Book Review : Mafia Queens Of Mumbai: Stories Of Women From The Gangland by Hussain S. Zaidi, Jane Borges Rating *****

I lived in Mumbai since my birth. I also had opportunity to live in the most dangerous location of Mumbai, i.e Byculla in the vicinity of famous dons like Dawood or Arun Gawali. Hence I am quite aware of the ground situation of the locality and influence of these bhais on common man as well as police. The Zaidi have deeply studied these people himself and also had the taste of their bhaigiris. One cannot imagine the scale of this menace unless he himself becomes victim of one.

The book is specifically focussed on the woman arm of Mumbai’s underworld. The writing is very good and fluent. It is quite focussed and compact on the subject, so the reader never gets bored while reading it. The subject is also interesting and thrilling. The book is very good and informative about infamous woman criminals of underworld in India. Author have made excellent research about every criminal and have even taken risk to his life to interview them in their strongholds. Some stories like that of Monica Bedi looks fake though. Do you believe a top actress falling in love with an unknown man in dubai just over a phone talk? rubbish!!!

I had heard names of many lady gangsters through newspapers, though I was not aware of their background. This book throws light on their pasts and their real stories. Out of all my favorite story was that of the infamous Hussain Ustara and his deadly girlfriend Sapna didi. All the characters of this book seem to have originated from very sober background like us, but the circumstances have forced them into the underworld. The authors confess that in writing this book, they have attempted to understand the devious minds and the psyche of women criminals and have relied heavily on court documents, police records, cop historians, reliable journalists and published news stories in major national dailies.

The final verdict is this book is a must read for every crime thriller enthusiast.