Jose Thekkumthala

Amballore Thoma Jose Thekkumthala

This is an extraordinary story of ordinary people. It has unforgettable moments of success, failure, humility, arrogance, gratitude, and greed. One might find shades of his or her life-story within these pages. Thoma is exiled from his parental home in Amballore by his siblings, an astonishing instance of proverbial backstab. He hits the street with his wife, Ann, and children. They drift from rental to rental, and end up in Mannuthy. Chettiar, the landlord, a distortion in the four-dimensional space continuum, takes control of Thoma's life. Ann deploys the weapon of prayer to steer the family away from the traps that Fate arrayed in an unending line. Old man Death hauls Thoma and Ann in the evening of their lives. Thoma's long arm reaches out from beyond the grave to serve justice to his younger children. Josh encounters Thoma's and Ann's ghosts, and comes across the mysterious September full moon massacres of Mannuthy's young women. The novel embraces multiple genres to present a gripping story of horror and suspense. It seamlessly delves into surreal elements, draping the story in magical realism, seemingly acknowledging the necessity of the supernatural to explain the reality of life.