A BookViral Review Of Hero By Hareesh N. Jayanthi

SUMMARY: India has always been a special place. A place of the mythical, the mystical and the legends. Ramesh did not concern himself with such things though. That is, until his mediocre life became too much for him and he returned to the village in India where he was born.

 The BookViral Review: All the best books are character driven. You can have an original hero and a superb plot, but if the reader doesn’t care if your hero dies or not, they won’t read the book. Most importantly they have to be interesting but not clichéd and this is something Hareesh N. Jayanthi has definitely got right. With plenty of forward momentum and a fluid narrative Jayanthi certainly doesn’t hesitate in bringing his young protagonist to life. From his birth in Amalapuram to his arrival in Minneapolis Jayanthi creates a wholly intriguing and above all heartrending backstory for Rapesh as his story hurtles towards the powerfully defining moment in his life when he becomes Hero. We feel his pain and confusion as a child when his aunt is brutally murdered, we feel his anguish at being unable to find his place in American society, we want the constant beatings from his father to stop and we cheer for him when Rapesh sacrifices everything to save Usha and the girls in her care. These alone are reasons to pick up a copy and start reading but what Jayanthi also gives us are cleverly nuanced and vivid images that whilst often brutal focus on the realities of present-day India.

A riveting good read that not only entertains but gives us a true hero Hareesh N. Jayanthi has created a must-read debut.