Kevein Books and Reviews

Bowen Tyler is an American hailing from ship-building business family. But his interest lies in aviation so he sets on a sail to join Lafayette Escadrille – French Air force run by volunteer pilots from America in the WWI. En route France the passenger ship, in which he is journeying with his dog - Nobs, is attacked and destroyed by a German submarine. It is a U-boat. Bowen immediately identifies that the sub was made in his shipyard. Amid the disaster, he and his dog manage to survive in a small boat. He also picks up a young girl called Lys La Rue. Next morning they are picked up by a British tug boat but soon the boat is attacked by the same German U-boat. This time the crew of the tug boat gives a hard-hitting fight, though loses some of its men, and captures the submarine. The German crew is taken as prisoners. German’s captain – Von Schoenvorts – turns out to be Miss Lys La Rue’s fiancée. In the aftermath of the attacks, she changes her mind and abhors him and sticks to...

Poos Ki Raat is a very famous short story by legendary Hindi writer Munshi Premchand. This story is widely circulated in the schools of India for various mediums, in English it is often taught as Wintry Night or January Night. Halku is a poor farmer who owes money to his landlord, Sahna. Whatever crop Halku toils, most of the share goes to his landlord as the interest rate on the borrowed money is so high that Halku has a feeling that he will not be able to pay off the debt all his life. Sahna is waiting outside Halku’s home, demanding money. Somehow Halku has managed to save three rupees to buy a new blanket, since he needs a heavy blanket while guarding his field at night. Munni, his wife, is reluctant to give that hard-saved money to the landlord but Halku insists that cold nights are better than his jibes. He gives away the money to Sahna. In the dark and extremely cold night Halku reaches his field. He settles down in a cot under a thatch canopy made of bagasse. Under ...

The First World War I is on. In the Alps Italy is busy stopping Austro-Hungarian Empire to merge with the German army. Italian army is aided by America, Britain, France and Russia. Among many soldiers, one is Lieutenant Frederic Henry, an American, posted in Italy; his main job is to oversee a group of an Italian ambulance drivers.   Rinaldi is not only a surgeon but his friend and roommate as well. One evening he takes Frederic Henry to a hospital to introduce him to two British nurses: Catherine Barkley and Helen Ferguson. Henry and Catherine discuss war-related aspects, and she tells about her fiancé’s loss, which was killed in France the previous year. In a matter of a few meetings, they become lovers. Initially Frederic hesitates to involve in a serious relationship but it happens gradually. During duty one night Henry and his fellow ambulance drivers hide across a river bank, from the opposite bank Austrian troops begin bombardment, as a result Henry wounds in t...

Fourteen-year-old Rusty, who is also the narrator of this story, is a student at Bishop Cotton, a premium boarding school in Shimla. He is not like other unruly students who most often play pranks around their teachers. Rusty feels lonely and a little mature than his age because of his parents’ separation. Somehow he finds solace in writing. And secretly he has penned down a story about his school life, in which he lampoons and criticizes all that things persistent in his life as a student. Instead of focusing on writing, he is much engaged into sports like hockey and volleyball. One day he finds Omar, a boy like him. Soon they become good friends and share a good understanding. To beat the humdrum of banal life, they discover a tunnel which leads to outer part of their school. They often escape to the outside world through that tunnel and there they discuss many worldly topics but mostly about the Second World War and imminent India-Pakistan partition. One day Rusty says that th...

Edward and his elder brother Matt return Uffenham after a year to spend summer vacation with their uncle, Hodder. Uffenham is a coastal area, a year ago their father went for sailing on a stormy day, he didn’t return but his boat was found. For the world he is dead but not for Edward. He believes his father is alive and alone on some remote island. So he wishes to find him, others scrape his idea. One evening Edward meets a mysterious old man who scribbles a message on a piece of paper for his son. The old man wants Edward to relay the message to his son. However, Edward doesn’t know who his son is and where to find him. That same evening Edward also finds Mistletoe stone - sparklingly green pointed from front. After some days he finds a man being washed ashore. Edward takes him to a nearby hut and offers him his father’s canvas shoes and clothes and then takes him to Newnes sisters up the alley. Since Newnes sisters have magical powers, he gets to know about that the man...

Dust on the Mountain by Ruskin Bond subtly highlights the grim issues of deforestation on the mountains in the wake of modernisation.  Bisnu lives with his younger sister and mother in a very small village of Tehri Garhwal. Since the mountains have received scanty rainfall and bare minimum snowfall last year, as a result orchards of fruits and farming in the field have yielded minimum output. The streams and rivers that descend from the peaks are shallow and dry, so the villagers are facing the problems of inadequate ration and fail to obtain any income from the farming-related chores. To save his family from starvation, Bisnu goes to Mussoorie much opposite to his family’s wish. Since summer is a happy time in Mussoorie and the place is full of tourists from the plain areas. After many attempts he finds a job in a cinema hall as a tea seller during the interval. There he meets two other boys Chittru and Bali. They all become friends and work as per the orders. Howeve...

The Dogs of War by Frederick Forsyth is a novel based on coup d’état and the lives of mercenaries. The setting in the novel is of Zangaro, a small fictional African country on the western coast. A British Mining Company, Manson, owned by James Manson has founded positive results for platinum in the Crystal Mountains of Zangaro. They want to own it but the president Kimba, an oppressive figure, is friends with Soviet Union. Thus James Manson with his financial expert Martin Thorpe and security chief Endean devises a plan to throw off the current president of Zangaro and to keep a puppet president from their side. This move will help them to devour the platinum mine at very less cost. Based on a freelancer writer’s recommendation, Endean approaches Shannon, an experienced mercenary who has spent most of his life fighting in the African countries. First, Shannon goes to Zangaro as a tourist and collects the information about military and arms present in the country. The mili...