Author: Neil D’Silva

The story begins with a young widowed school teacher Maya who is attracted to her strange colleague Bhaskar Sadachari. He subtly pursues her and in spite of the opposition from her family she ties the knot. Her like takes a 360degree turn in a way she hadn’t anticipated in her wildest dreams. She realizes she didn’t know anything about her new husbands who is an enigma and she is terrified and intrigued about him at the same time. Bhaskar is portrayed as a follower of the Aghori cult, and a believer and follower of cannibalism and self inflicted punishments. He kills people randomly for gustatory gratification and also to atone for his ‘sins’ in his own way.

Pros: the author has kept up with the flow throughout the book without causing undue breaks which hooks the reader till the end. The language use is very good too. The authors efforts in researching mythical details is commendable. The cover is brilliantly designed and apt. The author has carved a niche for himself in the genre.

Cons: Maya is an educated and intelligent woman and for someone of her caliber, based on her character build up, its difficult to endorse the fact that she gave in to sheer carnal attraction and married the strange guy. Even after marriage she is shown to find justification in every anomalous nuances pertaining her husband, even though he forces himself on her… literally and figuratively. The entire scenario doesn’t seem plausible. The method of killing and the gruesome description every single time eventually becomes redundant by the time it reaches the climax.

However its overall an interesting read and not recommended for the faint hearted who dislike reading gory details of the human anatomy out of its place post murder!

Available in both paper back and kindle formats.