The Drowing: A Buried Truth. A Resurfaced Fear by Nidhi Upadhyay
My take on the book:
July 2002, Chandigarh — An infant is found dead in the bathtub of his house, and when the police arrived, a woman who seemed in deep shock held the dead baby close. The baby Dhruv’s father Girish confirmed the woman is his wife Neha’s best friend Viji aka Vijayalakshmi. The maid in the house Rohini blamed Viji drowned the baby and killed him while Neha is mysteriously missing from the house.
ASP Kanika who is assigned the case searches Viji’s house to find two dolls and bunch of items which Kanika’s accompanying constable Amanpreet attributed to black magic practices. Viji who lost her twin infants Kavya and Navya a year back is the prime suspect — followed black magic to kill Dhruv in an attempt to resurrect her dead daughters.
Women are missing in Chandigarh this week, one woman has gone missing every alternate day and when Kanika visited the houses of the missing women, she finds a peculiar yantra outside each house with a number from one to five, written in blood. On further investigation, Kanika finds that all missing women are in early weeks of pregnancy. Kanika’s good friend and colleague Paramjit is going on maternity leave, hence Kanika takes up both the cases — Dhruv’s murder and that of the missing women.
When Neha’s dead body is found in a mangled way with a Ganesha figurine wrapped in her hand, Kanika races against time to stop what seems like the art work of a serial killer. Is Druv’s death related to the missing women and will Kanika be able to stop more murders forms the rest of the story.
The story goes back and forth in time, in 2002 Kanika investigating the two cases and from the past Viji narrating her story, alternating in timelines. With each chapter there are more revelations about the characters; every character is interconnected to the other characters in either of the timelines. There are multiple threads running in parallel which the author ties together very smartly.
Viji’s childhood, later mystery around her twin daughters’ deaths, her dynamics with her husband and in-laws; Kanika’s strained relation with her husband Vikram; Neha and Viji’s friendship and what transpired between them after death of Viji’s twins death and Dhruv’s birth; the mysterious professor Nilesh who specialized in hypnotherapy along with knowledge in tantric rituals and occult practices — there are so many threads the author squeezed into the 300 pages that there is not a single dull moment in the entire story.
The story is a dark thriller which mixes many elements effortlessly. The last 50–60 pages pack too many details that can feel overwhelming at some points. Also, the ending is open ended as the author leaves it to the reader’s imagination. All through the story the author crafts the characters in such a way that everyone except Kanika who is investigating the case seems like a suspect, with every character having shades of grey. The dark psyche of human mind and how external factors like superstitions and fear can take hold of the mentally weak is well explored by the author.
Viji and Kanika compete as who is the better protagonist with Viji finally winning my admiration with her smartness and resilience. If you are a fan of thriller genre then this is a must read.
My rating:
4/5.