Bhooter Bhabishyat

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Aabar Byomkesh

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Brain

Robin Cook’s medical thriller again revolves around computers like the previous one and echoes Asimov’s concern about the power of machine that clouds the human mind leading them to a horrific extreme. Based on artificial intelligence, Philips Martin of Neuroradiology has conceived of an intelligent medical diagnostics but the machine seems to spell out too many details putting sinister forces at jeopardy. So as the enthusiastic researcher tries to corroborate the results the patients seem curiously to vanish or dead. Trying to cope up with the frustration in medicine and also in his personal life he stumbles upon a startling discovery all of a sudden. It seems that the patients’ disappearance is not a coincident but is a result of an obsessive secret research project. Filled with suspense the novel is again a gory reminder of the ultimate obsession of the researchers where human sacrifice is nothing but a routine procedure.

Whose Body?

A damn good detective story it was, maybe a very old one but a golden one no doubt! Dorothy Sayer’s 1^st novel of the Lord Peter Wimsey series had all the ingredients of a suspenseful mystery with the nobility taking interest in sleuthing, for a change. When a naked corpse with a pince-nez turns up in a humble architect’s bath it naturally arouses a curiosity. Add with it the curious disappearance of a famous financier just before an all important meeting on the next day. The motive being untraceable as was the corpse and all evidence carefully erased and those left leading haywire, Lord Peter tackles one of the shrewdest criminal brains with the help of Inspector Parker and Mervyn Brunnet, a butler and a photographer. The minute research of the criminal mind has been reflected in the works which adds a truly realistic touch to the narrative. A little stretched midway in the plot it revives the pace as Wimsey sees light in the mist of mystery. The narrative completes with a clearly composed explanation detailing every aspect of the crime that never feels boring. The only slight disappointment is the offender being unmasked at an early stage of the final chapters but it seems to be the right place as the way the novel has been developed.

Flight 714

Now it’s time Tintin gets touched by extraterrestrial intelligence. On their way to the Astronautical Congress at Sydney, Tintin and Snowy along with Calculus, Haddock and their old associate Skut, gets kidnapped along with a millionaire by none other than the scheming Rastapopoulas and Alan. And the next thing that happens is, they are taken down to a remote island and stranded with all the intentions of leaving them dead. But the real adventure begins with their escape and as the villains hunt them on one side, curious telepathy connection helps them to get out of the situation on the other. Thus begins one of the memorable adventures of the series whose each and every page is filled with funny excitements.

Asterix and the Chieftain's Shield

Asterix and Obelix accompany Vitalstatistix on a journey to cure the chief of ailment. But the holiday turned to a race with the Romans for obtaining an ancient Gaulish shield, lost from the Roman loot very long ago. In a village famous for amphora, clues flowed as wine but whether Asterix can outsmart the Romans in the chase remains to be seen. An amusing twist at the end awaits as Caesar seems on the verge of once more being humbled by the tiny but wise Gaul.

The Mansions of the Gods

Caesar plans a new mode of attack on the Gauls and send the architect, Squareonthehypotenuse (mark the name) who have never tasted the Gaulish tricks to build modern flats, boastfully dubbed by Caesar as the Mansions of the Gods, near the Gaulish village of Asterix. As the forest is being cleared of the trees, much to the anxiety of Dogmatix, Getafix soon uses his magic to get new trees to go rapidly in the places of the old ones. As the Roman slaves uproot the trees at night, the druid frustrates their effort at daybreak. This continues for a while along with more other tricks on the Romans but an overconfident Getafix soon seems to bring an unwanted threat to the unity of the Gauls. Then it remains to our little friend and his chubby buddy to set the things right only at the cost of the suffering of the Roman legionaries.

The Cigars of the Pharaohs

The adventures of Tintin had been one of those few collections that had started its career with the same popularity as it is now, if not greater. The young reporter unmasking criminals all over the world had held the fascination of every comic book lover and to me it had promoted its status to that of classics. So when I again got my hands on The Cigars of the Pharaohs, I once more voraciously went thru it to feel the same excitement that had filled me when I read it first. Maybe I am exaggerating a bit as the sequences had been etched to my memory from the day I had first read it but even then the amusement and the thrill remained the same. As Tintin gets involved accidentally in a case of smuggled drugs while excavating the tomb of a great Pharaoh in Egypt it takes more than his ready wit to catch the criminals. As he gives the slip to the murderous smugglers and the police who wrongly suspects him of criminal activities it is the readers who enjoy a good laugh. The 62 page compilation of Herge still fascinates Tintin fans throughout the world and remains a cherished collection till today. Generally I have a feeling that translated works do not produce the same impression as the original. So continuing with my conjecture I am at a loss as I wonder what the French speaking readers feel as they go through the real one!

Mandrake and the Black Wizard : In the Phantom's Domain Voodoo won't do!

It had been years since I read an Indrajal comics, the comics in which many tasted the first flavours of adventure. The phantoms’ heroics, mandrake’s strategies and many others that held our fascinations for ages are again back in soft copies. So as I went through Mandrake and the Black Magic and Voodoo Won’t Do, though it seemed childish enough but the same sense of contentment returned, which I seemed to have lost decades ago. In the fictional forests of Denkali, as the Phantom fights off the evil witches, Mandrake takes care of the sophisticated illusionists of the city. But the wizadry that predominates in the pages is that of Lee Falk's whose enchanting narration accompanied by the vibrant images magically transforms the surrounding to the land we left in our youth.

Maran Batas

The only thing that is not appropriate is its title. Suchitra Bhattacharya’s sleuth Mitin once more gets involved in an apparently simple case where the murderer seems to be already apprehended. With piles of evidence against her, Mitin seems confused as to the motive though DC DD Anischoy Majumar is quite certain about it. But there seems to be no better rationale than that proposed by the police against the murderer – the wife of the victim who is again handicapped! But something seems fishy and Mitin launches an investigation of her own. A startling twist awaits the readers as the mystery deepens with new findings. Written within the span of only a few pages the author once again plots a psychological thriller that will no doubt stimulate the grey cells.