Yama by Kevin Missal

Author: Kevin Missal 

Published By: Half Baked Beans

Pages: 155

Price: Rs. 175

ISBN: 978-93-843-2509-2

About The Author:

Kevin Solomon Missal is studying History Hon. in St. Stephen's college. He loves to write plays, books, reviews, watch television shows, classic movies and has a knack for thrillers. He has written two books, with the second one, being number one best seller on Amazon Christian Fiction,

Book Blurb:

What will you do if you have 24 hours to save someone? 

A violent saint…

A man who claims he is Yama is punishing sinners by killing them according to the twenty eights hells prescribed in Bhagvat Gita. Who is he? What does he want? Is he a vigilante or a psychopath? 

A delusional hero…

Iravan Rajpoot, an Ex-Black Cat Commando with a dark past is receiving letters with names and time limits. It’s no sooner that he learns these people will die within that time frame. He needs to do everything, risk everyone to save them. 

An ambitious reporter…

Swati Kaushik, a widow and a woman who can do anything for success must team up with Iravan to stop the god of death and justice. 

Will Iravan Rajpoot be able to find Yama while balancing out his personal life? Will Yama be able to fulfill in spreading his twisted message to everyone? 

With twist and turns in every short chapter, Yama grabs the reader and plunges them in the heart of human consciousness.

Author Interview:

I'm really thankful to Mr. Kevin Missal for giving me an opportunity to interview him. We had an online interview and this is what he has to say about him and his book.

Me: Before we start the interview, can you please enlighten us about the Book and the Characters of the story?

Kevin: Yama is a psychological/mythological thriller that deals with a serial killer who considers himself as a saint murdering those who sin in the eyes of Dharma and he needs to be stopped. The characters revolve around an ex-Black Cat commando Iravan Rajpoot, a reporter Swati Kaushik, a techie and wide range of victims who come under Yama’s radar. 

Me: If I’m not wrong this is a fictional book, but ‘Yama’ is mentioned in  Vedas too. So do you believe in Yama? 

Kevin: Yama represents the good and bad. The good will go to heaven which is swarg and the bad will face punishments in hell which is nark. I don’t personally believe in any religion but I do believe in karma and Yama represents that the most. 

Me: How real are the characters? And which one is your favorite?

Kevin: I take traits and characteristics of the people around me and form a character. So yes, they are partially real. My favorite would be Yama as he struggles with psychological trauma and I feel he’s quite multi dimensional. 

Me: This is your first book, so what really inspired you to write the book?

Kevin: Well this isn’t my first book. This is my third book. I began writing at the age of 12 and at fourteen I wrote Damien Black. I was inspired long back when the gang rape incident occurred in Delhi. I wished someone could be out there who could punish these people as the law wasn’t able to. Later, I took some classes by James Patterson (who is the thriller king) and I got to know the nuances of writing suspense, so I penned Yama down. 

Me: How does it feel being an Author? Can you tell us a bit about –pre and –post Author life?

Kevin: There’s nothing biggie. Some people call me “Kevin author” and some people think I have brilliant English but I fail to impress them and some people think how is he able to write books when his English isn’t amazing. 

Me: Sorry for asking this, but have you been rejected for your work (book)?

Kevin: Lots of times. If I count the number of rejections it would be more than 50. 

Me: Can we expect another book from your pen in near future? If yes, anything you want to disclose about it?

Kevin: Mara is going to be released by the end of the year. It’s a mythological thriller revolving around three students of St. Stephen’s College, an exiled Aghori baba and a serial killer who worships a Buddhist demon. 

Me: Tell us something that we don’t know about, Kevin Missal.

Kevin: I was very bad at Maths.

Me: Before ending this, I would request you to give some advice to the aspiring writers who want to be an author...

Kevin: Never begin your book by describing the weather. Never give your characters a big introduction—keep it mysterious. Let the reader visualize and create the character their own way. And most of all, always have a cliffhanger/twist by the end of the chapter. And believe me, you’ll be a bestseller. 

My Review:

Before noting down my opinions for the book, let me enlighten you a bit about ‘Yama’.

Yama or Yamarāja, is the god of death. In the Vedas, Yama is said to have been the first mortal who died. By virtue of precedence, he became the ruler of the departed. 

Naraka (hell) in Hinduism is referred as a place where the soul is purified of sin by its suffering. In Hindu mythology, Naraka holds many hells and Yama directs departed souls to the appropriate one. Although Yama is the lord of Naraka, he may also direct the soul to a Swarg (heaven) or return it to bhoomi (earth). To conclude, it’s Yama who decides where a person should go after life. 

Now the book has a story which revolves mainly around two characters; Iravan Rajpoot (a private detective) and Yama (a person who consider himself as God of death). You can’t judge who the main protagonist of the story is. Yama can be considered as the Antagonist of the story but his killings had reasons, so he can’t be considered purely as the Villain.

Iravan Rajpoot is an ex-army guy who is now a detective. He is a man who believes in forgiving others even if they have committed any serious crime. His only way of punishment is handing over the culprit to the police. The other main character Yama is a person who punishes people who have done wrong. He punishes the wrong ones the same way as described in the 28 hells of Bhagavad Gita. He is physically strong enough to fight with the world of sinners. But why he is in a killing spree? Does he really consider himself as the god of death? Or is he a psychopath? Or may be a serial killer. To know all about him you have to read the story. Writing everything here would be unfair to the author.

Full credit goes to the Author for maintaining the thrill and suspense till the very last page of the book. Somewhere in the middle you might get a hint or two about who Yama really is but don’t be a detective yourself, reading it till the end would definitely be worth your time. With lots of twists and turns in the story, this book is a complete thriller that will entertain you till the last page. 

Likings: Fast paced, short chapters, full on suspense, worth your bucks

Disliking: Between the pages you might relate the book to the movie ‘Aparichit’. 

My Ratings: 4/5

(A must buy if you're new into the Thriller genre. You would love reading this book)

If you want to buy a copy of Yama at an affordable price CLICK HERE

P.S. I'm really thankful to Anuj Kumar and Kalamos Literary Services for providing me a copy of this book in exchange of an honest review.