THE HINDU calls this Mystery Thriller ''phenomenal''

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SatyarthNayak

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Posted: 11 years ago

Acclaimed by Amish Tripathi and Ashwin Sanghi, The Hindu now praises Best-selling Mystery Thriller 'THE EMPEROR'S RIDDLES' calling it 'fast paced, Action packed...with phenomenal research'

FULL STORY (The Hindu 10 Oct) -

https://www.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/a-historical-thriller/article6488991.ece

Satyarth Nayak's first novel The Emperor's Riddles is filled with intrigue, mystery and phenomenal research

Satyarth Nayak's first novel The Emperor's Riddles is action packed, fast paced and in which, history meets mystery. The brutal murder of historian Ram Mathur leads his daughter Sia and her friend, writer Om Patnaik, who has an interest in the esoteric, on a search of the murderer. They encounter a series of riddles that add to the element of mystery. A parallel plot has an Emperor contend with powerful forces. Satyarth, who was at the Bangalore Literature Festival, recently, says: "The book has three primary tracks, the first is a present-day track in which Om Patnaik and Sia are on a trail of riddles. The second is a historical trail. The third is that the book starts with a murder and the fourth is the investigation. It is the first Indian work of fiction that is about Buddhism."

The immense research and interweaving of plots do not deflect the reader from the gripping narrative. Satyarth says the idea for the book took shape when he read about a legend of an Emperor. "Dan Brown has written about the Holy Grail. I wondered what about our civilization? Isn't there something mysterious to it too? It was on the internet that I came across a forum in which the topic of the legend of an Emperor came up. He is one of the greatest Emperors. Legends are usually sketchy, but this had all the details." To know who the Emperor is read the book, it makes the plot even more compelling.The Emperor's Riddles has been likened to Dan Brown's The Da Vince Code. To this, Satyarth says: "I wouldn't call Om Patnaik a Robert Langford. But if Dan Brown has used codes, I have used riddles."

Satyarth's first novel is a national bestseller. That is just one among his achievements. His short storyEve won the British Council Writers Circle Prize in 2006. He is also an award-winning journalist. After five years of journalism, Satyarth got bored. He decided to pursue film-making, but The Emperor's Riddles happened first. "I thought filmmaking would be a logical decision. But I wrote this book. You could call my book a freak act of nature."

An alumnus of St. Stephens Delhi, Satyarth says his mother was the driving force behind him writing this book. But he believes that a writer can't plan a book. "The idea will come and grab you one day."

Though thriller writing is at its nascent stage, Satyarth contends there is a huge readership for the genre. "If thrillers are making it to the Booker list. Why can't we recognise them in India? We have great writers like Ashok Banker and Ashwin Sanghi."

THE EMPEROR'S RIDDLES - https://www.facebook.com/theemperorsriddles