Johnny Gone Down by Karan Bajaj

Johnny Gone Down Reviews

• 
  Praj

  How I desperately wish there was a ZERO rating on Goodreads! Hmm..what I learned from this book...well, that its about time I get a MRI and CT scan for trying to read this one.
• 
  Ruchita Mahimkar​

  Many say Life is unpredictable.There are Up's and downs -True.
  But this book is a hell of an example for it.
  Along with being Unpredictable,its Unimaginable.
  Along with the monotonus Up's and downs-Its a Roller coaster of unbelievable ones.
  This is a must Read for everyone who is in search of something different.
  Time Worth Spent!
  MUST-READ.
• 
  Ashish

  2.5 stars
  
  Another one of those books by a young (ish) Indian author which is fast-paced and a fast read but falters in terms of realism; these books read more like movie scripts rather than novels which can be a bit off-putting at times.
  
  The story follows the inane adventures of the protagonist who has a knack for being in incredulous situations which are often life-threatening. The book charters his journey through these life-changing events as his misadventures take him across the globe, from his graduation at MIT, he makes his way to being held as a hostage and tortured in Cambodia, to a Buddhist monk in Thailand, to become the right hand man of a Brazilian drug lord to finally making his way back to his homeland. At great cost to his physical and mental health, he makes his way across life broken and maimed in pursuit of a stable life, one which disillusions him.
  
  The story is peppered with pop-culture philosophical undertones (it is a part of the protagonist's inner monologue) which are a mainstay of the genre. It's nothing ground-breaking or deep, feels sort of derivative. The author does try to accurately portray a protagonist riddled with PTSD and he does succeed to a certain extent. What bugged me are some common mistakes that are signs of an immature writer: trying to add too much masala at times, the self-aggrandising way that the protagonist is written and spoken about, weak supporting characters, etc.
• 
  Monisha Leah

  I really didn't expect much when I picked up this book..but boyyy, was I wrong! Gripping!!! Couldn't put it down for a minute until I read from cover to cover.. it was one hellova' world tour that my head is still spinning from.. for those who intend to read the book.. Don't read the blurb, or summary or whatever.. JUST READ THE BOOK!!
• 
  Deepika

  I really didn't expect this book to be THIS good. My views are here:
  https://worncorners.com/2017/10/28/jo...
• 
  Tanuj Saluja

  Pretty exciting roller-coaster ride, this one is.
• 
  Ankita

  The plot opens with the protagonist travelling to India, where a new life awaits him. The plot really gets gripping, but the subplots seem more of a cliché with Nik finding himself in almost similar situations and repeating the same mistakes; something that irked me as a reader. The protagonist finds himself in the most terrible situations, which one wouldn’t expect to happen in real life, but somehow by sheer luck overcomes every bit of it. The language is simple and flows well.
  As the story slides toward the end, we feel that now would be the time that Nik gets his piece of mind or for me, died peacefully. But, a turnaround of events happens.
  Read more:
  https://ankitadaiya.wordpress.com/201...
• 
  Anirudh P V

  The adventures in the life of the protagonist are beyond our wildest dream.
  
  It tells you that, even though you are not sure about the path in life, there seems to be a pattern, and stepping back and looking at it right will unravel it.
  
  Quite engaging for any amateur readers.
  
  
  
• 
  Manu

  The good news is that Karan Bajaj moves away from Chetan Bhagat territory (which can't be said of his earlier work Keep Off the Grass, though I found it better than Five Point Someone) and he's not really among the 'Rakhi Sawants of Indian literature' (if it is what I think it is), the bad news is that contrary to what he says, I thought he was more connected with/in KOTG, and therefore the work had more depth, as though he was sure of his footing.
  
  Having said that, he has made the canvas wider with this work, not just geographically, with a protagonist - Nikhil/Nick, who moves from MIT to Cambodia to Thailand to Rio to Minnesota to Delhi but with the trades he picks up - from Buddhist monk to drug lord to an internet-boom millionaire, and therefore the experiences and people related to each theme.
  
  While this works in providing a racy script, it also means that I felt a superficiality in the way each theme was handled. The 'Second Life' styled virtual world, for example, while it typified the kind of services that were launched in the boom era, was way too easy. And that's just it. Everything, from the beginning, whether a positive or negative, just fit in and flowed, too smoothly, just like Karan Bajaj himself describes Nikhil's state when his life begins to settle back. But I think its still a good read and the pricing really helps. ;)
  
  [Spoiler, relatively] I'd rather have had an unpredictable end in line with Nikhil's life until then, but instead it turns philosophical. In fact, I thought KOTG's 'comfortable in own skin' was better than the 'highs-and-lows life better than even keeled, stable existence'. A better thrust on transience would've worked better for me.
  
  But like I said, unless you've been a Colombian drug lord, you'll find the various karmayogi avatars in Nikhil's life interesting enough for you to not regret picking it up. :)
• 
  Tarique Ejaz

  After having read Keep Off The Grass, I had become an admirer of Karan Bajaj's writing but after Johnny Gone Down I have become a fan.
  
  Now to many it may seem like a dramatic high-paced, stop gap, masala filled Bollywood cinema or an overzealously violent Hollywood flick. Either way round it was an endearing and most of all inspiring story. At one point your rational mind goes on a rant chiding you for even buying into a premise as such but then that very moment the philosophical part of the brain embraces Nikhil Arya and decides to live every experience he imbues himself with albeit situation or circumstances.
  
  An MIT graduate rendered to a life full of despair yet not ready to compromise with his integrity and hoping like a little child. Hoping as ever in the face of every adversity that came about him. Nikhil is in no way perfect and has his own flaws but the way he tackles them shows the strength that the author wishes the readers to derive from the character. The message being clear throughout.
  
  "The patterns are all connected in life and eventually everything that happens, happens for a reason."
  
  Destiny has been made to appear as a sick cur who doesn't know what she wants of certain people but ultimately brings them to accepting whatever she had in store for them. Johnny Gone Down is the story of one such person whose destiny decided to take him down the more curved road of life then the straight forward one.
  
  The ending though was too sanguine even for me. It harmonized the entire wavelengths that the life of Nikhil presented but somewhere down inside I was expecting an abrupt and quirky change of events.
• 
  Rahul Nair

  The author somehow magically constructs a character thats not only shallow but too much Mary Sue. An interesting starting chapter with the Russian roulette & all but as the story proceeds you see the author himself have lost interest in telling the story. Towards the end, the writing clearly depicts the authors hurry to meet the publishers deadline, and the reader is pissed off with all the drag and this for a novel with barely 230 pages. But still the story (which is more of a screenplay turned into a book) had more scope in the editing table. Unfortunately, publishers were more interested in selling it as cupcakes.
• 
  VaidReads

  somehow i connect to this book! frankly nothing similar at all! but i love the way the author has potrayed the character nikhil. full of adventure, life, fun! worth a single penny! karan bajaj, kudos n continue!
• 
  Smita Beohar

  Nikhil aka Nik is attending his graduation ceremony at MIT USA and is looking ahead to a bright future with NASA when his close pal Sameer proposes a trip to war ridden Cambodia. Without much thought and after much persuasion the friends begin their randomly planned vacation only to be embroiled in the tensions of country reeling under revolution.
  
  In a moment of selflessness Nik saves Sameer’s life only to be captured by the revolting group. Rest of the book is all about how he survives Genocide, becomes a Buddhist monk & then quits being one, saves a gangster, becomes his accountant, falls in love, gets entangled in mafia war, leaves everything to save his life, comes to the brink of becoming a software mogul only to leave everything to come back to India where a whole new life is waiting for him. And yes in the whole process he has lost his one arm though I don’t remember when & how.
  
  The poor fellow has so much on his plate! He is an epitome of the Indian saying, “bhagwan jab deta hai to chappar phaad ke deta hai” in English, “when God gives you he decides to rip off the roof and bless you with everything”, which in the case of this book is a hell lot of bad & good times.
  
  In this case our protagonist leads one of the most exciting lives. All that can happen happens to him and all that can not happen also happens to him. The author has used all bollywood tricks he had in his bag & borrowed some from all other bags as well! Our hero is a brave heart, a selfless soul & a winner in all circumstances.
  
  You wanna call him Superhero??? Oh! I have no issues! But beware a movie might be made out the book and Nik might be rechristened as “Nik the Selfless Savior of the World”.
  
  The book is a racy read but despite the turmoil’s/ escapades of Nik you don’t feel an iota of sympathy towards him. Why so? For an emotional connect with the hero/ characters there should be an amount of reality which is totally missing in the book.
  
  Thrillers are meant to be page turners & are usually based in make belief world. Western authors specialize in writing them but they still retain certain things which are believable but when it comes to Indian authors the only inspiration they have is Bollywood and the end result is something which leaves you gawking with disbelief and the question, “who is the bigger fool here, the author or the reader?”
  
  When I was narrating the story of the book with a colleague of mine her reaction after every twist in turn in Nik’s life was “what??” she still wonders how I managed to finish the book. I told her it was fun predicting the twist n turns. ;)
  
  Harper Collins has released the book at 99/- bucks and if you buy online it is available at a much lower rate. They have also come up with an exceptional number of prints for the 1st run. I guess this is an attempt to attract readers with a low price.
  
  
  
  I had hated “Keep off the Grass” from the same author and I feel I should have kept off this book as well. You might read it if you are craving for a mindless thriller but mind you, you are requested to leave logic & brain aside if you want to enjoy it. Otherwise I have warned you enough
  
  And no questions like “who is Johnny if Nik is the name of the protagonists” would be entertained. Please don’t think I am being rude it’s just that even I am trying to know who is Johnny and how he went down or did he really go down???
  
  Chuck it!!! There are better books around ;-)
  
  
  Ratings?
  
  Readability ***
  
  Pace ***
  
  Newness of the plot??? Ha ha ha ha!!!!
  
  Overall 2.25 minus .25 :D
• 
  Navaneethcrshna

  It's quite a thriller with the protagonist living many lives always longing for the one that was taken from many years ago. Fast paced, and an easy one time read, set across a few decades from the communist coup in Cambodia, to the dotcom boom in the US, Karan Bajaj takes us through a gripping narration across continents
• 
  Pradeep T

  Quite an unusual novel. It has some impressive elements and also few out of the comprehension elements. But, nicely put together. The novel scores more good points than the bad ones. As far as the story is concerned, it was imagined brilliantly. The protagonist of the novel, Nick, travels many countries and experiences some new stuff. His journey starts from USA, to Cambodia, to Thailand, to Brazil, to USA again and finally to India. He experiences more misery than merry in each of his encounters. But, thanks to the author, the protagonist finds himself more luckier than any other human being on this planet. Something unthinkable happens each times he finds himself in a mess.
  
  The story is more superhuman than an average human that will go through. His dreadful life in Cambodia, followed by his serene life in Thailand adds kind of good factor in the novel. But, his journey from Thailand to Brazil, and becoming a drug dealer accountant and a money launderer is just so uncommon. His tryst with the Brazilian model is the only romantic stuff in this novel, which is good. Otherwise, this novel would've lost all its gripping aspects.
  
  His final journey from Brazil to USA and again back to India to find his long lost friend Sam is all a predictable work. This novel loses the surprising factor in most of the places. One thing that is beyond reasoning is, though he is beaten, broke, torn apart and dusted, the lady luck always favors him in one way or the other. That's the take away from this novel as far as I can see. Rest all is just an experience from a third person's point of view. A good novel to read in a day.
  
  Read full review
  here
• 
  Santhosh Raj

  "Johnny Gone Down" is a captivating and thrilling novel by Karan Bajaj that takes the reader on an exhilarating journey through the heart of India, Thailand, and Cambodia.
  
  Bajaj's writing is vivid and immersive, and he does an excellent job of painting a vivid picture of the different locations that Johnny visits. The novel is also well-researched, and the descriptions of the different cultures and societies that Johnny encounters feel authentic and true to life.
  
  What sets "Johnny Gone Down" apart from other similar novels is the depth of character development. Johnny is a complex and flawed character, and the reader is taken on a journey through his psyche as he tries to come to terms with his past and find a way to move forward. The supporting characters are also well-developed, and each one plays an important role in Johnny's journey.
  
  One of the strengths of the novel is the way that it weaves together different genres and themes. At its heart, it's a story of self-discovery and redemption, but it also incorporates elements of crime fiction, thriller, and adventure, making for a thrilling and unpredictable read.
  
  Overall, "Johnny Gone Down" is an excellent novel that is both thought-provoking and thrilling. It's a book that will keep you on the edge of your seat from beginning to end and is well worth a read for anyone who enjoys well-written and engaging fiction.
• 
  Shonita

  Loved the adventure. Good, fun and a light read.. :)
  
  From the hundred messages that one can derive from the plot and in comparison with one's own journey, what I value the most is this- being a hero isn't about being famous or being accepted and looked up to by society. Real heroes are made at the cost of high personal sacrifice and the strength of making those choices at the peak of time's test. At times I found similarities between Johnny and Jesus, they both made immense sacrifice for the "great good" and Johnny ofcourse is a lot more human- so he regrets those decisions at that moment. But a powerful line is this "Even if I could change it all, I could change nothing". You can't make sense of your choices and the confusion of it all is stifling, but the mosaic only reveals itself in the end.
  
  Being a hero isn't about jumping in and saving someone from being run over by a bus. A hero's life is about hardships, about being dejected and fighting back, about going to the very core of one's built and then rising up again, and sometimes the entire process repeats again and again.
• 
  Manasi Bargale

  My brother recommended me to read this book. I got involved into the Story as soon as i started reading it and finished in 2 days.
  
  Johnny Gone Down is full of adventure. I enjoyed reading it.
  It's about adventurous journey of Johnny (Nikhil Arya). It's a mixture of thrill, action, violence, emotions and love.
  
  Johnny's life takes weird twists and turns, but at the end, he comes to know that those twists and turns or unraveled threads are actually in pattern.
  
  The Canvas of this Book is really Huge. So it's quite a knowledgeable book for the teenagers to know about the Places like Cambodia and Rio de Janeiro.
  
  I loved it and I recommend it to all Book Lovers.
  
  
• 
  Devavrat

  Karan Bajaj's first book, "Keep of the grass" was a funny take on an Indian guy, born in the USA, who comes down to IIM to sort of, go back to his roots. Its was filled with cultural satire, humor and pieces of wisdom, small pieces, but pieces mind you.
  
  Johnny Gone Down, however was a bitter disappointment. While the book itself was forgettable, the real issue at hand is that it is not original. Anybody who has read "Shantaram" will tell you that. But more than just being heavily influenced by the concept of it, JGD, lacks sincerity and honesty.
  
  I had high hopes for the second book by Karan Bajaj but it has failed me. I would say, avoid it.
• 
  Advait Borate

  The time i read this I was on a strictly Indian author dosage :) I must say that they didnt disappoint me. Johnny Gone Down is an out and out paperback. I have always thought paperbacks to be like the fast food edition of much more elaborate hard cover recipes. I would love to see this made in a Bollywood movie. I had thought of Vivek Oberoi in the lead when I had read this.
• 
  RKSJ RKSJ

  I have read Keep off the grass by Karan Bajaj, I was expecting something same in this book but it totally dazzled me. It seems like you are in a movie though the novel has none of those cheap spicy novel things in it yet it never loses the interest. The journey by the protagonist somehow lets you to relate with the story. A perfect book with a perfect story and a perfect ending.
• 
  Parth

  I would give 3.5 stars....ending wasn't quite interesting as I thought it should've. But, first and middle part kept me engaged a lot. Great writing, awesome dialogues some times it's hilarious.
  
  After reading book I think book name doesn't set with the story and protagonist as well.
  
  Nikhil gone through unexpected journey or
  Unknown became Known.
  
  I don't know...whatever...man
• 
  Archisman

  Well, i have to accept that it is a new kind of story i have read recently & it is good. But the plots are predictable like Bollywood movies. Nevertheless, one wouldn't get disappointed after reading it.
• 
  Nisrin Aziz

  I like Karan Bajaj. His writing is fast paced and easy to digest. Although I admit to liking 'Keep off the grass' better than this one, but I'm curious to know what's next...
• 
  Freya

  Good book... Definitely worth one read...
• 
  Wicknesan wijeyanandan

  it is a well written book mixing suspense and thrill with philosophy of life. its sleek nature makes it tempting to read.
• 
  Himadhar Narayan

  Super narration with an interesting pace, in the lines of Shantaram.