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Colonel Imtiaz Afridi #1
The Rataban Betrayal
On India's frontier with Tibet, peace is just a façade and security a myth.
The sleepy Himalayan hill station of Mussoorie, near India's border with Tibet, is home to an eclectic mix of residents including Tibetan refugees and former guerrilla fighters, foreign missionaries, Indian military, tourists, and spies. Here, in a top-secret facility facing the snow-clad Himalayas, India’s legendary spymaster, Colonel Imtiaz Afridi, keeps a watchful eye on sensitive high-altitude borders. Having been a mountaineer in his youth, Afridi once climbed many of these peaks, including Rataban, a mountain with a treacherous history. When an American agent is shot dead in Mussoorie, both the CIA and India’s Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), dispatch undercover agents to investigate. The American's death is quickly linked to the slayings of two Indo-Tibetan Border Police guards, suggesting possible Chinese infiltration. Working with Afridi is the brilliant junior analyst, Annapurna “Anna” Tagore, who helps him unravel these clues and other disturbing signs that something dangerous is brewing.
When more violent acts shatter Mussoorie's calm, the CIA and RAW have no choice but to team up. Soon Afridi and the young Indian and American agents are piecing together a bloody conspiracy of revenge and murder that could shake the very foundations of world peace.
The sleepy Himalayan hill station of Mussoorie, near India's border with Tibet, is home to an eclectic mix of residents including Tibetan refugees and former guerrilla fighters, foreign missionaries, Indian military, tourists, and spies. Here, in a top-secret facility facing the snow-clad Himalayas, India’s legendary spymaster, Colonel Imtiaz Afridi, keeps a watchful eye on sensitive high-altitude borders. Having been a mountaineer in his youth, Afridi once climbed many of these peaks, including Rataban, a mountain with a treacherous history. When an American agent is shot dead in Mussoorie, both the CIA and India’s Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), dispatch undercover agents to investigate. The American's death is quickly linked to the slayings of two Indo-Tibetan Border Police guards, suggesting possible Chinese infiltration. Working with Afridi is the brilliant junior analyst, Annapurna “Anna” Tagore, who helps him unravel these clues and other disturbing signs that something dangerous is brewing.
When more violent acts shatter Mussoorie's calm, the CIA and RAW have no choice but to team up. Soon Afridi and the young Indian and American agents are piecing together a bloody conspiracy of revenge and murder that could shake the very foundations of world peace.
- GenresFiction
404 pages, Hardcover
Published January 5, 2016
8 people are currently reading
183 people want to read
About the author
Stephen Alter
45 books63 followersSTEPHEN ALTER is the son of American missionaries to the Himalayas, and was raised in India. The author of seven books for adults, he is the former Writer-in-Residence at MIT, and a recipient of a Fulbright grant. He currently lives in India with his wife, where he is researching his newest book for adults—a behind the scenes look at the world of Bollywood.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
June 15, 2015
Lost in words
Maybe it is because the author had spent his whole life in India that his writing style strongly reflects one. How?. Well to begin with simplicity in language is not our forte. We believe in the power of adorned, long, twisted and coiled up sentences that are hardened with solid and hard biting words and vocabulary just like the one I have just managed to write. It is usually a war of words and grammar rather than narration and art of storytelling in our books.
The Rataban Betrayal had an amazing and pretty strong story line but unfortunately it got lost in too much description and in the author’s attempt to impart his knowledge on a lot of stuff ranging from mountains, Himalayas, trekking, Mussorie, (a state in which the whole action takes place) and the plight and the struggle of the Tibetan people who are still waiting to return to their homeland.
I will admit that I m both surprised and ashamed at the fact that being an Indian, many of the stuff spoken and pointed out by Stephen Alter in his book was enlightening and pretty much new to me. It’s kind of a recurring theme with us Indians that we need an international perspective to acknowledge and appreciate our own culture and that includes me as well. The book gives you a whole lot of information and perspective of Tibetan Culture and Buddhism.
The problem with the book is that it is way too technical and descriptive. There is too much scene setting than actual events. With so many details and less action it kind of becomes vapid pretty quick. In a 400 page book, when the chunk of action is limited to merely last two chapters, then you should be able to get the picture as to how far the description goes.
If you treat this book as a catalogue or guide to Himalayas and Tibetan culture, then this it can survive much better, but as a thriller it is kind of vapid and boringly descriptive with actual action and event-play almost nil. Language is too brainy and technical and depending upon how you take your book narration you may or may not find it interesting but as for me who like simpler and efficient storytelling, Language was ineffective. It was bad for a fiction but may not be a bad one for nonfiction category
Maybe it is because the author had spent his whole life in India that his writing style strongly reflects one. How?. Well to begin with simplicity in language is not our forte. We believe in the power of adorned, long, twisted and coiled up sentences that are hardened with solid and hard biting words and vocabulary just like the one I have just managed to write. It is usually a war of words and grammar rather than narration and art of storytelling in our books.
The Rataban Betrayal had an amazing and pretty strong story line but unfortunately it got lost in too much description and in the author’s attempt to impart his knowledge on a lot of stuff ranging from mountains, Himalayas, trekking, Mussorie, (a state in which the whole action takes place) and the plight and the struggle of the Tibetan people who are still waiting to return to their homeland.
I will admit that I m both surprised and ashamed at the fact that being an Indian, many of the stuff spoken and pointed out by Stephen Alter in his book was enlightening and pretty much new to me. It’s kind of a recurring theme with us Indians that we need an international perspective to acknowledge and appreciate our own culture and that includes me as well. The book gives you a whole lot of information and perspective of Tibetan Culture and Buddhism.
The problem with the book is that it is way too technical and descriptive. There is too much scene setting than actual events. With so many details and less action it kind of becomes vapid pretty quick. In a 400 page book, when the chunk of action is limited to merely last two chapters, then you should be able to get the picture as to how far the description goes.
If you treat this book as a catalogue or guide to Himalayas and Tibetan culture, then this it can survive much better, but as a thriller it is kind of vapid and boringly descriptive with actual action and event-play almost nil. Language is too brainy and technical and depending upon how you take your book narration you may or may not find it interesting but as for me who like simpler and efficient storytelling, Language was ineffective. It was bad for a fiction but may not be a bad one for nonfiction category
August 6, 2019
The first murder mystery to be based out of the twin cities of Mussoorie and Landour. The murder at Savoy inspired Agatha Christies' first novel- The mysterious affair at Styles but this one is based completely in these two twin cities. The beginning is dramatic and Stephen skillfully uses his deep knowledge of mountaineering to weave an intricate plot. Familiar landmarks- Chardukan, Chakkar, Prakash store, St John church, picture palace, Doma's -all see a piece of action. The pace is average and yet it keeps you glued. Must read by all you are in romance with Mussoorie.
June 21, 2024
Pretty interesting concept that seemed right in my wheelhouse - CIA and India's RAW team up to catch a murderer/spy in the Himalayan foothills - but unfortunately, this story succumbed to choppy and confusing narrative, too many characters with too much backstory, and too many descriptive "cultural diversions." With foreign-based fiction (foreign to me, at least), it's always a fine line between adding the right amount of local color and atmosphere, and slowing or even derailing the plot while we pause to look at the pretty scenery or exotic ceremony. And in this case, while Alter - the Indian-born and raised son of American missionaries, and author of multiple travel books on South Asia and the Himalaya - certainly knows his mountains, cultures, religions, languages, and the sorry plight of Tibet; he just works too hard to make sure we learn it all too.
And so when no actual plot had formed by the 100-page mark, I sadly tossed in the towel on this one. With 200 pages left to go, it might still have turned out to be an interesting story, but again - TMBTLT, (too many books, too little time).
(BTW, I listed this on both my "spy fiction" and "mystery crime" shelves, because 1/3 into the story I still had no idea which one it was going to be!)
And so when no actual plot had formed by the 100-page mark, I sadly tossed in the towel on this one. With 200 pages left to go, it might still have turned out to be an interesting story, but again - TMBTLT, (too many books, too little time).
(BTW, I listed this on both my "spy fiction" and "mystery crime" shelves, because 1/3 into the story I still had no idea which one it was going to be!)
February 4, 2018
An American agent on the verge of retirement is murdered in the sleepy old town of Mussoorie. His killing seems to be a covert Chinese mission to the local police.
However to an old fox in the game, a physically challenged Colonel Afridi, it is an instant reminder of old days and festering wounds. Assisted by an able RAW officer and the CIA entering the game, he uncovers a plot that could potentially be the Ferdinand to World war 3.
Read on, a real thriller till the end where the squib turns damp. But still a good read till then.
However to an old fox in the game, a physically challenged Colonel Afridi, it is an instant reminder of old days and festering wounds. Assisted by an able RAW officer and the CIA entering the game, he uncovers a plot that could potentially be the Ferdinand to World war 3.
Read on, a real thriller till the end where the squib turns damp. But still a good read till then.
November 23, 2023
I picked this book up when I was traveling to Landour, Mussoorie because it is a spy thriller set there. It was my first time reading Stephen Alter, and I must say, he writes really well. His descriptions of scenes and places are particularly strong. In fact, that’s also what I liked about the book the most - the way Landour is described so accurately and beautifully.
As for the plot, it was a bit boring and very predictable. Maybe I’m just not someone who enjoys spy thrillers on general…
As for the plot, it was a bit boring and very predictable. Maybe I’m just not someone who enjoys spy thrillers on general…
October 17, 2023
Absorbing for the most part but meanders for a bit too long and the ending is a damp squib . Almost as if the author ran out of ideas and hurried the finish .
The atmospheric descriptions of the Landour and Mussoorie hills are nostalgic and brilliant though .
The atmospheric descriptions of the Landour and Mussoorie hills are nostalgic and brilliant though .
November 10, 2016
This was a wonderful, intense book. Loved it.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews