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Engine Trouble
K. Subramannya was born in Udipi, Karnatka, and raised in Chennai. He passed out IHM, Chennai, in 1993 and spent the next 12 years working at sea. He now lives in Chennai with his wife and two kids, working for an IT major. The fast-paced novel, Engine Trouble, is set in the year of India’s Independence. It is a suspense thriller with an earthy quality. The story begins with the hero, Yadu, missing a cricket match. In his eagerness to live up to the family name and excel in academics, he fails to show up for the match. Little did he know that what he was about to embark on is a journey unparalleled by any in the family before him. Not only does he handle the whole situation well, he also comes out a winner. He gets more than he had bargained for. Having paid dearly for a mistake in his life once before, he is not ready to put anything else at stake. He is engulfed in guilt at having coaxed his father to confide in the police and having indirectly caused his kidnapping. On his journey, he encounters many people—from the nefarious Hardaker and his accomplices, the sprightly Vandana who becomes an unlikely ally, the stationmasters and the dependable police. Subramannya carefully brings to life all the characters without making them theatrical. Yadu exudes all the energy of a 16-year-old coupled with reckless decision-making without a care in the world for his own well-being. So does Vandana who also takes enough risks that could result in being either crushed under the train or being shot at. After having started on the wrong foot, they gradually warm up to each other. Both of them seem to be enjoying the hunt even when they know that they could easily be gunned down at any minute. The goons and their bumbling sidekicks add life to the already action-packed sequence. In spite of the far-fetched theories about the treasure to complete mayhem surrounding it, the story is completely believable. The wild chase is as enjoyable as the premise. It engrosses the reader in a page-turning spree and becomes unputdownable till you have turned the last page. Without getting into the jargon, it focuses on the story and keeps the language as simple as possible. It is a book that even readers in their teens can enjoy. After all not many can resist a treasure hunt and that too when all the action is set aboard a train on a particularly stormy night!
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LIFE is a roller coaster
ride that we are all destined to take even if we abhor the very idea of
adventure. We can never be fully prepared to comprehend the complexities
that life might burden us with. It sometimes leads us to journey the
unknown and then we have no choice but to confront our worst fears.
Those who manage to survive the onslaught are the winners in the game of
life, while others merely exist.