A police sharpshooter with Asperger's syndrome is tasked with cleaning up the streets of Mumbai in this "gripping thriller" ( Booklist).In recent decades, ostensibly to combat the rising tide of criminality in Mumbai's underworld, the Indian Police Service has carried out many hundreds of extrajudicial assassinations of suspects. Karan, an expert sharpshooter in an elite branch dispensed with dishing out this vigilante justice, has a difficult choice: shou...

An old man is suddenly able to curse to death those who annoy him. An English-speaking thief has long conversations with his tied-up victims. A forensic accountant becomes obsessed with bringing down dodgy start-ups. An online troll suspects he is going to be shot dead for his political views.The stories in Ruffled Feathers attend to men and women making their way through a grim world filled with sharp corners. But they do so with deep tenderness and wry amusement, exquisi...

Tamil Nadu – where there are more temples than pharmacies, where the language is older than Sanskrit, where atheists have ruled for half a century provided they were atheists from the right caste. Tamil Nadu, where the young population is ripe for a revolution.At least this is what Nanban thinks, coming from the hub of Mumbai and well-versed in its Machiavellian political ways, he plans to shake things up. His meeting with Veerappan Gounder, who took a bit hit in t...

I can see where you are going. Up shit creek...with a paddle.' He was right. That is where I was going. It was the kind of thing that my analyst had always warned me against: 'You are at an inflexion point in a mood to do the irrational and the irreverent.' He forgot irreversible. Harsh Sinha - 'Fat F**ked and Forty' - is so moved by a painting bearing this name and a compelling likeness to him that he spends a large chunk of his life's savings on it. Announcing a year-lon...

A tremendous first novel from an exciting young author.Feted for its electric chaos, the city of Bombay also accommodates pockets of calm. In one such enclave, Mohan, a middle-aged letter writer – the last of a dying profession – sits under a banyan tree in Fort, furnishing missives for village migrants, disenchanted lovers, and when pickings are slim, filling in money order forms. But Mohan's true passion is collecting second-hand books; he's particularly attached to novels with m...

The future is here. India has just sent its first spacecraft to the moon, and the placid city of Mysore is gearing up for its own global recognition with the construction of HeritageLand - Asia's largest theme park. From behind the formidable gates of Mahalakshmi Gardens to the shanty houses on the edge of town, the people of Mysore are abuzz as they watch their city prepare for a complete transformation. Susheela, an elderly widow, is forced into a secretive new life. Uma, trying to escap...

There is more to love than just loving . . . It is also a promise Lavanya Gogoi is from the scenic hills of Shillong while Rajveer Saini belongs to the shahi city of Patiala. Worlds apart from one another, the two land up next to each other on a flight from Mumbai to Chandigarh. It's love at first flight, at least for one of them. For the other . . . well, it's going to take more than a plane ride! And when love does finally happen, there are more obstacles to overcome. Rajveer has to stan...

Balan, growing up in the small cantonment towns of Ambala and Jammu in the 1960s, is the son of a junior army officer. His is a packed life, with tough schoolmasters, homework and games with playmates to keep him busy. And, above it all, is the strange species called adults, who have a curious understanding of life. The story follows Balan's struggles as he grows up and enrols at IIM Ahmedabad. He is certain one of his fellow students is his childhood friend. But she is not who he thinks s...

Astha has everything an educated, middle-class Delhi woman could ask for - children, a dutiful loving husband, and comfortable surroundings. So why should she be consumed with a sense of unease and dissatisfaction?Astha finds herself embarking on a powerfully physical relationship with a much younger woman, Pipee, the widow of a political activist. But with this extra-marital affair is she foolishly jeopardizing everything - or is Astha at last throwing off the fear and timidity in...

"This book is a chance to get a fix on some of India's best crime writers" ( The Globe and Mail, Toronto).These fourteen original stories, from some of India's most outstanding literary talents, take you into a world of sex in parks, male prostitution, and vigilante rickshaw drivers. Set in a city plagued by religious riots, soulless corporate dons, and murderous servants, this collection offers bone-chilling, mesmerizing take on the country's chaotic capi...

Women of character and strength, reveal his failings, one by one. And, Sudhakaran runs; from village to town, from town to city and city to city. The city now is Varanasi. This ancient city reminds him of all that it stands for—dharma, lust and death—and that there is no place where one can hide ones mistakes. Of all places one cannot hide in Varanasi, where memories hold the city together; and, where Kalabhairavan, astride his fierce dog, punishes everyone before salvation.Varanasi, in his t...

What drives a girl round the bend in India?**A Scotsman Non-Fiction Book of the Year**Vanessa Able wanted a truly independent Indian adventure, but nothing prepared her for the noise, chaos and terror of driving 10,000 km around the subcontinent or for finding the love of her life. Behind the wheel of a yellow Tata Nano (the world's cheapest car), Vanessa steers the reader through a hilarious, high-octane adventure.Taking any help s...