Cry of Shadows - Chapter 9

The cry of the wolves echoed deep inside the forests of Sahyamudi. Moopan and the tribe bid farewell to Neeli, Chennans daughter. Nariyan visibly seemed upset. He was in love with Neeli, but he never got a chance to tell her. He wished to kill Akaleyan and save Neeli but he was helpless, Akaleyan acquired powers through long years of rituals and sacrifices. Nariyan walked with Neeli, both did not talk to each other. Tears were flowing out of Neeli’s eyes. Her end was determined, decided.

Akaleyan saw the light of the fire torch. He saw Neeli walking with Nariyan to his cave.

“Did I ask you to come with her”, he roared at Nariyan.

“It was quiet dark”, Nariyan answered with a trembling voice.

“Don’t you dare to look back, now run”

“Akaleyan, please don’t kill her”. He fell into his feet expecting some mercy from him.

“Thuu” in reply Akaleyan spitted on his face. “Get lost you moron, otherwise I will have to do two sacrifices today”.

Nariyan went back. Akaleyan looked at the girl. She was gorgeous, dark but she reflects the wild beauty of Nature. Her face was round and her eyes resembled those of a Doe.

The interior of the cave was filled with lights and in the ground large pictures (Kalam) were drawn which represent millions of Devas. He believed all his powers were given by these. His major deity was Thrikaleya Bhairavan. Years he had spend in worshipping him and another three more offering on Amavasi day with a virgin woman will help to get rest of his powers.

Akaleyan called Neeli in and asked her to be prepared for the offering. He handed over a red silk cloth and asked her to wear it. He went to the water falls near the cave, he recited the spells aloud. He removed his last attire from the body and took the chill shower all over. The cold water seems to have induced pain in his nerves. He screamed out of pain and still he continued reciting the spells for the black magic He came back into the cave, the tattoos seemed to be reflecting on the lights which were burning.

Neeli wore the silk dress over her body. Akaleyan walked towards her, she was shocked by the appearance of him. Her sound seems to have stuck in the throat She tried screaming, but in vain. Akaleyan came close to her, for the first time she saw a complete man. She felt like she was losing every bit of courage she carried on till now. Akalyan took some water from the pot which was kept near the Homa and poured it on her face. She felt as though a caged bird was flew away from her head. She behaved as a robot who acts on the instructions of Akaleyan. Akaleyan gave her a rope to tie his hands. He took the animal fat along with the spells he poured it into the Homa Kunda.

He untied her silk cloth from her body using his teeth. He bit her hands and dragged her towards the Homa Kunda. His hands were tied, Neeli could have run from that place, but she realized something is stopping her. She was not able to do anything which she wishes.

Akaleyan noticed the curves of Neeli. It was like a river which flows smooth. He admired his choice, he approached her and kissed her deep in her mouth. Both of them crossed their legs and with an overflow of energy he entered into her. They moved in a tone of his spells and finally when they met its end. She crawled out of pain and love and everything was finished.

Akaleyan ordered her to untie his hands and then he dragged Neeli towards Homa Kunda. He took a sharp iron metal which he pierced into her index finger. He then pressed the hand on top of the Homa Kunda and extracted a drop of blood and put it into it. Homa Kunda burned fiercer as if to destroy the whole mankind.

“You can go now” Akaleyan ordered Neeli.

 “Where will I go, even if I go my community won’t accept me anymore? I need to stay here with you. I have summoned myself to you”

“No, I am playing with Fire, Leave”

She walked out the cave, she never knew where she is heading to??

Cry of Shadows - Chapter 8

“Good to see you Jean”, RAW chief was waiting for the trio inside a temporary discussion room created inside the villa.

“We are having a secured Video Conference with your bosses in France”. “This line is completely protected and secured. You three will be taking up this assignment without much of local force support. It is a diplomatic issue, so kindly consider its importance and don’t take anything light. It will cost you”, Chief continued.

They walked into a video conferencing facility. That’s an amazing room, but what surprised him more was it was a complete 3D video conferencing. It is exactly the same way you discuss across the desk and that even without glasses.

“Bonjour Chief”, Jean smiled.

“Don’t feel great Jean, I saw your tweet today. I told you that there should be no location specific tweets. I think it might have made the damage but I warn you. Don’t do that again”

“Sure Chief”

By the time, all of them entered into the room. “Good Morning Gentlemen”

“Good Morning”, they replied.

“I am here to explain one among the most adventurous and secret mission which we do with the support of Indian government”

They were all eagerly waiting for the next statement.

“Recently there had been strange things happening in our countries diplomat community. Many were brutally murdered and French Police don’t even have a clue how this is happening. But later investigations pointed to few common points on each murder. All of them were killed exactly at their birth time. During the investigation we accidently found this strange coincidence, a black magic technique performed in India called “Shadow Killing” were opponents are killed during their birth time. But the strange thing is that the killer needs to be physically present to kill the opponent even through Shadows.

We checked the flight chart to confirm any particular person coming during these days to France. There were quiet a few flights coming from Bangalore, Chennai flying to France and Frankfurt daily and that is nothing less than impossible to catch the killer from this information and we are also not sure if the killer is already inside France.

Though we expected nothing, we posted a special surveillance on the flights coming from India. But to our luck, we found a sharp iron metal carried by the Pilot of Air France from Bangalore and a local guy received it and transferred it to someone in Paris. When we questioned both of them, they knew nothing than a phone call which they received along with some money and this metal. In Paris too, this guy don’t know anything more than a garbage bin where he was asked to keep the parcel. He used to receive the money from the pilot and the pilot is paid in India.

“I have a question, why was Jean asked to come to Kerala. This particular thing could be executed by anyone in India. And you said the pilot got the parcel from Bangalore, the culprit might be in Bangalore or anywhere in India”

 “That’s a good question; we traced all the calls received by the pilot. He was tried to contact from several numbers in Kerala.”

“We need to start from Zero. We need to start somewhere. That’s why we send Jean to Kerala. Let’s start from here. In all these discussions one person was left blank on why he was chosen.”

Cry of Shadows - Chapter 7

Moopan seemed visibly upset. They have never seen him sad before. Even during the brutality forest rangers engulfed them, Moopan stood strong with his people. He arranged separate security for his tribe members. He had an intelligence system of his own. They informed him about the raids for Ghanja plantations, but most of these raids were merely a gimmick for the Media and people in urban area. During these raids his people were tortured ruthlessly as if to identify the source.

Nariyan reached SahyaMudi late evening. Sun was about to set, he was running all the way from the dense forest of Akaleyan. As soon as he reached he went to Moopan.

“Akaleyan disagreed to our request. He wants the virgin girl to reach his place for Amavasya”

“No….” Moopans voice echoed in the forest. “He will have to pay for his mistakes, but we are helpless. He will destroy our entire community. I wish he accept me, I am happy to be killed for my people”

Moopans voice was quiet broken. No way could he continue his words, tears rolled out of his eyes. People around him felt as if the land beneath their foot is eroded. He was the source of inspiration for all of them. They thought he will bring a ray of hope.

 Oldest among the community walked forward. “ I am with you Mooppa”.

“I will send my child to him to save my people. I am sure, one day Akaleyan will lose his powers in front of us, but I am scared how many lives he will take to enjoy the privileges he acquire by doing these actions to the deity”

“No, why you should be the first one, Let our deity decide who need to go to Akaleyan tomorrow” Moopan walked towards a small banyan tree.

There was a small idol which was carved with strange symbols. Rest of the idol was covered with a Red Silk. The smoke from incense stick and lights around made the atmosphere sacred but it was visually scary. He took few banyan leaves and marked something in it with the mixture of soot and oil. He shuffled each banyan leaf and placed in front of the deity. He called a small kid to take a leaf.

He took the leaf and read it out, “Chenna, it’s your daughter’s turn. I am sorry”. Chennan felt as he was hit by a lightning. His daughter already fainted. Few women helped her to be carried out into the house. In the chaos no one noticed those few drops of tears which rolled out of a pair of eyes.

Cry of Shadows - Chapter 6

Chapter 6

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Jean opened the box. It was a Blackberry. It had a small note in it.

“Your mail services are configured in this Phone and always use this phone to interact with your colleagues in France. All the messages are encrypted and your number is secured from any kind of anonymous interceptions”- Azad.

That was pretty interesting stuff for the gadget freak. He wanted to try Blackberry OS7, as he had heard about the cool features it supports.

"I need to give some rest to my iPhone". He checked the time, it was half past five. He got himself fresh and walked down to the reception. He took his phone and dialed Maria's number.

"Hello Honey, I am here in India"

She was excited to hear his voice. "How was your trip Jean, How is the hotel, how is the place"

As usual thousand question. She’d never let me answer any of her questions one after the other..

"Till now things are pretty good. I will keep you updated, but now I need to keep the phone"

"Hey, Jean Wait let.."

Jean did not allow her to conclude her conversation. He took his blackberry and called Azad. “Azad it’s time for us to meet.”

“Sure Jean, We will come there and we need to go to RAW regional office in Kerala”. The Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW or RAW) is India's external intelligence agency.

Azad and Dhanu reached the hotel. As soon as they entered, both of them saw Jean dressed up and waiting in the reception. They again got back to the vehicle and drove to RAW. Jean took his Tab and tweeted

“In Gods own country..”

Little later the vehicle stopped in front of a plush duplex villa. Azad and Dhanu got down from the car, but Jean still feel surprised. They said they were going to RAW’s office and here in this villa? Azad answered the question as if he read his mind.

“Jean, I told you there won’t be any formalities or routine stuff happening in your investigation. Everything is revamped for your safety and security. We will meet the RAW chief right here. You are welcome to stay here if you feel that the stay at the hotel is boring.”

“Coffee?” Dhanu came with a coffee mug in his hand. They both joined him for the coffee. After 15 minutes Azad got a call

“Hello Azad, RAW chief will be joining you shortly”

Cry of Shadows - Novel : Chapter 5

                                                                                                                   Chapter 5

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Idukki  is the second largest District of Kerala(the largest being Palakkad). Rugged mountains and forests cover about 97 percent of the total area of the District.

Deep inside the forest, a long dark man was running with a piece of dried leaf in his hand. He reached near a cave and stopped. He was struggling to catch up the breath. He carefully moved inside the cave and walked down the narrow path. On the side of the path there was a shallow stream flowing. He continued running through the path and reached near a pond full of blue lotus. He shouted

“Akaleya”

The sound echoed in the forest “Akaleya.. Akaleya”

After a minute of silence, a thunderous sound of a human being evolved out from the cave near the pond.

“Who is there?”

“This is Nariyan, the Moopan¹ send me to give this ola² to you”

Akaleyan came out of the cave. His body was tattooed with a Snake and a strange animal. He had a strange tattoo on his face tool, a fire spitting dragon. His eyes were painted black and were appearing red as blood, he had a well-built physique. He was six feet three inches tall and had broad shoulders.

“Ok. Give that to me”, He ordered Nariyan. “But you are repeating the same mistake again and again; in this forest you have only one king, it’s me “Akaleyan”. Don’t repeat calling Ananthan as the chief”. He laughed loud; even with low light his long teeth’s were visible as if it is sharpened using a diamond saw.

Nariyan was visibly scared in front of him. He realized his heart seems beating normal than usual. He was waiting for Akaleyan’s response.

“What? How dare he is to disobey my orders?” Akaleyan screamed.

“I won’t kill you but tomorrow Amavasi³ cannot be completed without one among you. I warn you to be here else your kids will meet their ends. I repeat I warn you”, His eyes protruded and became more red and he was shivering with anger.

“Nariyan, tell your chief. His days are counted. He will sacrifice all your lives. Tell him to obey my orders else meet the mighty soon, The Death. Go….!!!”

Nariyan took a huge rock and hit akaleyan on his face. His nose was broken and he started bleeding profusely.

“Ahhhh…”. Akaleyan cried. “You…!”

Nariyan banged the stone on his head again and again till he was sure that it crushed his skull. Tears rolled out of his cheek.

“What are you dreaming? I told you to run”. Nariyan was shocked and returned to senses. He saw Akaleyan fuming in front of him.

“Huh it was a dream”, Nariyan turned back ran towards the entrance of the cave. The whole community was waiting for him to return with good news. But they didn’t know that one among them would meet a worst fate of their life time.

 

1. Moopan: The tribal head in Kerala is called Moopan
2. Ola: Thaliyola is a dried leaf in which people write before the invention of paper being used widely.
3. Amavasi: New moon day

Cry of Shadows - Chapter 4

Chapter 4

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Azad was walking restlessly in front hotel Taj. He saw a silver Pajero entering the gate of Taj.

 "Yes, Jean has reached. I hope Mathew is with him", he thought.

Jean got out of the car along with a lean dark man with a broad smile.

"Bonjour Jean"

"That’s Amazing Azad, you learned a word in French to greet me"

 "Haha, hope Mathew didn’t trouble you. Was he in the right place when you went searching for him?"

"Yes, indeed. Mathew was there and that’s how  I could reach safely.

Dhanu came walking towards them.

Azad, "Meet Dhanu, Dhanu this is Jean"

"Hello Jean, hope you had a nice flight. I’ve heard your voice several times. Rather I thought to have a video chat with you, but then there are security issues. But I like this surprise"

"Hello Dhanu, Nice to meet you,  I’ve heard a lot about your software related work, especially your work on deciphering animal conversation is well known to the technical publications of France as well"

"I am honoured, Jean. Hope to meet you soon for further discussion on this issue"

Mathew was standing in a corner watching the three gentlemen talk. Probably he is the fourth man who knows about the visit of Jean outside the Ministry. Mathew is known for his quick wits and also his carelessness. After Jean walked to his suite, Azad, Dhanu and Mathew got into the Scorpio and they left the premises of Taj.

Jean walked into the restroom of his suite and washed his face. He heard a knock on the door.

"Who is it?"

"Luggage Sir"

"Hold on, I am coming". Jean opened the door and got his luggage. He paid some tips to the person who was carrying the luggage.

"Sir Please call 9 for reception and 1055 for room service. Have a pleasant stay sir", Hotel assistant was courteous in his facial expression.

"Thank you", Jean locked the door when he left.

He checked the suite, it was quite spacious and comfortable. He had a view of sea and rocky hills. He wanted to know about the place where he was staying. He called the reception,

"Hello, I am calling from Suite 107"

"Yes Sir"

"What is the place called? I know it is in the capital of Kerala but do you have a specific name for this place”.

"Yes Sir, this place is called Kovalam"

"Kovalam?"

"Yes Sir, Kovalam. You will see lot of tourists from your country visiting this place during this season."

"Ah, that’s nice to know"

"Do let us know if you would like to go out in our cab" The receptionist seemed to be engaged in selling her hotel products to Jean.

"No, Thankyou. But I would really inform you in advance if I need one"

"Have a good evening Sir"

"You too, bye", Jean hanged the phone.

He lay down on the bed. He was quiet tired and soon he slipped into deep sleep. Jean woke up hearing the knock. He opened the door.

"Yes"

"Sorry to disturb you Sir. Officer Azad asked me to handover this packet to you".

"Oh, thank you."

What's there in it? Jean was surprised and was quiet eager to check it out.

Cry of Shadows - Chapter 3

                               Chapter 3

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Kerala, Gods own country, the First state to achieve a hundred percent literacy in India. Blessed land with natures gifts like backwaters, rivers and sea. God carved the land with the best tools and it plays a very important role in Indian history and the world.

Kerala is the first ever state in the world to have an elected communist government and many her kids are all over the world spreading her name and fame and writing it with golden letters in the history of human kind.

Housekeeping staff of Hotel Taj, Trivandrum (State capital of Kerala) is busy preparing a suite for a guest coming from France. It’s not a new thing for them. Kerala is a favorite tourist destination of people from all over the world. It’s Ayurveda, Yoga, Kalari, Kathakali has crossed its borders of the state and reached nook and corner of the world.

A Mahindra Scorpio SUV stopped in front of the hotel and two people got down from the car. The person who was driving the vehicle gave the key for valet parking and walked towards the hotel. In front of the vehicle it was written as Police, Kerala state. The gentle man who was driving the vehicle was in police uniform and walked towards the hotel. Other person wearing a spec was in his tshirt and jeans accompanied him.

"Is the suite ready" The officer asked in the reception.

"Yes sir"

"No one should be allowed to meet him with out my permission even if it is the head of the state, Hope that’s clear for you"

"Yes Sir, we do remember your instructions"

"Good"

"Dhanu, are we ready?" He asked the man besides him

"Yes, Bro"

"Good, he might have alighted in Bangalore by now and will reach Trivandrum airport by 7.30. Air France is supposed to reach Bangalore by 12.30 or 1.00 pm tonight"

"Oh, it should be hectic… He will definitely feel tired"

"Yes, he will be. But we don’t have time to waste. We need to do the ground work by then"

"Sure brother, by the way who is there to pick Jean"

"Ah, I forgot to tell you… Our Mathew had gone to the airport"

"Are your sure, Brother? I sincerely doubt if you have selected the right guy. Hope Jean will pick Mathew and reach here", Dhanu smiled at the officer.

"Haha… I know"

He went outside. Dhanu kept watching the officer whose name is Azad. What a human being, he thought. He is never tired, he has never heard Azad saying no, when it comes to work.

"You are a work – 'alcoholic' brother" Dhanu use to make fun of him.

He remembered the last meeting during which he explained about some critical operation. But he could never imagine a pure software guy could support him officially in an operation which involves several aspects which he never believed to exist.

How can a software person help a French Investigation officer, that question reverberated in Dhanu’s mind

Cry of Shadows - Chapter 2

Chapter 2

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“Bonjour, Ladies and Gentlemen welcome onboard. Please turn off your Phones and any other electronic devices… ” .

Jean leaned back in his seat showing the discomfort in his face. He hates traveling in AirFrance, of course the flight attendants were quiet old. He prefers traveling via Frankfurt and his preferred choice of flight is Lufthansa. He scrolled down the movie list in the flight, the list were pretty more the same. “Good I got several movies in my Xoom”, he thought.

A flight steward came towards him, "What would you like to have sir"?

It’s normally the best thing to be in a plane if he goes by business class. But this time to India the travel needs to maintain its anonymity and the bosses didn’t want him to get any extra attention. They knew how important it was to make this mission successful. So as expected in an economic class, the treatment is not so wonderful.

"Can I have some champagne Please"

"Sure sir"

"Can you please choose your menu as well Sir"

Going to India, let me be a veggie. I always heard about India but never got a chance to go over there. How does she look like? In the history I always heard about a rich wonderful country, but later I heard only the story of snakes, rituals and blind belief.

 

He changed his Xoom mode to Flight Mode, started with his favorite bond movies. Jean is a hard core fan of bond movies since child hood. Being a cop Jean always dreamed to have all accessories James posses in his movies. He always sounds childish when he speaks to his colleagues. When the world is so advanced and with new tech coming in he still believes in Magic and super natural powers

But this time, it is his interest that made DCRI chiefs to choose him to go to Kerala. He never understood why they wanted him to go to Kerala, but he knew it was some thing very important. He leaned back in his seat and started playing the movie. In a few minutes a flight attendant came towards him and whispered in his ears.

 

He got up from his seat and followed her, she gave a sat phone to him.

"Bonjour Jean"

"Bonjour Boss"

"One more minister is missing, it is becoming crucial and all your discussions and meetings should be done with a state of national emergency"

"Did you check the video grabs, boss"

"Yes, we did"

"We have all the videos till he started from his office and his security staff was following him till he reached his home"

"So he seems to be missing from there"

"Yes, his wife told us that she saw him walking outside when he got a call and he never returned after"

"Ok… But what do I have to do in Kerala for this ?"

It is quiet natural for him to think so. It is really not logical to relate a man missing case and trip to India. But this is not the first case of man missing and murder. Few top honchos of French politics and government are either killed or kidnapped by now. But why am I being sent to Kerala???

Cry of Shadows - Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Jean woke up by the loud alarm from his cell phone.

Ah it is really annoying to hear that sound after a tiring day. He woke up and took his vibrating iphone. That’s terrific, “how the hell did she find this number”?

He thought looking at the beautiful face in the phone indicating the caller.

“Bonjour Maria”

“Jean, that’s not fare at all, I had to call up Grace to trace your new number”

“Look honey, I know it’s strange but then I am going for a long trip to India. It’s very important to know about the customs and traditions over there, because this time it is going to be a another huge adventure for me”

“Okay, but why do you want to be isolated from now on..ah?”

“I want to be prepared well in advance; moreover you never let me concentrate in my work” Jean Smiled. “Okie Honey..Bye for now, best way to know about me is to follow my tweets”.

“Great, this is exactly what I should be hearing, to know abt mymy boyfriend from twitter, you have gone crazy Jean..Anyways good luck”

Jean came out of his apartment; Grenoble still is sleepy and filled with snow. He always thought Grenoble is the most wonderful place in the world and had always felt being too close to the mountains of Grenoble.

 Jean Paul Miller is an officer of Direction centrale du renseignement intérieur (DCRI)- Central Directorate of Interior Intelligence. He met Maria while he was doing his masters in Stendhas university of Grenoble. Since then both Grenoble and Maria are close to his heart.

Jean prepared his coffee and took his laptop and leaned in the sofa. He checked on his ticket confirmation and hotel reservation.

“Yes, everything is done”, He thought.

A while later, his iphone started to vibrate,” Bonjour Boss”

“ve”

“ve”

“Merci”.

Jean’s boss, was calling to check if he was prepared for the travel. Jean’s Boss was very particular about the secret nature of the travel. Very few people in the embassy and some top members of DRCI and the government know about his visit.

He took all the printouts and was ready for the journey. He double checked his passport, visa, hotel reservation and everything seemed perfect.

“Bonjour, Sir your taxi to the railway station”. It was the call from the cab driver. He took the luggage, checked the apartment again and moved towards the lift.

While getting into the cab he felt sad to leave Grenoble for a few days, but then I’ll be back soon. “Need to call Maria”

He pushed at his speed dial “Hello Maria… I am leaving “

“Take care Jean, please give me a call.. I know you are worried about your job than me. But please think of me as well”

“I will dear, prendre soin”. He boarded the bullet train to Paris Airport.

Once he reached Paris, he called a few people and informed his boss that he’ll be boarding the Flight soon.

“Jean, make sure that you use the secure vpn for any kind of communication and your messages should be encrypted” his Boss warned.

“Boss, you know my interest in twitter”

“ I know, you are allowed to tweet, but make sure that you don’t reveal the location and no location specific tweets are allowed, you are free to tweet on your so called “favorite hobbies” as usual”

“Merci, revoir”- Jean kept the phone. He saw his flight ready; cargoes were getting moved while he waited for the passenger boarding announcement.

He took his “Xoom”, a new gadget he added to his list. He was pretty impressed with its performance. His Android, honeycomb loaded accessory was a birthday gift from Maria. She knew about his craziness on Gadgets. He selected the Maps and pinched to zoom inside it to India and then to….”Kerala”...Gods own country”

Cry of Shadows - Authors Note

                                         The Author’s Note 

Dear Reader,

I was traveling along the Western Ghats. The flora and fauna of the Ghats enamored me a lot. The train I was traveling bustled like a huge python through the hills which unveiled the aesthetic mysteries of nature. I was awestruck by the Lush green forest with water falls and of course it instigated the writer in me. The destination I was heading to be always amazing as it is one among the renowned destination in the world tourist map.

Goa, the land of beaches is like a heartthrob for youngsters across India and of the world too. I always felt Goa is the true copy of Travancore and Kerala and may be the similarity is because of the stretch lies of the Western Ghats and the origin of these places share the same story of Parasuraman. Well, you can do the rest of the research about its glorious past by yourself. Coming back to the connection about my urges in literature and Goa, in my previous visit I wrote a poem sitting in the rocks of Anjuna beach while the gentle breeze pass through me like someone who enriches my imaginations. The travelogue about the trip in my blog brought about a lot of critical appreciation and the memories were always cherished by me.

This time, I was not thinking about any more than a travelogue but later changed my mind. I have written about a travelogue about Goa earlier and people are generally aware about the fancies of Goa. Now my search of doing something different whirled in my mind. I thought of writing a novel based on Goa, but then I changed my mind. I wanted to write a suspense based novel, something which my readers will eagerly waiting for, to read. That’s when I thought of writing Cry of Shadows. I hope this will be a good treat to all the followers of my blog. I promise to make this novel more romantic, sci-fi, fun and technological advanced treat.

Kindly mail me the positives and negatives of this Novel and please share this information with your friends as well.

                                                     Yours Lovingly,

                                                        Dhanesh Nair

Cry of Shadows - Novel