Klishmaklaver

Book Title: Yakshini (Kindle Edition) Author: Neil D'Silva Publishers: Rupa Publications My Rating: ***** About the Author: Neil D'Silva is an author of 12 horror novels and Yakshini is yet another of his books that has been acquired for screen adaptation. He is the President of the Indian Chapter of the Horror Writers Association, and is also a TEDx Speaker.  Let me make a disclaimer before I begin to talk about this book. Even though I am in the author's circle of virtual friends and I've been a fan of his writing since his very first book, this particular book review has not been solicited by the author and neither is my impression of the book biased.  Like I've said many times before, I pick a book by it's cover, quite literally. It has got to be love at first sight! And then a little knowledge about the author and his style helps. Sometimes I veer towards books via recommendations by like-minded friends but I stopped reading back blurbs long ago. As soo...

Book Title: Maya's New Husband Author: Neil D'Silva Publisher: Kindle Edition My Rating: **** About the Author: Neil D'Silva is a teacher by profession who was bitten by the writing bug, quite early in life. Born and brought up in Mumbai he derives inspiration from the metro's idiosyncrasies. The author says "  I tried to create a blend here, a blend of my penchant for writing and my astute sense of observation of the things that go around me, and weave my yarns." Neil D'Silva has also published a small collection of short stories titled, 'The Evil Eye and The Charm'.  Think Indian horror thriller and what instantaneously comes to mind are a slew of ghost stories, haunted places and such other  clichés. When I read the title of the book, I inadvertently began imagining a  murdered newly- wed  bride, draped in a red saree ready  to haunt the daylights out of me. Even the hand-illustrated book cover said so! If it wasn't for Ne...

The Evil Eye and The Charm Author: Neil D'Silva Publisher: Amazon Kindle E-book My  Rating: ***1/2 About the author: Neil D'Silva has recently debuted as a novelist with the publishing of his  book on horror- Maya's New Husband. A winner of Literary Awards 2015 (India) in The Entertainer category, and of NaNoWriMo 2014, the novel is also the top 100 listed book in the horror category on Amazon Kindle India.  The Evil Eye and The Charm is a collection of three short stories based on a centuries old Indian tradition of using the 'nimboo-mirchi (lemon-chili) charm' to ward of evil spirits.Though these stories are based on a very common superstition, what will take the reader by surprise is the spook- quotient! The author starts each story by building up a scene that one can easily relate with. It may seem like a very commonplace scenario that might as well be taking place in your own home or in your  neighbor hood, as you read. What happens as...