New Delhi, November 20, 2013: Oxford Bookstore Connaught Place, in association with Penguin Books India launched The Rataban Betrayal, by the distinguished author, Stephen Alter, on 20th November 2013. The award-winning actor, Roshen Seth was in conversation with the illustrious author at the event.
The Rataban Betrayal is a spy thriller. An American agent is shot in cold blood, in the sleepy town of Mussoorie. His killing is linked to the deaths of two guards at a remote Indo-Tibetan Border Police outpost. Both the CIA and RAW respond immediately, sending highly trained undercover agents to investigate. Colonel Afridi—who keeps an eagle eye on India’s high-altitude borders—notices signs of dangerous activity along frozen Himalayan frontiers, echoing the treacherous history of a mountain called Rataban. Then, even as the picturesque calm of the hill station erupts with brutal violence, Afridi and the two agents piece together a bloody conspiracy of revenge and murder that could shake the very foundations of peace in the world.
On the cover of Stephen Alter’s The Rataban Betrayal, Bollywood biggie Vishal Bhardwaj hails the novel for being “A high-altitude thriller! Explosive… ready for celluloid!” Stephen Alter is already exploring a movie opportunity for The Rataban Betrayal.
Oxford Bookstore Connaught Place offers a carefully curated list of titles for booklovers to browse through and buy and perhaps the world’s largest assortment of teas in the hip Cha Bar, to create a holistic experience for book lovers. The entrance leading to the bookstore houses a big Neon Wall, a cloud of words in English-Hindi-Latin that envelopes book lovers in a universe of emotions linked to reading. Inside, in the tranquil space, hands-on staff, knowledgeable and highly trained book specialists, offer suggestions of handpicked titles from major, independent and indie publishers: a great selection of books, some exclusive to Oxford Bookstore. The selection features both emerging and established authors from India and the world. Shelves stocked with the best in Indian Writing, International Fiction and Translations take one into a spacious, elongated Reading Room which opens onto a dedicated Events Space. Well-researched sections on Languages and New Age books address issues of addiction, relationships, unexplained phenomena, and showcase the best of thinkers and Indian gurus. A wide range of titles in Travel Writing, books that showcase the very essence of New Delhi and a specially curated section of books on tea are other highlights.
About Stephen Alter
Stephen Alter has published fifteen books of fiction and non-fiction. He was born in Mussoorie, India, where he currently lives and writes. For ten years he taught creative writing at MIT and, before that, he was director of the writing program at the American University in Cairo. He has received numerous honours for his writing, including fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the East- West Centre in Hawaii, and the Fulbright Program.