cover image BUNKER 13

BUNKER 13

Aniruddha Bahal, . . Farrar, Straus & Giroux, $24 (352pp) ISBN 978-0-374-11730-6

Bahal, an investigative journalist from India, made headlines when he and his colleagues at Tehelka.com, an audacious Indian investigative news source, videotaped senior officials accepting bribes. To make the tapes, the reporters pretended to be rich businessmen. Bahal's first novel reads very much along these lines. His protagonist, MM, is a tough-as-nails ex–army officer turned investigative journalist with a penchant for risk, drugs and rough sex. Covering the army, MM learns that a small band of corrupt officers in Kashmir are engaged in smuggling drugs and weapons, and he soon becomes involved in an intricate web of guerrilla fighting, espionage, Russian mobsters and nuclear missiles. MM is a complex hero, a cynical and dissipated man who makes sentences such as "there's an art to drawing a gun" sound natural, but who is also principled. Some readers may grow weary of his relentless tough-guy posturing, but Bahal's use of the second person heightens suspense and adds psychological depth, and ample information about regional politics, warfare and journalism in India fills out the novel. The most serious problem is the awkward syntax, which considerably slows the pace ("You are in the mood for some luxury, and even though the hotel you have pitched camp in, bordering Dal Lake, isn't luxurious, it is better than the squatter mess settlements that the Western Command is most likely to put at your disposal"). Those who can get past the rough prose will find an offbeat, fun thriller. (June)

Forecast:FSG is gambling big on this debut thriller, with a 75,000 first printing. A stunning, space-age silver jacket will grab readers, butreaction to the book's contents may be more mixed.