Review of the ‘Brutal’

“In pitch darkness, Kunal Chaubey dashed through thick foliage, ignoring branches and twigs clawing into his flesh. Webs of overhanging roots keep getting in his way, lacerating his face like barbed wires. Yet he ran like a mad man. He didn’t know where he was going. He just wanted to get out of this damned forest…”  ‘The Brutal’ starts this way, creating a grotesque image in our minds, and the story progresses on similar lines. It is the story of a respected journalist, who tortured by images of a past project and in search of peace, finds himself in the middle of a straight case that would go horribly wrong, and which would guide him to ignored secrets. A crime thriller in every sense, the twists and turns of the story are well augmented by the background Uday has managed to create, because of which, unlike many thrillers they seem well justified rather than random happenings as witnessed even in the stories of some bestselling authors. His writing too, simple and direct, compliments the story well. However, there are places where it falls apart and leaves us with rather amateurish phrases. Just like there are places in the story, where I thought though the plot seemed good, but rather than showing, it provided us with a direct narration of what has happened. Thus, not eliciting emotions as I suppose the author desired. So, though it impresses with its fluidity and plot, it lacks the compactness and consistency in writing to make it to favourites list.

Rating – 3/5

Author- Uday Satpathy

Publisher: Bloody Good Book