Love, Origami by Allen Sal – Book Review

Allen Sal, pen name assumed by an Indian novelist, has done very well in terms of suspense and thriller quotients in his novel Love, Origami. The title might sound cryptic as well (and it is). The content of this novel is engaging and exciting in patches – the beginning will seem to be hurried as if you are reading about the person-of-interest herself, Sarah Miller, a disturbed young woman who doesn’t love her father at all… Mark Miller, a dad who wants to care for her daughter but cannot as she keeps going away from him, gradually. Mark is a successful businessman, a well-built personality and an attractive one as well. His wife died and he is now indulged with Amy, his secretary. However, he cannot commit to an emotional level.

Peter is supposedly a dumb character who is away from the luxuries of life. He is the boyfriend of Sarah, who is rather independent, too much into drugs and wine and a kind of ultra-modern personality who does not mind spending nights with random guys… however, for Peter, everything seems too much and he is emotionally attached to Sarah. And Sarah, for the girl she is, does not like emotional attachment with Peter.

Much of the novel is about the build-up that will keep the readers tensed and mostly awry about who might be the prey and who might be the predator. Sometimes, it feels like Sarah is the predator and in other moments, one might feel like one of Sarah’s pub-mates. However, the novel has a very different course and it will leave you with many surprises at the end. The novel builds up almost perfectly keeping the readers anticipating for something to happen and at the end, it’s just the opposite or totally unexpected thing that happens… and to my reading experience, this is what a reader waits for in a novel – a challenging script or a challenging plot that demands attention and indulgence. You will love it… surely!

Talking about the content, the language is very common or it has been written in a way that any reader with a basic depth in English can read and instantly decipher. The theme is almost psychological. Yes, there is a revenge-plot involved but that comes to the fore at a very later stage of the novel when the revelation takes place – almost at the concluding stage. The characters are all-natural and very easy-going and the readers will know their state of mind or depth of indulgence very easily. Allen Sal has done well in building up their personae and predicament. I loved the conclusion because it just antagonises the readers’ psyche… you will feel it!

On the overworked side or the shortcomings, you can feel that some details are too detailed or stretched too much that it might get the readers disinterested. Though it is a scenario that occurs very few times and it does not cancel the impact of the plot on the readers. Negligible but still, for a critic, a loophole is a loophole… :)

You can get a copy of this novel from Amazon India right now and enjoy reading it. It does not take more than a day if you are a reader who is reading regularly. However, if you are a reader who needs time to read works, it might take 2-3 days. At different twists or halts, Love, Origami, will pose different scenarios in front of you and you will feel sympathetic or angry towards the given situation and subjects. To cut things short, this is a challenging thriller… it demands your mental and emotional indulgence in solving the situations. Are you ready?

Get a copy by clicking the link below and enjoy!

Buy the novel from Amazon India – click here

Review by Alok Mishra