When the folks at Fingerprint Publishing reached out to me offering the latest book by Salil Desai, I accepted it blindly. After all, I have read and loved all his Inspector Saralkar mysteries.
It was only when the book reached me that I realized that The Sane Psychopath was an entirely different type of book.
The Sane Psychopath: Synopsis
This is the story of Shanker Lande, driver of a state transport bus, who goes on a bone-chilling hour-long rampage on the streets of Pune-killing 10, maiming 70, and damaging over 100 vehicles, before he is captured.
~ Synopsis from goodreads
In this case of Shanker Lande vs the city of Pune, the difference between the criminal and the victims is clear as night and day. But a young idealistic lawyer, Varun Gupte, a Punekar, still decides to defend Lande. And in the process seeks help from a psychiatrist, a man who lost his son to the same incident.
Caught in the pincer grip of their dilemmas, do the two men crumble? Do they unearth the truth? And does the truth absolve Lande?
Inspired by a real incident, The Sane Psychopath is a fictional exploration of a frightening murderous phenomenon of our times.
The Sane Psychopath: My Review
This was a pretty different kind of book by Salil Desai, and I love how effortlessly he has been able to change direction from his Inspector Saralkar novels.
Although this book is billed as a thriller, there is no suspense as to the perpetrator of the crime. It's very obvious what happened. What is interesting is the why of it, and the consequences to be faced.
What I enjoyed most in the book were the interactions between criminal, attorney, and psychiatrist.
The attorney Varun especially is very interestingly drawn. At first, he seems like a straightforward character, but as the book progresses, he becomes obsessively drawn to his case, trying to understand what made his client Shankar commit such a horrendous crime.
What is that kink that makes some human beings go berserk and kill like that? Because this is not the act of a terrorist or a cold-blooded murderer, or a pervert or sadist or even a mad man. This is something else, perhaps a sane psychopath.
~ The Sane Psychopath
The psychiatrist Dr.Kanitkar struggles to find a way to forgive Shankar and do his psychiatric evaluations honestly. The sections of the book describing his emotional struggle were very raw and haunting.
If there is a flaw in this book, it is that there is no action. Through and through this is a psychological study.
Still, I found this book gripping enough, and recommend it highly.
Huge thanks to Fingerprint Publishing for sending me this book for review consideration.
