Book Review: Fire in the Rain by Surendra Mohanty

When I received the request from Mr Surendra Mohanty to review his debut novel Fire in the Rain, I did a google search on it. I had my apprehensions when I noticed that it is a self published work. Even the cover design was not particularly appetizing. Only silver lining was the endorsement by Ruskin Bond. In his mail Mohanty had mentioned that his novel was a thriller about a serial killer, like the book that I had reviewed previously- Compass Box Killer by Piyush Jha, which was a solid thriller. So I decided to try it out, and now after reading it, I feel it was a right decision.

Surendra Mohanty's serial killer is a genius, who strikes precisely without giving any scope for police to intercept his movements before the murder of his unsuspecting victims. His victims invariably are young, beautiful, independant working ladies. He kills only on Friday the thirteenth and that too in a diffrerent city every time, assuming a totally different identity, which makes the task of Police all the more difficult. But ACP Kale of Mumbai Police is hell bent on preventing any more murders. What he never knew was that the last intended victim Richa, will prove to be the one destined to tame the wild horse.

Fire in the Rain is a small novel, a story spanning just 140 pages. Mohanty writes up to the point, never wasting a single word on trivial things. It is a well woven tale with a tight plot. As the murders happen across many cities, Mohanty gets ample chance to show off diferent backgrounds for the incidents happening in the plot. He does it in a very realistic way. How the writer touches on varied subjects like police procedures, criminal psychology, horse racing, dog show, parties for taking the story forward is commendable!

I don't have any serious negatives to point out about Fire in the Rain. It is good as it is. But I really feel that some more elaboration, some more character development and some more deep peek inside the psyche of the antagonist would have made this book much more enriching read (in the lines of John Grisham or Ian Rankin). Another 100 or 150 pages would not have harmed the novel and I am confident Mohanty could have held his fort well.

Fire in the Rain is a tiny novel, readable in a single sitting. The thrills are god, the story tight and premise interesting, though oft trodden. I would reommend it for an easy read.
Book source: Author