What Maya saw

This novel is a Young Adult read belonging to the Fantasy-mystery genre.  The first thought is that this novel runs parallel to DaVinci code.  Though I cannot compare both the books, the latter being more like a master piece, this novel fares well with the famous city with history, clues hunting, treasure seeking and all.  I wish I could have seen those famous spots mentioned in the book, for all the glory and history and the fine details to architecture.  But it does not matter, because the story kept me engrossed. 

I normally keep off the horror genre and picked this book innocently, knowing Shabnam Minwalla as a Children’s author.  The paranormal activities were a bit provocative and disturbing.  But I think it was just me. (I was a bit jumpy as I was reading this novel when I was alone.  Also, I don’t think this is hard core horror with spine chilling gore).  The bits where a strong friendship blooms between the girls with a lot of girl talks made a refreshing break from the pursuit.

The author made me follow the story in shoes of Maya and I was often guessing if I could spot the real mystery (or the culprit) till the very end.  Right from the first chapter it was totally engaging.  The chapters were short and racy as this is aimed at Young Adults.  But I would recommend it to teens around 16+.  Being an alumnus of St. Xavier’s college, she gives a detailed account of an ancient college to make us feel the environment around it.  The author was a journalist and has made painstaking efforts to include the city in the clue hunting.  I really admire her knowledge of the city and her meticulous efforts for tying its history into this story.