Tuhin A. Sinha is one of the most renowned names in Indian Writing with his fans ranging from all walks of life, including some really big names from both Politics and Media circles. After the best-seller and hard-hitting 'The Edge of Desire' which I read only recently, Tuhin takes the story further with The Edge of Power. So it'll be best to start this review with a look back on The Edge of Desire.

The Edge of Desire is a story of Shruti Ranjan, a bold Indian woman, who leaves her career as a journalist after a bad relationship and marries an honest IAS officer posted out in Bihar, only to be raped by the villainous politician-cum-goon, Salim Yadav, while being pregnant with her first child, as they wanted to hit back at her husband. Tuhin hits the readers with the ordeal that a woman faces in India after such tragic incident and how the society assassinates both her character and her confidence, shattering her as much as the incident itself did. He also showcases how even judiciary lets down the victims as the perpetrators enjoy a free run.

The story takes a dramatic turn when Sharad Malviya, a senior member of the ruling government at the center offers Shruti to join politics, fight the elections and fight for her own justice. She takes up Sharad as a mentor, seeing him as Lord Krishna, she joins the man on his mission for a better India. What's most inspiring is Tuhin's narration. For a man narrating a woman's story, he has delivered so well on the emotions of a woman that for a moment you forget that it's a fiction and you empathize with Shruti's pains.

In the wake of such barbaric crimes against woman being reported, this story really makes you wonder if this is just a law and order, judicial problem or a larger social one. Tuhin's study of India's mainland, its religions and its history is prolific and emphasizes how without knowledge of history we have a bleak future

With The Edge of Power Tuhin takes the story forward and to the next level, quite literally. The story begins with the brutal gang rape case in Delhi, which awakened the entire country towards this disease of rape it was going through. The incident had filled the country with despair and the youth with anger that sitting and cribbing on social sites won't help anymore that they took to the streets. Daivik Verma, a young journalist-photographer, highly frustrated with the country's political situation decides to launch his own party and change the flawed system. His friend Catherine Khan, once a successful Bollywood actress, as disturbed as the entire country after Nirbhaya case joins in. Shruti Ranjan, the main protagonist from the first part, has by now quit politics and social life, and doing social work in a far off village. Daivik and Catherine's political mission starts by trying to convince Shuti to come back to politics, as the country needs a strong leader more than ever.

This book is a fierce hit at the underbelly of Indian Politics and I am sure Tuhin must have displeased many of his friends from the line of Politics after this. Most of the story has been closely knit around some real incidents that shook the nation in the recent past. The characters have been written so strongly and are so flawed that you can almost take them for real. Especially, Ravi Nehra, the diplomatic leader of the opposition would make for better villain that in any recent Bollywood film, so well it is written by Tuhin. Again the power of this book is in its narration as it moves from one character too another, leaving enough twists and turns to keep you engrossed till the end.

The story asks some really hard questions of Indian Politics, such as the funding of these parties, criminal backgrounds of their leaders and rampant corruption that has broken the system to such an extent that it almost seems beyond saving. In my view, the book is a hard hitting reality of Indian Politics wonderfully put into a fiction novel, though some incidents might feel too filmy for a book written so close to reality. The book also highlights how the youth in India is motivated enough to bring about this change.

It's a must read for every Indian and with the elections just round the corner, this book is surely another best seller from Tuhin.