Book review: 45 days in a cancer hospital

Publisher: Leadstart Publishing

ISBN-13: 9789381576823

ISBN-10: 9381576823

No. of Pages: 298

Format: Paperback

Language: English

 About the book:

 

Life is more like a dissected phase- and a certain amount of confinement is sure to drive you hungry for thrill. 45 days in a cancer hospital by Alka Dimri Saklani was a fitful inclusion to such boring confinement. At least the protagonist had the pleasure to have her way out of her hospital bed- all are not so lucky always. I will call the book a medical suspense that dragged itself too long- since it’s her debut. Consolidation is lacking at places- though the thrill, the romance, the sleuth attitudes and the crook are all rightfully placed about the plot.

The story is about a successful writer trying her luck at writing a novel from her close quartered experience. She intends to spend about 45 days in Umeed hospital, live in the proximity of ailing and dying cancer patients with the dominant wish to write a book on their life experiences. But then, the hospital has more to give her than just the saddening tragedies of human lives. Having a mentality disturbed doctor as the man behind the wheels, and few other cheats as assisting doctors- ready to kill anyone trying burst off their nefarious organ racket is enough for a writer to bite on. But our protagonist by god’s grace is sensitive and strikes a bond with the innocent victims right from the beginning. She smells a rat late into the night and turns to her man of interest a CBI official. 

I found the setting more dramatic than the story. For you have a psychotic person as a gate keeper, a confusing toiler for a gardener, a disabled person nursing grievances as a pharmacist, some polarized nurses and a whole faculty of doctors holding back a lot of secrets.  Not to forget, a malicious peon lurking around to snap your mind into two. And if you are speaking of action-yup! Alka does have them at places- like walking on a thin parapet, being chased by a murderous doctor, taking up disguises to investigate and sneaking around the hospital at night to find out who is the other sneaker prowling at this hour.  

On the whole the story could have been a bit shorter- to justify the strong characters that the writer has painstaking etched out. Ashritha and Animesh are fitting lead pairs- and Dr Chatterjee is one person you are bound to feel sorry for- thus-I can afford a 3 out of 5 for the medical thriller laying vanquished on my table right at this moment.