The Indian writers market is exploding. There are so many books coming out and it is honestly hard to keep up. It is great time to be a reader/book lover.60 Minutes is the second book from Upendra Namburi and it is set in corporate India with a huge emphasis on relationships and egos.

Agastya, the CMO of some big corporate has a major product launch scheduled in 60 minutes and the story starts when Maithili – his mistress walks in with a threat and demands money. Agastya has to keep Maithili a secret from Nandita, his wife, unthaw his rival’s plans and survive the launch. Sailesh is Agastya’s rival and he has plans rolling to jeopardise the launch.

As the title suggests, the whole story unfolds in 60 minutes. A story racing against time is a great concept when written well (think Dan Brown). It should include intrigue, mystery and the final climax should set hearts racing.

Unfortunately the only thing that kept racing as I read this book was my irritation. When writing a book with a set time frame, the backstory has to be told crisply and precisely. This is one of the big issues of the book. The transition between the past and the present were erratic and abrupt. Also in an attempt to be interesting unnecessary twists where thrown and the characters seemed a little lost in the personality department.

I got out to real world with a sense of imbalance. A book with potential ended up as just another Indian author trying too hard to churn out a thriller. I for one will be interested in reading Namburi’s next book (and his debut which I have not yet read) and give him yet another chance.

I received a free copy of this book for review. All opinions are my own