Guldaar is a powerful, ruthless and almost mythically elusive warlord controlling all activities that keep South Asia in a state of turmoil while continuing to make him richer and mightier. Ageing Colonel Imtiaz Afridi of the Indian intelligence, after years of obsession with capturing Guldaar, at last gets the opportunity of a lifetime to identify, and neutralize, the warlord.
Stephen Alter has infused this cat and mouse tale with authentic descriptions of the places where the chase plays out - from the rugged Hindu Kush mountains to the monuments of Delhi, and the politics of the region involved, making it a compelling read. The lead characters are well developed and attract the reader's interest into what happens to them. The action is finely paced, making the pages turn swiftly.
But, all these positives are nullified by the ending, which feels terribly rushed. After building up the plot beautifully, with all the right ingredients in right measures, Alter, for unfathomable reasons, ends it all quite abruptly. He could have made it a great espionage thriller with just a few more pages but, sadly, it stays a notch below that mark. I enjoyed it a lot until the disappointing finish and would rate it 3.5 out of 5. ( )