Bookish Bubble

Recently, I had the pleasure of reading The Dogfight and The Lone Peacekeeper. The book has been written by Suyog Ketkar.

Suyog Ketkar is a certified technical writer who specializes in content-design interoperability. In 2017, he published The Write Stride – A Conversation with Your Writing Self – a self-help book on writing. His articles and poems have appeared in national and international magazines.

At work, he creates videos and documentation and at home he likes to play with his daughter and read about (and collect) fountain pens—his newfound hobby. You can read more about him on his website.

Book Review

DISCLAIMER: This review is my humble honest opinion. I DO NOT claim to have any authority/intention to add/delete any value of the book or of the author. I wish nothing but success to the author.

The Dogfight and The Lone Peacekeeper revolves around the events of second World War connected to the Indian (then British) sub-continent and the life of Wing Commander Vasant Kale along with his beloved Shakuntala. 

The story unfolds in the historical era of 1940s. With the well-researched jargon and other intricacies, the author makes the grand character of Wing Commander – Vasant Kale believable.

It starts quick with readers experiencing some exhilarating action at 25,000 feet up in mid-air and soon enough the conditions take mysterious turns which keep the readers curious while rooting for the protagonist to shine through it all.

The inclusion of poetry and riddles in between the moving plot makes the reading experience richer and the love story between Shakuntala and Vasant adds icing on the cake.

Apart from the war talks and action sequences, the book (through its characters) also dabble into some philosophical dialogues giving the readers some food for thought.

Some side characters like Prabhat (whom I would have liked to know more about) and Boyle adds to the whole plot greatly.

It would have been a more fulfilling read if the author had managed to skim on some of the background details and showed readers the story instead of narrating the most of it. Due to which the book ends up getting a little slow and somewhat confusing in the middle but picks up the pace once the protagonist enters the scene again.

Even though the story is fictional, the book reads like a detailed account of life events chosen from our war-hero ­­- Vasant Kale’s life.

And rightly so, because of the author’s personal connection to history itself through his maternal grandfather who was a decorated war veteran. One can read the book and feel his love, devotion, pride and inspiration bleeding through the pages for his grandfather.

The book proudly showcases the bravery and courageous contributions of Indian soldiers in the second World War and gives a much needed glimpse of their heroism. History enthusiasts should give this one a read.

I thank the author for providing me a review copy. You can get your copy of the book on Amazon and Garuda Books.

Until then, happy reading!