Book Review: The Disappearance of Tejas Sharma by Manish Mahajan

Finished reading "The Disappearance of Tejas Sharma" by Manish Mahajan. I have keen interest in paranormal/horror fiction, so when I got the opportunity to read this book I didn't want to miss it.

'TDTS' is a collection of 12 horror/ghost/paranormal Indian short stories, carrying different background and era. Stories are, I would say, not scary but interesting.

My favourite stories in this book are "Secret of the Photograph" and "Her Unkept Promise". They have very interesting end. I think, the author should have elaborated "Her Unkept Promise" a little more. I wanted to know the details but it seemed that the story was moving in fast forward pace. Still this story is very interesting with startling end! "Burn the Old Papers" is a typical ghost story (As we see in serials and films) and is interesting and engrossing read.

I didn't like the idea of tree being a ghost in the first story "The Peepal Tree of Lachmangarh" I found it childish and not so interesting as an opening story should be. The title story "The Disappearance of Tejas Sharma" is a simple story, somehow insignificantly elaborated. The stories "Valley of the Dead" and "Lost" are very short that they fail to trigger your fear or excitement (Not even if you read them in absolute loneliness of eerie night as the author has suggested). The author says that "Begunkodor Ghost Station" is a true story. I think yes, as I have seen the dramatized version of this story in a horror show on some channel (I don't remember).

The book-cover doesn't represent any story in this book but is very nice for this genre. As a debut work, it's a nice attempt by the author. I really liked the narration that manages to the hold the grip and compels the reader to finish the stories.

The most negative thing about this book is it's price. The book is just 83 pages long, priced Rs. 250.

Overall, considering the genre, for me, it was a nice and quick read! If you are interested in this genre (And you can ignore the price) you should grab this book for a quick interesting read.

This book review is a part of Book Review Programme by The Tales Pensive. Thank you!
Linking this review to Indian Debut Writers Month Readathon @ The Tales Pensive.