What do you think?
Rate this book
Operation Trojan Horse: A Novel Inspired by True Events
Five Indian agents in the Lashkar-e-TaibaIt is 1996. A fifteen-year-old Lashkar-e-Taiba fidayeen crosses over to India from Pakistan. When officer Shekhar Singh of the Counter Terrorism Cell captures and interrogates him, he makes a startling revelation. The terror group has begun sending men to settle down in India in the guise of regular civilians. On the sly, they are to serve as outposts for its missions and destroy the country from within.
Stunned but not shaken, Shekhar and his bosses decide to take the fight to the enemy camp. Five Indian intelligence agents are planted in the LeT to take on its might and sabotage its operations. And thus is born Operation Trojan Horse, a first-of-its-kind Indian counter-terror mission that will go on for years.
Operation Trojan Horse is a thriller inspired by real events - including the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack and several other LeT operations - and the true stories of the courageous men who risked their lives in the enemy country for their motherland.
Stunned but not shaken, Shekhar and his bosses decide to take the fight to the enemy camp. Five Indian intelligence agents are planted in the LeT to take on its might and sabotage its operations. And thus is born Operation Trojan Horse, a first-of-its-kind Indian counter-terror mission that will go on for years.
Operation Trojan Horse is a thriller inspired by real events - including the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack and several other LeT operations - and the true stories of the courageous men who risked their lives in the enemy country for their motherland.
376 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 24, 2021
22 people are currently reading
52 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
March 13, 2022
The story was ok as my rating says it. It was neither too revealing nor too thrilling. Quite a dry read to be honest. There were many times I felt like abandoning the book or skimming through it.
Before going into what I did not like about the books, let's list out the things that actually made me finish the book in the first place.
1. The book is thankfully not filled with grammatical or narrative flaws. The writer and editor have done a good job on it.
2. The book has already lowered a bit of expectation of the readers by mentioning that this is close to a realistic representation of events and not a dramatized version for the sake of readers, so it is to be expected that the book would be low key in terms of events and actions. And it is. The actions unfold slowly in terms of activities and time line. There is still a bit of coincidental logic of finding our main set of characters at the right place at the right time, but at least that is indeed the plan.
3. There is no undue heroism in the set of characters. They are not two-dimensional heroes, but rather they are everyday common man who has unfortunateky undergone a not-so-ordinary tragedy of life fueling their desire to do something to get justice.
4. There are some aspects of terrorist activities and methods that are not known to the public mentioned in the book, which made it feel like gaining new information.
Now onto what things felt inadequate in the book:
1. There is a lack of overall structure to the book. Even by the end of the book, it feels like an unfinished story. There were some chapters that looked like a history lesson albeit a very summarish one. There were some chapters that felt like a montage sequence in a action movie where you see a group of recruitees under go training and then suddenly they are thrust in the battle zone. This leads to another set of issue involving the character.
2. No character to connect with. The book is focused on the events rather than characters. Although the characters are not 2-dimension in the general sense, they are also not explored enough to know them or even connect with. Not one character's journey or background is concretely known. There seems to be no growth, just action to push forward the narrative.
3. There is a lack of balance in representing the two forces fighting in the book. The book is written from the perspective of Indian Intelligence agencies. The Pakistan terror organisations are the enemy. Yet we are shown too little of their organizational structure or their work reasoning. Their leaders are one-dimensional names that rely more on their designation as heads of their organisation to impact the reader than any actual action undertaken by them.
Comments: The book has once again reminded me of how difficult it is to write an informational yet entertaining book. Yet, it is so easy to spot one that doesn't excite you. Good books are good in different ways. Bad books are alike in many ways.
Many times it is not the fault of the book, it is the reader whose thoughts and expectations ruin the experience of the book. Therefore, it is essential as an author to have faith in your own story and narrative. And getting feedack from others to assess it in the second phase.
Before going into what I did not like about the books, let's list out the things that actually made me finish the book in the first place.
1. The book is thankfully not filled with grammatical or narrative flaws. The writer and editor have done a good job on it.
2. The book has already lowered a bit of expectation of the readers by mentioning that this is close to a realistic representation of events and not a dramatized version for the sake of readers, so it is to be expected that the book would be low key in terms of events and actions. And it is. The actions unfold slowly in terms of activities and time line. There is still a bit of coincidental logic of finding our main set of characters at the right place at the right time, but at least that is indeed the plan.
3. There is no undue heroism in the set of characters. They are not two-dimensional heroes, but rather they are everyday common man who has unfortunateky undergone a not-so-ordinary tragedy of life fueling their desire to do something to get justice.
4. There are some aspects of terrorist activities and methods that are not known to the public mentioned in the book, which made it feel like gaining new information.
Now onto what things felt inadequate in the book:
1. There is a lack of overall structure to the book. Even by the end of the book, it feels like an unfinished story. There were some chapters that looked like a history lesson albeit a very summarish one. There were some chapters that felt like a montage sequence in a action movie where you see a group of recruitees under go training and then suddenly they are thrust in the battle zone. This leads to another set of issue involving the character.
2. No character to connect with. The book is focused on the events rather than characters. Although the characters are not 2-dimension in the general sense, they are also not explored enough to know them or even connect with. Not one character's journey or background is concretely known. There seems to be no growth, just action to push forward the narrative.
3. There is a lack of balance in representing the two forces fighting in the book. The book is written from the perspective of Indian Intelligence agencies. The Pakistan terror organisations are the enemy. Yet we are shown too little of their organizational structure or their work reasoning. Their leaders are one-dimensional names that rely more on their designation as heads of their organisation to impact the reader than any actual action undertaken by them.
Comments: The book has once again reminded me of how difficult it is to write an informational yet entertaining book. Yet, it is so easy to spot one that doesn't excite you. Good books are good in different ways. Bad books are alike in many ways.
Many times it is not the fault of the book, it is the reader whose thoughts and expectations ruin the experience of the book. Therefore, it is essential as an author to have faith in your own story and narrative. And getting feedack from others to assess it in the second phase.
September 12, 2025
Very well written!
April 28, 2024
Author lost its rythm at the mid of the book somewhere, too much unnecessary detailing between recurits and teacher.
February 4, 2022
Great Read !!!
July 19, 2024
Reading a mystery/ thriller is my go-to when I’m exhausted from non-fiction reads. Operation Trojan Horse is a gripping read based on real incidents. The unpleasant events such as the 26/11 terror attacks and those planned having a destructive magnitude give this book it’s base with insights from D.P. Sinha, having co-authored with Abhishek Sharan carves a read that mind boggling, quick and gripping.
Crime fiction/thrillers can be quite disturbing when based on real events that shake the security system of the country. This book highlights those loopholes, anti national elements within the country and most importantly the efforts of the unsung heroes- the agents of India’s intelligence agencies. Which work behind the curtains to curb dangers that affect millions of innocent lives.
I’ve enjoyed the book because it’s realistic and co-authored by those who have worked in the field the book is based on. Some history, some traits and a lot about planning and execution of the attacker and savior are penned with necessary details, minus any drama.
Read this book if you are looking for a change, a perspective or simply because you love the genre.
Crime fiction/thrillers can be quite disturbing when based on real events that shake the security system of the country. This book highlights those loopholes, anti national elements within the country and most importantly the efforts of the unsung heroes- the agents of India’s intelligence agencies. Which work behind the curtains to curb dangers that affect millions of innocent lives.
I’ve enjoyed the book because it’s realistic and co-authored by those who have worked in the field the book is based on. Some history, some traits and a lot about planning and execution of the attacker and savior are penned with necessary details, minus any drama.
Read this book if you are looking for a change, a perspective or simply because you love the genre.
November 21, 2021
A thriller based on pakistani terrorist groups and the response of the Indian intelligence agencies to infiltrate the LeT and gather inside information to prevent further attacks.
It's a fiction with many true incidents of terror and the organisations behind the mayhem over the decades.
Written by a retired top IPS officer and a senior journalist there is technically correct writing and lots of knowledge about the Indian security.
However, in places it is just like a crime diary with narration of individual attacks in great detail with PCO as a recurring theme. The story fails to grip on this account. An average book in this genre.
It's a fiction with many true incidents of terror and the organisations behind the mayhem over the decades.
Written by a retired top IPS officer and a senior journalist there is technically correct writing and lots of knowledge about the Indian security.
However, in places it is just like a crime diary with narration of individual attacks in great detail with PCO as a recurring theme. The story fails to grip on this account. An average book in this genre.
July 14, 2022
I picked up the book because of the author's profile (an IPS officer and a journalist), and because I love spy thrillers. However the book is not engaging. Some of the dialogues are pretty cringey and writing didn't keep me engaged in the book. Also the book is less of a spy thriller and more of a subtle political statement. There is nothing wrong with political statements, but that's not what I was expecting especially after reading the author's note about the book.
October 24, 2021
Interesting concept, common premise.
I would like to see what more the authors could come up with using a more complex plot.
I would call this a quick read for those well versed with R&AW and IB's counter-terrorism operations. For novices, this is a good orientation into the world of terror and counter-terrorism in India.
I would like to see what more the authors could come up with using a more complex plot.
I would call this a quick read for those well versed with R&AW and IB's counter-terrorism operations. For novices, this is a good orientation into the world of terror and counter-terrorism in India.
February 6, 2022
The story is kept quite real and there is no unnecessary drama. A thrilling insight into how intelligence agencies work. However, the first half of the book was slow and had a lot of build up. Which led to raised expectations around the roles of main characters in the climax. But the climax turned out to be very different.
February 10, 2022
" After reading the book I thought to myself why I read first half when I could have just read the second half and that's it".
If you are looking for any masterpiece, it isn't the one. But some good pages are there for sure which at least give some return on investment. Second half was good but the ending was premature.
If you are looking for any masterpiece, it isn't the one. But some good pages are there for sure which at least give some return on investment. Second half was good but the ending was premature.
May 18, 2023
Good without over hype subtle and balanced book
October 15, 2021
A novel loosely based on the Indian attempts to plant moles in the terrorist organization LeT. While the premise is great, the attempt to fit multiple plot lines and a long timeline ends up making it more like a typical Action movie plot rather than an absorbing read
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews