The Mine by Arnab Ray

Come
On down
My dear, we
Are going on a
Journey into the,
Heart of Darkness;
Watch your step there,
These stairs can be mighty
Precarious and now God knows
We wouldnt want you to have an
Accident. ( Yet! ) As your tour guide
for the day, Let me be the first to tell you,

...what you are about to see no other has seen before. A shrine. A most glorious temple has been discovered and you may be the first to receive the blessings. Come come now, we must descend and be out of here before daylight fades, else Tartarus , Im sure was not the holiday destination you had in mind.
Whats Tartarus you ask? Why, lets join Preeti, Anjali, Karan, Samar, Akshay and dear little Anya and im sure they shall be more than happy to show you. They are waiting for you, on level 2.

Meet our five strangers who also happen to be experts in their respective fields; psychiatry, archaeology, medicine, security intelligence, forensic toxicology and Anya the innocent paraplegic daughter of Anjali. Brought together, by a mysterious and sinister mining Corp- in an active mining area located in the remote Thar Desert of Rajasthan, by the accidental discovery of an ancient shrine with evil inscribed upon it. Grotesque carvings that resemble a modern day snuff film and ancient sayings inlaid into the panel, have the team busy to give a report to their secretive whose purpose may or may not be mining for a special energy producing crystal. For all intents and purpose, logic concludes for the continuation of drilling. Then the team are trapped in the fight of their lives as not- so- logical nightmare begins. And no curse or legend has the team prepared for what is unleaded upon them as they scramble for their lives to uncover the mystery behind the
shrine and find a way out of the mine. As they travel across perilous terrain, to their chilling horror , they realise that death is the least of their worries; for the terror that is let loose, is asking for justice. In blood. And the secrets of these strangers past are brought painfully alive in this chilling tale of redemption, guilt and the savagery that is within all of us.

" THE MINE ISNT just a place underground. Its with u, inside u, everywhere u go, ur own little personal hell, created from the shadowns of ur own actions."

In this horrofic psychological thriller Arnab Ray, who could very well be Indias newest prince of darkness, bestows upon his subjects a great feast that is as varied as it is deliciously bloody. It takes a scathing look at the true meaning of evil which also happens to the universal theme of the book. The shrine and military establishment disguised as a mining facility turn out to be motifs that support the story extremely well and is written with just enough understanding to leave questions and you dear reader by the edge of your seat.
Its a supernatural story with humanity, in its imperfect characters and its this naked treatment that lends credibility and realism and heart to what could have other wise just been a mediocre tale by someone who has obviously been inspired by commercially known horror and sic fi films.
Information comes to the readers not so much through conversation, but more out of introspection and flash-back moments. The intelligence of the characters comes through their choice of phrases be it literary or otherwise and fortunately cliches just about hover but are not fully played out. What is explored however are the archetypes of good and bad and punishment and is presented in a rather entertaining manner. THE MINE has all the makings of a commercially successful book whose plot, characters,theme and gut wrenching twist in the tale ending, all come beautifully together.

Arnab Ray could have been more descriptive in the actuall surroundings and lent them more atmosphere independent of the characters or curse, but no matter, for the book does rather well without it as well. Also, the characters do seem rather unsettled in their identity in an India thats confused In one page, Preeti asks Akshay " Who wears such threads unless they are going out for a fancy dinner? "
There is a sense of dislocation from their environment in the globalness of the characters. Indian characters in an Indian setting has one hoping for the a slightly more local treatment in which the universal theme of the book could have still worked.

Now to address the question Im sure is uppermost in the minds of most readers. Why or how could a humorist who previously penned the highly enjoyable " May I hebb your attention pliss "have written, a work in fiction in the horror genre of all?
It is actually most unsurprising for him to have done so, for a humorist to be successful then he must be an observer of human nature and its frailties. To understand it , he must feel and accept his vulnerability to the extent that allows for acceptance and assimilation and then transcend to the level of humour that can self deprecatory or wry etc. To do all of this is to see humanity for the evil it contains and even if you arent very observant, the rampant acts of evil that humanity has shown itself to be capable off is rather in your face thanks to all the media outlets that exist for every individual.

Its refreshing that Arnab Ray has remained rather unjudgmental in his voice throughout. Just stating things as they are. Visible inspirations from horror, the supernatural and sci-fi are obvious if your an avid fan of the genre.
Think of this horror as a sort of Ben Okri, Al Sarrantonio and Michael Chricton crashes into the SAW series at a whopping 500kmph.
Its a short sized book of 282 pages; the cover is a wonderful teaser of the mayhem waiting for you within in the pages- the font and back ground page colour is rather easy on the eye and at INR195/- is more than well worth the money.
Just buy it, read, gift it but by any means dont let any one borrow it, for you aint gonna get it back!

Reader who have enjoyed this book also love reading Neil Gaiman, Robin Cook, Michael Chricton, Tim Powers, Kurt Anderson, Isaac Asimov, Stepehn King, Peter Straub , Dianna Wynne Jones etc