Berserk-Tejaswi Priyadarshi

Book: Berserk
Author: Tejaswi Priyadarshi
Publisher: Readomania

I was provided a media copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

What would you do if your paths crossed with a blood thirsty man out for vengeance?

Ramakrishna, a humble teacher, and Nazm, his feisty student, are bound by a love story that ends in tragedy when Nazm is savagely slain on their wedding night. Shattered, crestfallen, and consumed by guilt, Ramakrishna forges an unlikely alliance with a volatile figure known as Coffee Man. Together, they seek Nazm’s killer, though Coffee Man’s ruthless methods threaten to drag Ramakrishna into moral ruin. At the same time, a man who renounced the world years ago realizes that revenge is his only path to Nirvana. Resurrected by his thirst for vengeance, he stalks his victims to settle his own twisted score of betrayal. As their blood-soaked paths converge, carnage ensues. Will Ramakrishna and Coffee Man find justice for Nazm, or will they destroy the very souls they seek to avenge? Berserk is a mind-bending horror thriller that will keep readers guessing till their minds are blown!

Berserk is a book that blurs the boundary between genres of horror, psychological thriller, and a good old murder mystery. The storytelling is gripping and from the very first page, the characters keep you engaged. The plot seems simple with two parallel viewpoints but as the story progresses, you realise the convoluted nature of the story. There are graphic visuals in the book that might not be suited for everyone, but those very scenes show the brutality of the other person in the story. I liked how Tejaswi paints the story frame by frame to set the tone. The plot also puts light on the social lens about relationships, marriages, and the idea of mental health. This aspect of the book was quite amazing to read and the entire arc about marriage was the cornerstone of the book. As the various plots converge, the climax surprises because the truth was always in front of you, but you get so busy in looking at the distractions, that you lose sight of the big picture. The epilogue, however, is something that is the cherry atop the cake.

Berserk is a book that draws heavily from its characters and Tejaswi has crafted this intricate set of personalities who are diametrically opposite to each other. Every scene, we meet either Ramakrishna or the Coffee Man and the differences in their approach to life is quite interesting. The entire plot around Nazm’s life and her relation to the plot was very well crafted and as the layers come off, you see the diabolical nature of Tejaswi’s writing.

Overall, this is a book that is a definite recommendation for anyone who loves to read a well baked thriller that would be truly difficult to classify. The book scores a 4.94/5 for me.

Grab a copy of the book from a bookstore near you or on Amazon India.