Often it is the title of the book or its cover that grabs your attention and the reason I agreed to review this book was because of its title.

This novella is very different from anything I have read recently. It is off the beaten path and I loved the path it meanders through. The book starts in Chennai at the beginning of the dot com boom. The narrator is just another bored and disgruntled adult – the monotony of daily existence and client demands making him restless. He embarks on weekend getaways to spice up his days.

One of his weekend trips turn into something he does not anticipate. In a small picturesque village with more temples than people, where the fertile fields yield blooms that travel around the state, where the roads are rickety and the bus doesn’t stop often there lies a fear. A fear gripping the residents – a fear of the evil.

As the sun sets over the tiny village and the shadows grow long, the narrator freshly protected with a black thread around his waist and blessed by Palayar, clad in a lungi and superstar tee faces the unexpected. His beliefs, the villages stories and the unforeseen clash.

The author, Nithin Sawat has done an admirable job penning the book. I particularly enjoyed the crisp narrative style the author adopted. The author was able to bring to life a dusty city, a rather resentful employee on a bus, a village with a lotus pond and the supernatural in style. I won’t deny that I wished the book was a little bit longer. I would have loved to know more about the protagonist, his early life which shaped his views and his travels.

In all a quick read and a wonderfully refreshing change. Pick it up and it would be good ride.

I received a free copy of this book for my review. All opinions are mine.