The Krishna Key

The Krishna Key by Ashwin Sanghi

Five thousand years ago, there came to earth a magical being called Krishna, who brought about innumerable miracles for the good of mankind. Humanity despaired of its fate if the Blue God were to die but was reassured that he would return in a fresh avatar when needed in the eventual Dark Age—the Kaliyug.

In modern times, a poor little rich boy grows up believing that he is that final avatar.

Only, he is a serial killer.

In this heart-stopping tale, the arrival of a murderer who executes his gruesome and brilliantly thought-out schemes in the name of God is the first clue to a sinister conspiracy to expose an ancient secret—Krishna’s priceless legacy to mankind.

Historian Ravi Mohan Saini must breathlessly dash from the submerged remains of Dwarka and the mysterious lingam of Somnath to the icy heights of Mount Kailash, in a quest to discover the cryptic location of Krishna’s most prized possession. From the sand-washed ruins of Kalibangan to a Vrindavan temple destroyed by Aurangzeb, Saini must also delve into antiquity to prevent a gross miscarriage of justice.

~ Synopsis from goodreads

The author Ashwin Sanghi is often referred to by the media as the Dan Brown of India, and now after reading this book, I understand why. The similarities between the style of the two authors is remarkable. If you have read The Da Vinci Code, it is easy to write off this book as a type of fan-fiction.

The difference though is in the amount of research that has gone into this book. While the conclusions that the protagonist draws is a bit too out there…I can still appreciate the reading that must have occurred in the background to write out this story in such incredible detail.

This book has the same strengths and drawbacks that I noticed in The Da Vinci Code. The characters are a little stilted, the writing tedious, but the story still manages to thrill. It helps that the main historical personality in this book is Krishna – a charismatic yet controversial mythological character who plays a major role in the great epic saga, the grandfather of all soap operas – the Mahabharatha. I love the Mahabharatha, and I loved all the little snippets about Krishna scattered at the beginning of each chapter. The theme of the book was therefore enough to excite me. I also love the symbolism that is scattered throughout the book, and how the various threads of the plot are brought together to a final conclusion. Pretty impressive stuff!

This book wasn’t all perfect though. I noticed some simple errors that should have been caught by the editor’s pen. Names of characters were switched around in places, and overall a certain tautness was lacking in the book. Shoddy editing and proof-reading that I hope will get corrected in the later publications of this book. It is a shame that a good story struggles in places because of poor editing.

Because this book is heavily based on the events of the Mahabharatha, it’s good if the reader has some passing knowledge of Krishna and his role in this great epic. Ashwin Sanghi has tried to simplify the context as much as possible for non-Indians, but really, you would enjoy this book a lot more if you have the historical and mythological context.

If you like Dan Brown, if you like thrillers, history, and esoteric puzzles, you will love this book. If you don’t like Dan Brown-style thrillers, give this book a skip.

You can purchase a copy of this book from My Smart Price who very kindly sent me a copy of this book for review.

12 comments

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  1. www.galerie-zwickau.de

    Hey can I copy and paste this content on my web site? What references will need to I give? You should certainly give this info for others too

  2. Blogadda Book Review: The Krishna Key (2012)| Ashwin Sanghi| Westland « Pins N Ashes

    […] The Krishna Key – A Book Review (nishitak.com) […]

  3. riturajverma

    Hi,

    I liked your blog. I thought that we could do a few cross blog things.

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  4. Avada Kedavra

    @Nish: 🙁 Now I am in US.. mailing cost will be too much I guess.. I will have to wait till I come to US.. I dont think these books are available in US.

  5. Kottapli

    An anagram enthusiast trying his hand on a historo-mytho novel!! Police also have no better job to do than solving anagram puzzles in the midst of scenes of gruesome murders….contrived…historic puzzles being solved through anagram clues of a language that did never exist in 3067 BC!!! Utter non-sense!

    I am reminded of my school reads “The Chariot of the Gods”….a better read though compared to Krishna!!!

    • Nish

      @Avada Kedavra: You should pick it up then. If you want, I can post you my copy. Just mail me your address 🙂

  6. Chinoiseries

    The Indian Dan Brown… hmm, I am not a fan of him, but the Indian pantheon is appealing to me (I’m a slightly obsessed yogi). Your review has enticed me enough to give The Krishna Key a try 🙂

    • Nish

      @Chinoiseries: If you are not a fan of Dan Brown, avoid this book. Have you read Mahabharatha? it’s huge, but it’s classic and well worth reading instead. And there are a lot of easy to read versions available these days.

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