Reviews – read the latest five star review of my book

I was very lucky to be recommended this by a colleague, as I had been looking for a gripping thriller ; The Stolen Soul of Somita certainly delivers. The book is an engrossing page-turner which oscillates masterfully between the normality of Western lives and the unflinching descent into a darker India, the India modernisation has bypassed, where superstition and occult practices retain deep roots in local communities. Mathadu is brave in acknowledging the cultural clash that unsettles his fully westernised protagonists. They need to grapple with questions about loyalty, family, filial devotion, state corruption, religious observance and post-colonial trauma. These themes brought to mind sagas such as Vikram Seth’s A Suitable Boy. Yet the pace of narration, suspenseful plot (not so much a whodunnit as a ‘whydunnit’) and plot twists place the Stolen Soul of Somita in the thriller genre, creating a very satisfactory read. Enjoy!