Is No Murder Tonight a Movie Masquerading as a Book?
The interests of an aspiring pilot, a vengeful orphan, an insulted business tycoon, two CBI officers, an imprisoned convict and his henchmen, a young rape victim and a pimp, all converge at 47A, Harrington Road when each of them target the sleazy, corrupt Power Minister Salem Palanisaami for their own reasons. Vengeance, money, karma or hamartia – which one of these would succeed in bringing the sex-crazed, money-mongering minister to his downfall?
Excerpt:
Santosh picked up the bottle on the table, broke it into two and jammed it hard into the man’s shoulder. The man tried to scream but Santhosh’s left hand was already covering his mouth. The broken bottle dug deep into his shoulder. Jagged shards of glass ripped tissue and muscle mass apart, before reaching the bones in the shoulder joint. The man opposite him had no time to react, as he sat staring in horror and disbelief at the fountains of blood oozing out of his friend. Santosh moved towards him and punched his jaw with the brass knuckles, putting all his weight behind it. The blow shattered his jaw and a few teeth on the lower jaw were dislodged. The man tried to scream but he too had no chance as he swallowed and choked on his own teeth. Santosh pinned his hand on the table and punched his wrist. The impact of the blow made a gory mass of the wrist bones. Santosh then turned to the first man and slammed the brass knuckles into his face. Both men were down and out for the count. They passed out instantly. But their attacker was not done yet. Santosh bent below the table, and bound their legs together with a handkerchief. He poured the country liquor from the untouched bottle on the table, and drenched their trousers. He struck a match and lit their trousers. The alcohol-drenched trousers caught fire as Santosh turned and coolly walked away. No one noticed the action until the rising flames caught their attention. The entire assault had lasted a mere forty seconds.
Why we love it:
For all those who have wondered what an action-packed, super-intense Indian movie would read like as a book, ‘No Murder Tonight” is the answer they are looking for. It has every element that makes a Kollywood movie mint money – a handsome, street-smart, righteous hero; a diabolic, not to mention, extremely ugly and corrupt villain who, of course, deserves what’s coming for him; a beautiful heroine who is so beautiful and soft she turns a nymphomaniac into a romantic, a pragmatic commando into an emotional mess, and brings out the maternal instincts in a lady cop who was slut-shaming her seconds earlier. Did we mention that she is beautiful? Apart from these, there is also a bunch of mobsters with morals, hapless orphans, extremely good/bad cops, stereotypically ruthless businessmen, dummy political heirs and an extraordinarily intricate and complex plot on the ever-existing battle between good and evil.
What brings them all together is the havoc that an influential minister wreaks in their lives and how all their plans against him somehow coincide on one rainy night, in his pimp’s house.
As familiar and close-to-home as it sounds, No Murder Tonight will catch you unaware and knock you out of your senses with the unpredictability of each scene and chapter. For all the seeming familiarity the scene, the characters and the major arc tricks you into, the narration of this book speeds on without a moment’s lag from a sleepy police station to a mindboggling shootout, without leaving a clue that could give away the ending.
You will love it if you like fast-paced thrillers, revenge sagas, political thrillers, gritty adventures and love stories. If you are a fan of Indian movies, especially those with love, action, revenge, sentiments, patriotism, violence, blood and gore, all rolled into one, then ‘No Murder Tonight’ is the edge-of-the-seat entertainer that will keep you hooked.
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Highlights:
Title: No Murder Tonight
Author: G. V. Subba Rao
Genre: Revenge thriller