Wednesday, September 23, 2020

The Psychopath, The Cannibal, The Lover - Tejaswi Priyadarshi (Book)

The Psychopath, The Cannibal, The Lover - Tejaswi Priyadarshi. 

Another addition to my collection of Author sent books which I finished last night which blew my mind off. To keep the record straight of (almost) never abandoning a book once I start, I kept chugging through and somehow finished this one. Going by the title and on top of that a debut book, I should have kept my expectations low from this one. But unfortunately the hopeless positive expecting person I am, I thought it will get better as the story progresses. Right from the very first murder which was gruesome (but not too bad as I have read and seen much worst earlier which have given me sleepless nights and refuse to go off my memories), the story keeps going downhill to a very predictable ending with a twist which gives hints of a sequel (I will probably stay away from). I was excited when Tejaswi approached me to read his book, looking at his background (an XLRI pass out) I was very hopeful of at least a heart touching story but he had something else in his mind for his characters. And on top of that his editors have let him down big time too, of-course the book is published online only so far hence the outcome. I will not get into details but repeatedly same mistakes and on top of that narrative shifting from first person to third too was confusing. And I really dislike the Chetan Bhagatesque idea of two people meeting and one telling the story to second person (who is supposed to write it). 

Going by the title I thought there will be a psycho lover who for sure will not get love of his life, in the end he will end up killing one and all to get her, only to eat her in the end :) if that is how this story would have gone, I am sure I would liked it as that would have given it the correct "whys" but what Author has done with his story as I said earlier I didn't find it very convincing. Writing is too advanced as far as Indian standards go, even in this jet age it was too hard for me to digest school going kids doing something his characters were doing (even in fiction). A very straight forward story of a kid being bullied all his life who takes up to take revenge on the people who've been bullying, betraying or letting him down throughout his life. How it all happens and how he takes revenge coming across a Cannibal and a lover in his stride is the story all about. Unfortunately neither I could connect with the psychopath nor with the Cannibal and the lover's character hardly gets much attention from his own created that the reader in me felt betrayed for that part. The only good part was that the books length isn't too long and I was able to finish it in flat three sittings but whatever I could quote from the ongoing story to my wife and kiddo, they were shocked that I was still reading it. 

Shockingly other than me, everyone else who has read the book and posted their thoughts on Goodreads have somehow liked the book. If you have read The Psychopath, The Cannibal, The Lover - do let me know how you like it but if you haven't yet read it, I highly suggest you stay away. 

PS: I guess Tejaswi has read a little too much of Surendra Mohan Pathak or James Hadley Chase kind of books and decided to dedicate his first book to the master himself. 
 

1 comment:

Jemimah Jonah said...

Hi Rohit, I agree with your review.

Also I have been wondering how to get in touch with you. It's regarding reviewing my debut book (soon to be released in December). I would gladly hand you a copy of my book for free (when it's available) in return for a review. Kindly reach out to me at jemmywritesbooks@gmail.com if you are interested.