Aloukik Rate by Alak Dasgupta [Hardcover]

Lush green tea gardens, quiet, serene, peaceful. Or is it? When night falls, do ominous drums of fear begin to play? Who is the young woman standing in the shadows by the railings of the abandoned bungalow under the sickly moonlight, lost in thought? What does she want? And what of the strange scratches heard at the door late at night — is it a wild animal or something from another world?

Returning to the tea estate where he spent the best days of his youth, Tanmoy hopes to find the peace his soul craves after the exhaustion of city life. But instead, he’s swept into a terrifying truth on a night filled with the supernatural. In this mysterious garden, cloaked in mist and dark secrets, he finds an eerie atmosphere that sends chills through him.

Meanwhile, Sandeep, a former commando of the Indian Army, is consumed by a fierce desire for revenge. Known for his expertise and fearlessness in military operations, he is a master of the kill, skilled and swift as a panther. Driven by a lust for vengeance, he moves like a silent predator. On one side is this lethal professional, on the other, a simple college student. The hunter stalks his prey in silence, closing in like a fierce beast on a fragile deer…

The night is heavy with melancholy. Stars scatter across the sky, the river flows gently, and an unsettling breeze blows. The predator is just outside the door — will Sonali manage to escape this inevitable snare of death?