The Edge of Power is the follow-up to the much touted bestseller The Edge of Desire – a book I'd personally found extremely disappointing. Nobody can deny the writer's firm finger on the political pulse of the nation, but I thought TEOD a book with a fabulous plot ruined by moderately adequate writing and terrible characterization.

The protagonist of both the books is Shruti Ranjan, an ordinary journalist whose path in life is irrevocably changed when she is heinously raped by politically sheltered goons, despite being married to an IAS officer. She is offered an opportunity to hit back through a ticket to politics, which she takes and rides it almost to 7, Race Course Road. But a humiliating defeat convinces her to leave this public life behind, until Nirbhaya.

In TEOD, Shruti Ranjan was an extremely one-dimensional character who just didn't connect with me. I blame the writing. When The Edge of Power arrived, I was not in a hurry to start. But eventually I needed a distraction, and did begin. This time, it was extremely difficult to stop.

Activist Daivik Verma wants change. Teaming up with best-friend and recipient-of-his-unrequited-love-slash-Bollywood-starlet Catherine Khan, they float a party. Surprise, surprise. Support doesn't rush in immediately, and they know they need Shruti Ranjan. But Shruti wants nothing to do with politics. But Nirbhaya gives up, and Shruti is shattered. She has to try again.

I liked how the author showed every cloud has a silver lining – even the day of the death of Nirbhaya, when everyone thought God had betrayed them.

The cover's fabulous, and the book is an audacious, no-holds-barred account of what goes on in the corridors of power. The author's absolutely uncaring of how obviously his characters resemble you-kn0w-who, and you have to admire him for it. The thrill of the race is fabulous, even when you know how it's going to end. The rampant unbelievable corruption, the callousness of those accountable, and their God complex given birth by the access to unadulterated power – all of it makes a heady cocktail. Even though the book takes time to really start running, thanks to the extended background padding of the characters, it more than makes up for it through its second half. The writing adequately supports the plot. Finally. Go for it without a moment's doubt.