Rakesh Khanna grew up in Berkeley, California, of mixed Punjabi and Anglo-American heritage. He co-founded Blaft Publications in Chennai with Rashmi Ruth Devadasan, in 2008. The company publishes translations of bestselling Indian-language pulp fiction, folklore, and graphic novels.

The Blaft Anthology of Tamil Pulp Fiction - Vol. 3 edited by Rakesh Khanna

The doyens of Tamil Pulp Fiction bring you SIX short novels of LOVE... CRIME... and INTERSTELLAR TERROR!

•"White Rose, Black Cat" by Rajesh Kumar. In the middle of the night, a young woman jumps over a compound wall and is found half-conscious in the garden of a prominent judge. Can the police department solve the mystery?

•"Look Out, Narendran!" by Subha. A mad bomber blows up Mambakkam police station, and threatens that the Taj Mahal will be next. Can Narendran and Vaijayanthi stop him?

•"Shabaash, Susheela!" by Pattukkottai Prabakar. A woman who claims to have powers of ESP walks into the offices of Moonlight Detective Agencies and says she has foreseen a murder.

•"At the Peak" by Indra Soundar Rajan. Sai has had enough of the life of organized crime. He's found love, and he wants to go straight... But Vedachalam, his boss, won't let him get out of it so easily.

•"A Stream in the Desert" by Kanchana Jeyathilagar. A woman travels from Chennai to Jaisalmer, Rajasthan to explore the mystery of how her brother died.

•"Operation Nova" by Tamilmagan. A large-canvas science fiction story about people being abducted from Earth to join a utopian civilization on the planet Gleise 581b, 50 light years away.

 
 

BOOK PREVIEW

Excerpt

WHITE ROSE, BLACK CAT

There's a town in India known as Love Town. Okay, not exactly a town, but a temple village. Which temple, you ask? Why, Khajuraho, in the Bundelkhand district of Madhya Pradesh. Though "village" isn't really the right word for the area surrounding the temple either; it boasts of six different five-star hotels, and many other only slightly less fancy resorts besides. The place has become quite prosperous these days, all on account of the many tourist groups who come to visit.

What is so unique about Khajuraho? We'll find out shortly...

1

A little past midnight, Devayani was awakened from deep sleep by a noise, and she opened her eyes with a start. The room was bathed in blue light from a zero-watt bulb. Next to her, lying on his side and snoring lightly, was Pandurangan. He turned slowly and continued to sleep.

Devayani sat up. Was it real or did I imagine it? No, it can't have been my imagination. I clearly heard something go thump.

Gently she touched her husband's shoulder.

"Dear…"

"Ummmmm," he answered, without coming out of his sleep, and tried to cover himself with the sheet.

"Can you please get up?" she said, shaking his shoulder.

"Umm. Urm... why?"

"I heard a sound."

Pandurangan sat up with a lengthy yawn. He looked angrily at his wife. Irritated, he asked, "What sort of sound?"

"I don't know, like someone climbing over the wall…"

"Now look here, Devayani. Ever since the watchman went on leave for a week, as soon as night falls, you get scared. Any noise from the bungalow next door, and you start imagining it's coming from our house. I am a public prosecutor; in court I stand bravely in front of criminals and make sure they get their sentences. The lawyers have nicknamed me "The Terror". Now, as my wife, how can you be so scared? What's more, your son is also studying to be an IPS officer!"

"Aiyyo, you can tease and mock me tomorrow! Right now listen to what I'm saying. Someone has definitely just climbed over the wall behind our house and jumped down! Quick, without making a sound, get up and go lean out the window and see."

"You won't let a man sleep peacefully at night, will you?" Pandurangan got up, wearing his nightdress. He took a long torch out of the almirah in the wall, and brought it to life with a flick of the switch. He went to the window and leaned out to look at the back of the house.

In the darkness, the four coconut trees, the lone guava tree, and the hundred-foot-long compound wall looked like a sketch. He held the torch high, and pierced the darkness with the light beam.

Devayani came and stood behind him. In a tremulous voice she asked, "Dear... can you see anything?"

"Hmmm, yes, I can see very clearly! Four or five elephants, one tiger, and two lions have jumped over our wall, and are now standing around blinking, wondering what to do next."

Devyani's face did an angry dance.

"Dear, listen! I am talking seriously and you're just making a joke of it. Someone must have known that there was no watchman on guard and jumped over the wall. Look carefully."

Pandurangan pushed the curtains all the way to one side, stuck the torch through the grill, and maneuvered it so the torch light spread over the whole compound. The torch beam crept, foot by foot, over the ground. After it had moved about fifty feet the beam suddenly stopped and set up camp.