‘Brutal’ is a debut thriller by Uday Satpathy who is, as expected, a professional from India’s shining IT industry. Uday is one of those professionals who does not believe in college or corporate romances. He rather likes to create mysteries and then solve them. It is apparent in his debut novel. On the surface Brutal might appear a regular thriller which has murders with the motive being unclear in the beginning but it’s a bit more than an ordinary thriller. It keeps enough fodder in store for its readers—which is a serendipitous thing especially when a debutante has scripted such a tale. Uday has tried to keep the readers intact through a bevy of scenes full of thrill and masala. It has to be agreed that he has succeeded in casting the much-needed spell on readers.

But the novel seems a way too stretched in-between. He could have kept it a little short, crisp by skipping unnecessary details. In addition, there are several predictable moments. But that’s ok. Since Uday is a sales professional in the IT industry, he has used his sales skills to up-sell his characters in an extraordinary way. You will get to know this while you turn the pages. Prakash, Seema, Raman and Mrinal are a fine display of his art of characterization. He’s kept their persona in limelight through the story which is an important and commendable aspect of his writing.

Prakash and Seema, who are journalist, chase a story of a schoolteacher who murders 11 of his students. As they pursue the story, they encounter and experience several life-threatening, yet interesting situations. “Their pursuit of the truth takes them to the ominous forests of Bandhavgarh where an eerily similar incident had occurred 8 years ago. One by one, their leads end up dead and they soon realise that they’re pitted against forces more evil and powerful than they could have ever imagined,” as reads the synopsis.

Personally we did not like the cover of the book. The blood splattered cover reduces the readability of the text on the front and back.

In short, ‘Brutal‘ is an interesting read for people who love suspense, thrill and adventure.

Genre: Fiction/ Thriller / Suspense / Mystery
Publishers: Westland / A Bloody Good Book