Imagine waking up in the trunk of a car only to find yourself amidst raging bullets, an escaping terrorist, closed windows imprisoning pain and fear and a bunch of cronies approaching their end for the sake of decimation of all the above- the Phoenix 5.
Bilal Siddiqi’s ‘The Phoenix’ begins in Southall, London, where a covert unit of four trusted field officers of DG, Amarjyot Bhushan have been prying on Maqsood Akram, a heinous terrorist who is in the final stages of plotting a major attack on the Indian Army barracks in Kashmir. The operation does end up demolishing Akram, but it also leads to the end of one chapter and beginning of another.
No! I’m not referring to the pages, but Aryaman’s life.
A supremely gifted man who loses everything: his mentor, his closed ones, his honor and gets thrown into the shackles of tyranny and shame. This is where the story takes its first turn. After seven years of rigorous imprisonment at the Quarry in Lakshadweep, Aryaman returns with his wretched heart and soul only to unite with his wife, Jyoti and son, Aditya. His sole concern is to set things right for his family, to give his son a life he deserves.
But in theory, a Phoenix obtains new life by rising from the ashes of its predecessor. Much like the long-lived bird that regenerates to fight yet another fire, Aryaman comes face-to-face with a murder that involves a deep-seated biological warfare that would destroy his nation, and this time, it was his wife. With his one foot on losing hope to live and the other on finding the reason behind this horrific murder, Aryaman decides to row his wretched boat into unknown shores and tunnels hoping for an ounce of light at the end of at least one.
The story takes a mindboggling turn yet again from Panjim to Istanbul to Thailand, where Aryaman and his only living confidant, Randheer take us through a ride that would run a shiver up your spine. From finding the killer to ending up at the root cause, the next fourteen chapters reveal a spiralling yet gripping chain of what bio-terrorism looks like.
What struck me most about this novel were thecharacter sketches of the women in particular. From the valiant portrayal of Aryaman’s mother, Aarti alongside Jyoti, a journalist cum mother who would stretch to any possible extent in search of truth to Dr. Avantika Advani, a fierce scientist entangled between ethics and effect, every single female character has been portrayed with utmost empowerment.
After Bard of Blood, Bilal Siddiqi delivers yet another masterstroke that narrates a tale of hell and hope, where espionage and global terrorism battles a man’s love for his family and country. A truly engaging read!
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