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The Edge of The Machete
Goal: To eliminate Aamir Sherzai, the new whiz-kid in the Pakistan-wing of the Taliban. Means: A CIA operative Ed Gomez, on a mission to get even with Aamir Sherzai, responsible for the execution of his best buddy and fellow agent, Jason.Location: ‘The Beast’, somewhere in the Khyber, Pakistan. To eliminate Jason’s killer, Gomez has to infiltrate a conglomeration of the most ferocious terror outfits in The Beast as Sarfaraz Khan. But as the boundaries between Gomez and Sarfaraz blur, the CIA agent must not only plunge headlong into the battle in the Khyber, but also wage a war within. Simultaneously, Indian journalist Rahul Sharma, kidnapped and held hostage within The Beast, must find a way back to the woman he loves. And British white Muslim, Shaun Marsh aka Shahid Khan, sucked into the gathering at the Khyber,must learn to exorcise the ghosts of the past.Most of all, all three must try to escape the edge of Aamir Sherzai’s machete. Will they get away unscathed? Or meet a fate similar to Jason’s? Find out in this captivating thriller!
342 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2012
2 people are currently reading
23 people want to read
About the author
Abhisar Sharma
4 books4 followersAbhisar Sharma is the winner of the prestigious Ramnath Goenka Indian Express Award for his work Laal Masjid Ka Safed Sach, 2009 and the winner of the Red Ink Award, 2016.
A journalist with more than two decades of experience he currently hosts the 8 p.m. show on ABP News.
He lives in New Delhi, India.
A journalist with more than two decades of experience he currently hosts the 8 p.m. show on ABP News.
He lives in New Delhi, India.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
April 9, 2020
This was a spur of the moment pick-up and it turned out great and something new from an Indian author!
In many ways, 'The Edge of the Machete' by Abhisar Sharma was like a Robert Ludlum novel which has elements of CIA operatives, international espionage and touches of middle-eastern and Russian groups that are involved in international terrorism with a plot that has global implications.
Abhisar's story is set against the backdrop of the Afghanistan-Pakistan (AfPak) region with characters belonging to several militant groups from the region as well as the protagonist coming in from the CIA. I could draw certain parallels with a story by Robert Ludlum as i have read few!
The story has brutal executions and horrible tortures described so this one is not for the faint-hearted. There is too much of bloodshed (reminding me of Kill Bill)!!
So a good read for fast and furious action(read)!
In many ways, 'The Edge of the Machete' by Abhisar Sharma was like a Robert Ludlum novel which has elements of CIA operatives, international espionage and touches of middle-eastern and Russian groups that are involved in international terrorism with a plot that has global implications.
Abhisar's story is set against the backdrop of the Afghanistan-Pakistan (AfPak) region with characters belonging to several militant groups from the region as well as the protagonist coming in from the CIA. I could draw certain parallels with a story by Robert Ludlum as i have read few!
The story has brutal executions and horrible tortures described so this one is not for the faint-hearted. There is too much of bloodshed (reminding me of Kill Bill)!!
So a good read for fast and furious action(read)!
December 8, 2021
Good soup
January 25, 2013
The Edge of the Machete by noted journalist Abhisar Sharma is the second of The Taliban Conundrum trilogy, with The Eye of the Predator and The Dark Side of Me being Books 1 and 3.
CIA operative Jason Wilson has just been executed most brutally. His killer, Aamir Sherzai of the Tehreek-e-Taliban, a bloodthirsty jehadi, has the killing filmed and uploaded on YouTube.
Jason’s best friend and fellow agent Eduardo Gomez, Ed, for short, is eager to avenge his death and volunteers to be part of a secret mission to destroy, from the inside, a conglomeration of the most deadly terror organisations in the world, all of whom intend to kill in the name of religion. Transforming into Sarfaraz Khan, he cleverly implants himself into the Beast, the heart of the most devious terror mission ever, located in Pakistan.
While there he meets the British-born white Shaun Marsh, now a converted Shahid Khan, who is led by circumstances and his own conflicting emotions to take up the jehadi cause. The third outsider here is an Indian journalist, Rahul Sharma, who has been kidnapped and imprisoned in the Beast. All three are obstacles in the eyes of Sherzai, and it seems only a matter of time before they fall prey to the wiles of his machete.
With a plot like that, I was eager to see what the book would offer. The author has done a fantastic job of recreating the tensions and milieu of the hotbed of unrest and danger that is the AfPak region. His background as a seasoned journalist has helped him to make his fiction more realistic. There were many times when I got the impression that I was reading a most well-researched piece of non-fiction. Sharma has been able to draw upon his 17 years of experience in broadcast journalism to create a backdrop that is fraught with peril for the infidel. Against this volatile backdrop, the author has created a fictional world that touches one with the sincerity of his intentions.
There were some things, however, that stuck out sorely, particularly the many typos and editing errors. One glaring inconsistency, Ed comes to learn of the events that led to Jason’s death when he reads Jason’s diary, handed to him by Sherzai. We do not get a glimpse of the contents of this diary, but we get to read a third-person account of the brutal killing. Since this entire section is preceded and followed by Ed’s response to the diary, one wonders if Jason’s ghost had returned to write down the gory details of how he was put to death, not to mention the gratuitous description of his sexual encounter.
Where the author slips up is when he tries to recreate the idiom of the Americans at the CIA headquarters in Langley. There is a world of difference between American English and British English, a fact that he does not seem to have taken into account.
The book could have been made shorter, and tighter, had some sections been edited out. These include the Uzbeki torture scene, which do not necessarily propel the action onward, and could have been left out of the story without affecting it adversely.
The writing itself perks up remarkably once Ed dons the guise of Sarfaraz Khan, and stays that way even as it goes on to introduce us to Marsh, the second of three guys whose stories intersect and lead us on to the climax of this book. Unfortunately, the back story, though interesting and remarkably well-written, takes up too much paper, occupying more than two-thirds of the book.
Perhaps if there had been a little more of Sarfaraz and the psychological battle of wits that takes place between him and Ed, rather than the tired Bollywood technique of a talking reflection in the mirror and a slight swagger in the walk, it might have been more explosive.
There were some parts of this book that were extremely well-written, and a few that stood out for all the wrong reasons, chiefly editing-related issues.
For me, this machete was dull in parts and sharp in others.
CIA operative Jason Wilson has just been executed most brutally. His killer, Aamir Sherzai of the Tehreek-e-Taliban, a bloodthirsty jehadi, has the killing filmed and uploaded on YouTube.
Jason’s best friend and fellow agent Eduardo Gomez, Ed, for short, is eager to avenge his death and volunteers to be part of a secret mission to destroy, from the inside, a conglomeration of the most deadly terror organisations in the world, all of whom intend to kill in the name of religion. Transforming into Sarfaraz Khan, he cleverly implants himself into the Beast, the heart of the most devious terror mission ever, located in Pakistan.
While there he meets the British-born white Shaun Marsh, now a converted Shahid Khan, who is led by circumstances and his own conflicting emotions to take up the jehadi cause. The third outsider here is an Indian journalist, Rahul Sharma, who has been kidnapped and imprisoned in the Beast. All three are obstacles in the eyes of Sherzai, and it seems only a matter of time before they fall prey to the wiles of his machete.
With a plot like that, I was eager to see what the book would offer. The author has done a fantastic job of recreating the tensions and milieu of the hotbed of unrest and danger that is the AfPak region. His background as a seasoned journalist has helped him to make his fiction more realistic. There were many times when I got the impression that I was reading a most well-researched piece of non-fiction. Sharma has been able to draw upon his 17 years of experience in broadcast journalism to create a backdrop that is fraught with peril for the infidel. Against this volatile backdrop, the author has created a fictional world that touches one with the sincerity of his intentions.
There were some things, however, that stuck out sorely, particularly the many typos and editing errors. One glaring inconsistency, Ed comes to learn of the events that led to Jason’s death when he reads Jason’s diary, handed to him by Sherzai. We do not get a glimpse of the contents of this diary, but we get to read a third-person account of the brutal killing. Since this entire section is preceded and followed by Ed’s response to the diary, one wonders if Jason’s ghost had returned to write down the gory details of how he was put to death, not to mention the gratuitous description of his sexual encounter.
Where the author slips up is when he tries to recreate the idiom of the Americans at the CIA headquarters in Langley. There is a world of difference between American English and British English, a fact that he does not seem to have taken into account.
The book could have been made shorter, and tighter, had some sections been edited out. These include the Uzbeki torture scene, which do not necessarily propel the action onward, and could have been left out of the story without affecting it adversely.
The writing itself perks up remarkably once Ed dons the guise of Sarfaraz Khan, and stays that way even as it goes on to introduce us to Marsh, the second of three guys whose stories intersect and lead us on to the climax of this book. Unfortunately, the back story, though interesting and remarkably well-written, takes up too much paper, occupying more than two-thirds of the book.
Perhaps if there had been a little more of Sarfaraz and the psychological battle of wits that takes place between him and Ed, rather than the tired Bollywood technique of a talking reflection in the mirror and a slight swagger in the walk, it might have been more explosive.
There were some parts of this book that were extremely well-written, and a few that stood out for all the wrong reasons, chiefly editing-related issues.
For me, this machete was dull in parts and sharp in others.
February 6, 2013
After his first book of The Taliban Conundrum Trilogy, 'The Eye of the Predator', the senior anchor/deputy editor of Aaj Tak, Abhisar Sharma, who also won the Ramnath Goenka Indian Express award, introduces us to yet another scintillating tale - The Edge of the Machete.
The story opens with a CIA operative, Jason, being executed in front of the camera by a machete yielded by Aamir Sherzai, the 21 year old whiz-kid of Tehreek-e-Taliban, the Pakistan wing of the Taliban. He is as gruesome as he looks, with flowing, curly hair reaching his shoulders, wispy beard and eyes sharply narrowed down at the edge of his nose.
Eduardo Gomez, thirty-two, six feet three inches. Athletic and boastful of his six packs is the best kickboxer in the CIA. He was also Jason's dear friend. After seeing Jason's execution he pledges to eliminate Aamir. He assumes a new identity - Sarfaraz Khan and comes up with a deadly plan in order to infiltrate the enemy camp 'The Beast' in Khyber. But soon he has to face a struggle between Ed and Sarfaraz inside himself, as more and more people start idolizing him as the terrorist who dared to attack the CIA upfront.
Meanwhile we are introduced to another person in The Beast, Shaun Marsh aka Shahid Khan who has his own dark past tracing back to Margalla Detention centre, Pakistan and the Belmarsh prison, London. His destiny finally leads him to The Beast as fate had something big in store for him which will change his life forever.
A newly wed Indian reporter Rahul Sharma, is held hostage within the walls of the Beast. Shaun is given the responsibility to befriend him first and then behead him. But a sudden twist and you see a gripping link between Shaun and Rahul which turns both their lives upside-down.
I won't reveal the fate of these three, but you can surely read this page turner to find it yourself.
It is a thrilling tale which portrays the psychology of characters very well. A gloomy environment is maintained throughout the book which keeps the reader in the darkness and mystery unaware of the sudden twist that might come in the tale. Abhisar Sharma has surely done a very fine job in taking us on this thrilling journey.
Eagerly waiting for his third book 'The Dark Side of me'.
The story opens with a CIA operative, Jason, being executed in front of the camera by a machete yielded by Aamir Sherzai, the 21 year old whiz-kid of Tehreek-e-Taliban, the Pakistan wing of the Taliban. He is as gruesome as he looks, with flowing, curly hair reaching his shoulders, wispy beard and eyes sharply narrowed down at the edge of his nose.
Eduardo Gomez, thirty-two, six feet three inches. Athletic and boastful of his six packs is the best kickboxer in the CIA. He was also Jason's dear friend. After seeing Jason's execution he pledges to eliminate Aamir. He assumes a new identity - Sarfaraz Khan and comes up with a deadly plan in order to infiltrate the enemy camp 'The Beast' in Khyber. But soon he has to face a struggle between Ed and Sarfaraz inside himself, as more and more people start idolizing him as the terrorist who dared to attack the CIA upfront.
Meanwhile we are introduced to another person in The Beast, Shaun Marsh aka Shahid Khan who has his own dark past tracing back to Margalla Detention centre, Pakistan and the Belmarsh prison, London. His destiny finally leads him to The Beast as fate had something big in store for him which will change his life forever.
A newly wed Indian reporter Rahul Sharma, is held hostage within the walls of the Beast. Shaun is given the responsibility to befriend him first and then behead him. But a sudden twist and you see a gripping link between Shaun and Rahul which turns both their lives upside-down.
I won't reveal the fate of these three, but you can surely read this page turner to find it yourself.
It is a thrilling tale which portrays the psychology of characters very well. A gloomy environment is maintained throughout the book which keeps the reader in the darkness and mystery unaware of the sudden twist that might come in the tale. Abhisar Sharma has surely done a very fine job in taking us on this thrilling journey.
Eagerly waiting for his third book 'The Dark Side of me'.
January 23, 2013
In many ways, 'The Edge of the Machete' by Abhisar Sharma was like a Robert Ludlum novel with elements like CIA operatives, international espionage with touches of middle-eastern and Russian groups that are involved in international terrorism with a plot that has global implications. Even
Abhisar’s writing style has a bit of Ludlum to it (and I say it in a compliment kind of way)
The story has brutal executions and horrible tortures described so this one is not for the faint-hearted. There is too much of bloodshed (reminding me of Kill Bill)
There is a whole collection of militant groups and their own private agendas … that come together under a common leadership for a greater goal. The protagonist needs to disintegrate this goal and disperse these groups again.
Abhisar is good at weaving a nice story with some interesting characters who keep fighting their own demons. The story has a good pace and events keep unfolding rapidly.
As the novel ended, the climax gives me a feeling that Abhisar has a Jason Bourne like character in his hand and it would be a pity if he doesn't write more on this character which can open up several possibilities of interesting plots.
Abhisar’s writing style has a bit of Ludlum to it (and I say it in a compliment kind of way)
The story has brutal executions and horrible tortures described so this one is not for the faint-hearted. There is too much of bloodshed (reminding me of Kill Bill)
There is a whole collection of militant groups and their own private agendas … that come together under a common leadership for a greater goal. The protagonist needs to disintegrate this goal and disperse these groups again.
Abhisar is good at weaving a nice story with some interesting characters who keep fighting their own demons. The story has a good pace and events keep unfolding rapidly.
As the novel ended, the climax gives me a feeling that Abhisar has a Jason Bourne like character in his hand and it would be a pity if he doesn't write more on this character which can open up several possibilities of interesting plots.
September 4, 2015
Of late, the Indian market has been inundated with plethora of thrillers, spy fictions, fiction built around mythology, romance etc. written by authors who are writing either for the first time or has very little experience vis-à-vis writing. Mostly, what turns out is a sloppily plotted book with flat stereotypical characters and bad writing. Although not a big fan of Indian espionage fiction, I randomly picked Abhisar Sharma’s book ‘The Edge of the Machete’ with skepticism, the second book in the ‘The Taliban Conundrum Trilogy’ and as it turns out my apprehension was completely inaccurate and misguided.
No stranger to narrating stories and recounting events, Abhisar Sharma is a Senior Anchor/ Deputy Editor with ‘Aaj Tak’ and has covered and monitored events and happenings in the Af-Pak region closely which bequeathed him with vivid insights into the geography and politics of the region. Amalgamating facts with fiction, the author narrates an enthralling story that entices, allures and immerses the reader till the very end of the book. In composing...
For the complete review, please visit:
https://explorerofbooks.wordpress.com...
No stranger to narrating stories and recounting events, Abhisar Sharma is a Senior Anchor/ Deputy Editor with ‘Aaj Tak’ and has covered and monitored events and happenings in the Af-Pak region closely which bequeathed him with vivid insights into the geography and politics of the region. Amalgamating facts with fiction, the author narrates an enthralling story that entices, allures and immerses the reader till the very end of the book. In composing...
For the complete review, please visit:
https://explorerofbooks.wordpress.com...
February 23, 2013
Political thrillers often run the risk of losing the plot midway and blowing up the climax, after building up a fairly good plot. Writing on a topic as grave as the Taliban phenomenon and Global Jihad Inc is not a cakewalk; research goes on collecting facts and one needs a sound imagination to translate the facts into fiction. Abhisar Sharma walks the tightrope and narrates a gripping tale of conflict, terror, violence, ruthless bloodshed, deceit and politics.
Abhisar Sharma’s novel has the style of Sam Bourne and Robert Ludlam. Breathtaking plots, fast-paced page-turners and brilliant visualisations with words – I will surely wait for the third novel of the trilogy.
Full Review - http://antorjatikbangali.wordpress.co...
Abhisar Sharma’s novel has the style of Sam Bourne and Robert Ludlam. Breathtaking plots, fast-paced page-turners and brilliant visualisations with words – I will surely wait for the third novel of the trilogy.
Full Review - http://antorjatikbangali.wordpress.co...
January 21, 2013
Journalist-turned-author Abhisar Sharma's second book is The Edge of The Machete. True to his profession, and the standard set by other journalist-authors, Sharma has given us another well-written, tight-scripted and fast-paced novel.
A thriller, with many sub-plots in the main plot, the book keeps the reader glued to it. One doesn't get confused between the swift change of events.
An unputdownable book.
A soon as the plot picks up pace, it gets exciting. There were times when I desperately wanted to sneak to the last few pages and read the ending. It took a lot of willpower not to, but it was worth it.
A thriller, with many sub-plots in the main plot, the book keeps the reader glued to it. One doesn't get confused between the swift change of events.
An unputdownable book.
A soon as the plot picks up pace, it gets exciting. There were times when I desperately wanted to sneak to the last few pages and read the ending. It took a lot of willpower not to, but it was worth it.
December 16, 2012
Abhisar in his second novel combines his journalistic experience and his storyteller mind to weave a tale that is multi layered, complex and intriguing. He takes us into a world wherein reside confused minds, intentions gone wrong and passions turned maniacal – A world where everything is not about a religious war. Full Review: http://wp.me/p2DEiS-wW
February 4, 2015
Abhishar has given an account of Taliban and its leader Mehsud in most authentic form. However, at places it drags a bit. Still a fantastic read.
I suggest a bit of editing in the next edition will do wonder.
I suggest a bit of editing in the next edition will do wonder.
July 24, 2016
Extraordinary spy thriller.... but some parts are simply illogical like jason writing about his own death in his personal diary... how can a dead man write about his death in his diary?
apart from all those things the book was an absolute thriller... in simple words it was never boring...
apart from all those things the book was an absolute thriller... in simple words it was never boring...
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews