Sensational T20

Roaring music. Fabulous dancers. Glorious fireworks. Mayhem every where. Completely unpredictable format of the Game. Everything is excitement. Let it be Harsha Bhogle’s description of the lousy throw from an out-fielder as a “slow looping parabola”, or David Lloyd screaming every moment as mayhem & pandemonium, the big screens screaming “Yeah baby” whenever a boundary is smashed….uh…high drama...everything happening in a breath…. Players are charged up; Umpires under pressure, Bowlers pray not to see nightmares, Passionate crowds going crazy and wild, heavy duty entertainment for the Television viewers.
I’m extremely enjoying every moment of the on-going sensational format of cricket, I must confess. This format might not concentrate on the finer points & subtle nuances of the game, but it’s the flavor of the season. I’m pleased that, match schedule timing has been perfect for me, at least for India matches so far. I reach my flat from the office around half past 8 in the night, & we’ll be perfectly geared up to have a blast with the rapid force format of cricket. One moment it’ll be 2 Wickets in 2 balls, a couple of minutes later, batsman smashes 6 sixes in 6 balls. Television Rating Points (TRP) are sky high, Advertisers are making fortunes. Everything is fabulous & everyone is happy about the Twenty20. It’s here to stay folks.

My wishes are with team India against Pakistan today. This should be one of the most dramatic contests ever.Lookout.

Review of Lee Child's 2007 thriller

Matchless style of writing.Lee Child does it superb every time by unfolding different facets of the protagonist Jack Reacher eventually with every book without re-inventing the character time and again.Likewise happened this time too. Lee child hits the bull's eye with Bad Luck And Trouble, his 2007 release.

Child is as immaculate as ever with his sharp, crisp sentences. Very elegant in characterizing the no-nonsense guy Reacher in different angles. The pages automatically turn themselves, and I felt gratified as I moved on with each chapter. "We would all love to walk up to someone and shoot them in the head, there's no doubt about that. We're too civilized to admit it, but we're happy to read about it.The key to thrillers is vicarious pleasure." says Lee Child in an interview.

After 9/11 blasts, Identity proof is unavoidable in the United States. So Reacher this time carries his passport and his ATM card as baggage other than his folding tooth brush.The new thriller starts off with an impeccable sense with Reacher visiting an ATM and finds someone made a deposit into his account. He figures out a hidden message from the deposited amount and realizes that, one of his Army colleagues is looking for him. Reacher finds her and learns that, one of his former Special Investigation Unit members had been thrown out of an helicopter.

Now Reacher and Neagley(one of the unit members) chalk out a plan to put the old unit back together to find out what had happened and make a counter blow to the bad guys. All through the book Reacher is fascinated with numbers and calculations.I loved it when the author writes the reasoning behind Reacher using 8197 as his PIN for his ATM card. 81 being the only number whose square root is same as sum of the two digits, and 97 being the biggest two digit prime number.

The whole plot is very tightly woven with Reacher's unit always staying a couple of yards ahead of FBI whose trying to investigate the same. The investigation remains very interesting throughout the book with mighty twists and turns. Reacher books are particularly interesting for his unique style, as in his way of making threat to a thug in a scene in the book "Buy yourself a bottle of wine, rent a DVD. But not a box set.You’ve got about two days, max”. Sounds wonderfully menacing.Ain't it?

Reacher's unit makes progress with each investigative move, estimating and evaluating odds well. The book ends as the old unit takes revenge against the bad guys as they pick some worst choices of messing with former Special Investigators. Reacher does what is to be done and disappears.

Bottom line is, this is a must read for thriller lovers. Everything is attractive about books featuring Reacher, even the tag line on the cover of the books which reads "Jack Reacher, men want to be him, women want to be with him."
I'm desperately waiting to buy the Hardback edition of Child's 2008 release Nothing To Lose featuring Jack Reacher.Loner.Soldier.Hero.Lover.