New Delhi, May 03: Mukul Deva, whose military thrillers like “Lashkar” and “Salim Must Die” literally smell of gun powder, is not averse to shifting gears and says he would love to focus his writing on “corrupt politicians and dubious businessmen”.
The ex-armyman, who has just come out with “Tanzeem”, a thrilling finale to his “Lashkar” series, is however, busy with his next venture.
“My next venture is already underway – a series of thrillers inspired by the ”7 Deadly Sins”. The first one of these seven – ”Death Came Calling” – is already in the edit phase and geared for a release by HarperCollins India in January 2012,” Deva told PTI.
“Also coming up right after this is a thriller based on the Palestinian issue. Will not say anything more about it except that it”s racy, relevant, very different… And ready to roll,” says Deva, who was commissioned in December 1981 into the Sikh Light Infantry of the Indian Army and took premature retirement after 15 years of service.
He does not mind the military thriller writer tag but would like to be remembered as a writer with a difference.
“It”s good to have been the first (military thriller writer) in India and also because the army is very close to my heart. However, I would like to be remembered as a writer who worked really hard at trying to make each successive book different,” he says.
Deva has no immediate plans to try a hard, non-fictional account of the darker side of the military.
“Right now I do not see myself writing non-fiction any time in the near future. And even if I do I would rather focus on something far more relevant – like corrupt politicians and dubious businessmen who have systematically raped our country for all these decades – I do think that would be a far more relevant book to write,” says the alumnus of La Martiniere College, Lucknow, NDA and IMA.
The novel “Tanzeem” is set deep in Waziristan, where Ameer-ul-Momineem, a powerful terrorist warlord embarks on a deadly mission to take the jihad across international borders.
“To carry out his horrific plan, he puts together the Tanzeem, a group of leaders spread across the continents. Supporting him are the Mullah in Quetta and the director of Pakistan”s ISI,” publishers HarperCollins says.
“Across the border in India, a young man named Iqbal is devastated by the death of his wife at the hands of Ameer”s henchmen and sets out to settle scores. Supporting him is the spirited Force 22, India”s strike action team.”
The novel then tells how Iqbal tries to stop the jihadi terror.
——–PTI