Europa – Book Review

Author: Hywel Richard Pinto

Paperback: 198 Pages

Publisher: StoryMirror Infotech (P) Ltd. (2017)

Language: English

Genre: Science Fiction

ISBN-13: 978-9386305169

About The Book:

The year is 2250 and we are witness to a historical trial of one of the Silver Fleet’s youngest and most promising captains – Captain Richard Sparks, who has been accused of murdering a fellow crew member during the Silver Star’s lengthy trip to Jupiter’s moon – Europa. But the crew are divided as to whether the Captain is to be blamed for the fiasco or whether there was a bigger conspiracy on board?
Can another murder on board the Silver Star be attributed to the unusual mission that the ship is on? Does someone want the crew of the Silver Star to fail in their mission to locate one of her sister ships, reportedly lost near Europa? And just how many of the crew can Captain Richard Sparks trust, if he is to be believed as being innocent?
Meanwhile, a shadowy organisation back on Earth contends with a dangerous, corrupt and ambitious Indian politician, with the Europa mission being used as the counter weight. Will this affect the crew on board the Silver Star?
All trials are not as simple as they seem – not when the accused has a story to tell and some people will go to great lengths to protect what actually happened on EUROPA.

About The Author:

Hywel Richard Pinto, born in Bombay and brought up in Mumbai has always loved reading, right from the time he was in school, beginning with Enid Blyton’s Famous Five and moving on to The Hardy Boys once he had exhausted all of Enid Blyton’s series of mystery novels.
Hywel works full time in a Media agency as a Sr. Director – Media Planning.
In addition to this book, he has also written a murder mystery set in Mumbai by the name of “The Monday Murder” which was shortlisted in the top 20 manuscripts from nearly 300 entries by DNA-Hachette India in January 2013 during their Hunt For The Next Indian Bestseller contest.

My Take:

This book fits very well in the category of Science Fiction. It is one genre that usually does not find many readers and authors alike, especially when it comes to the books available in the Indian market. The book opens in 2250 and lands you directly what you think future would be like but it is still not very different from what we assume it to be in further years considering the speed which we seem to be going with the technology. The whole story follows many point of views and at times the reader might get confused when the story comes out from too many voices. But the expertise with which it has been handled is commendable. The shifting perspective does not really becomes bothersome.

There are far too many characters in the story and at times it confuses the reader, if he/she is not good with names. But then this is the requirement of the story with the plot as big as it is. The protagonist of the story had been shown with good leadership skills and many characters who are portrayed to be antagonists have also been portrayed quite fluidly, their character growing gradually as the story progresses. But since, there are so many of them and with the plot so deep, only two or three of the characters get the depth they deserve. Besides, since no personal life of any characters has been shown, reader might find it difficult to relate with any of the characters, especially when it comes to protagonist of the story. At times, the reader might feel that the antagonists ( if I can call them so) have been given much more exposure than the protagonist and his team.

Story develops gradually, where too many things seems to be happening at once in the start. It also slows down at a few points, but mostly keeps up the pace expected out of an Science Fiction thriller. The good part is the plot includes different locations and does not bore the reader with only handful of settings. The description of the outer space catches the reader’s imagination, and feels like a space adventure movie. The game of revenge that takes up most of the story feels a little too much influenced from movies, specially Bollywood. The end which seemed a bit rushed up, there could have been more to the story other than just winding up the trial which the reader knew from the beginning which way it would end. There one too many surprises, twists and turns that are placed quite strategically in the book at various intervals piquing the interest of the reader just when required.

All said and done, the book is a fair read which could have been exceptional if only there were few more pages to the end. Also, deducting a mark for the not-so-incredible editing.

Bottom line: A quick read while you travel.

My Rating:

3/5

Scale of Rating: 1– Ignore It!! 2-Don’t Touch It!! 3-One Time Read!! 4-Add To Your TBR!! 5-Read it NOW!!!

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