Author: Prerna Wadhawan
Publisher: Self Published
I was provided an Advanced Reader’s Copy (ARC) of the book in exchange
for an honest review.
Do you think that Psychopaths are born or made?
The first time Niya Kapoor sits across from Robin Hood, he asks her to say
it. Say what she's spent her whole career arguing. That psychopaths aren't
broken. That they're evolved. That his brain is wired differently and it isn't
his fault. The court wants an answer. Robin Hood is a serial killer with a
teenage following and a lawyer who wants him declared a victim of his own
biology. Niya is the expert. Her research is the precedent. If she confirms
what she's always believed, he walks free. She tells herself she's studying
him. He seems to think it's the other way around. He knows things about her.
Things she thought were buried. Outside the prison walls, two teenage boys are
destroying each other, one camera, one betrayal, one audience at a time. She
tells herself she's in control. He lets her believe it. The psycho-path isn't a
person. It's a direction.
Prerna’s debut book is a wonderful example of how to write a thriller that keeps you so intrigued that you keep turning the pages. The storytelling is slow and deliberate, and the author keeps you guessing who is the one behind the mask of Robin Hood until the very last page. As you navigate the human psyche with Niya serving as a guide, Prerna also veers you towards the craze of social media, and how the idea of social acceptance through “reach” can affect not just a person, but almost an entire generation of teenagers. The cat-and-mouse game that Niya and Robin play throughout the book is calculated, gripping and disturbing, all blended into one. The question of moral compass, and whether biology is responsible for some people being more criminally inclined than the others is an important one, and the book puts it wonderfully. The writing in the book is quite gripping and while some scenes might disturb a reader, the visual writing helps you see some of the scenes as they occur. The storytelling is slow and deliberate, and there are points where you stop and think about if we have really become so hungry about 15 seconds of fame that numbers are all that what matters to us. While the book does score on a lot of fronts, there are few places where I think that the story did veer off for a bit. Kabir and Niya’s story, for example, was one aspect where I think a lot of the questions reside, and a bit more about them could have added context to the actions of Niya a lot. Similarly, I felt that we see Robin Hood through the eyes of all the other characters, but I would have connected a bit more had we seen some more from his perspective. The climax, however, very well written and I was impressed how there are threads which might lead to sequels. The post courtroom sequence brings together a lot of threads, but also lets enough questions open for the reader to request a sequel.
Coming to the characters, Prerna’s development of the characters in the
book is one of its strengths. Starting from Tejas and Shubh, the entire arc of
friends to enemies is something that is very effectively penned. You see two
teenagers, hyped up on social media numbers trying to outdo each other. Prerna
has captured this pulse very nicely and a lot of it is about the camera angles,
direction and edits, which is a mirror that we need to see realistically. The transition
of people and situations to “Content” is
something that becomes a backbone of this book. The female characters in the
book-Arunima, Deepali and Niya- are wonderfully sketched, and I liked how the
author provides agency to all the three, but in different aspects. Each of them
is equally important at different stages of the book. Sher’s character is someone
I started developing sympathy for, atleast for some time, until the last part
of the book where things start coming to light, and I think that is the best
compliment I can give the author.
Overall, Psycho Path is a book that explores how Psycho Paths are made, maybe they are biologically wired, or maybe the society makes them what they are. Read the book to find out more! The book scores a 4.94/5 for me.
Grab a copy of the book on Amazon India today! It is available on Kindle Unlimited as well!
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