Aurijit Ganguli’s second book, The Mystery Mountains, has finally hit the book market! The works of some authors are such that you always wait for their new book. The sense of contentment and fulfilment their writings give you is beyond any explanation. For me, Aurijit Ganguli is one of them. He is one of the contemporary authors of India who is trying to keep his readers engaged with his eagerness to explore the depth of spirituality and his knowledge of historical events. After reading Aurijit’s The Shambala Sutras, I was much impressed by his writing style, unfolding of events and the theme he has chosen to explore in his debut book. Since then, I was eagerly waiting for his next book. And today, finally, my wait got over. I have read his new book, The Mystery Mountains. I must say that I got more than a satisfactory result for this long wait.

About the Book:

The Mystery Mountains is an adventurous mystery novel with ancient knowledge and wisdom at its core. It is altogether a new story with new insights, settings and perceptions. The cover of the novel provides you with a clear hint that the mystery lies somewhere in the colourful mountains. First, the book will take you to the womb of history, the time when the Great Flood occurred. As the story progresses, its fast pace will soon fill you with information, curiosity, spirituality and thrill. And then it will take you up to the Andes Mountains in Peru to raise the level of your excitement to its peak. And at the highest peak of the mountain range, the mystery gets resolved. Furthermore, though the book is ladened with ancient wisdom and spiritual profusion, it is appealing enough to modern readers with its modern characters, milieu and intriguing plot.

The Story:

The base of the story is ancient knowledge and wisdom. And on this note, Aurijit has created a fictional world. He has done extensive research to make this work workable. The storyline is loaded with history, spirituality and mystery. It is about to avert or minimise the damage that fragments of a comet are about to bring to the earth using the heat generation device. The same device was used during the Great Flood some ten to twelve thousand years ago. It is still hidden in some remote corner of the world. Miguel, one of the renowned anthropologists and archaeology professors, has declared this discovery at an International Conference of Archeologists and Anthropologists. It further leads to his abduction. A powerful international group of arms dealers wants to reach that device with the help of Prof. Miguel. Now, Marcos, Lisa, and Arjun are on the mission to find Miguel and the device, both. How they will get the clues of them and what challenges they will encounter on their journey is worth reading. You may also be interested in knowing what the massive heat generation device looks like and its role in saving the earth from the prospective danger.

The Characters:

There are limited characters in the book. This makes it easy to flow with the story as you don’t get confused and at the same time, you don’t need to flip the pages again and again to recollect their background. The story moves with the two protagonists of The Shambala Sutras, Arjuna and Lisa. This time on their journey, Marcos and his brother, Miguel, join them. While Lisa and Arjun are young, Marcos and Miguel are retired anthropologists and archaeologists. However, they together make a perfect team to handle the set mission. Each character is developed well to share the load of the plot, theme, idea and mood. As the story is set at a fast pace, the characters are fuelled with desire and energy, emotions and enthusiasm to make the climax of the story fittingly apt for the novel’s overall appeal. 

A Guide to Places:

Have you ever thought of a novel being a guide? Confused? You must be thinking about what is new in this. There is no doubt that novels present an overview of places and its surrounding that are part of the storyline. However, Aurijit has gone beyond the term ‘overview’. His in-depth research about geography, topography, history, weather, flora and fauna, hotels, food, and route map of the places being discussed in the book has left me dumbstruck. In around 300 pages book, he has arranged all this information in a freely-flowing manner. At no point, you will feel distracted or overloaded. It is indeed praiseworthy. Also, he has included maps and photos of the places to give the readers the feeling that they are actually there with Lisa, Arjun, Marcos and Miguel on their mission. As the author said, this book would certainly act as a guide for the readers. It is the uniqueness of this book.

The Writing Style:

From the very beginning, I was completely engrossed in the book. Though it is his second book, Aurijit seems to be an expert in building suspense. Throughout the book, he keeps his readers guessing what will happen next. For example, the identity of Marcos is hinted at by the author but not revealed until Arjun explains it to Lisa while they were waiting for his return to the hotel in Juliaca. Also, the actual purpose of Marcos accompanying Lisa and Arjun in their mission is only divulged once he disclosed his real identity to them. And here lies the real mystery. Moreover, the approach the author has used to unravel the events is direct yet he has made sure that the thrill didn’t miss every page the readers flip. Language is eloquent and easy to understand. And this makes the book comfortable for any readers other than admirers of mystery and thriller.

Conclusion:

In the end, I would say that Aurijit’s The Mystery Mountains is a great amalgamation of information and fantasy to make your reading experience elated. Concurrently, it suffices the spiritual needs of the readers. However, at times, I felt that the lengthy geographical descriptions may try to divert the readers’ attention, but its enchanting plot will keep you at the edge of your seat. And the fast pace and zealous characters of the book wouldn’t let you put the book down until you flip its last page.

Excited? Get a copy from Amazon India right now and read this novel! 

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Review by Parakashtha for Indian Book Critics