Pelican Brief

Long time back, I had read John Grisham's The Firm and was really impressed by his story telling, then I got to know his books are always centered around law. Mukul recommended me Pelican Brief which is also a thriller on the similar lines but fairly different story. The start might appear a bit slow but it quickly grips a fair pace. There are enough twists and turns to keep one engaged with couple of incidents that stun you in disbelief.
The protoganist is a a twenty four year old female law student who prepares a report charging a powerful individual with the murder of two Supreme Court judges and this report sends jitters in White House and all across America which causes the girl to run for her life while seeing dead bodies falling all around her. Author has also given interesting inside accounts of how things work in power-houses and in press-rooms. The climax is a bit elaborate and though in final 15 odd pages there are no more surprises in this suspense thriller but each paragraph is thoroughly enjoyed and relieves the mind of all the tension built up all along. Certainly, a highly recommended read.
The book has been adapted in a movie with the same name starring Julia Roberts and Danzel Washington but I am not very optimistic with the movie because movies seldom do justice to the original story.

Godfather

Last weekend, I licked up the novel whose story has been one of the most famous stories in our times, re-told over and over again in several languages and via different mediums, well I am talking about The Godfather. Over the years, many of us might have seen its movies adaptations as in The Godfather, Velu Nayankan, Dharmatma, Sarkar or even Rajniti. I haven't yet seen Godfather the film but of all the other's I reckon only Sarkar could exhibit a higher level of terror. But, one should read the original novel to believe me when I say that nobody could match the ferociousness of novel. Mario Puzo has put in few sequences quite explicitly which could be disturbing at times. But, one should not mistake it for some psycho details, the whole of book is high class writing.
The central character of the book is Don Corolene who is king of New York underworld, more respected than feared. His journey from a simple, smart family man to a shrewed, cold-blooded gangster. Equally important is his son, Michale, a college professor who although being miles away from mafia world gets involved with it under extra-ordinary circumstances. There few other characters and their transformation in behaviour and values have been beautifully worded. All in all a must read novel very engaging and a classic.