** Thanks to the author for gifting us a copy of the book for review. ** ** Thanks to our reviewer for reviewing the book on behalf of Literoma. ** The book title tells a lot about its genre. Yes, it is a typical crime thriller with a 'who done it' cat and mouse storyline. The language is mostly simple with some sporadic usage of old school English words, which can be easily avoided in contemporary Indian English literature. Magnus Hooper is the detective who solves many criminal cases and this being his 2nd murder investigation case. The story is set in 21st century England and not India, so are the characters which makes it little impractical at places in my eyes. The book cover is wonderful and so is the book title. Well the most interesting thing here is the author's age and not the novelty of plot. She is a teenager and at her age, this is a good attempt. Though as a reviewer, I cannot say that her plots are free of Sir Doyle and Agatha Christie's shadow...

** Thanks to the author for gifting us an ecopy of the book for review. ** ** Thanks to our reviewer for reviewing the book on behalf of Literoma. ** Well as the name suggests, Winter Poems is an anthology of poems of two subgenres largely divided by a thin line of optimism and pessimism. The poet has started with a series of 12 poems on death and home followed by a cycle of 26 short poems based on the theme of coming out of a loss. Both are good but on a personal note, I would have preferred to place in the reverse order. Another unique aspect of this anthogy is that none of the poems are titled, instead they are marked with numbers. I really liked the concept not only because it is new but also for making poetry look simple. Some of my personal favourites from this anthology 2010 series are -  1, 5, 11. Some of my personal favourites from this anthology 2012 series are -  7, 16, 19, 22, 23. The two sections are numbered as 2010 and 2012 series - I did not unders...

** Thanks to the author for gifting us an ecopy of the book for review. ** ** Thanks to our reviewer for reviewing the book on behalf of Literoma. ** The contents are as uncommon as the book title. 'Mosaic' is so aptly used in context of the overall theme and genre of the book. A combination of nano tales and verses, this book won my heart again. Well Sabarna's alter ego Rahul has made a comeback here with equal jolt. Through his eyes you can discover a new world, sometimes good at times worse than what you can imagine. That's what makes Rahul an important fictional shadow of the author's inner eye. Sabarna seems to love travel like a freak as most of his backdrops in this book are based at lovely places around the world, mostly within Asia Pacific regions apart from his native city Calcutta. "One evening, Rahul vanished from his home in Calcutta." Is that a wish of the author too? Well, for that we need to wait for his interview. Having said that...

** Thanks to the author for gifting us an ecopy of the book for review. ** ** Thanks to our reviewer for reviewing the book on behalf of Literoma. ** I had earlier read a couple of recent titles by the same author and it was my third in a row. Though 'Pentacles' is Sabarna's first published book but the order I took it came in third. Irrespective of the chronology, this book created a very special place in my heart. Comprising of a long story (or shall I say novella) and four prosy verses, it has somehow the perfect flavour I keep searching in a literary fiction. The New Life story plot revolves around a city very known to me, so are the characters. The descriptions are vivid enough to even imagine what my eyes did not witness in reality. There are quite a few editing errors but that can be overlooked against the author's hard works. The book's cover is average but quite self explanatory. My overall rating of the book is 4.1*/5*. Can be read during leisu...

** Thanks to the author for gifting us an ecopy of the book for review. ** ** Thanks to our reviewer for reviewing the book on behalf of Literoma. ** The combination of front cover and title together pulled me to flip to its interior. It was a series of hits and misses thereafter. Some of them I really enjoyed, few I did not and some did not touch me either way. As distinct aspect of this book is its central character - Rahul, a filmy name with a realistic mix of human traits. He has a very entwining outlook towards life and faces similar concerns that any common man will face in life. His struggles too are very relatable to present day men. It is good to see not so larger than life characterization of a common man to become a hero. My personal favourites from this book in order of my liking are:- 1. Fallen Man (the book opens with this book and it was very essential for author to keep the grip tight to make me read the next), 2. Peling (it is one of my favourite places on ...

** Thanks to the author for gifting us an ecopy of the book for review. ** ** Thanks to our reviewer for reviewing the book on behalf of Literoma. ** I did not believe it to come out so well when I first read the book's title. The mysterious staircase on cover compelled me to flip to its interior and then every page made me read till the end. That's what is the success of Sabarna's book Abyss. It is a play written in simple English language, unlike stoney hard words, and circles around an average contemporary plot. The storyline is crime based fictional narrative restricted to limited characters. Kind of an atypical cat and mouse genre. Some of the central characters bear the shade of author's alma mater and professional self. Renuka and Samaresh being the cops while the twists lie in the other leading characters. Not taking the names here otherwise the charm of first read will be lost. The play break after 5th scene. The author has also mentioned about the mu...

** Thanks to the author for gifting us an ecopy of the book for review. ** ** Thanks to our reviewer for reviewing the book on behalf of Literoma. ** Publisher: Frog Books Language: English Pages: 60 Genre: Poetry One line review: Heartmelting collection of poems Poetry is my favourite genre and this being a purely poetry book I enjoyed it the most of all Sabarna's five titles. Yes, I read all of his titles published so far and I still feel Winter Poems is his best, which also happens to be his latest release as well. Does that mean poet Sabarna is more impactful than storyteller Sabarna? May be to ardent poetry lovers like me. Starting right from the cover, contents, sectional presentation, titles, thoughts captured - I liked the book in its totality. The unnamed style of his poems was something I found new and it appealed to me. To end with Sabarna's lines from the book itself, "I tried and failed I tried and failed I tried and failed You never lost y...

** Thanks to the author for gifting us an ecopy of the book for review. ** ** Thanks to our reviewer for reviewing the book on behalf of Literoma. ** Publisher: Frog Books Language: English Pages: 250 Genre: Partial Fiction One line review: Innovative with a positive feel The first thing which I liked about this book is its title. It is so different from the masses. Next I liked the genre - a random mix of fiction and non-fiction which also has the shade of semi-autobiography of Sabarna Roy. Most of his poems and micro tales are travel oriented, some are emotion centric, rest are imaginary with a pinch of reality. However, the book cover is too simple to my eyes as I would have been expecting a little abstract one for this book. My overall verdict of the book will be 4*/5*. All the Literoma reviews are available at our page:- https://literomagroup.blogspot.com/

** Thanks to the author for gifting us an ecopy of the book for review. ** ** Thanks to our reviewer for reviewing the book on behalf of Literoma. ** Publisher: Frog Books Language: English Pages: 90 Genre: Story and Poems One line review: A passing read Well after reading two titles by the same author, this was my third pick. It also happens to be author's first published book. I cant say it is the best, but is definitely worth a positive review. Coming to the aspects one by one, the book cover image is a flock of butterflies crossing a barbed fence. Nothing much I could relate to the story nor the poems, but it comes soothing to my eyes, though with a negative shade. But the contents are more solemn than the cover I would rather say. Contentwise, the book truly impressed me. Sabarna's style of writing I have already appreciated earlier and now I can say I can read more of his books. There is a freshness in all his titles and a touch of Bengalihood makes me more...

** Thanks to the author for gifting us an ecopy of the book for review. ** ** Thanks to our reviewer for reviewing the book on behalf of Literoma. ** Publisher: Frog Books Language: English Pages: 350 Genre: English Play One line review: A quality read Honestly speaking, I am into much of reading plays because I find it very difficult to comprehend compared to stories or novels. During high school days, have read some but by choice hardly any. But Sabarna's Abyss made me break my notion of not reading plays. It is a crime thriller with unprecedented turns and twists within a short radius. Though at times the terms 'Act I, Scene I' etc sounded little Shakesperean old English style, but the contemporary contents made me absolved in it. There are only two Acts and one intermission. The plot broke at right when it was needed. I must appreciate the tidiness of the playwriter in restricting the words limits. Also the characters being mostly English did not hot me i...

** Thanks to the author for gifting us an ecopy of the book for review. ** ** Thanks to our reviewer for reviewing the book on behalf of Literoma. ** Publisher: Frog Books Language: English Pages: 350 Genre: Story and Poems One line review: A differentiator with class The book starts with a dedication to author's mother followed by a quote by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. In fact that very dedication page sets the tone of Sabarna Roy's title 'Frosted Glass'. A mix of class and modernization. The book has 14 short stories and 21 poems, none of which are conventional rom-com-family drama type. Each conveys a message strong enough to make me think twice. To quote him from some of his stories from the book, "She is an architect of international repute and will be delivering a lecture on ‘Environment Friendly Habitation’ in the Town Hall in Kolkata, three days from today." "Leila was obsessed with her ideas of an artisan city, restoration of Bishnupur t...

** Thanks to the author for gifting us an ecopy of the book for review. ** ** Thanks to our reviewer for reviewing the book on behalf of Literoma. ** Title: Frosted Glass Author: Sabarna Roy Publisher: Frog Books Language: English Pages: 350 Genre: Story and Poems One line review: An ahead of time book "Frosted Glass" comprises of one story cycle consisting of 14 stories and one poem cycle consisting of 21 poems. It is the third book written by Sabarna Roy which I got a chance to read. The promise which I could figure out in the earlier two books had now got turned into a full fledged work of class. Yes! The author Sabarna Roy stamps his true class with the book 'Frosted Glass'. There is hardly any book similar to Frosted Glass had been written in the recent times in Indian literature. Some of my personal favourites from the story cycle are - Midnight Conversation, A Meeting in a Cafe, The Last Plunge and Instantaneous Death. All these stories have some...

** Thanks to the author for gifting us an ecopy of the book for review. ** ** Thanks to our reviewer for reviewing the book on behalf of Literoma. ** "Frosted Glass" by Sabarna Roy is indeed a thought provoking masterclass from all dimensions. Stumping the modern day reader with a new concept is not the simplest of the tasks. He does exactly that with supreme ease by mixing a bunch of intertwined stories and poems under the title 'Frosted Glass'. The book's cover also says a lot about the book. The hazy glass window is a channel to author's world of imagination. However personally I think if it depicted a Kolkata flavour, would have made more sense to me. Also the title font is little mismatching compared to the overall tone of the book. Mr. Roy comes from a prestigious engineering background. Finding an engineer writing a book is a not so rare thing now-a-days. However, the books written by the bunch of technocrats tend to become a little cliche. Tha...

** Thanks to the author for gifting us an ecopy of the book for review. ** ** Thanks to our reviewer for reviewing the book on behalf of Literoma. ** While reading a work of fiction you generally don't look forward to science. However, the book 'Frosted Glass' is written on the basis of a science neatly drawn by the author Sabarna Roy. He had used the concept of keeping the same name of the protagonist RAHUL throughout the stories told in this book. The so called character is actually an amalgamation of different reflections of human traits exhibited by mostly by the male factor in all of us in the modern day society. As remarked by author himself, "The stories, compactly written and marked by insightful dialogues that raise contemporary issues like man-woman relationships and its strains, morals and ethics, environmental degradation, class inequality, rapid and mass-scale unmindful urbanization, are devoid of sentimentalisation." The other point that set...

** Thanks to the author for gifting us an ecopy of the book for review. ** ** Thanks to our reviewer for reviewing the book on behalf of Literoma. ** Abyss - my liking for reading this book starts right from the cover page. Though they say, a book should not be judged by its cover but for me it plays a very vital role in making the first choice whether to read or not. Roy's Abyss passed the first test very successfully for such a choosy reader like me. The cover page conveys a message of mystery and uncertainty which befits best as an ingredient of crime thriller. The second point of liking that worked for me was its genre. It's an English play with Indian characters. Yes, that's true. Abyss is a play written by Sabarna Roy which is full of gritty suspense. As the author says, "The highpoints of the play are its central conflict between a mother and her daughter and its female sleuth – Renuka." The core story is bound to touch you where the liking for th...

** Thanks to the author for gifting us an ecopy of the book for review. ** ** Thanks to our reviewer for reviewing the book on behalf of Literoma. ** Title: Abyss One line review: The play that plays with your nerves Language: English Genre: Play Pages: 120 Publisher: Frog Books Publishing Abyss is a breathtaking play with two acts with just a single interval in between. Very proportinately the first act builds the thrill and the second act unwinds it. The civil engineering background of the author Sabarna Roy perhaps has helped him to build a very structured layout of the play. Roy says, "As the play unfolds into a very well-crafted situational thriller, underneath is the debate about using land for agriculture or for industry, the ethics of a working author and the nexus of a modern state all wonderfully enmeshed into its storyline and the personal lives of its subtly etched out characters." The first thing which attracted me to this book was its cover - a fli...

** Thanks to the author for gifting us an ecopy of the book for review. ** ** Thanks to our reviewer for reviewing the book on behalf of Literoma. ** Writing play has become a lost art now-a-days. More so, from an Indian standpoint with typically Indian characters in the middle of it. The author successfully pulls this off. Kudos to him. Officially, "Abyss" by Sabarna Roy is a full length play in two acts with an interval in between. But believe me, it is much more than that. Abyss presents the reader fraternity with a rare experience. It's a modern day crime thriller presented in the form of a play and not a novel. That's the first reason why I picked up this book to read over the last few days. It not just succeeds in maintaining the thrill aspect going without disturbing basic premises of a play but also creates a lasting impression in reader's mind with a visual flair. To quote the author, "It is essentially a racy crime thriller full of gritty s...

** Thanks to the author for gifting us an ecopy of the book for review. ** ** Thanks to our reviewer for reviewing the book on behalf of Literoma. ** Book Title: RANDOM SUBTERRANEAN MOSAIC: 2012 – 2018 Genre: Mixed Language: English Published By: Leadstart Publishing Pages: 250 Roy says about his book “All my life I have struggled to achieve an optimal lucidity in language and expression that is required to demystify the hidden self and selves and agendas. I hope I have achieved this in a large measure in this fifth book of mine!" - So well captured. All the writings in this book, be it a poem/ story/ biographical piece, left an everlasting impact in my mind. Initially though I was little reluctant to try an assorted piece, but I would have definitely missed Roy's flavour of free style writing. "Time frozen in myriad thoughts" is what Roy calls his book and I completely second his thought after finishing this book. Definitely no book is free of shortc...

** Thanks to the author for gifting us an ecopy of the book for review. ** ** Thanks to our reviewer for reviewing the book on behalf of Literoma. ** "Random Subterranean Mosaic 2012–2018" - what a book title. The very title of Sabarna Roy's book made me pick it up and read through. It just took me a single weekend to finish reading this kaleidoscope of fictional pieces which the author also claims to be semi-autobiographical at times. The miniature tell a tale concept presented in this book is very appreciable. Though there are some minor editing gaps, but those can be well overlooked against the quality contents. Not sure of the market acceptance of such a different genre, but author's lucid writing style goes very well with the flow of its contents. An ardent lover of poetry, some of my personal favourite lines from the book are:- "What happened to you were not your choices to begin with; they happened But you fee...

** Thanks to the author for gifting us an ecopy of the book for review. ** ** Thanks to our reviewer for reviewing the book on behalf of Literoma. ** "Random Subterranean Mosaic 2012–2018" by Sabarna Roy is a collection of 93 poems, short-shorts, opinions, observations and conversations. These are, as per author, "random, yet mysteriously structured to a pattern, fiction, semi-autobiographical, and autobiographical pieces." I liked many of them but being a travel freak myself, I liked his travel oriented pieces more. Special mention for Kangra Valley, Gulmarg, Banaras, Chilka and Vembanad Lake. I have been to most of these places so can very well relate to what is being captured in Roy's pieces. To be honest, I was amazed to find so many important yet personal thoughts have been put forward in just a few words. An art to touch every reader for sure. The book cover is Black and White kaleidoscope of a shadowed man - nothing perhaps could have better carrie...

** Thanks to the author for gifting us an ecopy of the book for review. ** ** Thanks to our reviewer for reviewing the book on behalf of Literoma. ** Sabarna Roy's book titled 'Pentacles' came to my hands recently. I started reading it casually but as I moved deeper inside the story (New Life), I started feeling more connected to its characters. They looked so lively and consistent. I must say, Sabarna did an excellent job in character building for his story and also setting up appropriate backgrounds to make them feel real. Any day, it can be adapted into a film - this is what I felt after finishing it. Coming to the remaining four poems - they are undoubtedly good but somehow I felt them to be a mismatch to the tone set by his story. If "a thin book may not be liked by readers" was the rationale behind publishing a mixed genre, I would rather suggest to think conversely. The poems are independently very captivating but somehow they broke the tempo of such...

** Thanks to the author for gifting us an ecopy of the book for review. ** ** Thanks to our reviewer for reviewing the book on behalf of Literoma. ** 'Pentacles' is a book of fiction comprising of a novella (New Life) and four story poems (The Tower, Chasing, 2001-02 and Tara). All the creations have a touch of Bengali livelihood true to the author's roots. The characters as named by Roy have a touch of Bangaliyana (Bengali style) and that's what set up an instant connect for me. I could visualize most of them as known faces from my extended family. The poems are also story like and convey a lot of thoughts packed within limited boundaries. Of all the four, 'Chasing' touched me very much where he says, "The true art is in the art of chasing not ideas or dreams, But people who interest you all of a sudden at street corners, At railway stations, at ice cream parlours, at grocery shops, at libraries, And graveyards, inside hospital lobbies, so on ...

** Thanks to the author for gifting us an ecopy of the book for review. ** ** Thanks to our reviewer for reviewing the book on behalf of Literoma. ** Got a chance to read this book today and what a great Sunday fodder it turned out to be. The book titled "Pentacles" by Sabarna Roy contains one long story and four poems. The writing style of the author is simple and impactful. It's easy to understand what he is trying to convey and leaves a long term impact on the reader psyche.  The story stands out among all the five write ups presented in the book. The interrelational dynamics had been portrayed seamlessly in the story. The story depicts how the dynamics built while growing up hunts us back once we grow up. The editing of the book could have been better. Having said that it's a great one-time weekend read. Overall, I would like to rate it as 4*/5*. All the Literoma reviews are available at our page:- https://literomagroup.blogspot.com/

** Thanks to the author for gifting us an ecopy of the book for review. ** ** Thanks to our reviewer for reviewing the book on behalf of Literoma. ** 'Winter Poems' as the name suggests is poetry anthology by Sabarna Roy, kind of a pack of two volumes '2010' and '2012'. Cover of the book is very appealing which depicts the Taj of Calcutta - Victoria Memorial.  The first part titled 'Winter Poems-2010' is a series of 12 long poems that mostly deal with the imaginations of death and home. Roy says, " I think these are the two fundamental imaginations that separate humankind from other animals. What would the pleasure of living be without the imagination of death? What would the pleasure of running through wilderness be without the imagination of home?" Being a Bengali myself, a line from his poem titled 6 relived my good old days in the city; as if I could visualize every corner described in his lines:- "Dense fog trailed through ...

** Thanks to the author for gifting us an ecopy of the book for review. ** ** Thanks to our reviewer for reviewing the book on behalf of Literoma. ** 'Winter Poems-2010' and 'Winter Poems-2012' are packaged under one cover of ''Winter Poems'. The Bong seems to be in deep love with his roots and his poems are a testimony to his nostalgia. Deep emotions, subtle expressions, minimalistic choice of words - define the poetic style of Sabarna Roy, an author of multiple bestsellers. This is his fourth book, apart from many others. The thirty eight poems are different not just in the feelings captured but also in presentations. The first part have poems of long classical style while the next section have short and crisp poems, of modern free style. Book cover rightly captures the theme but somewhere the magic is lost due to the mix of computerized images with vintage backdrop. The book will definitely be in my reading shelf for long and I would like to rate...

** Thanks to the author for gifting us an ecopy of the book for review. ** ** Thanks to our reviewer for reviewing the book on behalf of Literoma. ** "Winter Poems" is a series of 38 poems dealing with the idea of loss and coming to terms with gradual wasting of life. Though the author has mentioned that during winters he is in a poetic spree, but his poems wands various touchpoints of life, especially Calcuttans. One striking aspect of his poems is that none of them are titled, only numbered 1 to n. They are more 'storish' than rhyming. Messages are strong enough to make you rethink on a common phenomenon. To quote Roy from one of his poems, "A query had shaped in my mind when I drove back home: Why do we celebrate our birthdays so pompously when they bring us a year closer to death?" Coming to book cover, it creates an immediate connect with Kolkata, the city of joy. Though a little cluttered but any Bong can easily relate to every bit of it....