Name: Thunder Dragon : The Covid Strike

Genre: Fiction

Author: Major General (Dr.) G.D. Bakshi (Retd)

Pages: 211

Publisher: KW Publishers

None of us can forget how the pandemic that struck nearly two years ago changed our lives in different ways. However, have you ever wondered how it all started? This probably got the author G.D. Bakshi thinking and thus he presents us with his book. Welcome to the world of undercover agents, scientists, military officials being sucked into the deadly world of biological war. The story swiftly moves between India, Myanmar and China as the plot thickens.

Let’s take the scene in China around the year 2015. Dr. Major Shi Zheng Lizhi from the Institute of Military Medicine is secretly summoned to meet Lt Gen Zhang Shibu. The reason: creating an artificial virus and a vaccine to control it if it leaked and mutates with humans. She is forced to develop this virus for the ‘country’s sake’ and is transferred to Wuhan. Now, let’s look at the scene in India in 2018: The activities of the Chinese catch the attention of the Indian Intelligence, who smell a rat. Thus, they send Col Dushyant Bharadwaj alias Dusty and Dr. Ayesha Mir to go as undercover agents to help bust the operation. Interestingly, Dusty and Ayesha share a past and never imagined they would meet under such circumstances.

On the back cover of the book, the author mentions that the plot is fictional and is based on a hypothetical ‘What if’ situation. However, this story could actually be a slice of the reality as the series of events in the story unfold with ease. The story could also be compared to a Bollywood movie featuring undercover agents. The protagonist Dushyant is no less than one such character: who is a dauntless risk-taker and a master of disguise. The female lead is Ayesha who is a psychologist who works for ‘Doctors Beyond Frontiers’. She is placed as a Dr. Naina Gupta, Virologist, working under Dr. Dr. Major Shi Zheng Lizhi. The Chinese virologist who is torn between her love for her country and misusing her research as a means to wreak havoc in the world. The other characters include the top brass from China. The book is a page-turner although the plot seems a little cinematic in parts.

This book gives a unique perspective to the reason behind the spread of Corona virus. Definitely a must read if you are a fan of an action-packed thriller.

Janani Rajeswari is a freelance journalist who feels writing is a way of staying happy and positive. She teaches foreign languages. She also loves music, pets, books, movies, art and craft and learning new languages.