60 Minutes - Book Review

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“Revenge is a natural instinct…But there’s more often than not too much collateral damage and in most instances we miss the point in the process, and hurt ourselves”

That’s something from the book which aptly sums up its concept. 60 minutes is the second of the triumvirate novels of Upendra Namburi, a contemporary Indian life thriller. The story is set in the background of current urban life of those who reign at the top of corporate set ups. The high intensity drama happens in a span of sixty minutes. On one end there is a kind of fanatical rivalry between two chief marketing officers, jealousy and competition drives their actions in a battle of their product launches, and on the other there are gross personal failures. The author has tried to make the story as realistic as possible. The issues that emerge, at the office and back at home, and how the characters-Agastya, Maithili and Sailesh deal with it in a constant rush is the matter of the book.

Professional networks and game plays, stock market and millions of money, relationships and stress, domestic violence and infidelity-the author highlights all aspects of their lives. The characterization is from an insider’s perspective and that adds to the realism the plot tries to convey. There is no right or wrong, no good or bad in this game which is more than a cold war. Everyone goes through the process of survival of the fittest. One can almost feel the pulse of their office rooms.

The pace of the book is another impressive point; the events unfold as the reader turns the pages. I finished the book in about two reading sessions. The flashbacks in between kind of adds to the movie like feeling and the reader can understand the motive behind the character’s actions and decisions. An another opinion about it is that the scenes are a bit off from the title of the book, in the sense if the happenings of the previous weeks, months and years were not highlighted there is not much of drama, without the background what happens in the 60 minutes is just an another incident. When I began with the book I was excited and curious to know how the story would unfold in 60 minutes, the rewinds were a big disappointment.

Obsession and revenge carried from the past is all what drives the scenes in the sixty minutes. Some happenings do seem without purpose, some of the flings and fights in particular. What happens in the concluding chapter is beyond a reader’s expectations, the two rivals portrayed in the story meet during a holiday at the beach watching the sea and the setting sun, having a conversation like estranged lovers, a weird but an interesting ending.  I did not put down this book nor did I like it overly. The last line of the quote in the preface ”The truth lies in the shades of grey” is quite what I felt about this book, very grey.  A one time weekend read and a good addition to the genre of Indian corporate thrillers, this one.

Book Details:

Title: - 60 minutes

Author: - Upendra Namburi

Publisher: - Westland Ltd

Publication Year: - 2014

ISBN 13:- 978-93-84030-24-7

Binding: - Paperback

Number of pages: - 361

Price: - Rs 350

My rating: - 2.5/5

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