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Thriller set in North East India

10th September 2018

More Bodies Will Fall by Ankush Saikia, thriller set in North East India.

Thriller set in North East India

More Bodies Will Fall is the third in the Arjun Arora thriller series by Ankush Saikia. I thoroughly enjoyed the first two – Dead Meat and Remember Death – and was really looking forward to this one… Although I didn’t think the story was quite as strong as in the first two, I was in no way disappointed. Ankush writes great thrillers, very firmly set in India.

Thriller set in North East IndiaMore Bodies Will Fall is in fact set in North East India – a part of the country connected to the ‘mainland’ by a narrow (at times only 13 mile wide) corridor that runs between Nepal and Bangladesh. It is very different from the rest of India (not, of course, that the rest of India is homogeneous). It’s geographic location separates it. It has borders to the North with Bhutan and China, to the East and South with Myanmar, and to the West with Bangladesh. It is a quite beautiful part of the country with mountains, many a tribal homeland, and a very strong record in wild life conservation. It is increasingly becoming a tourist destination – although there has been (and still is) much local resentment to the national government with several organisations designated as ‘terrorists’ – as well as infighting among the various provinces that make up the region. Perhaps an area to go to with caution – but you should be rewarded. And, oh, I nearly forgot – Ankush was born in Assam and grew up in Meghalaya (apart from a spell in Wisconsin). It is clearly a part of India he knows extremely well.

More Bodies Will Fall is the story of a girl from Nagaland who moves to Delhi. She is murdered and the police do little to capture her killer. Arjun is hired by her grieving father to investigate. He travels to the North East in an effort to find out more. Here he discovers warring gangs (some semi-official) and drugs coming over the border from Myanmar. It is a violent place, and Arjun’s life is frequently placed in danger. He links the drug trafficking back to Bangkok and on to Delhi. But how exactly did all this impact the death of the girl? Can he resolve the mystery and give closure to the family?

As ever with Ankush’s books, the sense of India comes through loud and strong. A lot of Arjun’s life revolves around food, and he describes in detail the meals he eats at restaurants and road side stalls. There is also a very precise sense of location. Ankush describes the geography of each city that Arjun visits – to the extent that anyone who knows the place would have no difficulty in identifying the streets and buildings that he mentions, and someone who did not would be easily able to use the book to follow around in the steps of the characters.

More Bodies Will Fall is certainly a book for those who love India and all things Indian, but it is also a really good thriller in it’s own right.

Tony for the TripFiction Team

Catch Ankush on Twitter, Facebook and he shares amazing photos on Instagram, do check out his account!

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