Book Review: S.T.A.L.K.E.D.

Away from that controversy, another India-born lawyer based in New York, has quietly penned an interesting fictional thriller, S.T.A.L.K.E.D., published recently in New Delhi by Harper Collins.

Girvani Dhyani, married to son of an Indian Air Force (IAF) Air Marshal, has a Master’s degree in Corporate Law from the London School of Economics and Political Science, and another Master’s in Intellectual Property Law from Cardozo School of Law, New York City.

The book is about Tara Bakshi, a young lawyer with a difficult boss. No matter how hard she works, how many all-nighters she pulls, he is never satisfied.

When she starts working on a top-secret assignment, Project Emerald, Tara discovers that someone had been tampering with the files and her boss asks her to find the culprit. As time ticks and Tara uncovers one evidence after another, someone starts stalking her every move. He shadows her on the street, in the parking lot, in her own bedroom; nowhere is she safe from his prying gaze. The only clue she has to his identity is a Zippo lighter with a serpent carved on it.

As events turn darker with back-to-back murders, Tara teeters on the verge of a collapse. What does the killer want from her? Is he hiding behind a familiar face? Even as her life turns into a whirling nightmare that pulls her into its web, Tara must discover the truth before he strikes again.

Dhyani successfully manages to weave a tale of exciting suspense, fear, wonder, mystery and action, bringing all the pieces together in a dramatic climax.

It is interesting to note that Girvani’s elder sister, Advaita Kala, has already scored a successful book, Almost Single, and done stories and scripts for a couple of Bollywood Films.