Book review - Calling Sehmat

[Viviana Kingston]

Title: Calling Sehmat
Author: Harinder Singh Sikka
Genre: Thriller, historical fiction, spy fiction
Rating: 3/5
Category: Traditional publishing, standalone
Age rating: no age limit
Warnings: descriptions of death
Synopsis:
Sehmat is a simple Indian girl, with aspirations of falling in love like her parents did, and she does, but her country comes first when she married into a Pakistani military family and she’s tasked with being a spy for the intelligence agency her father works for. Things are not as black and white as she expected it to be.

Comments + opinion:
I read this book after watching the film, Raazi, which is based on the book and I’m outraged at how much of the book content they could have included but they altered it instead to suit what they wanted to portray. This book is a lovely example of patriotism and espionage but it’s simplistic writing style both annoyed and enthralled me. The best part of the book had to be the ending with all what Sehmat’s true love, Aby, does for her and her skill and tactfulness through out the book. It was really an adventure that had me in the edge of my seat.