"The girl from Nongrim hills" by Ankush Saikia. This book is published by Penguin in 2013 and has 213 pages. It's a noir.
Donbok (Bok), who stays with his retired parents, is the lead guitarist in a band that plays in Shillong. He has an elder brother Kitdor (Bah Hep) who stays with his wife and kid at his wife's place. Kitdor tries to make quick money by playing a middle man for an arms deal. However he is robbed of 50 lakh rupees. Now they give him 7 days to return the money.
Bok decides to help him. But how? A God send opportunity presents in the form of a beautiful young girl from Nongrim hills. He is to help her steal a bag and she would give him 50 lakh. Easy isn't it? Yes until everything goes wrong.
What's in the bag? Can Bok pull it off? Would there be a double cross? Or a triple cross? What happens to the arms deal and threat to Kitdor?
This was the first time I read a novel on background of north eastern Indian states. It was a good change from usual metro and rural background of north or south Indian states. I did not know that Shillong is the rock capital of India. The book shows glimpses of life in Meghalay. The people of Meghalay consists of migrants of Assam, Bihar, Nagaland, other NE states and even Bangladesh.
Author has given a detailed description of Bok's travels on bike within Shillong, which road he took, which place he passed, which turn he took and so on. Initially you like it because you are acclimatizing with Shillong, but later on you don't appreciate the travelog and get irritated.
The protagonists keep smoking and drinking alcohol very regularly so much so that you doubt if these things have become part of the culture. They also regularly drive after drinking.
Narration is interesting initially but the story starts dragging later on. Not much happens. Readers tend to take a break from reading. You are no more on the edge of the chair. Finally you just want to know how it ends. A good start but not carried through.
An OK book. You can give it a miss.
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