you are a slow reader, or a fast one, you'll definitely want to complete this in one go.

A team of five ex-commandos, who call themselves the K-Team as everyone's name starts with a 'K', Krishna, Kamlesh, Kashif, Kevin, Karan and Kulwant, are a bunch of hardcore patriots who are set to bring justice to the country and punish the culprit.
The story starts with 3 murders, each having charges of corruption on them. The responsibility is taken by RIP, and they openly warn the government to murder 3 more people in the coming 3 days if their demands, to put the guilty behind bars and to bring better laws to prevent such things in future, is not met.
Home minister Karunakaran, who himself is involved in many such cases, will stop the RIP at any costs. Special Director of CBI, Vinod Bedi is called up, to stop them. But for the fear of them being caught alive, Raghav Bhagat, an ex-para commando is hired to take the RIP down before the CBI gets their hand on them.
It's a heart throbbing tale of three groups who would do anything to get the job done with a lot at stake.

The best thing about the book is its familiarity with the real world incidents in the past. The recent scams and cases could all be related to in this book. Even some of the characters. With the right message for politicians and the citizens, this emotionally charged thriller with flawless narration makes this is a book worth reading. Go grab your copy, this book ought to be in your bookshelves! - See more at: http://casacio.blogspot.in/2013/03/re...

[Anjan Roy · Rating 4 out of 5]

For more details visit:-http://anjan5.blogspot.in/2013/02/boo...

Introduction:-
Have you ever given a thought on this statement-“Whoever we are at present be it our mentality, our thinking or what we do has a reflection of our past and a slimmer of ray what we ought to be in the future.” Thou art of fiction this book endeavors the present state of our country and an individual if glanced at large and would easily be conceived as one of those resurgent response of a group of suffering Indians in a hope of a better tomorrow. Had it not been the disclaimer it would have been difficult to trace the fictional part; as the plot, the storyline even the characters resemble with the natives of real India. That’s the charisma of the writer, fiction looks real. I bet you can’t get off with this thriller until you have gone through to the final climax of the story.

Cover Page:
Those who have read novels of Mukul Deva, can actually make a smart guess of the backdrop by looking at the Cover page itself. A commando standing facing the bright sunlight as if rearing to face each and everything, an Injection injecting the venom into the Author (Author’s name), the title RIP with a bullet symbol and the image of 10 Janpath with Indian national Flag at the rear tells a lot for the story itself.


Compositional Report:
This Story revolves around a Para Military Retired Colonel. Krishna Athawale and his group of 5 other apt members (Karan Singh, Kevin David, Kashif Nadeem, Kamlesh Saikia & Kulwant Singh) forming a K-Team. In a view to upsurge the shape of Indian Political system at large and a hope of envisioning corruption free India, K-Team followed the route of bloodshed assassinating the culprits revealing their fortifying agony against the corrupt Politicians and Bureaucrats.


For more Visit:-http://anjan5.blogspot.com/2013/02/bo...

[Nelton D'Souza · Rating 4 out of 5]

India at the present moment is like a child gone wrong. Scams, rape and social evils have become the order of the day. Frustrated with the system and irritated with this news the blood every India boils with anger. But somehow the anger is forced to be swallowed down as beyond a certain point he feels helpless. I’m sure if he was given a gun and saat khoon maaf, he would have shot atleast a couple of our corrupt politicians.

RIP by Mukul Deva, if not in reality, then in fiction at least gives us Indians a feel of eliminating corruption from the bud. The K-Team better known as the R.I.P –the Resurgent Indian Patriots, a group of highly skilled commandos, all with their names beginning with K, is out on a mission to eliminate corruption in India. Using all they have learnt and acquired through military school they go about their business with acute precision leaving no trace behind. What’s more they also leave clues to their next target to instill fear in their targets heart and kick start any sort of penance. To please all sections of society, the K-Team has equal representation of all communities without any reservations being laid out. Even better is each one is given important responsibilities so there’s no complain of discrimination. Thankfully atleast here the nation is given more importance than community.

In this whole entire race they come across sworn enemies as good and trained as them and as passionate as them. This adds to the climax and story and makes for a very interesting read. Since the characters in this book are so relatable
- See more at: http://justamin.blogspot.in/2013/02/b...

[Saugato Bhowmik · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having read many of Mukul Deva's books, I have come to expect high level of detail and expertise on the subject befitting an Ex-Army author. This one was no different with excellent subject matter expertise delivered in a fast paced fluid story. The quality of the prose is in the Frederick Forsythe, Ludlum genre of thrillers, so nothing to write home about. What really strikes an awesome chord in me (and I suspect will do so with millions of angry betrayed Indians) is the raw frustration the author expresses through the story with the unabated n shameless rape of the country by the politicians and their goons. The solution he prescribes in the story might seem far fetched and bizarre to the legions of unmoved cynical n corrupt among us who only concern themselves with living their daily lives in denial or those who join the system and enrich themselves unscrupulously. For those who feel the anger every day they open the newspapers, the solution in the book comes across as very acceptable and welcome. I recommend this as a read for every Indian who feels the simmering anger everyday. For the rest, please carry on.