Book Review on Amarnath Jha’s deCODE RED: Inside Story of Maoist Operations by Neel Preet

“Punishment of the criminals often does not go as expected, since the law and order seems to be weak at certain times. Even when the courts of justice sentences punishment to the criminals then also there is no guarantee that the criminals would end up facing the consequences of their actions!”

It is hard to put down a book, when the writer makes sure to add every large as well as the minute details of the subject matter in the book. Well, such is the case of mystery thriller title that we are talking about over here. Author Amarnath Jha’s much thrilling novel, “deCODE RED: Inside Story of Maoist Operations” has been a spectacular mix of the action, mystery and facts. The book narrates a truly engaging story of the activities carried out by the Naxalites in several parts of the country.

About the Book

This action packed novel, “deCODE RED: Inside Story of Maoist Operations” by Author Amarnath Jha presents a mystery thriller story and has made a space for itself under the ‘Criminal Fiction’ category! The book is a therapeutic journey back in turbulent times, with a unique ringside view on Naxalism. It is a moving chronicle of adventure, human conflict, vendetta, and violence inside the melting pot of a large political event.

Well, through the portrayal made by the author in his book, he successfully has isolated the clashing perspectives of activists, police, political establishment and media in a difficult multi-polar conflict, with objectivity and without bias for any one of them!

The book very cleverly presents the readers with the tragic story of JEHANABAD JAILBREAK 2005 when the Maoists took over Jehanabad Jail and the entire city for the whole night, got over 250 prisoners released, and conducted JAN ADALAT (kangaroo court) on their enemies, sentencing them to death!

Further, the book also reveals the real-life saga of the senior-most Maoist leader Tridib alias Nischal alias numerous fake names and his journey, beginning from a passionate student of Physics in Presidency College Kolkata (erstwhile Calcutta) in 1967 to a veteran prisoner of Presidency jail in 1977 to Jehanabad Jailbreak, the mastermind in 2005.

The title, “deCODE RED: Inside Story of Maoist Operations” surely goes by the stories portrayed by the author in this book. As the author has made a tremendous amount of efforts in decoding and presenting the various aspects of the ‘Maoist Operations’ in his book. This is something indeed nice since the readers loves to find the relevance in the title and the story of the book and this book has made sure to have a relevant title with the subject matter.

Another reason why the author should be appreciated for going with this title is that this particular title seems to be a catchy one. Now, this is one of those rare titles, which will make the readers automatically pick up the title and have a look over the book. Since the book title itself is giving the glimpse of the subject matter of the book, it becomes easy for the readers to pick up the book. Overall, it would not be wrong to conclude that the author has been indeed clever to go with this title for his book!

The book presents the readers with an action packed story that too of the subject matter, which has been the centre of the debates in the national politics for decades. This factor itself is enough for the readers to go for this book, as anyone even with little political knowledge would feel interested to understand the various events that happened in the country due to the Naxalism.

In addition, the narration made by the Author is indeed engrossing & interesting and the language used in this book is so lucid, that it would totally hook the readers until the very last page. Moreover, this is a book, which will make the readers think about the plot for several times, even after completing the book!

This book “deCODE RED: Inside Story of Maoist Operations” carries a great deal of potential to appeal to the readers. From the cover of the book to the title and the story inside the book, everything simply makes sense and appeals to the readers to pick it up and give it a chance, which the book very much deserves too! The author has made a praise worthy effort with the research and the storyline of his novel, making it a Reading Worthy title in all senses.

The book is a bit different from the everyday novels that we see around and this uniqueness too stands out as a prime reason for the readers to give a fair chance to the work of Author Amarnath Jha!

About the Author

“Writing anything to everything to live – living to write the story for the screen,” this is how Young Author Amarnath Jha is quintessentially described according to his Facebook and Twitter profiles! Author, Amarnath Jhawas in an anonymous remote hamlet, Jhanjharpur in Bihar. Culturally and historically, this part of the world is called Mithila and since childhood, Amarnath evolved around as a true ambassador of the rich Maithili culture. After wrapping up his school education in Bihar, Amarnath went off to Delhi for his higher education – to the University of Delhi, to be precise.

Along with academics, his unrelenting passion for literature and art got him to the propinquity of theatre legends like Habib Tanvir and Usha Ganguly. They moulded young Amarnath like a steadfast artist who, in due course of time, evolved as a filmmaker. He specialized in film writing. Thus began his life in Mumbai, erstwhile Bombay! He sharpened his cinematic skills over many years while working for different television channels and production houses. Presently, he is busy writing several scripts with some renowned filmmakers of the Indian film industry and a couple of his new books are on the way – justifying his passion for telling stories!

Title: deCODE RED: Inside Story of Maoist Operations
Author: Amarnath Jha
Publisher: Notion Press (2021)
Reviewed By: Neel Preet