[Book Review] “Love on the Rocks” by Ismita Tandon

I needed a easy read after those heavy classics that I’ve been recently obsessed with. Love on the Rocks by Ismita Tandon (part of Penguin’s Metro Reads series) was the one that I chose to read as I haven’t read an Indian author for quite a long time. I had got this book through BlogAdda’s Book Review Program.

Love on the Rocks has a unique plot. Sancha, a newly wed joins her husband, Aaron, on board of Sea Hyena, a 24 member crewed ship. The ship is already in trouble by the untimely death of its chef and several strange events on board leads to the conclusion that the death is a homicide. A money theft leads to the arrival of an official investigator who along with Sancha tries to solve the mystery behind the events on board. The dots are connected one by one as the mystery unravels behind the unexplained events. There are several subplots as well. Sancha is in for a surprise herself when she finds something unexpected about Aaron’s past and this rocks their marriage.

I’m always attracted to the sea and hence I found the setting for the novel to be interesting. A murder mystery set on a ship with several suspects and each suspect running their own investigation is intriguing indeed. Love on the Rocks is definitely a page turner as the author manages to build the suspense to an interesting climax.

You know you are into a surprise when you are through with the first five chapters of Love on the Rocks because each chapter is narrated by a different character. The narration style continues in a similar style through out the book. Choosing such a technique to tell a story is like walking on a wire. While it may sound interesting, it won’t work unless the characterization is distinctly brought out in each narration. And this where the book disappoints. Though you are initially interested with the concept, when a new character starts narrating, you feel ‘not one more!’. I found the each narration to be almost the same and the characters of the narrators weren’t coming out strongly. Except for Sancha and Harsh Castillo, no other character seems worth mentioning. The dialogues were slightly clichéd too. Every character seems to be very terse and smart with their language which is highly unlikely in real scenarios.

Love on the Rocks is an easy and fast read. It is short and will end up being a good companion during travel. The author could have done away with the narration style which in spite of being unique doesn’t help the cause. Overall, Ismita Tandon’s Love on the Rocks is worth a try.

P.S. : BTW, unlike most books by debutant women novelists, Love on the Rocks gladly doesn’t fall into the category of a ‘girly’ book (In spite of running the risk of sounding sexist, I would like to confess that I think several times before I read a novel by a female author)

This review is a part of the Book Reviews Program at BlogAdda.com. Participate now to get free books!