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Book Review : The Secret of The Palamu Fort

Name: The Secret of The Palamu Fort
Writer: Razi
Publisher: StoryMirror Infotech Pvt Ltd
Publication date: 14 May 2019
ISBN-10: 9388698010
ISBN-13: 978-9388698016
Pages: 263
Price: Rs.249
Format: Paperback
Rating: ★★★★★
Blurb:
Someone has risen from the dead and is haunting the sinister ruins of the Palamu Fort, situated in the mystical land of Jharkhand.
A few hundred kilometres from the fort, in the capital city Ranchi, a History Professor of St. Xavier’s college is murdered at his home. The witnesses claim he was killed by a ghost!
The police is clueless. Inspector Patrick Minj ropes in Detective Robin Horo, who unearths a clue which indicates that the murder has a bloody trail running as far as 350 years in the history of Jharkhand. A poisonous conspiracy was plotted centuries ago in the Kingdom of Palamu that designed the downfall of an empire and forced the king to hide his legacy in the unforgiving and indifferent womb of time.
The ghost is leaving behind a trail of dead bodies and to solve the case Robin has nothing but an Artifact that is said to have an ancient curse over it and a centuries old riddle that if solved, could lead to an Elixir.
Witness the conspiracy unfolding that spans 350 years in the making and takes Robin and his companions on a labyrinthine adventure involving deadly secrets, dangerous threats and a lethal encounter with a beast in the jungles of Palamu.
"All I know is that in terms of strangeness, sometimes truth outdoes fiction."
Plotline:
Palamu, Jharkhand
Satyabhama was a 16-year-old orphan who lived along with his sister Meera. One night, he was visited by a traveller who was in need of some food. Satyabhama, without a second thought, gave the last of his food to the traveller. It turned out that the traveller was actually Raja Medini Ray, the king of the Chero Dynasty. Impressed by Satyabhama’s kindness, Raja Medini Ray offered him to be one of his personal guards.
Fast forward four years, the Maharaja had visited their military training facility in the forest where he was attacked by a tiger. He was saved by the two arrows shot at the tiger by Satyabhama who was then a seasoned warrior after 4 years of training. Raja Medini Raj had asked for Satyabhama’s support to protect the “Elixir of Doisa” from the greedy invaders. It was then hidden away at a secret place that only a few knew about. Satyabhama, upon his death, had then cursed the “Elixir of Doisa”.

Ranchi
The associate professor of the department of history of St. Xavier’s College, Mr.Anand Tigga was found dead. As per the statements given by the three eye witnesses, Mr.Anil, Mr.Enos Baa and Bheema, it is said that Mr.Anand was killed by a ghost who identified himself as Satyabhama and spoke about a curse.
The police department ropes in Robin Horo, a private detective to solve the murder mystery. The ghost of Satyabhama then kills Mr.Enos Baa and attacks Mr.Anil too, who survives because of Robin’s present mindedness.
Robin solves the clue that was left behind by Mr.Anand and comes across a box that contained 3 antique gold coins and a riddle. In order to solve the riddle and find the culprit, Robin sets out on a quest along with Neil, Babualji and Naseem bhai to gather more information about Satyabhama and the history of the Palamu Fort. 

Is the ghost of Satyabhama really on a killing spree? What actually is the Elixir of Doisa? Will Robin succeed in solving the riddle and getting hold of the cuprit?
"A cold whisper reverberated in the air, as if it was spoken in our minds..."
Characters:
⦿ The story involves a lot of characters but I didn’t find any of them to be irrelevant. All the characters have a strong and important role in the story.
⦾ Robin Horo is the protagonist of the story who is a private detective. The city police had honoured him by making him the ‘Honorary Consultant’.
⦿ Neil Horo was the cousin of Robin Horo who decides to spend his summer vacations with Robin Dada. Babulal Oraon, whom they fondly called Babulalji was a hindi poet who wrote under the pen name “Bawandar”. He had been wanting to write a novel on the cases solved by Robin. Babulalji brings the humour to the story. Naseem bhai had known Robin since they were kids. Whenever Robin worked on a case where he had to go out of city, he would call Naseem bhai. Neil, Babualji and Naseem bhai were Robin’s sidekicks and travelled with him for every investigation.
⦾ Somra Oraon was the domestic help, who had been taking care of Robin ever since his parents passed away.
⦿ There are a few more characters like Inspector Patrick, college professors – Mr.Anand, Mr.Anil and Mr.Enos Baa, their students – Syril Munda and Dilip Soren, Dr Stephen Verghese – a famous historian. All these characters are well developed. The author has given every character a proper background that allows the readers to resonate with them.

Writing style:
The writing style of the author is lucid and keeps the readers gripped. The book is fast paced and didn’t seem unnecessarily dragged. 

Language:
The language employed is simple and easy to understand. There are no technical jargons used by the author.

Book cover:
The book cover initially gave me an illusion that the book is historical fiction but I am glad it wasn’t! Instead, it is a perfect blend of thriller, mythology and criminal suspense.

Dislikes:
There is nothing in particular that I disliked about this book.

Recommend?
If you enjoy reading thriller or criminal suspense, you should definitely give this book a try.
"Someone has risen from the dead. An ancient curse has resurfaced and is asking for its share of blood.
"

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