Book Review: Prey By The Ganges
How far can rage take a man?
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1948. Bihar. A helpless man witnesses the violent murder of his dearest friend from the opposite bank of the river Ganges and swears to complete the mission of his killed friend and take revenge. But this was a dangerous mission to accomplish for Sambhu, a doctor because the opponent here is Thakur Gajanan Singh, the ruthless face of the evil incarnate, the feudal lord who reigns in terror in his area. Sambhu plots meticulous plans of action and after several gory and gripping encounters, eventful trespassing meets Thakur Gajanan Singh in his own haveli. Thus starts the final encounter after which one of them will survive …
Written with the background of feudal rule, class distinction, corruption, politics and treacheries in a village in Bihar just after Indian independence, Prey by the Ganges is a gripping thriller about good versus evil and who triumphs finally. At one end of the story we meet Sambhu, Ravi and Hariya who symbolizes the good – love, affection, relations and human bonding. At the other end we have Gajanan and his team, who symbolizes the ruthless evils – violence, corruption, lust and treachery. In between we have numerous other characters like the Thakur’s wife, Etwari and her parents – who symbolize the victims. Hemant Kumar in his debut novel is successful in presenting a dreaded, gory, violent and fast paced gripping thriller that encompasses the lives of all these characters and beyond. The author shows command over the story line and never diverses from the flow. This is a definite plus for a thriller. It was a very fast paced reading. In spite of my hectic day job that is far from the world of books and papers, I did complete it in two days. Thanks to the author’s pacing narrative. As a debut author, Hemant Kumar is very much successful in presenting his tale and the time period being selected.
In spite of having a gripping style of narration, I observed few annoyances. The dialogues, in some cases, sounded weak because the rich vocabulary did not suit the characters. Also, in some cases descriptions were in excess distracting the thrilling pace of the tale. The repeated cursing (not for kids), although used to project the perfect feudal lifestyle more realist, did annoy as well. Apart from these, I felt this book is a good page turner with vivid description of details, the reader gets the same feeling as that of watching a successful bollywood movie.
I had received the book from the editor Ruchira Mittal. Thank you Ruchira for giving me this opportunity. If you are looking for a light reading yet a thrilling tale with the smell of an Indian village, buy this book at amazon or at flipkart in case you live in India.
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