Elephants in the Room is the latest edition of Indian crime thriller fiction. Written by Suraj Laxminarayanan, the novel has reached many readers since the publication in the month of October 2018. Elephants in the Room offers a theme which is not exactly new or unique. However, the way he has treated the theme of a bank robbery is certainly new to the readers. There are many robbers inside the same bank and before robbing the bank, they have to attack each other for the supremacy and the lion’s share. Reading the novel feels very much like reading a well-documented and well-plotted piece of historical fiction – with a time stamp, with the dates, and with a scrutiny like description of the events, incidents and also the accidents.

Suraj Laxminarayanan has written with a very close attention and he has successfully offered a plate with many different dishes on it. For example, when you read chapter 43, you are taken back to the historical British era in India and you also get to know the ’emotional’ side of the past of Bada’s family. So, it’d certainly be safe to say that the novelist has tried to connect the dots so that the readers have different things to connect when they are making their minds up – who are the criminals? Who are the culprits? However, the use of phrases like ‘Operation Chennai’ drops a big hint – Maoist terrorists?

When you move to the next chapter, chapter 44, only two minutes have passed and that’s the depth that has been explored by the novelists in this voluminous novel Elephants in the Room… nevertheless, the novel moves with a pace, a fast speed even with such detailed scrutiny of the events. The interest in the novel does not fluctuate; it’s constant and it’s there always.

Critically examining, the theme of Elephants in the Room is vast and interesting. It’s an attempt at unifying various ends of the life and connect them to create a super-fiction. Suraj has focused on the narrative a bit more and he has also achieved. The length is never an issue if the readers are interested in reading something and the same is true for Elephants in the Room as well. It does not bother the readers – you can enjoy it! Interesting names; interesting flashbacks, interesting scenes of crime and violence and everything else demands the length to be stretched to accommodate all that could be.

Active Reader Verdict:
Suraj Laxminarayanan has done enough to mark his presence strongly. His fiction is not the best but certainly different and standard. It will attract the readership of many readers who are interested in reading quality fiction with something to ponder as the aftermath. However, the readers will have to a little patient while reading this novel. It might appear to be a slow-moving fiction at the beginning but gets the essential acceleration as it moves ahead. You can get a copy of this novel from Amazon India:

Buy Suraj’s debut novel – Click here to go to Amazon India

review by Santosh for Active Reader