Maya, the blindfolded… by Prasad Bag – Book Review

Indian horror fiction horizon doesn’t get numbers that would offer a wide array of choices to the readers. Romance has much to offer and so has the thriller genre. Prasad Bag’s debut novel, Maya, the blindfolded… her mistake? She trusted him, a long title, to be frank, offers thriller, horror and mystery genre together, amalgamated into one, to the contemporary readers of Indian fiction. Don’t focus on the detailed title of the novel. Yes, it reveals a lot. However, it does increase your excitement in an instant and drags you into thinking about what might be the act that left Maya guardless. To hint your excitement to a further level, let me also tell you that it is a murder mystery that is nicely decorated with horror topping!

The story begins with a young, dynamic, hardworking and fine woman, Maya, who is in the software profession – she codes the encryption methods for important business documents for companies. Her colleagues and boss are happy with her except for one, Mrs Pinto. Maya and Mrs Pinto do not go along very well and people know it at Maya’s workplace. And then, Mrs Pinto is murdered one night with suspicion raised over Maya because of circumstantial evidence piled against her. On the other hand, in the place where she lives, Maya claims that she sees a Ghost and he even talks to her. She takes the name of Bhagat, the person who was supposedly the owner of the property (land). The twist arrives when Maya loses her memory and gets a very small window by the court to prove her innocence. Though she has friends and family around her, will she be able to prove her innocents? Will she be able to get her career back? And above, will she get her memory back?

The novel is very interesting as you could have guessed by now. Prasad Bag, the author, in spite of writing for the first time, has proven that he is not a debutant by all means. He does have an understanding of fiction. It reflects in the set-up, the storyline and also the simple, day-to-day language that binds the readers. Well, the readers who read fiction regularly might claim that the language could have been a little enhanced, filtered and elevated. However, that is up to the choice of the readers. It is subjective. Yes, one thing that I would have loved in the novel is a little more width. The author has developed only one character, Maya. Rest others only complement her. For the sake of argument, the author has worked very well on the horror elements and the characters of Bhagat and Sarah are wonderfully developed and designed. Bhagat is the ghost and Sarah is Maya’s friend who helps her during the hunt for proof that could prove Maya’s innocence (if she really is innocent).

The novel is a one-time thrilling entertainer and will keep the readers engaged. The murder mystery gets deeper and more exciting with the progress. With slight slow movement in the plot at times, the novel keeps furthering to its conclusion at a good pace and readers will like it. You can get a copy of this novel from Amazon India in Kindle format and start reading it right away. Click the link below:

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Review by Manish for Literature News