Review of ‘The Claim’ by Sanjay Bordia.

Writer- Sanjay Bordia

Publisher- Frog books.

First published- 2015.

Genre- Investigation, mystery. 

‘The Claim’ as the title suggests is a claim to a sum of 10 crores from the Insurance company. the story begins with the panicky Sunil, who gets to know the death of Mr. Prabhat Mehra, son of kp mehra who had recently issued an insurance of ten crores. As per the rules of the insurance company, The 3M Chandani group sets out their able Auditor Mohan to look for any foul play before handing over the sum to the family of the deceased. All seems well and the stench of foul play is not evident in any case. All the evidences and proves support the story of KP Mehra and his family. all the puzzle pieces seems to be rightly placed. but something within Mohan’s heart does not lets him rest with what he has got to hear. He, Along with his team of two continues to investigate the mystery until they discover something gruesome.

Writing Style- The novel is written in a simple prose structure and the narrator is a third person who does not belong to the book.

Reviewer’s views- According to me, the story fails to hook the readers to it initially, and it has several digressions. the investigators rush to  food every now and then and on every opportunity gives a sense of usual things happening. the story is also made tedius going into great details about the meetings and formation of the team of investigating auditors, killing the actual suspense of the Claim.  But by the end, we know that Mohan can solve the mystery. and we are sure of the capability of his two other colleagues. The story peaks in the end and everything seems to be solved and the reader gets a climax. but just then the author drops another of his skills and the case is back to the same position as before. They solve it and narrate their findings before the company.

• The novel has portrayed social issues by showcasing the condition of hospitals in rural areas. The reference to poor conditions of government hospitals and the ignorance of people triggers the readers’ mind into thinking whether or not such a terrible condition really exist. The story would be loved by those who like Sherlock holmes and are CID series.

Ratings- 3.5/5.