Body of Work

I recently read a short thriller called ‘Body of Work’ by Mansi Babbar, which is presented by Ravi Subramanian, a popular Indian thriller and mystery novelist. Thriller is not generally my go-to genre, but I do pick and occasional read in the hope that it will be a memorable one. Mansi has been such a sought after writer that it was natural for me to pick up one of her debut novella. The other is Ravi Subramanian’s presentation in ‘Evoked’

Anyway, the book ‘Body of Work’ is about a young reporter named Raina who attends a party thrown by a celebrity named Hera in order to gather evidence against her. However, the night takes a dark turn, and both Raina and Hera’s lives are changed forever.

Mansi Babbar’s writing style is good, with an excellent command over her language and editing skills. The author explores Raina’s personality through her words and story, creating a well-rounded character. Other characters are also given due attention, which is commendable considering the short length of the book. However, the first half of the book is slow-paced and takes a while to build the story.

The action and violent scenes are well-described and make the reader visualise the characters’ physical and mental state after being subjected to torture. Though sometimes I felt that the gore was a bit too much to my liking. The story is treated like a Bollywood movie, with characters being able to fight back even when tied up and physically tortured for hours. This makes it difficult to maintain the suspension of disbelief.

The pre-climax is thrilling and unpredictable, but the revelation doesn’t have the desired impact. The climax is abrupt and fails to evoke any strong emotions . Despite the book’s short length, it took me four sittings to complete it because of the slow pacing and unrealistic treatment of the story.

While ‘Body of Work’ has its strengths, it falls short of the expectations set by Ravi Subramanian’s recommendation. As a reader, I found it to be an average thriller with the only things standing out to be the author’s brave attempt at the genre.

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