Book Review – Sirens Spell Danger

‘Sirens Spell Danger’ is a collection of three crime thriller stories by three veteran blogger-turned-authors and being a devour-er of crime fiction, I couldn’t resist picking up the book. My heartiest congratulations to the authors for taking a giant leap by self-publishing this book. As it is said – well begun is half done. True to the book’s title, all the three stories are of men lured into dangerous situations by beautiful women. Let me start the review story-by-story.

#1 – Femme Fatale – The first story follows Vikram, a soon-to-be IPS, as he is lured into a trap by gorgeous Tanya. It soon turns out to be a life and death situation for not only him but lakhs of Bangalore-wallahs. The story is speedy and action-packed, sprinkled with funny and catchy one-liners. The fight sequences are very visual and in my opinion, the best part of Femme Fatale.

The story could do with tighter editing – there are redundancies as well as a typo or two. I was unimpressed by the beginning even though the story picked up towards the end of first chapter. In my opinion, the news story about Mr. Reddy could have been incorporated at a later stage rather than the first page. A reader browsing a book in a store may not have the time ( or the inclination) to read the full chapter before deciding to buy (or not).

My rating – 3.5 / 5

 

#2 – Bella Donna – The second story in the book is about Detective Inspector Shardul Reham as he matches his wits against a meticulous and unscrupulous serial killer, who is after high-profile victims. The author kept me guessing the identity of the murderer till about two-thirds of the story – which is great considering I grew up with Dupin, Holmes, Poirot and the rest. That the story and the clues were well researched, there’s no doubt. In fact the relationship of the clues to the name of the story is fantastic.

Tighter editing will definitely help this story shine more. There was a typo or two around and in some parts of the story, the author got lost with research so much so that it became difficult for the reader to follow. Also, the author has stressed some parts in the story when she reveals the clues. Let the reader come up with the Ah! moment – no need to poke fingers in his eyes to make him see.

My rating – 4 / 5

 

#3 – Bellary – The final story in this collection is a paranormal piece set in a small mining town – Bellary. The protagonist Jay, an officer with the IB, is sent to this city to prevent an impending danger and has only about a week to do it. The situation tenses when he lands up in prison because of saving a beautiful damsel-in-distress. It was interesting to see whether he would run out of time or save the city. The best part of this story is that there was never a dull moment.

The paranormal part of the story though, was a huge cliche for me. Without taking the risk of revealing the story, let me just say that it felt as if I was watching an episode of Alif-Laila or Hatim Tai or some other such tale. Even the method of conquering the evil-one was full of cliches for me.

My rating – 3.5 / 5

 

Overall, the book is a quick one time read and I did enjoy it. I wish the authors luck for the success of this book.

(This review is a part of a blog tour for ‘Sirens spell danger’ arranged by The Book Club)