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Bunker 13: A Novel
Binding : Hardcover
Author :
Publisher : Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Publication Date : 2003-06-02
Edition : 1st
Number of pages : 352
ISBN : 0374117306
ISBN13 : 9780374117306
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1,680.00
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Editorial Review :
A brilliant international thriller, set in contemporary Kashmir, about an investigative journalist, espionage, and the temptations of drugs, sex, and corruption in the Indian Army
Our hero, known as MM, is a pleasure-seeking journalist working for an upstart Indian newsweekly. He is also an ex?army cadet with political connections, able to secure exclusive and dangerous assignments in the armed forces with the promise that he?ll write about his experiences. But MM has ulterior motives. Over a period of years he has been clandestinely investigating a source of corruption in the guerrilla war on India?s frontier: in the midst of skirmishes with the ?Mossies? in Kashmir, the sale of arms and drugs?often back to the insurgents they have been seized from?is an ever-renewable source of profit.
MM hits the jackpot when a brutal border-patrol raid on which he is tagging along uncovers an emormous cache of both arms and high-grade heroin; but the goods in hand also provide him with a tempting brokerage opportunity.
Knowing, cynical, highly capable, and deeply motivated, MM is an intriguing new postmodern hero. His action-packed narration of his daredevil, drug- and sex-drenched dangerous life is world-class suspense of an entirely new kind.
A brilliant international thriller, set in contemporary Kashmir, about an investigative journalist, espionage, and the temptations of drugs, sex, and corruption in the Indian Army
Our hero, known as MM, is a pleasure-seeking journalist working for an upstart Indian newsweekly. He is also an ex?army cadet with political connections, able to secure exclusive and dangerous assignments in the armed forces with the promise that he?ll write about his experiences. But MM has ulterior motives. Over a period of years he has been clandestinely investigating a source of corruption in the guerrilla war on India?s frontier: in the midst of skirmishes with the ?Mossies? in Kashmir, the sale of arms and drugs?often back to the insurgents they have been seized from?is an ever-renewable source of profit.
MM hits the jackpot when a brutal border-patrol raid on which he is tagging along uncovers an emormous cache of both arms and high-grade heroin; but the goods in hand also provide him with a tempting brokerage opportunity.
Knowing, cynical, highly capable, and deeply motivated, MM is an intriguing new postmodern hero. His action-packed narration of his daredevil, drug- and sex-drenched dangerous life is world-class suspense of an entirely new kind.
What Other customer speak :
Customer Review1 :
Was it Clausewitz who said "War is the extension of diplomacy by other means"? I have to wonder if "Bunker 13" is a move to extend the author's awareness of corruption in the world of defense and military leadership in India to a wider audience. As co-founder of a Web news site, he already cracked open a long-simmering scandal in that arena. Or maybe it's just a way to make some more money from the author's seemingly encyclopedic knowledge, or just satisfy the writing urge.
What's it about? Quite a list. At first we are reading the story of Minty Mehta, "MM", an Indian journalist embedded with the forces serving in the ongoing low-intensity conflict between India and Pakistan in the Vale of Kashmir. Gradually we learn more about MM's long and complex history, including much training in the elite special forces. He is not what he seemed. There are personal rivalries and vendettas that have developed along the way. And there is his apparent alignment with one sector of the Indian Army, in helping them accumulate cash, weapons, and brownie points with the top brass in ferocious competition with another sector, even though both are notionally dedicated to conflict with the "Mossies" - the Moslems of Pakistan.
But then it seems that MM is really out mostly for himself, as he develops a gigantic scheme to sell hundreds of kilograms of seized heroin to the Russian Mafia and, incidentally, double-cross them on the deal. You will note that this is not a timid gentleman. And did I say double-cross? That's just one instance of the multiple levels of double-triple-quadruple-deception and overall cynicisn that pervade this world. Not to mention violence, sex, and other suchlike good things.
It's hard to give a short decription of a kaleidoscope. For instance, if you want to find out all about the effects of exotic pharmaceuticals, either for recreation or for extracting information under interrogation, or even pre-strengthening a person to withstand their administration, Bahal's your man. Weaponry? the effects of different rounds impacting on "the naked ape" - plenty of info. BUT - don't take everything as literally true. He tweaks you with a certain level of deliberate misdirection. For instance, a character describes the fiendish effect of "red mercury" in the SwiftArrow missile . .but wait, there's no such weapon (there is an "Arrow") and the substance is, by all accounts, an urban legend! Caveat emptor.
And, of course, as in any good thriller there are grand old plot twists near the end. But you'll have to read it to find them out.
Someone else mentioned "Catch 22" and that had also come into my mind...but the pace and the insanity level are several notches higher in this one. Almost too much so - can be too wildly frenetic - hence the 4 stars. But well worth a read!
Customer Review2 :
I'll make this short. Set your expectations right before reading this story, and you'll not regret it.
What should your expectations be?
1. Second Person. Not many stories are written this way, but this one is. It may throw you off-balance at first if you're used to reading many books in a week, and all of them are narrated either in First, or Third person.
2. Cuss words. Learn to read them, or don't pick this one. It's not a story book written for your 6-year old. With an army (Indian) in the background of the story, you can't just leave them out.
3. Graphic details. Terror and Love. Both of them, in graphic details. Yes.
4. Some slow portions. This is the part which can bore you out. I found myself skimming around 20-25 pages quickly because I could not stand the conversations or the background narration by the author. Fortunately, these were limited to 20-25 pages in total.
That's it. Minty Mehta is all yours to read!
Customer Review3 :
The first half of this book plods along, painfully. It jumps from thought to thought more than an ADD-stricken teenager. The language is disjointed and tough to follow. In my opinion, the only steam generated came in the last third. And though I'm an avid reader, it was almost the second book I couldn't finish. (The unabridged version of King's "The Stand" holds that honor)
Customer Review4 :
A pretty shoddy job. one would think it is some hollywood potboiler and not a touch of indian ness to this book(except names) . all the cuss words,jargons are western. and author has gone overboard with use of "F" word(s). amkes it all too unreal.
Customer Review5 :
This is the best thriller I have read in a long time. Picture Hunter S Thompson writing Catch 22, that's how funny and ferocious this book is. This book is about a dangerous game of double dealing and an anti-hero that layers identity on identity. MM is a defence journalist but has an agenda of his own, and with Spider Jerusalem-like vehemence he takes on everybody that stands in his way. Saying more about the story would be giving it away, go and read it for yourself, you wont be disappointed. Here are a few tasters though: free-falling while shooting heroin, spies and mobsters, rogue army units and nuclear arms-heists, stingers and mp5's, swastika shaped pubes and kinky sex, chemical torture and Jihad. Do I really have to go on?
Customer Review1 :
Was it Clausewitz who said "War is the extension of diplomacy by other means"? I have to wonder if "Bunker 13" is a move to extend the author's awareness of corruption in the world of defense and military leadership in India to a wider audience. As co-founder of a Web news site, he already cracked open a long-simmering scandal in that arena. Or maybe it's just a way to make some more money from the author's seemingly encyclopedic knowledge, or just satisfy the writing urge.
What's it about? Quite a list. At first we are reading the story of Minty Mehta, "MM", an Indian journalist embedded with the forces serving in the ongoing low-intensity conflict between India and Pakistan in the Vale of Kashmir. Gradually we learn more about MM's long and complex history, including much training in the elite special forces. He is not what he seemed. There are personal rivalries and vendettas that have developed along the way. And there is his apparent alignment with one sector of the Indian Army, in helping them accumulate cash, weapons, and brownie points with the top brass in ferocious competition with another sector, even though both are notionally dedicated to conflict with the "Mossies" - the Moslems of Pakistan.
But then it seems that MM is really out mostly for himself, as he develops a gigantic scheme to sell hundreds of kilograms of seized heroin to the Russian Mafia and, incidentally, double-cross them on the deal. You will note that this is not a timid gentleman. And did I say double-cross? That's just one instance of the multiple levels of double-triple-quadruple-deception and overall cynicisn that pervade this world. Not to mention violence, sex, and other suchlike good things.
It's hard to give a short decription of a kaleidoscope. For instance, if you want to find out all about the effects of exotic pharmaceuticals, either for recreation or for extracting information under interrogation, or even pre-strengthening a person to withstand their administration, Bahal's your man. Weaponry? the effects of different rounds impacting on "the naked ape" - plenty of info. BUT - don't take everything as literally true. He tweaks you with a certain level of deliberate misdirection. For instance, a character describes the fiendish effect of "red mercury" in the SwiftArrow missile . .but wait, there's no such weapon (there is an "Arrow") and the substance is, by all accounts, an urban legend! Caveat emptor.
And, of course, as in any good thriller there are grand old plot twists near the end. But you'll have to read it to find them out.
Someone else mentioned "Catch 22" and that had also come into my mind...but the pace and the insanity level are several notches higher in this one. Almost too much so - can be too wildly frenetic - hence the 4 stars. But well worth a read!
Customer Review2 :
I'll make this short. Set your expectations right before reading this story, and you'll not regret it.
What should your expectations be?
1. Second Person. Not many stories are written this way, but this one is. It may throw you off-balance at first if you're used to reading many books in a week, and all of them are narrated either in First, or Third person.
2. Cuss words. Learn to read them, or don't pick this one. It's not a story book written for your 6-year old. With an army (Indian) in the background of the story, you can't just leave them out.
3. Graphic details. Terror and Love. Both of them, in graphic details. Yes.
4. Some slow portions. This is the part which can bore you out. I found myself skimming around 20-25 pages quickly because I could not stand the conversations or the background narration by the author. Fortunately, these were limited to 20-25 pages in total.
That's it. Minty Mehta is all yours to read!
Customer Review3 :
The first half of this book plods along, painfully. It jumps from thought to thought more than an ADD-stricken teenager. The language is disjointed and tough to follow. In my opinion, the only steam generated came in the last third. And though I'm an avid reader, it was almost the second book I couldn't finish. (The unabridged version of King's "The Stand" holds that honor)
Customer Review4 :
A pretty shoddy job. one would think it is some hollywood potboiler and not a touch of indian ness to this book(except names) . all the cuss words,jargons are western. and author has gone overboard with use of "F" word(s). amkes it all too unreal.
Customer Review5 :
This is the best thriller I have read in a long time. Picture Hunter S Thompson writing Catch 22, that's how funny and ferocious this book is. This book is about a dangerous game of double dealing and an anti-hero that layers identity on identity. MM is a defence journalist but has an agenda of his own, and with Spider Jerusalem-like vehemence he takes on everybody that stands in his way. Saying more about the story would be giving it away, go and read it for yourself, you wont be disappointed. Here are a few tasters though: free-falling while shooting heroin, spies and mobsters, rogue army units and nuclear arms-heists, stingers and mp5's, swastika shaped pubes and kinky sex, chemical torture and Jihad. Do I really have to go on?