As Dark As Blood by Yasser Usman
My take on the book:
Roshan Vir Rana, inspector in the crime branch of Delhi Police, has taken a break from work to spend time with his ailing father who has been losing himself to dementia. When the young son of an industrialist and Rajya Sabha MP, Rohit Jaiswal went missing during his vacation in Darjeeling, Roshan is called over by the DCP to crack the case.
Reluctant to leave behind his father and cut short his leave, Roshan reached Darjeeling but local Inspector Lepcha was hostile to Roshan as he felt Roshan was overstepping their investigation.Roshan luckily found support from Tanvir who once worked with Roshan in Delhi police but now moved to Darjeeling to run his fleet of taxis.
Soon Rohit’s dead body is found in a battered manner and before Roshan could make solid progress finding the culprit, more dead bodies are found with victims found in similar circumstances and the modus operandi of the killer seemed identical. While the local police refused to acknowledge as a serial killer, Roshan being a non-local had to chase multiple leads with minimal support, while also dealing with his emotions for his estranged son who now lived in Darjeeling.
Will Roshan be able to stop the serial killer before he strikes again, forms the rest of the story.
This story merges two parallel tracks — Roshan trying to catch the culprit while dealing with his personal demons and his lost relationships. Though the reader will not be able to guess at the beginning of the book, Roshan’s personal life is well connected to the ending by the author. The story begins as a typical thriller but as it progresses, the author deftly ties multiple threads and multiple characters, that help the story to standout.
The highlight is how the protagonist cracks the culprit’s identity from hidden clues that are not obvious. Roshan Rana is not the ideal hero; he is flawed, orthodox but he has this restlessness to solve crimes that makes him a perfect crime branch inspector. His redemption towards the end is slow and organic and does not feel abrupt or forced.
The author does not just weave a crime story that is filled with thrills and turns, he also has a subtle social commentary about many contemporary issues. Especially how high-profile cases have all the attention from the police force while missing person cases from low income families are closed even before they are opened.
The author also gives a detailed backdrop of the antagonist and his past life, giving insight into his psyche and how he developed the criminal mindset. The author also maintains the dark theme of the story throughout, with Darjeeling playing a perfect backdrop of mystery.
Overall, As Dark as Blood is a perfect read for thriller lovers.
My rating:
4/5.
