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Book Review : Betrayals and Paybacks

Book Title : Betrayals and Paybacks
Author : Sana Shetty

ISBN : 988193379165
Publisher : Write India Publishers
Genre : Murder Mystery / Suspense Thriller
Publication : 2017
Pages : 210
Format : Paperback



BOOK BLURB:
How far would you go to protect your loved one? Would you even condone murder? 
Eight years ago Vedant Birajdar fled Tamara, a small nondescript village on the banks of the river Kaveri, after a wild night out with his best friend Jay Varma, turned disastrous.
Now he is back and Jay is dead, Misha, the love of his life is engaged to another man and his older brother, Tarun, is missing. All he is left with is a strange message Jay leaves on his answering machine, before his death. 
Misha does not believe her brother, Jay, committed suicide. Yet, she has no reason to believe otherwise. Not until Vedant turns up at her doorstep, bleeding and seeking her help.
Together they have to figure out what really happened and they have to do it quick, before the body count goes up. But can Misha trust Vedant? He had already betrayed her once before, after all.


RATING: 3.5 ☆'s


REVIEW:
First of all, I would like to congratulate the author for her debut novel and thank her not only for a review copy in exchange for an honest review, but also for being patient for me to review the book as I got my life back in order.
Coming to the book, let me tell you that Sana has justified the title of the book and the genre and she has done it well.

WHAT I LOVED:
  1. The Plot --- Sana has successfully managed to interweave different incidents into a coherent plot
  2. Character Building --- each character is given just the right amount of time and importance and stories of all the main characters and supporting characters merges with the main plot perfectly
  3. Suspense and Mystery --- the author has beautifully managed to keep the reader glued till the end, one can guess the link or importance of a character but never the *how* part of his/her relation to the story


WHAT I DISLIKED:

  1. Pace of the Book --- the book kept jumping from slow pace to fast one, it left me with a feeling that some parts were intentionally rushed to let the suspense remain while the slow parts were acting as fillers - somehow this jump of pace, didn't work for me
  2. Rushed Climax --- despite the jump in the pace of the overall book, I felt the author spent quiet a lot of time building the background. As I read the book, I constantly kept feeling - is this book going to end in a cliffhanger because for a short book of 200 odd pages the climax part started quiet late - the book didn't quiet seem to be nearing the end - there was no build-up towards the end, it just came and came abruptly
  3. Place Setting --- although I could imagine the events taking place and the characters involved, I couldn't quiet imagine the setting of the place where the story was taking place, a better place setting would have helped
THE VERDICT:
A generally fast paced and short book with a good, interesting and intriguing plot that keeps the reader glued to the book - it is quiet a page turner. I would once again like to congratulate the author on a commendable job for a debut novel. And also, I would like to thank her for writing it well, in terms of language too.

READ, IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR:
  • A Light Read
  • Good Mystery and Suspense
  • A Well Developed Plot


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Location: Vadodara, Gujarat, India

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