Anjali Joshe

Raptor Rising by Anjali Joshi is a dark psychological crime thriller book. The story is set up in the Indian context. The story starts in the islands of Lakshadweep, where superstar Zameer Khan is seen shooting for his next project. One day he goes missing suddenly, and that’s where the actual story starts. A video that goes viral makes the readers suspect everyone that is introduced later in the story. But the author also has given a clear point that the killer is a woman! The video is a stunt of Zameer Khan killing and his foes missing after the shooting. Thus the dots look connected. After this incident few more murders lead the readers to get a stance of a serial killer. Then comes the main character Vikram, the cop who investigates the case. Nicole, another main character on par with Vikram but on the parallel side, becomes a part of the investigation. At this juncture, Vikram loses his sister, and his interest in the case speeds up with more conviction.

This is an unusual murder mystery that has many layers into it. The narration is quite engaging, and the writing style is descriptive and attention-grabbing. The strong female character is an attractive feature throughout the story. There are some places where readers will for sure enjoy the thrill ride. Regular readers who are primarily into such mystery novels will have a good time reading this.… (mais)

Like most preschoolers, my little one developed a range of obsessions that I had to race to keep up with. This included the solar system, geology, and of course, dinosaurs. Typical ABC's books can be a bit of a let down for a kid that binges Nova on a regular basis. He would have loved this book. All sorts of words that he was actually interested in learning and definitions that don't talk down to kids. All of it backed by wonderful art that is easily accessible for kids and, frankly, worth opening the book for all on its own.

Amazon says this book is for ages 0-3 and the large colorful pictures on every page will appeal to this group quite well. The explanations for each of the terms however, fit school-age kids a little bit better. While these students don't generally need ABC's instruction, the STEM terms might be new to them and the text makes great reading practice. Kids and their parents/teachers will all enjoy the learning experience and will ooh and ahh over the bright, truly inclusive illustrations. Perfect for the classroom, homeschool, or for distance learning enrichment.

My only complaint, if it can be called that, is the available formats of the book. For me, the e-book is not bad, but I feel young children will not enjoy it as much as a paperback. The paperback is great for grades K-2 with a nice heavy cover, but the pages are thin enough to not stand up to repeated use of the pre-K crowd. A board book option would be preferable but is not yet available.

I received a free ARC for this title from Callisto Media in exchange for an honest review.

… (mais)