The Blue Bar by Damyanti Biwas
I started my reading for 2023 by reading “The Blue Bar” by Damyanti Biswas.
This is the second novel by the author. I had read her first book “You Beneath Your Skin” and found it spectacular as a debut novel. I wondered how this book would compare to that one, because often after a masterpiece, it is difficult to replicate that performance.
The Blue Bar however surpassed expectations. The story kept me gripped.
One thing that I noticed in both the books of this author, is that she takes a lot of trouble over her research. She is not someone who believes in writing a book in 30 days. She takes time and trouble to create something that is really exceptional.
Her characters are never the perfect hero or heroine. They are real life people who make mistakes and have flaws and struggle to make sense of their world which is refreshing.
The story moves with twists and turns and the ending as in her first book is not something you quite expect, but which makes perfect sense.
It is definitely not an easy, pleasant read. There were times I shuddered in horror, even praying that Arnav caught the killer before he killed anyone else. Biswas does not hesitate to write about the evil that actually exists. Hers are not stories, sugarcoated to be made palatable, but raw real life.
The title of the book reads, “The Blue Bar (Blue Mumbai Thriller Book 1)” which makes me really happy because it means that I can look forward to more books by the author.
Glowing praise for her book and I have been looking forward to reading it sometime soon.