Book Review - Breach by Amrita Chowdhury

Book Review - Breach

As much as the reader of this will like to believe otherwise, the fact remains that internet penetration stands pretty low in India. Though it is seeing a healthy rise, it has not captured the imagination of large swathes of the population. In such a backdrop, writing a cyber crime thriller can be a tricky business.

But full marks to Amrita Chowdhury who has written ‘Breach’ in such a manner that opens newer avenues for literature in this genre. Coupled with cyber crime the medical science that she has depicted is easy to understand. All this interwoven as a thriller makes Breach, an online meets offline affair, a good read.

The machinations of pharmaceutical companies brought about in the form of a company Acel which is at the verge of discovering a drug to cure advanced stage pancreatic cancer. The move however is sabotaged in India where the data gets leaked and the blame is pinned on the flamboyant CEO Udai Vir Dhingra. It now becomes his battle to prove his innocence. 

A sub plot that shall align with the main plot then builds up where small in the backdrop of a Mumbai college, owing to challenges, emotional turmoils and daredevilry, Madhu’s personal information is compromised at the hands of hacker Raghu. Madhu doesn’t take it lying down and learns the trick of the trade to bounce back. So there is that subtle element of women empowerment, there is the teenager issues which we all relate with in contemporary times.

Brach works because it blends the technical with the emotional. It is as much about IP espionage as it is about teenage affairs; it is as much about corporate wrangling as it is about medical ethics. The author has brought about various worlds seamlessly in this book. Though one may find the beginning less magnetic to catch the attention, once a few pages turn by, it grips the reader. Overall 'Breach' can be called as a coming of age (as much cliché as it may sound) in a genre that Indian readers and authors are not familiar with.