Title : 60 Minutes
Author : Upendra Namburi
Publisher : Westland Ltd
ISBN : 978-81-8400-279-9
Number of Pages : 361
Price [INR] : 350
Genre: Fiction
The Blurb
Successful, brash and ferociously ambitious, Agastya is the poster boy for corporate success. As the chief marketing officer of one of the biggest FMCG companies, he is all set for the most important product launch of his career when things spin out of control. 60 minutes is all he has to save his job and his marriage.
Beautiful and intelligent, Maithali has never had much luck in love. When Agastya takes things too far and almost crushes her spirit, Maithali must avenge herself. 60 minutes is all she needs to turn his life upside down.
An unlikely adversary, Sailesh is a mathematical genius and an expert strategist. His academic temperament is unsuited to corporate rivalry and subterfuge but he is forced to retaliate when someone crosses the line. He has 60 minutes to destroy his foe.
High profile jobs, reputations, relationships and marriages are at stake. Stealth, blackmail and secret liasons exposed. Emotions mired in doubt and ambitions entangled in hostility. As the battle for supremacy continues, who will falter, who will persist and who will come out on top?
Review
60 minutes starts off at 2.30 pm, exactly 60 minutes before the product launch and the story unfolds in the next sixty minutes. There are three main characters (Agastya, Sailesh and Maithali) and the story-line revolves around the lives of the three. Agastya is arrogant and ambitious, while his adversary Sailesh is calculative. There is animosity between the two. Maithili is Agastya’s ex and is adamant on seeking revenge from him for breaking her trust. There are way too many unwanted characters which could have been easily avoided.
There are many flashbacks to make sense of the high intensity drama happening in the span of sixty minutes. Though the book was marketed as a racy corporate drama, the narrative is perhaps a little too racy shuffling from the past to the current events. The book deals with lots of technical stuff, especially sales and the marketing aspects. If you are not keen on stocks, then I must say, you are gone. And that was a major let down for me. But having been working in the Corporate field, I could easily relate to the cut throat competition, work place politics, performance pressure and infidelity.
Namburi’s writing is clear, direct and crisp. And his thought behind carefully putting up the events is much appreciated, except the little too many of the flashback scenes which was disappointing. Though another Bollywood plot with drama and emotions, the book can be read over a lazy weekend.
P.S: Note that, you will not be able to finish the book in 60 minutes. 🙂 At 372 pages, it is quite a drag and a little too painful at that.
Having the numeral ’60’ highlighted with images, the cover page is attractive and well designed.
I give 3 on 5.
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