The only good thing I can say about the book is that it gave some interesting insights into the Delhi and New Delhi areas of India.

There was no thrill in this thriller, too much Eastern religious BS, and the main character seemed to be driven by his desire for women. I don't need to hear about it over and over .....

I stopped after 200 plus pages in a 250 page book. That is how uninteresting this was .... ( )

Yigal Zur, the author of this book contact me if I would read his book and give him a review. Before I accepted the offer I looked to see what it was about, and when I saw that it is an interesting book from a genre that I enjoy.
This book is translated from Hebrew, it is a complex book of hatred and love, of friendship and family, of life and death, of religion, politics and many more.
Dotan Naor is ex-Israeli agent that is very spiritual.
His mission in India is to find out who killed his friend, but at the same time there is a terrorist attack in another part in India and an Israeli newlyweds are kidnapped by the same terrorist group in Kashmir.
The plot is very active and I like how the whole story was intertwined. There is a love story.
While reading the book I had the feeling the ambience of India, Kashmir and Nepal. I believe that Yigal Zur knew his geography, the spiritualism, and the different conflicts of the area because he has also written guide books about India.
I was twice in Bombay for a couple of days, but with this book I traveled to places that I don’t know if I will see. I really like books that take me to places and teach me staff that I didi’t know like about the Hindu religion, about all the conflicts and the politics, the Indian bureaucracy.
If you like Daniel Silva’s books you will like this one, but this time with an Israeli perspective.
Yesterday I bought the other two books of the series, in Hebrew, from what 8 know the second book in English will be published in 2019.
Thank you Yigal for contacting me and giving me the opportunity to read something that I can learn a lot and travel to a country with someone’s else point of view. ( )

Book #1, in Dotan Naor Thriller series

This hard boiled story is set in one of the most dangerous place in Southeast Asia and in the region around Nepal. Mr. Zur brings us into the breathtaking landscape of Kashmir and the Himalayas with his protagonist Dotan Naor, a former Israeli security agent now private investigator.

This is a fast-paced story that takes us on a journey to every Israeli’s worst nightmare: falling victim to terrorists. “Death in Shangri-La” brings Dotan in India to settle a bet and locate the missing son of Willy Mizrachi, an Israeli arms dealer, who was headed to an ashram in the Himalayas….But in the disputed region innocent Israelis kids are targeted by terrorists....nothing is what it seems….

In great parts this is a great story, the descriptions of the cities in India, their overcrowding, the poverty and corruption is very well done. The who-dunnit and the why-dunnit cover all the bases. Page after pages the drama evokes the smells and sights of a dangerous world. The plot is active, really never a dull moment, it is filled with twists and turns. Told from the point of view of an Israeli gives this recreation a refreshing change although quite macabre as it should be. The author seems to be well versed in the country and has provided us with an excellent travelogue…but a terrible image in vivid details of a beautiful place…

What was the main objective in this story?, I really couldn’t figure it out, the story touches a lot of subjects: India’s politic, terrorism, armament, illegal trades, prostitution, spirituality…etc… This smorgasbord of ideas was nevertheless captivating and well put together. The idea of a soldier turning private investigator is definitely not a new concept but “Death in Shangri-La” brings a refreshing spin by featuring Israeli characters and a plot based in India and its surroundings.

Not a bad addition to the thriller market. Well-done ( )

Terrorism in one of the world’s flashpoints

Dotan Naor, a former Israeli security agent, now private investigator, agrees to locate the missing son of ruthless Israeli arms merchant Willy Mizrachi. Willy is desperate to find his only son, Itiel, who has headed to an ashram in the Himalayas.

The Himalayas are also host to groups of young Israelis who have completed their mandatory military service—a sort of rite of passage. Now, those innocent kids are being hunted down by violent terrorists.

India and the disputed Kashmir region between India and Pakistan is familiar territory to Dotan, as he searches for Itiel and for the source of these heinous attacks on Israeli youth.

International repercussions escalate as Dotan races to find the connection—or is there no connection at all?

Many thanks to Edelweiss, Oceanview and Yigal Zur for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This story is so confusing, I’m not even sure I can tell you what it is about. The main story is about Dotan, an ex-Israeli spy, who goes to India to find out what happened to his friend Willy, an arms dealer. Willy went off in search of his son and ends up beheaded. Dotan travels with Maya, a beautiful Mossad agent, who also wants to investigate what happened. At the same time, terrorists have killed and taken hostage Israeli students who have been travelling in India. The terrorists are using Israeli weapons which presumably Willy has sold them. I think. I’m not sure because I never really understood what this storyline had to do with the main story. It also brought in a bunch more characters that never really seemed to matter in the long run. This really was like a kitchen sink of ideas without real development, connection or clever twists to keep you interested.

I never understood (or maybe believed) the reason for Dotan wanting to solve this murder. Willy wasn’t really a good friend and even though there was this bet they made about how Willy’s son would be returning to Israel, married and with a kid, that apparently made Dotan want to figure out what happened, I didn’t buy it. It never made any sense. The author also tried to bring in a lot of the natural beauty of India and some of the culture, especially their spirituality, but it did not work for me at all. I love the idea of India as a character itself and that could have worked had it been written better, but I felt it was trivialized and not treated with much respect. I didn’t feel transported nor did I learn anything. Maya and Dotan’s relationship wasn’t developed properly and I wasn’t invested in them as a couple at all. For being a main character, that presumably other books are based on, Dotan did not come across as a strong character. We don’t know that much about him but are supposed to believe these incongruous facts that are just dropped in from nowhere. He doesn’t grow or change or develop at all. Too much time is spent introducing these other plot line and characters instead of developing the main character and his storyline.

I don’t think the author had a clear picture of what he wanted for this novel. He had a lot of ideas but never settled on one thing, instead tried to include everything. Was it a spy novel? Are you trying to make some political statement about governments, guns, terrorists and Israel/India relations? Are you trying to talk about spirituality, Buddhism and the next Dalai Lama? And I could go on with another three things this book was trying to be. I’m not sure if part of the issues I had with the writing, the stilted language, the incongruities in plot and the general confusion of storyline had anything to do with it being a translation. This might have worked better in the author’s native language. Let’s hope so. ( )