Tales With A Twist - Varadharajan Ramesh - ★★★★.½

AUTHOR: Varadharajan Ramesh

GENRE: Short Story Collection.

PUBLICATION DATE: January 22, 2019

RATING: 4.5 stars.

I've read three of VR's short stories, one on his blog and two in the Hive anthologies. Having loved all of these miniature marvels, I had huge expectations from this anthology. So... Were the expectations met? 🤔🤔

Let's try to answer this logically and unbiasedly:

🔸 The title tells you to expect tales with a "twist".

🔸 Every single story in the book has the mandatory twist.

🔸 None of the twists seem to have been inserted, or rather, forced in the story for the sake of it.

🔸 All the twists fit perfectly in the narrative flow and yet, come most unexpectedly.

🔸 Most of the twists are not guessable beforehand.

Given this scenario, I can honestly declare: Yes, the expectations are met, and even surpassed! In fact, in some cases, the stories start sweetly enough and then, when the end draws near, Bammm! You get hit by the twist! It's like getting an electric shock when you aren't even near any electrical energy point.

The book has 17 stories packed into 64 pages. So it is quite obvious that the stories are not unnecessarily stretched. To etch out the characters and the plot within a few pages and then also provide a surprise at the end is no mean feat. But the author does this skillfully.

Furthermore, the stories in the book come from a whole variety of genres and hence don't give you any feeling of déjà vu while reading. Even the twists aren't repetitive. Some of them will have you raising your eyebrows while others will have you breaking into an unexpected grin. Still others will simply leave you too horrified to react. All you can do is stutter, "What the .....!!!" and shake your head in disbelief.

VR is a master of his craft. He has his pulse on the reader and frames his narratives precisely, knowing how to write, how much to write and where to stop. I loved almost all the stories of the book.

If you want to try short stories that create an impact inversely proportional to their length, check out this book without any hesitation. If you aren't a short story fan but want to give the genre a try, this would be a wonderful book to start with. If you want a taste of how creative contemporary Indian writing can be without resorting to cliches, go for this book. In short, just read it.

The book is free on Kindle Unlimited and available for only Rs. 49/- if you aren't a KU subscriber. That's a fabulous deal for a book of this quality.