RAAKSHAS: India’s No.1 Serial Killer-PIYUSH JHA

-Madhu Manivannan

RAAKSHAS: India’s No.1 serial killer is a crime thriller written by Piyush Jha. Jha is an Indian author known for his film direction, ad films, and crime fiction novels.

The novel Raakshas revolves around the antagonist, a nameless “Mundi-cut” serial killer who grew up in a disturbing environment that shapes him into a monster.

The protagonist is Maithili Prasad, Assistant Commissioner of Police whose deepest darkest secret overturned her entire career. The latest series of ruthless murders brings back the demons of her past.

Throughout the story, we get to see how the wheels are turned inside the killer's head during the time of the murder, the impulse and craze to end someone’s life in the most brutal and gruesome ways possible Jha’s characters, both with the right and evil intentions, are deeply convinced with their beliefs.

When questioned or shaken up, the villains seem to turn back to their old mindset despite being well aware of the consequences of their crimes. Jha also dissects the trauma induced by the events in a person's life and how it affects their motives and influences their actions

However, we also see a psycho-killer sadhu called Kalantak Baba who is later revealed to have completed his bachelor's in English literature. Dear English majors, becoming a psycho killer after what life throws at you is not a great career option. The darkness within his characters and his cynical ways sends shivers down the reader's spine.

In the end, we see two sides of the world of unfairness: a little boy who was once traumatised by his mentally unstable, widowed and workaholic dad who didn't know how to bring up a child. On the other side, a rebellious teen who got into drugs and indirectly ended up being the reason for her cousin sister's rape and murder, which led her to murder the boy and become a cop to save her sanity and right her wrongs by going behind rapists, drug lords and scums that pollute the society.

The passion within both the protagonist and antagonist makes them the best at what they do. This book is a must-read with the strongest of characters which provides the reader with an ample amount of adrenaline rush to keep you hooked but it could be really disturbing with dozens of brutally gruesome murders Happy reading!

*Picture in Header : Jha attends the release event of his book with his friends (Picture credit: Crossword Bookstores)