A story with a distinct essence of mystery and mind games is hard not to read. Those who have read Downer before will know that he has this particular way of saying a lot with a few words. It takes some time to get used to it but once you do, you will not be disappointed. The protagonist, Peter, takes us back to his childhood home where the father is dead and his widowed mother is full of accusations. Peter had left home earlier and never had come back. This story reminds me of so many such tales we hear in our daily life. Where the son of the family or the daughter of the family, leave home and are lost in the world of materialism. I am one of them too. So understanding Peter's condition was not too difficult for me.
The story further unfolds with a bunch of letters that have been left for Peter by his father. He feels his father's love emancipating from them. Not that there was much of a love lost between the father and the son. I felt this part of the story could have been further enhanced since it's a beautiful relationship portrayed where many unspoken words were hidden in the crevices of the cracked relationship.
And then comes the 10 letters with a few codes. Deciphering the codes he found that it was threatening in nature as it was predicting the day Peter will die.
From this point onwards Downer has managed to keep the readers guessing who wants to kill Peter. My mind oscillated between the mother and girlfriend. If you think I am giving out spoilers - think again. I was so fascinated by the unfurling events that when the mystery was solved, I was left with a few goosebumps. If I was not such a stickler of going page by page, I would have surely jumped into the last page when Nilofer asked, Nilofer read it and immediately looked back at him with an astonished look on her face. “What? Who sent this?”
My Recommendation: Mystery lovers will love it. A quick read.
First Line from the book:
“Peter, where were you all these days, kid? You said three weeks, and you're coming back after 2 months now. You didn't forget all about your Arnaaz aunty now, did you?” Mrs. Naoroji asked, opening the front door of her flat as soon as she heard Peter’s footsteps in the corridor.
First Line from the book:
“Peter, where were you all these days, kid? You said three weeks, and you're coming back after 2 months now. You didn't forget all about your Arnaaz aunty now, did you?” Mrs. Naoroji asked, opening the front door of her flat as soon as she heard Peter’s footsteps in the corridor.
Author of the book:
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Thank you so much for the review and for the advice, Rubina! I'm glad I could live up to the expectations. :)
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