Dear Reader,
Greetings. Prey By The Ganges is my debut novel.
It’s an often violent and profoundly engaging story of one night across the Ganges in Bihar of 1948. It has the raw, bone-grinding texture of a night without an end.
Setting: A dense forest 10 miles north of Patna, across the river Ganges (Ganga).
What started it all: Brutal murder of a charming young man called Ravi- he was bludgeoned to death. His friend, Shambhu, watched helplessly from across the river.
Why the murder: Ravi had crossed the river to strike a deal for the purchase of a rare diamond going for half its market price. But he was carrying no money—it was a reconnaissance trip only. The killers were either tipped off or they stumbled onto him.
Who killed him: It was past midnight and Shambhu was on the opposite bank of the river. But the needle is pointing sharply at Thakur Gajanan Singh.
The Thakur: Gajanan Singh. 25, handsome, greedy, cunning, ruthless. Cruel. The all-powerful landlord who rules every patch of land for dozens of miles across the river.
Others in the story...
His Wife: Rajni. Gajanan’s beautiful, battered wife who is one in a string of women he beds and abuses.
The Girl: Etwari. The fearless, nubile 16-year old daughter of Gajanan’s former bedmate and bungling midwife. Gajanan wants Etwari, tonight.
The Psychopath: Baabu. Ugly, filthy, blood-thirsty right hand man of Gajanan. Quick on his feet and quickest with the knife. Kills for pleasure. Lusts after Laalten’s young daughter, Chanda. Aggravates Gajanan.
Raging Bull: Laalten. Built like a bull but kind hearted henchman of Gajanan. Won’t kill for pleasure but anger him and he will chew your eyeballs. Loves Chanda. Despices Baabu.
The Brother: Thakur Suraj Singh. Gajanan’s brother, 23, kind, caring, just, penniless, dispossessed. Gajanan has usurped everything. Suraj is forced to live inside a heavily-guarded temple a few miles from Gajanan’s village.
Why: Suraj has a diamond, a rather large diamond. Gajanan wants it.
If only: Suraj could sell it.
But: Neither can a buyer come in with the money, nor can Suraj walk out with the diamond.
Why: Gajanan’s murderous henchmen, including the psychopathic knife-expert Babbu, are roaming the village and the surrounding jungle, armed to their teeth, looking for someone to kill.
Hence the distress sale at half the price.
The Victim: Ravi. The adventurous young man thought he had a fool-proof plan. But even before he could strike the deal, someone got to him.
The Protagonist: Shambhu. Ravi was the only friend of Shambhu, a quiet, peace-loving Ayurvedic healer. Shambhu must track down the killer and confront him. He must complete what Ravi could not. But Shambhu has never even picked up a gun, leave alone use it.
His man Friday asks him: “How far can anger take a man?”
“To the end of the Earth or to the bottom of the Earth,” replies Shambhu.
As the sun slices into the waters of the Ganga, Shambhu has no idea what fate awaits him across the river. And across the river, there are people who have no idea that the next few hours are going to change their lives forever.
The style: Highly descriptive and supremely evocative, the style of writing is literary. The sights, sounds, smells and the hard grainy texture of violence come alive in the twisting, turning narrative.
You will enjoy reading Prey By The Ganges.
Hemant Kumar
