The Eleventh Hour by Hussain Zaidi is an edge of the seat thriller; a cat and mouse game played between the police, lead by Superintendent of Police Vikrant Singh on one side, and a band of highly committed and extremely dangerous terrorists on the other. This is Zaidi’s first attempt at fiction after his highly successful non-fiction books like Black Friday, From Dongri to Dubai, Mafia Queens of Mumbai and Byculla to Bangkok. Since I hadn’t read his earlier works I went in with a fresh mind, and the experience was marvellous. It was like watching an action movie, with thrills at every corner.
The seeds of the story lie in the 26/11 blasts in Mumbai that left the nation reeling and the common man exposed to a completely different level of terrorism. Some of the terrorists were captured but the masterminds got away, largely due to the diplomatic games played by bureaucrats. SP Vikrant Singh is still troubled by the events that occurred and the culprits who got away. He takes out his frustration by slapping the Pakistani High Commissioner while the latter is on an official visit to the capital. All hell breaks loose and as Vikrant gets suspended a fresh threat crops up. Five terrorists, involved in the bomb blasts and who were captured due to Vikrant’s efforts, escape from a high security prison. A seemingly unrelated chain of events is set off and the police are left wondering about the rationale behind this. Vikrant is secretly brought in along with his mentor Inspector General Shahwaz Ali Mirza to investigate the jail break.
At the same time there’s a parallel narrative that takes the reader to a cruise liner, travelling from Mumbai to Lakshwadeep, with Indian guests who are enjoying a vacation. These two chains of events are on a collision course, which sets the tone for a thrilling climax to the story.
The author has been able to maintain the pace of narration, it’s racy and tight. His language is captivating, and I felt I was with the protagonists as they sped towards the climax. There’s an authenticity in his writing which may largely be due to his background in crime reporting, especially terrorism related incidents.
I felt that it could have been given a bit more of depth, although that might take away from the pace of the story. I also felt that Prime Minister Naidu and his story was quite cliched and could have been given a different twist. But all that does not take away from the dynamic thriller that this book is. The Eleventh Hour is a genuinely explosive thriller written well by Hussain Zaidi.
Comments