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Book Review: Himalay Ki God Mein by Asok Pillai

One of the best and finest crime thrillers it is going to be in the year 2025...Asok Pillai has brought the charm of 1960s & 70s through his fascinating cast of characters that make up the entire plotline of this novel, though its title is a Hindi derivation, the novel is written in superbly engaging way in English. A cult classic sense of Indianism runs like banter in the novel.


The novel commences with Dr. Sunil Mehra, his father advised him to take a break from the bustling busy life of Bombay. Thus, he heads towards the hills of Gangakesh, a fictional sleepy hill place in India.

His encounter with a beautiful village girl Bela takes the novel through the routes of romance. However, as each character is not that it looks like. Like a brilliant Hindi movie, the novel chugs ahead…filled with mystery and aura around each of the characters. That lends an impressive flair to the overall narrative. As the story chugs ahead with optimum pace and incredible tempo, a few more characters pop up that sets the catalytic growth of the story…two prominent ones are Prem Kumar and Kishor Ganguly. The former is a villain, looking to abduct Dr. Mehra. The later one is an investigator waiting for an opportunity to pounce on Prem for a heinous crime he did in Pattaya.

As Dr. Sunil grows cautious about the perilous air of Gangakesh, he on the other side lets his love story bloom with Bela. Will he come to know about the ill intentions of Prem Kumar in time that is lurking there like the shadow to spoil everything? The author cleverly weaves the plot of the novel, at times purely romantic, sometimes routing through the lives and customs of locals, but also revealing the darker aspects of main characters’ nature making them fascinating as well as terrifying both.

It is an action-filled crime thriller; good thing is that there is hardly any blood game. The novel lets you imagine the life and love stories of that golden bygone era. As time runs out, it is enticing to watch out who is going to get upper hand in their missions and intentions.

‘Himalay Ki God Mein’ is a must-read for anyone who loves classic atmospheric small-town crime thrillers. Asok’s writing is nothing short of masterful, evoking the bygone era through vibrant description. This is a perfect read, a thriller sprinkled with elements of romance. Highly recommended!

The book is available to buy from Amazon India.

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